Reuters Summit-Kinder says on the prowl for acquisitions

(For other news from the Reuters Global Energy Summit, click here)

By Bruce Nichols

HOUSTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP.N) expects to close on some asset purchases in 2009 as the big pipeline company combs the recession-racked energy industry for bargains, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday.

"I think it's a good time to add," Rich Kinder told Reuters Global Energy Summit. "We've found some opportunities in the terminal areas."

Kinder sees no attractive large-scale pipeline assets on the auction block, but smaller companies with debt issues are offering some attractive terms, he said.

Kinder also told Reuters that while rapid growth of shale gas supply is weighing on prices currently it bodes well for gas as a U.S. energy source and for the future of the pipelines needed to carry it.

"I would look at the overall shale situation as very bullish for the industry, very bullish for a midstream company like Kinder Morgan. We now can rest assured that we have supply," Kinder said.

Kinder, whose company is also the largest supplier of carbon-dioxide for enhanced oil recovery, expressed doubts about the workability of carbon capture and storage to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming.

Transporting carbon-dioxide in pipelines from natural sources and pumping it into the ground to boost recovery from mature oilfields are proven services paid-for by oil companies, Kinder said.