Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America

Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America

Company type	Private
Industry	Natural gas transportation
Predecessor	Continental Construction Corporation
Founded	1930
Headquarters	(not specified) , United States
Area served	United States (Texas Permian Basin, Gulf of Mexico region to Chicago)
Products	Natural gas transportation services
Owner	Kinder Morgan, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, ArcLight Capital Partners

Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL) is an enterprise specializing in the transportation of natural gas, channeling supplies from the Texas Permian Basin and the Gulf of Mexico region to the vicinity of Chicago. Presently, ownership is shared among Kinder Morgan, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, and ArcLight Capital Partners.

Early history

NGPL was initially established as Continental Construction Corporation before adopting the name Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America in December 1931. The company was incorporated in 1930 under Delaware and Texas jurisdictions with the objective of constructing a 24-inch natural gas pipeline extending from the Amarillo oil fields in Texas to Chicago. The primary initial financiers included Standard Oil of New Jersey and Cities Service Corporation, while minority holdings were maintained by entities such as Phillips Petroleum Company and Skelly Oil. Pipeline construction commenced in mid-1930, traversing Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Indiana. Completion occurred on August 29, 1931, with operations starting September 1. This pipeline was notable as the first in the United States to span 1,000 miles, introducing advanced technology involving high-pressure, thin-walled, electrically welded cross-country pipelines.

On December 16, 1948, Chicago’s municipal natural gas provider, Peoples Gas, acquired all outstanding shares of NGPL for $32.6 million. In November 1979, Peoples Gas underwent rebranding to become Peoples Energy.

MidCon ownership

In October 1981, Peoples Energy divested NGPL along with five other natural gas pipeline subsidiaries by consolidating them into a newly formed publicly traded holding company called MidCon.

Occidental Petroleum purchased MidCon in January 1986 for $3 billion.

Kinder Morgan

In 1997, KN Energy (previously Kansas Nebraska Energy) acquired MidCon for $4 billion. This transaction positioned KN Energy as the owner of the second-largest natural gas pipeline network in the United States upon its completion in January 1998.

By July 1999, KN Energy agreed to acquire Kinder Morgan, Inc. for $506 million in stock. Kinder Morgan had been founded in 1996 by Richard Kinder, a former Enron president, initially to purchase Enron Liquids Pipeline Company which was renamed Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. Richard Kinder joined KN Energy’s board in 1998 and was appointed president and CEO following the merger. The combined company adopted the Kinder Morgan name and controlled approximately 30,000 miles of pipeline—25,000 miles attributed to Kinder Morgan and an additional 5,000 miles under Kinder Morgan Energy Partners.

2008 sale and 2015 repurchase

By 2001, NGPL accounted for roughly 56% of Kinder Morgan’s revenue.

In February 2009, Kinder Morgan divested an 80% interest in NGPL to Myria Holdings—a consortium including Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners, the Canadian Public Sector Pension Investment Board, and Dutch pension fund PGGM.

Facing financial difficulties by 2014, NGPL warned creditors about potential missed bond interest payments. Although Kinder Morgan initially planned to sell its remaining share, it reversed this decision in December 2015 by increasing its stake to 50%, matching that of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.

In February 2021, both Kinder Morgan and Brookfield sold a combined total of 25% of NGPL (12.5% each) to ArcLight Capital Partners for $830 million. At that point, NGPL managed approximately 9,100 miles of natural gas pipelines.