IGL I M C Global

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners Acquires Tampa Terminals HOUSTON, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. today announced it has purchased two terminals in Tampa, Fla. for approximately $24.9 million. The principal purchase was a marine terminal from a subsidiary of IMC Global Inc. for approximately $23.3 million. The two companies also entered into a long-term agreement enabling IMC to be the primary user of the facility, which KMP will operate and rename the Kinder Morgan Tampaplex Terminal. The terminal serves as a storage and receipt point for imported ammonia, as well as an export location for dry-bulk products, including fertilizer and animal feed. KMP intends to invest an additional $14.9 million in the terminal to accommodate additional products at the 114-acre site facility. Additionally, KMP purchased the former Nitram Inc. terminal for $1.6 million, which it plans to use as an inland bulk storage warehouse facility for overflow cargoes from the company's Port Sutton import terminal. KMP intends to invest another $2 million in the facility. Year to date, KMP has completed acquisitions totaling approximately $390 million, including additional investments the company will make to the acquired assets. "Acquiring these facilities in Tampa complements our existing terminals business in the area and will enable us to leverage our operational expertise to provide customers with access to a wider array of services," said Chairman and CEO Richard D. Kinder. "These terminals will generate additional fee-based income for our Terminals segment and are expected to be immediately accretive to KMP unitholders." Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. is the largest publicly traded pipeline limited partnership in the United States in terms of market capitalization and the largest independent refined petroleum products pipeline system in the U.S. in terms of volumes delivered. KMP owns or operates more than 25,000 miles of pipelines and approximately 80 terminals. Its pipelines transport more than two million barrels per day of gasoline and other petroleum products and up to 7.8 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. Its terminals handle over 60 million tons of coal and other dry-bulk materials annually and have a liquids storage capacity of approximately 55 million barrels for petroleum products and chemicals. KMP is also the leading provider of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery projects in the United States. The general partner of KMP is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc., one of the largest energy transportation and storage companies in America. Combined, the two companies have an enterprise value of more than $22 billion. This news release includes forward-looking statements. Although Kinder Morgan believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that such assumptions will materialize. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements herein are enumerated in Kinder Morgan's Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. DATASOURCE: Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. CONTACT: Larry Pierce, Media Relations, +1-713-369-9407, or Irene Twardowski Broussard, Investor Relations, +1-713-369-9490, both of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. Web site: http://www.kindermorgan.com/

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