July 16 (Reuters) - Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) posted a 24%

rise in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, as higher volumes of

natural gas were transported through its pipelines and demand

for the company's infrastructure rose.

Pipeline operators such as Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) are benefiting from

an increase in demand for natgas, primarily driven by LNG

exports as well as rising electricity needs.

The United States was the largest exporter of LNG in 2024,

and exports of the superchilled gas are expected to increase

even further, as new terminals come online after President

Donald Trump lifted a pause on new permits in January.

Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) has long-term contracts to move 8 billion

cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas to LNG facilities and

expects to move 12 bcfd by 2028.

"With historic growing natural gas demand forecasts, a

positive federal regulatory environment, and highly supportive

federal permitting agencies, the future for our company is very

bright," said Executive Chairman Richard Kinder.

"We are also actively pursuing well over 5 Bcfd of

opportunities to serve the natural gas power generation sector,"

Kinder added.

Roughly 50% of the company's $9.3 billion project

backlog is dedicated to projects supporting power generation.

Kinder Morgan's ( KMI ) results come as the energy industry

braces for the impact of Trump's tariffs on most imports, which

the company said poses "some challenges". It expects tariffs to

impact only 1% of the existing project costs.

The company, which moves roughly 40% of the country's total

natural gas output, said it transported about 44,585 billion

British thermal units per day of natgas in the reported quarter,

compared with 43,123 BBtu/d last year.

Total delivery volumes, which includes refined products such

as jet fuel and diesel fuel, also rose over 2% to 2.21 million

barrels per day.

The Houston, Texas-based company's net income came in at

$715 million, or 32 cents per share, for the second quarter,

compared with $575 million, or 26 cents per share, last year.