Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) was formed in February of 1997 when a group of investors led by Chairman and CEO Richard D. Kinder and former Vice Chairman William V. Morgan acquired the general partner of a small, publicly traded pipeline limited partnership (Enron Liquids Pipeline, L.P.).

Based in Houston, KMP began with a few assets, 175 employees and an enterprise value of $325 million. But Mr. Kinder and Mr. Morgan had a vision to build a different type of energy company by utilizing the master limited partnership (MLP) financial structure as a growth vehicle, something that had never been done before.

Utilizing acquisitions and expansions, KMP has grown from a small company into the largest publicly traded MLP in the United States with an enterprise value of more than $20 billion and approximately 8,000 employees.

In 1999, Mr. Kinder and his management team took over the reins of KN Energy, an integrated natural gas pipeline company based in Lakewood, Colo.  KN’s roots dated back to 1936 when, as a local distribution company, it provided natural gas service to small communities and rural areas in Kansas and Nebraska. Following the transaction, KN became Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI), Kinder Morgan’s second publicly traded company. 

A third publicly traded Kinder Morgan company was formed in 2001 – Kinder Morgan Management (NYSE: KMR) – to facilitate institutional ownership of KMP equity.

In 2006, Mr. Kinder spearheaded a management led buyout to take Kinder Morgan, Inc. private. The transaction closed in May 2007. Both KMP and KMR remain publicly traded entities on the New York Stock Exchange, and KMI owns the general partner and limited partner units in KMP. 

Chronological Highlights

1997	KMP acquires the general partner of Enron Liquids Pipeline, L.P.
1998	KMP acquires Santa Fe Pacific Partners, a large refined petroleum products pipeline system that serves high-population markets on the West Coast.
1999	KMI becomes a publicly traded company by completing the  transaction to acquire KN Energy.
2000	KMP acquires Shell CO2 Company, giving KMP the most extensive CO2 pipeline network in the industry.
2001	KMP acquires pipeline and terminal assets from GATX, including large liquids terminals in New York Harbor, the Houston Ship Channel and southern California, and the CALNEV Pipeline that transports refined petroleum products to Las Vegas, Nev.
2002	KMP acquires Tejas Pipeline, a large intrastate natural gas pipeline system in Texas, the state that produces and consumes more natural gas than any other state in the country.
2005	KMP acquires seven bulk terminal operations in Texas from Trans-Global Solutions, making KMP the largest handler of petroleum coke in the United States.
2005	KMP acquires Terasen, expanding its footprint into Canada and accessing the oilsands in Alberta.
2005	KMP and Sempra Energy announce plans to build the Rockies Express natural gas pipeline, the largest pipeline project to be built in the United States in more than 25 years. When fully completed in 2009 the pipeline stretch 1,679 miles from the Rocky Mountains to eastern Ohio and have a transportation capacity of 1.8 billion cubic feet per day.
2007	KMI exits the retail distribution business to focus on its core assets – pipelines and terminals – and sells  its  utility assets in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and  British Columbia.
2007	KMI transaction to take the company private closes.
2008	KMP produces record annual distributable cash flow before certain items of $1.07 billion.
2009	KMP increases its quarterly cash distribution for the 35th time since 1997.