Will Kinder Morgan benefit from increased 2015 capex?

In 2015, Kinder Morgan (KMI) has put in place a strong project pipeline that can increase capex by 21% to ~$4.4 billion. In 2014, its capex increased marginally by 7%.

Other midstream companies like Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) decreased 2015 projected capex by 2% (excluding acquisition capital), while Spectra Energy (SE) plans to increase capex by 17% in 2015. KMI makes up 4.4% of the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) and 4.1% of the iShares US Energy ETF (IYE).

Here is an account of some of Kinder Morgan’s key projects that are in various phases of execution:

In addition to the projects listed in the chart above, Kinder Morgan (KMI) has also completed some important projects in the recent months.

Kinder Morgan acquired Hiland Partners in February 2015 for $3 billion. Through the acquisition, it now controls Hiland Partners’ crude oil gathering and transportation pipelines assets in the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana. Read Market Realist’s Kinder Morgan has eyes wide open on Hiland Partners acquisition.

In 3Q14, Kinder Morgan placed in service the second of the two 400,000-cubic-feet-per-day cryogenic unit expansions to support higher volume coming from the Eagle Ford shale.

In the following section, we’ll discuss the key projects that Kinder Morgan’s (KMI) other segments, such as CO2, Terminals, Products Pipelines plan to implement. Kinder Morgan’s increased 2015 capex should ensure that these projects go through.