Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI) has reported $996 million in net profit for the fourth quarter of 2025 and $3.06 billion for the year, the company’s highest Q4 and annual results. The increase was driven by its natural gas pipelines business, which rode on rising demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to a statement on the Houston, Texas-based company’s website. Executive chair Richard D. Kinder said KMI has delivered over 40 percent of feed gas to United States liquefaction facilities amid the Russia-Ukraine war, noting the U.S. has become a vital energy exporter to Europe. “Led by record-setting performance in our natural gas pipelines business segment, the company delivered its highest ever fourth-quarter and full-year net income attributable to KMI and adjusted EBITDA”, Dang said. KMI carried 48,353 billion British thermal units a day (BBtud) of gas in October-December 2025, up from 44,507 BBtud from the same quarter in 2024. Over the last 12 months, gas transport volumes averaged 46,603 BBtud, up from 44,252 BBtud in 2024, KMI said. KMI’s gas sales volumes averaged 4,045 BBtud in Q4 2025 and 3,302 BBtud in the full year. Gas gathering volumes averaged 4,513 BBtud in Q4 2025 and 3,792 BBtud in 2025, KMI said. “Growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 relative to the fourth quarter of 2024 was due primarily to higher contributions from our Texas Intrastate system, KinderHawk and Outrigger Energy assets”, said KMI president Tom Martin. “Natural gas transport volumes were up nine percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 primarily due to LNG deliveries on Tennessee Gas Pipeline. “Natural gas gathering volumes were up 19 percent from the fourth quarter of 2024 across all assets, with our KinderHawk system making the largest contribution”. Earnings before depreciation, depletion and amortization (EBDA) from the gas pipelines segment came at

Shell announced changes to its executive committee in a statement posted on its website this week. “We have made significant progress against our previously announced plan to integrate the technical divisions, that today make up our Projects and Technology organization, into our business lines,” the company said in the statement. “This simplification will empower our businesses by bringing these technical capabilities closer to where we generate value and progress our journey to improve cost competitiveness of the organization,” it added. Shell noted in its statement that, “as a result of the progress” it has made, Robin Mooldijk, President, Projects and Technology, “will step down after 35 years of distinguished service with Shell, effective 28 February 2026”. The company stated that, following Mooldijk’s departure, Shell’s Executive Committee “will reduce in size from nine to eight members”. Shell highlighted that the changes announced in its statement do not affect its financial reporting segments, which it pointed out remain Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, Renewables and Energy Solutions, and Corporate. “I am grateful to Robin for his significant contribution to Shell throughout his career,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan said in the statement. “Before joining the Executive Committee, he led the transformation of Shell’s refining strategy, combining our Refining and Chemicals businesses into a single Chemicals and Products organization, bringing our customers and assets closer together and strengthening our already successful integration with Shell Trading,” he added. “Most recently, Robin has successfully led the integration of our technical divisions into our Integrated Gas, Upstream and Downstream and Renewables businesses, to strongly position Shell for the future. I wish him well in his future endeavors,” he continued. In a statement posted on its site in March 2025, Sawan noted that, “in the first half of 2026”, the company would “integrate the technical divisions, that today

Equinor ASA and ORLEN SA have announced a natural gas discovery on Norway’s side of the North Sea, with plans to connect it to the Baltic Pipe to supply Poland. The Sissel discovery in production license (PL) 1137 is estimated to hold 6.3-28.3 million oil-equivalent barrels, mainly gas with condensate admixture, Poland’s majority state-owned ORLEN said in a statement on its website. Sissel, or well 15/8-3 S, is the first exploration well drilled in PL1137, awarded 2022, according to a separate press release by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate. “The Sissel discovery, from which we expect to obtain approximately one billion cubic meters [35.31 billion cubic feet] of gas, strengthens our asset portfolio in Norway and represents another step toward achieving the ORLEN Group’s strategic objectives”, said ORLEN president Ireneusz Fafara. “Norwegian gas plays a crucial role in ensuring stable supplies for our customers. This was clearly demonstrated earlier this year, when we recorded record‑high demand from the energy sector, businesses and households – reaching as much as 100 million cubic meters in a single day. “In response, we increased gas imports, including via the Baltic Pipe, which transports gas from the Norwegian continental shelf to Poland. “As a company fundamental to Poland’s energy security, we remain firmly committed to further developing cooperation with our Norwegian partners based on our own production on the Shelf”. The partners are considering tying back Sissel to the Utgard field, itself a tieback to the Sleipner complex. PL1137, in the central part of the North Sea, sits 250 kilometers (155.34 miles) from Stavanger city in southwestern Norway, according to ORLEN. Norway’s majority state-owned Equinor is operator with a 50 percent stake, the other half held by ORLEN. The discovery, with a total depth of 4,359 meters (14,301.18 feet), is five kilometers north of Utgard, ORLEN noted. Utgard, operated

Oil dropped 2.1% to settle near $59 a barrel, weighed down by swelling crude inventories and signs of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will join trilateral meetings with the US and Russia Friday, stoking hopes of a breakthrough to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine. An end to sanctions on Russia would add to an already oversupplied global market. In the US, crude inventories rose 3.6 million barrels while gasoline stocks reached their highest level since 2021 and exports fell by more than a half-million barrels a day. In Kazakhstan, repairs at a key Black Sea oil-loading facility are nearing completion while a backlog of cargoes at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal is easing. Supplies are also returning to the global market from Venezuela, while Indian refiner Reliance Industries Ltd. has once again purchased Russian crude, with deliveries scheduled to February and March. Offering something of a floor to prices, the International Energy Agency, which advises major economies, nudged up its estimate for oil demand growth on Wednesday. That will offer some relief for producers, but the agency still maintained its view for a major glut this year. “The geopolitical temperature has eased a few degrees,” said Ole Sloth Hansen, a strategist at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. But with a range of supply threats unresolved, and colder weather set to bolster US demand, prices will likely “hold firm.” Oil Prices WTI for March delivery fell 2.1% to settle at $59.36 a barrel in New York. Brent for March settlement fell 1.8% to settle at $64.06. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network. The Rigzone Energy Network is a new social experience created for you and all energy professionals to Speak Up about our industry, share

Secretary Wright issues letter to grid operators detailing how unused backup generation can keep the grid stable, save lives, and lower costs during the coming winter storm. WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today it is prepared to take emergency action to prevent blackouts during winter storm Fern. In a letter today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright asked the nation’s grid operators to maintain communication with DOE during the storm and be prepared to make backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities available as needed. DOE estimates more than 35 GW of unused backup generation remains available nationwide. These actions could mitigate blackouts and reduce costs for potentially hundreds of millions of Americans during the winter storm.  “The Trump administration will not stand by and allow the previous administration’s reckless energy subtraction policies and bureaucratic red tape put American lives at risk,” said Secretary Wright. “We have identified more than 35 GW of unused backup generation that exists across the country and are taking action to ensure that if the nation needs it, the generation will be made available. Rest assured, President Trump and the Energy Department remain committed to doing everything in our power to mitigate blackouts and lower energy costs for the American people.” On day one, President Trump declared a national energy emergency after the Biden administration’s energy subtraction agenda left behind a grid increasingly vulnerable to blackouts. According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), “Winter electricity demand is rising at the fastest rate in recent years,” while the premature forced closure of reliable generation such as coal and natural gas plants leaves American families vulnerable to power outages. The NERC 2025 – 2026 Winter Reliability Assessment further warns that areas across the continental United States have an elevated risk

The Trump administration has no plans to directly provide security to oil producers in Venezuela, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday, dismissing the notion US troops will be used to address companies’ concerns about safety in the troubled nation. “We are not going to get involved in providing on-the-ground security,” Wright said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The US involvement right now in controlling the flow of funds in Venezuela gives us huge leverage to reduce the criminality in that country, reestablish peace and better business conditions.” Oil executives and industry leaders have stressed companies need political and legal reforms, contract certainty and security guarantees before investing in Venezuela following the apprehension of former President Nicolás Maduro. While US President Donald Trump has vowed to provide “total safety” to companies operating there, it remains unclear how the US would accomplish that.   During the interview Thursday, Wright said the steps the US has taken in Venezuela have already made the nation a more secure place to work and that oil companies are well versed in operating in challenging environments around the world.   Ultimately, he said, Venezuela will need a representative government, new laws and changes to its constitution.     “But that will take time,” Wright said. “There’s always different risk and reward situations in time, which is why the wildcatters will move first,” Wright said. “The bigger, longer-term, tens of million of dollars of investment, they’re going to wait until there’s more clarity in that environment.”  Wright said he plans to travel to Venezuela within the next few weeks to meet with government officials, look at the oil infrastructure and meet with the nation’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez. “We will definitely see a number of American oil and gas companies going down as well and investigating opportunities