SM SM Energy Company

HOUSTON, Nov. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) and Copano Energy, L.L.C. (Nasdaq: CPNO), today announced the execution of a definitive long-term agreement to provide services to Chesapeake Energy Marketing, Inc., an affiliate of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK), in the Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas.  

Under the agreement, Chesapeake will commit a significant quantity of natural gas production from multiple counties in South Texas over a 14-year term.  Eagle Ford Gathering will gather Chesapeake's gas from major delivery points and provide transportation, processing and fractionation services.  Eagle Ford Gathering's previously announced 30-inch pipeline in the western Eagle Ford Shale play is under construction and is expected to begin full service in the third quarter of 2011; however, certain segments are expected to be available for service in the first half of the year.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide Chesapeake with a full slate of services for its rapidly growing Eagle Ford Shale production," said R. Bruce Northcutt, Copano Energy's President and Chief Executive Officer.  "Eagle Ford Gathering's agreement with Chesapeake fully subscribes the members' initial pipeline and processing capacity commitments of 375,000 MMBtu per day, representing a significant step in the JV's growth and in its ability to generate long-term, fee-based cash flows for the benefit of Copano's unitholders.  We are currently working with Kinder Morgan to increase our respective pipeline and processing capacity commitments to 600,000 MMBtu per day, which will enable the JV to serve additional Eagle Ford Shale producers."

Duane Kokinda, president of Kinder Morgan's Texas Intrastate Pipelines Group, said, "We are delighted to enter into this agreement with Chesapeake for the remainder of the 375,000 MMBtu per day of capacity currently committed to the joint venture, and we look forward to working with Copano to expand the scope of the joint venture to handle significant additional volumes from the Eagle Ford Shale play."

Kinder Morgan and Copano will invest a total of approximately $175 million to construct 111 miles of pipeline facilities to serve Eagle Ford Shale production from Chesapeake and from SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM), with which the JV executed a gas services agreement in July 2010.  Eagle Ford Gathering has 375,000 MMBtu per day of firm capacity on Kinder Morgan's intrastate pipeline from Laredo to Katy and 375,000 MMBtu per day of firm processing capacity at Copano's Houston Central processing plant.  Copano serves as operator and managing member of Eagle Ford Gathering.

About Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. is a leading pipeline transportation and energy storage company in North America.  KMP owns an interest in or operates approximately 28,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals.  Its pipelines transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil, CO2 and other products, and its terminals store petroleum products and chemicals and handle bulk materials like coal and petroleum coke.  KMP is also the leading provider of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery projects in North America.  One of the largest publicly traded pipeline limited partnerships in America, KMP has an enterprise value of over  $30 billion.  The general partner of KMP is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc., a private company.  Kinder Morgan Management is a limited partner in KMP and manages and controls its business and affairs.  For more information please visit www.kindermorgan.com.

About Copano Energy, L.L.C.

Houston-based Copano Energy, L.L.C. (NASDAQ: CPNO) is a midstream natural gas company with operations in Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming and Louisiana.  Its assets include approximately 6,400 miles of active natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines, 250 miles of NGL pipelines and eight natural gas processing plants, with over one Bcf per day of combined processing capacity and 22,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity. For more information please visit www.copanoenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements.  Although Kinder Morgan and Copano Energy believe that their expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, they can give no assurance that such assumptions will materialize or that the proposed transactions will be consummated.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in this release include: price volatility and market demand for natural gas and natural gas liquids; the impact on volumes and resulting cash flow of technological, economic and other uncertainties inherent in estimating future production, producers' ability to drill and successfully complete and attach new natural gas supplies and the availability of downstream transportation systems and other facilities for natural gas and NGLs; higher construction costs or project delays due to inflation, limited availability of required resources or the effects of numerous environmental, legal or other uncertainties; general economic conditions; and the effects of government regulations and policies.  These and other risks and uncertainties are described in the risk factors sections of Kinder Morgan's and Copano Energy's Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Copano Energy, L.L.C.