Inergy Completes Acquisition of US Salt
Tuesday, August 26th 2008
Inergy, L.P. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Inergy Midstream, LLC, has closed the acquisition of US Salt, LLC.
As previously disclosed, US Salt is an industry-leading solution mining and salt production company located in Schuyler County, New York, between Inergy’s Stagecoach and Steuben County natural gas storage facilities. US Salt’s operations are complementary to Inergy’s existing midstream energy storage platform. The solution mining process used by US Salt creates salt caverns that can be developed into usable natural gas storage capacity. Inergy initially estimates that the acquisition provides access to at least 10 Bcf of additional salt cavern storage capacity which can be interconnected to its existing energy storage platform.
Inergy will immediately begin developing approximately 5 Bcf of available salt cavern capacity after receiving necessary regulatory approvals. The initial 5 Bcf of storage capacity is expected to be operational in the fall of 2010. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to unitholders on a distributable cash flow per unit basis.
With the Stagecoach and Steuben natural gas storage operations, and Inergy’s announced expansion plans in the Northeast, Inergy will control in excess of 53 Bcf of working natural gas storage capacity, making it one of the largest independent natural gas storage operators in the Northeastern United States.
Inergy, L.P., with headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., is among the fastest growing master limited partnerships in the country. The Company’s operations include the retail marketing, sale, and distribution of propane to residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers. Today, Inergy serves approximately 700,000 retail customers from over 300 customer service centers throughout the eastern half of the United States. The Company also owns and operates the Stagecoach natural gas storage facility with 26.35 Bcf of working gas capacity; the Bath LPG Storage facility, a 1.5 million barrel underground salt cavern liquid petroleum gas storage facility; and Arlington Storage Company which includes Thomas Corners, a planned 7 Bcf natural gas storage facility currently being developed, and a controlling interest in Steuben Gas Storage Company, a 6.2 Bcf natural gas storage facility.
