(Reuters) - Kinder Morgan Inc (N:KMI) said it would buy the 49 percent stake that it does not already own in natural gas joint venture Elba Liquefaction Co from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (L:RDSa), and it raised its dividend.
Kinder Morgan said it expects to invest $630 million in Elba terminals, bringing its total investment in the project near Savannah, Georgia to $2.1 billion.
The deal shows the energy sector's appetite for fast-growing natural gas logistics and exports. Marathon Petroleum Corp (N:MPC) bought natgas processor MarkWest Energy Partners LP (N:MWE) in a $15.6 billion deal earlier this week.
Kinder Morgan, which last year put all of its publicly traded partnerships into one corporate parent company, raised its quarterly divided by 14 percent to 49 cents per share.
The company said it continued to remain on track for 2015 dividend target of $2 per share.
Shares of Kinder Morgan were marginally up at $37.83 in extended trading on Wednesday.
Kinder Morgan's net income attributable to shareholders fell 29 percent to $333 million in the second quarter ended June 30, from the first quarter ended March 31.
Excluding items, earnings from natgas pipelines, the company's biggest business, fell 14.6 percent to $928 million.
Earlier this year, Kinder Morgan entered North Dakota's Bakken shale with a $3 billion acquisition of Hiland Partners, a pipeline and logistics company.
The company said growth in its natgas pipeline unit was "partially affected" in the second quarter due to weak commodity prices.
Earnings in its carbon-dioxide unit fell to $240 million from $281 million.