Kinder Morgan Inc. will buy Hiland Partners LP from its founder, Harold Hamm, and certain Hamm family trusts for a total purchase price of about $3 billion, including the assumption of debt, Bloomberg said Jan. 21.

Kinder Morgan announced the acquisition in the Bakken Shale in a statement that day.

Billionaire Richard Kinder united his empire into a single company worth $89 billion to streamline operations that dominate shipping of U.S. natural gas everywhere from the Eagle Ford to the Marcellus shales. The company controls 80,000 miles (129,000 kilometers) of conduits and 180 terminals, transporting about a third of U.S. gas.