By Sourasis Bose

(Reuters) -Kinder Morgan fell short of Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday and lowered its annual forecast as the U.S. pipeline operator contends with weaker commodity prices and lower crude volumes.

Shares of the company, whose pipelines move about 40% of total U.S. natural gas production, fell 2.6% in extended trade.

“For the full year, we expect refined product volumes to be slightly below our plan to 2% over 2023,” President Thomas Martin said in a conference call.

U.S. WTI crude oil prices declined about 8.1% during the third quarter from a year earlier and concerns persist over global demand.

Crude and condensate volumes fell 4% from the year-ago quarter, while natural gas transported rose 2%.

The company projected annual adjusted core profit to be 2% below its prior forecast, compared to previous expectations of in line or within 1-2% below.

Kinder Morgan also cited start-up delays at its renewable natural gas facilities for the revised forecast.

The company, like many U.S. energy peers, is pinning its hopes on the artificial intelligence boom-driven data center power need to buoy natural gas sales.

“Data center demand has skyrocketed,” CEO Kimberly Dang said. The overall gas market could grow by 25 billion cubic feet per day over the next five years, she said.

The company said the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline, which it operates and holds a stake in, has green-lighted an about $455 million expansion project that would raise natural gas deliveries by 570 million cubic feet per day from the Permian Basin to South Texas markets.

Kinder Morgan posted an adjusted profit of 25 cents per share, compared with analysts’ average expectation of 27 cents, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

At its products pipelines unit, which includes refined products, adjusted core profit decreased about 11.5% to $277 million.

The company is working with agencies to defend its permits related to the Cumberland gas pipeline project in Tennessee after a U.S. appeals court put them on hold.

(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)