Five things you need to know in Texas energy this week

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Rich Kinder has set a Nov. 20 date for the vote to consolidate all of the Kinder entities into one Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI).

Jordan Blum

Reporter- Houston Business Journal

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Put on your finest oilfield coveralls and get ready for Halloween.

Here are five things to know this week in Texas energy:

— Sure, Halloween isn't quite here yet. But Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) wants to offer a potential pre-Thanksgiving feast for shareholders in the form of a Nov. 20 special meeting to close on a $70 billion deal to consolidate into one KMI entity. Kinder Morgan plans to acquire Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP), Kinder Morgan Management LLC (NYSE: KMR) and El Paso Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE: EPB). If things don't go as proposed, maybe it will turn into a post-Halloween trick instead.

— The third-quarter earnings reports for Texas-based energy companies will keep rolling in. Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) and National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) are among the many companies releasing their earnings this week. Stay tuned to HoustonBusinessJournal.com for updates on those reports.

— Even with lower oil prices, the shale boom continues to fuel upstream energy growth. But, as logic would have it, midstream companies are growing at a faster clip as North America's energy infrastructure rushes to catch up to the skyrocketing oil and gas production levels this country has seen in recent years.

— Sure, we're all sick and tired of the election commercials. At least we've learned that a wheelchair can travel faster than Austin's highway traffic. But what do Texas' gubernatorial candidates have to say about economic development and energy policy? The Texas Business Journals asked in this week's subscriber-only statewide centerpiece.

Jordan Blum covers energy for the Houston Business Journal. Read the top Texas energy news in our free weekly newsletter, Energy Inc. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Inc. newsletter.