Kinder Morgan announced that the company planned to consolidate its master limited partnerships (MLP) in the largest energy merger since the turn of the century. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and El Paso Pipeline Partners will combine with their parent company in a $71 billion deal that could create the third largest energy company in the United States behind Exxon and Chevron.

The Houston-based company, a combined enterprise value estimated at nearly $140 billion, was exempt from paying corporate income taxes for years because of its MLP status, which allows companies in the natural resource industry to avoid taxes if they use most of their profits to pay shareholders. But the company will now shed that status to have the freedom to achieve what CEO Richard Kinder called, “turbo-charged growth.”

Kinder Morgan currently owns enough pipelines to wrap around the world three times over, but the company could grow its infrastructure even more. According to Bloomberg, the ever-expanding shale gas industry could require $640 billion in new pipelines and tanks throughout the next two decades to house and transport the influx of natural gas. Pipelines make money outside of shifting oil and gas prices, charging for how much volume flows through their infrastructure. By losing its MLP status, Kinder Morgan could streamline operations while reinvesting profits in expansion. 

In the end, the giant could profit billions from the deal in its ability to acquire and expand. Yet it still expects to see $20 billion in income tax savings throughout the next 14 years, according to the New York Times — more than $1 billion in tax-exemptions per year.  

Exxon, with a gross income of nearly $90 billion, paid $1.6 billion in U.S. income taxes in 2013 while Chevron, with a gross income of $36 billion, paid $1.5 billion in domestic income taxes, according to Market Watch.