U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc on Wednesday posted a second straight quarterly loss as it took a $1-billion impairment charge after a steep fall in natural gas prices caused by the coronavirus crisis hurt the value of some of its assets.

Energy companies have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic that slashed energy demand by about 30%, hurting natural gas prices and leading to lower demand for crude to be refined into products.

"Sharp declines in crude oil and natural gas production along with reduced demand for refined products due to the economic shutdown in the wake of the pandemic clearly affected our business and will continue to do so in the near term", KMI President Kim Dang said.

The company's CO2 segment, which ships carbon dioxide to oilfields for extracting crude, also came under pressure due to lower production and volatile oil prices.

Net loss attributable to the company stood at $637 million, or 28 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, compared with a profit of $518 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company reported a profit of 17 cents per share.