Tallgrass Energy looks to growth in international markets, hires executive

DENVER (Reuters) - U.S. pipeline operator Tallgrass Energy is looking for growth from international markets and recently hired a business development professional to lead such efforts, the company said on Wednesday.

Tallgrass hired Sally Sun in January as vice president of international business development to oversee its outreach to international customers "on a range of opportunities," the company said in a statement and according to Sun's LinkedIn profile.

Sun was previously Sempra LNG's vice president of marketing, origination and commercial development for Asia Pacific. She also worked as vice president of LNG marketing for Tellurian Inc from 2016 to 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Tallgrass operates both crude and natural gas pipelines around the United States, with a focus in the Rockies, upper Midwest and Appalachian regions. The company was acquired in 2020 for about $6.3 billion by a group led by private equity firm Blackstone Inc.

"We believe that international markets are a logical home for incremental U.S. energy production," a spokesperson for Tallgrass said in a statement, adding that the company's assets were a "critical link in the chain between energy producers and those markets."

"Better positioning ourselves by talking actively with international markets, and educating international customers about Tallgrass' assets, is critical," the spokesperson added.

Rival Williams recently hired two veteran executives to help set up a LNG marketing arm.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Leslie Adler)

By Liz Hampton