so why did kinder morgan's headline numbers fall short?ear declines in earnings and cash flow are, quote, largely related to increased interest expense which was anticipated in the company's 2023 budget guidance, end quote. the company went on to say that, quote, it finished the year slightly behind its budget due to lower commodity prices. that makes you feel a tad better about the soft results. kinder morgan got hit with higher interest expenses when rates were rising rapidly as they did last year. but now long rates have already peaked and pulled back stushlly from the highs. at the same time they missed their internal targets largely because of lower commodity prices. but oil and gas were already headed higher again. if you believe carley garner, our resident commodities expert saying crude could go up to as much as 100 bucks i like this story. kinder morgan said its nachb gas pipeline segment -- by the way, that's its largest business unit, not oil. saw its financial performance down slightly across most of the network in the fourth q