Energy Transfer LP (ET)

In October 2018, Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) was renamed as Energy Transfer LP (ET) after it merged with Energy Transfer Equity (ETE).

• Sector: Energy
• Industry: Oil & Gas Midstream
• Full Time Employees: 29,486
• HQ:  Dallas, Texas
• http://www.energytransfer.com
• Master limited partnership; Forward Dividend & Yield 1.22 (8.29%)

Energy Transfer LP is a U.S. Fortune 500 natural gas and propane pipeline transport company
Energy Transfer LP provides diversified energy-related services in the United States. It owns and operates approximately 7,900 miles of natural gas transportation pipelines and three natural gas storage facilities in Texas; and approximately 11,800 miles of interstate natural gas pipelines. The company sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution companies, industrial end-users, and other marketing companies. It owns and operates natural gas and natural gas liquid (NGL) gathering pipelines, as well as natural gas processing plants, treating facilities, and conditioning facilities in Texas, New Mexico, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana; natural gas gathering, oil pipeline, and oil stabilization facilities in South Texas; a natural gas gathering system in Ohio; and transportation and supply of water to natural gas producers in Pennsylvania. The company also owns approximately 4,300 miles of NGL pipelines, 5 NGL and propane fractionation facilities, and NGL storage facilities with aggregate working storage capacity of approximately 53 million barrels.

-=Buckeye Partners, L.P. (BPL) reported earnings on Fri 4 May 2018 (b/o)

Buckeye Partners misses by $0.01, beats on revs 

• Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.74 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.75; revenues rose 22.8% year/year to $1.18 bln vs the $0.92 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Adjusted EBITDA (as defined below) for the first quarter of 2018 was $261.7 million compared to $277.5 million for the first quarter of 2017.

TC PipeLines, LP (TCP) reported earnings on Wed 2 May 2018 (b/o)

TC PipeLines, LP acquires, owns, and participates in the management of energy infrastructure businesses in North America. The company has interests in eight natural gas interstate pipeline systems that transport approximately 10.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from producing regions and import facilities to market hubs and consuming markets primarily in the Western, Midwestern, and Eastern United States.

• Forward Dividend & Yield 4.00 (11.57%)
• Sector: Energy
• Industry: Oil & Gas Midstream
• Houston, Texas
• http://www.tcpipelineslp.com

  ** charts after earnings **

 

HOUSTON, May 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TC PipeLines, LP (TCP) (the Partnership) today reported first quarter 2018 net income to controlling interests of $96 million and distributable cash flow of $112 million. Additionally, in light of the March 15, 2018 actions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and their potential adverse impact on our Partnership’s cash flow, the board of directors of TC PipeLines GP, Inc., the Partnership’s general partner, declared the Partnership’s first quarter 2018 cash distribution of $0.65 per common unit payable on May 15, 2018 to unitholders of record as of the close of business on May 9, 2018. This represents a 35 percent reduction from the distribution declared for the previous quarter. The reduced distribution level allows the Partnership to retain a portion of the operating cash generated by its pipeline systems, to repay a portion of our debt to maintain prudent financial metrics and to fund near-term capital requirements in lieu of additional equity issuances.

“This has been a quarter of significant changes for the Partnership. Our assets performed very well during the period, generating increased earnings and cash flow compared to the same quarter a year ago,” said Nathan Brown, president of TC PipeLines GP, Inc. “The recent winter period was long and cold and our pipelines served their markets with natural gas to heat homes and provide power, a testament to our focus on safe and reliable operations.”

First Quarter Highlights (All financial figures are unaudited)

• Generated net income attributable to controlling interests of $96 million
• Paid cash distributions of $91 million including $15 million paid to Class B units
• Declared cash distributions of $0.65 per common unit, down from our fourth quarter 2017 distribution of $1.00 per common unit
• Generated EBITDA of $150 million and distributable cash flow of $112 million
• Raised net proceeds of approximately $40 million (prior to March 15, 2018) through the Partnership’s At-the-Market (ATM) equity issuance program and through General Partner contributions
• Received FERC approval for Great Lakes and Northern Border rate settlements
• FERC proposed changes related to a number of income tax matters with respect to pipeline ratemaking

Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) tumble on FERC’s revised income tax policy

Master Limited Partnerships (AMLP, AMJ) fall to 52 week low after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announces it no longer will allow MLPs to recover an income tax allowance in the cost of service 

• MLP weakness: EEP -14.66% TCP -11.46% BPL -8.42% ETE -8.11% ETP -7.05% SNMP -7.37% NGL -6.19% SEP -6.28% NS -5.61% MMP -6.33% DM -6.69% PAGP -6.15% WPZ -5.55% VLP -6.04% BWP -4.96% SHLX -5.50% ANDX -5.28% DCP -4.58%
• By descending market cap: EPD -4.02% WPZ -5.51% MPLX -3.08%ETP -6.60% SEP -6.16% PAA -4.70% ETE -7.82% MMP-6.31% CQP-2.78% ANDX-5.19% WGP-1.38% WES-2.42% APO-1.40% BPL-8.63% EQGP-3.88% PSXP-4.70% ENBL-4.26% BEP-0.72% SHLX-5.46% 
• This is weighing on the Energy sector (XLE-0.6%)

 

In an unprecedented move, FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) revised its income tax policy for MLPs. MLPs, which aren’t taxed at the corporate level and which operate as pass-through entities, allocate their income to investors. Investors are taxed on their share of the net income. To compensate investors for the income tax burden, MLPs have been receiving an income tax allowance from customers on FERC-regulated pipelines.

Who's Protected from FERC's Revised Income Tax Policy?

No harm to C-corps

Midstream companies such as Kinder Morgan (KMI), Targa Resource (TRGP), and ONEOK (OKE) are taxed as C-corps, so the revised policy doesn’t apply to them. C-corps reacted negatively to the news, but they recovered by the end of the trading session. Williams Companies (WMB) and Enbridge Inc. (ENB), which are also C-corps, were an exception due to their GP-LP model and dependence on limited partnerships for their distribution income.

Non-regulated pipelines

Non-regulated pipelines—such as gathering pipelines and other intrastate pipelines—aren’t regulated by FERC, so they wouldn’t see much impact from the revised tax policy. The gathering MLPs include Antero Midstream Partners (AM), Cone Midstream Partners (CNNX), and EQT Midstream Partners (EQM).

Other midstream activities

Other midstream activities—such as natural gas processing, NGLs fractionation, and fuel terminaling and storage—shouldn’t have any impact on the revised policy, as prices in these cases aren’t regulated by FERC. They include MPLX LP (MPLX), Western Gas Partners (WES), and DCP Midstream (DCP).

However, most midstream MLPs have some exposure to interstate transportation and the sell-off across the sector.

Other value chain

MLPs that aren’t involved in midstream activities—such as upstream MLPs, downstream MLPs, frac-sand producers, catalytic conversion, and midstream services—should see no impact from the revised policy. They include Legacy Reserves (LGCY), Hi-Crush Partners (HCLP), CSI Compressco LP (CCLP), and CVR Refining (CVRR).

Shell Midstream Partners (SHLX) increases quarterly distribution to $0.333/unit

• Shell Midstream Partners increases quarterly distribution to $0.333/unit from $0.318/unit

 

Shell Midstream Partners (SHLX) reported earnings on Fri 3 Nov 2017 (b/o)

Pipeline transportation of crude oil company

• Headquarters: Houston, TX
• Founded: 2014
• shellmidstreampartners.com
• Div/yield 0.32/4.87

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

Shell Midstream Partners beats by $0.03, beats on revs; co declared a cash distribution of $0.3180/limited partnership for Q3, a 4.6% increase 

• Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.31 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.28; revenues rose 39.0% year/year to $94.4 mln vs the $86.36 mln Capital IQ Consensus
• Cash available for distribution was $83.9 million, compared to $88.7 million for the prior quarter, driven by better underlying performance offset by impacts from Hurricane Harvey
• Total cash distribution declared was $77.4 million resulting in a 1.1x coverage ratio
• "Underlying performance across Shell Midstream Partners in the third quarter was good: throughput volumes increased across the portfolio, distribution growth remained in line with our promise, and we achieved a 1.1x coverage ratio for the quarter. And these positive results were accomplished despite the impact of Hurricane Harvey, which as everyone knows, was a significant event for the Texas Gulf Coast" said John Hollowell, CEO of Shell Midstream Partners