MASTER LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS

Monday, August 11, 2008

Well we're back up 1.30 on the MLP index and over 261. Crude oil came off its low and so did the big energy stocks. Hoping the last hour keeps things firm around here.

BTW i much prefer a day like today instead of another one of these big spikes up that get sold off within a day or 2. A long period of base building is in order. So a modest up close on the index would be a bigger positive in my never to be humble opinion.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: UPDATE 1-Energy Transfer Q2 results beat market view
5:53 p.m. 08/11/2008

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Natural-gas infrastructure firm Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) reported second-quarter results ahead of analysts' expectations, helped partly by the rising demand for gas transportation out of the Barnett Shale and Bossier Sands.

Net income $165.7 million, compared with $157.5 million in the quarter ended may 31, 2007.

Earnings per limited partner unit fell to 60 cents from 71 cents, a year earlier.

The Dallas-based company, which is engaged in natural-gas mid-stream, transport and storage activities as well as propane retailing, said revenue rose 55 percent to $2.65 billion.

Analysts on average expected earnings of 45 cents per limited partner unit, excluding exceptional items, on revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares of the company closed up 66 cents at $41.87 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.; 8/11/2008 7:24 PM
Anonymous said...: does anyone have access to the Merrill downgrade of DCP?; 8/11/2008 7:44 PM
Anonymous said...: MarkWest Energy Partners Reports Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results Record $56 Million of Cash Available for Distribution to Common Unitholders Announces Increased Guidance for 2008 Distributable Cash Flow and Growth Capital
August 11, 2008 5:02 p.m.

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 11, 2008-- MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MWE) (the "Partnership") today reported record cash available for distribution to common unitholders, or distributable cash flow (DCF), of $56.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2008, and $111.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2008. As a Master Limited Partnership, cash distributions to common unitholders are largely determined based on DCF. A reconciliation of DCF to net income before tax, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, is provided within the financial tables of this press release.

The Partnership reported Adjusted EBITDA of $74.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2008, and $148.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2008. MarkWest believes the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it is commonly used by master limited partnerships in the midstream natural gas industry as an indicator of the strength and performance of ongoing business operations. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income before tax, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, is provided within the financial tables of this press release.

The Partnership reported a loss before provision for income tax for the three months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007, of $232.9 million and $10.2 million, respectively. For the six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007, the Partnership reported a loss before provision for income tax of $190.3 million and $8.7 million, respectively. The loss before provision for income tax for the three months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007, includes $253.1 million and $12.4 million, respectively, of non-cash costs associated with the mark-to-market of derivative instruments and compensation expense. Excluding these non-cash items, income before provision for income tax for the three months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007, would have been $20.2 million and $2.2 million, respectively. Similarly, the loss before provision for income tax for the six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007, includes $253.6 million and $9.9 million, respectively, of non-cash costs associated with the mark-to-market of derivative instruments and compensation expense. Excluding these non-cash items, income before provision for income tax for the six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007, would have been $63.3 million and $1.2 million, respectively.

The Partnership actively manages the commodity price risks associated with its physical positions in an effort to reduce downside volatility and to protect cash flows. The Partnership does not designate its derivative instruments as cash flow or fair value hedges, and therefore derivative instruments are marked-to-market in the current period, which can result in large, non-cash fluctuations to the income statement. The mark-to-market of derivative instruments is a direct result of forecasted changes in the price of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas.

On July 24, 2008, the board of directors of the general partner of MarkWest Energy Partners increased the Partnership's quarterly cash distribution to $0.63 per common unit for the second quarter of 2008, an increase of $0.10 per common unit compared to the distribution in the second quarter of 2007, and an increase of $0.03 per common unit compared to the distribution in the first quarter of 2008. The second quarter 2008 distribution will be paid on August 15, 2008, to unitholders of record on August 4, 2008.

"MarkWest had an outstanding second quarter that resulted in record distributable cash flow, 19 percent year-over-year distribution growth, and a conservative coverage ratio of 1.6 times," stated Frank Semple, President and Chief Executive Officer of MarkWest. "As a result of our strong financial performance through the first half of 2008, and the impact of our recently announced organic growth projects in Oklahoma and Appalachia, we increased our 2008 guidance for both growth capital and distributable cash flow. We raised over $660 million of additional capital in the second quarter which allowed us to pre-fund our expanded capital program for 2008 and we are in a great position to continue to grow our assets, cash flow and distributions for the foreseeable future."

SECOND QUARTER 2008 HIGHLIGHTS

Business Development
-- Appalachia - In conjunction with Range Resources, MarkWest
announced in June an agreement for MarkWest to construct and operate
gas gathering pipelines and processing facilities associated with
Range's Marcellus Shale acreage in the Appalachian Basin. The
projects associated with this agreement continue to expand and
MarkWest increased its anticipated 2008 investment to approximately
$75 million and currently anticipates investing up to an additional
$125 million in 2009.

-- Southeast Oklahoma - On July 31, 2008, MarkWest completed the
acquisition of PQ Gathering Assets, LLC, which owns gathering systems
primarily located in Pittsburg County in Southeast Oklahoma, from
Petroquest Energy, LLC for $41.3 million. MarkWest will invest up to
an additional $15 million in 2008 and $13 million in 2009 to support
the development of Petroquest's Woodford Shale and coal bed methane
initiatives in Southeast Oklahoma.

The Partnership announced on May 12, 2008, that it increased its
ownership interest in Centrahoma Processing LLC to 40 percent for
$12.0 million. On March 1, 2008, MarkWest acquired its initial 20
percent interest in Centrahoma for $11.6 million. Centrahoma operates
two cryogenic gas processing plants located in Southeast Oklahoma.
These plants are currently operating near their capacity of 100
million cubic feet per day of hydrocarbon-rich gas from the rapidly
expanding Woodford Shale play.

-- Western Oklahoma - On August 5, 2008, MarkWest signed a long-term
agreement with Newfield Exploration to construct a 60-mile pipeline
to gather and process Newfield's gas from the Granite Wash formation
in the Texas panhandle. Under this agreement, MarkWest acquired
Newfield's existing gathering system and will construct significant
additional gathering infrastructure. Gas gathered under this
agreement will be processed at the recently-completed Arapaho II
processing plant. MarkWest will also increase the number of
interstate pipeline connections from two to four. Over the next
three years, MarkWest expects to invest $95 million to $130 million
to support this new agreement.

Financial
-- In April 2008, the Partnership placed $500 million of senior notes
and completed a 5.75 million unit equity offering that raised
approximately $171 million in net proceeds. Both offerings were
significantly oversubscribed in a challenging capital market. As a
result of these capital markets transactions, the Partnership
continues to have a strong balance sheet with $278 million of cash
and cash equivalents and $285 million in undrawn capacity under its
credit facility at June 30, 2008.

-- Segment operating income for the second quarter of 2008 increased
by $44.3 million compared to the same period in 2007. The increase
was primarily attributable to:

-- An increase of $30.2 million in segment operating income for
the Southwest segment. The increase was due to higher natural gas
liquid (NGL) prices and higher volumes in East Texas and in
Oklahoma as the Partnership continues to increase its gathering
presence in southeast Oklahoma where volumes more than doubled.

-- An increase of $5.6 million in segment operating income for the
Northeast segment. This segment includes the results from
MarkWest Hydrocarbon, and was benefited by higher NGL prices and
modestly higher NGL sales volumes.

-- An increase of $8.5 million in segment operating income within
the Gulf Coast segment. The increase was due to higher product
prices and inlet volumes at the Partnership's Javelina facility.

-- Realized losses on derivative instruments, which are not included
in segment operating income, were $15.2 million in the second quarter
of 2008, compared to realized losses of $1.3 million in the second
quarter of 2007. The change of $13.9 million is due to the
significant increase in the price of crude oil and NGLs in the second
quarter of 2008 compared to the second quarter of 2007.

-- Selling, general and administrative expenses in the second quarter
of 2008 were $16.6 million, including $13.8 million of cash-related
SG&A. This was an increase of $2.2 million of cash SG&A compared to
the second quarter of 2007. The increase primarily resulted from
costs to support the growth of the Partnership.

Growth Capital Expenditures
-- For the three months and six months ended June 30, 2008,
expenditures for growth capital projects totaled approximately $108.2
million and $193.4 million, respectively. This represents an increase
of $23.6 million and $54.6 million, respectively, compared to the
corresponding periods in 2007. The increase was attributable to a
broad range of diverse growth capital projects in our core operating
areas, including the expansion of the Partnership's gas gathering and
processing capacity in western Oklahoma, southeast Oklahoma, and East
Texas; the expansion of the gas gathering, processing, and
fractionation capacity in the Appalachian region; and the
construction of the steam methane reformer at the Partnership's
Javelina facility.

2008 DCF AND GROWTH CAPITAL FORECAST
For 2008, the Partnership increased its forecast of DCF allocable to common unitholders from a range of $180 million to $200 million to a range of $220 million to $240 million.

The Partnership also increased its 2008 capital expenditure forecast from a range of $375 million to $425 million to a range of $500 million to $550 million to support existing and recently announced growth projects. Maintenance capital for 2008 is currently forecasted in a range of approximately $5 million to $8 million.

CONFERENCE CALL
The Partnership will host a conference call and webcast on Tuesday, August 12, 2008, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time to review its second quarter 2008 financial results. Interested parties can participate in the call by dialing (888) 560-8501, passcode "MarkWest," approximately ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. To access the webcast, please visit the Investor Relations section of the Partnership's website at www.markwest.com. A replay of the conference call will be available through Tuesday, August 26, 2008, on the MarkWest website or by dialing (866) 361-4938 (no passcode required).; 8/11/2008 8:31 PM
joewxman said...: more reasons to sell!

glory!; 8/12/2008 7:44 AM