SEC

After dodging the huge tariffs on exports of U.S. LPG and ethane to China — at least until August 12 — a new wrinkle has emerged. Enterprise Products Partners said in a filing May 29 that the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has flagged its exports of butane and ethane to China as a security risk; specifically, that they pose an “unacceptable risk of use in or diversion to a military end use.” Details about the licenses and how they will apply are limited at this point, but it appears they will be required for these exports to continue. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the potential impact on the ethane and butane markets. 

When prospective investors look at a company’s U.S. or Canadian regulatory filings, many of them may mistakenly believe they are getting a complete and accurate assessment of the crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) that could technically and economically be produced from the acreage the company controls. In fact, the rules governing the tallying of proved reserves are anything but straightforward and often result in a significant underestimation of the hydrocarbon volumes waiting to be produced. That is particularly true when it comes to reserves in shale plays, which many would argue are the most important reserves of all in today’s energy market. Today we begin a blog series that considers the arcane world of corporate reporting of proved hydrocarbon reserves and the importance of understanding the reporting rules.

Valero is the latest in a long line of US midstream companies to file their Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) for an IPO – expected early in the New Year. These popular tax efficient entities were created over 25 years ago to encourage energy infrastructure investment. In the last four years the number of MLPs has shot up 50 percent. Today we describe how Valero’s MLP is structured.