Tag Archives: Spectra Energy

Another Day, Another Potential Chesapeake Energy Asset Sale

By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy, The Motley Fool

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After selling about $10.8 billion in assets throughout 2012, it looks as though Chesapeake Energy is on track for more big sales in 2013. The company just announced this week that it plans to sell 98,000 acres in the Utica shale region of Ohio. Once the sale is completed, it will be the third large influx of capital this year, after the company inked $3.2 billion in joint ventures with Sinopec and Total this year. 

While the assets for sale are a more speculative play that has yet to be fully assessed, assets in the Utica could be a hot commodity. With a stronger liquids profile than its neighbor the Marcellus, midstream companies are investing big money to bring pipeline online in the region to increase takeaway capacity. In this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe looks at what this asset sale means to Chesapeake’s presence in the Utica and who could be some potential buyers for this stake.

With each new sale and joint-venture deal, Chesapeake is slowly digging itself out of its massive debt hole and resembling a powerhouse in the energy space. With huge land holdings in some of the most promising shale plays in the United States, Chesapeake still has enormous potential. Let us help you better understand this U.S. energy giant by checking out The Motley Fool’s brand-new premium report on the company. Simply click here now to access your copy.

The article Another Day, Another Potential Chesapeake Energy Asset Sale originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Aimee Duffy has no position in any stocks mentioned. Fool contributor Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow them both on Twitter, @TMFDuffy and @TylerCroweFool, respectively.
The Motley Fool recommends Chevron, Spectra Energy., and Total and has options on Chesapeake Energy. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/13/chesapeake-energy-looking-to-sellagain/

Sleep Soundly With These Investments

By Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool

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Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you’d like to add some socially responsible stocks to your portfolio, the iShares MSCI Select Socially Responsible ETF could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.

The basics
ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The iShares ETF‘s expense ratio — its annual fee — is a relatively low 0.50%. The fund is on the small side, so if you’re thinking of buying, beware of possibly large spreads between its bid and ask prices. Consider using a limit order if you want to buy in.

This ETF has underperformed the S&P 500 over the past three and five years, though it’s handily topping it so far this year. As with most investments, of course, we can’t expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.

Why socially responsible?
More than a handful of socially responsible companies had strong performances over the past year. Eaton surged 29%, with the power management company shifting its focus from international projects to more U.S.-based ones. Management recently projected revenue growth of 42% in 2013 and that operating earnings will set a record. Eaton has also started seeing its inventories of heavy equipment start to shrink, which is promising. Goldman Sachs recently recommended the stock, but Fool contributor Rich Smith would steer clear, due to Eaton’s debt and valuation. Among many environmental initiatives, the company has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% since 2006.

Procter & Gamble gained 19%. The company has been struggling in recent years that featured anemic revenue growth and, until this past year, shrinking earnings. Its strong second quarter was in large part due to cost-cutting, with promises of innovation-driven growth ahead. Among many socially responsible initiatives, it has been cutting its energy and water use and reducing its waste output as well — in all cases by double-digit percentage rates over the past few years.

Aerospace and defense electronics specialist Rockwell Collins advanced 12%, recently hitting a 52-week high. Due to possible and actual cutbacks in military spending, the company has been shifting more of its attention to the commercial arena and has shrunk its workforce some, too, due to sequestration effects. The company has laid out its sustainability goals, such as a 15% reduction in greenhouse gases and issues regular reports on its progress.

Other companies didn’t do as well last year, but could see their fortunes change in the coming years. Natural gas specialist Spectra Energy gained 2%, for example. The company has been inking some promising …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

This MLP Spinoff Will Be Hard to Resist

By Aimee Duffy, The Motley Fool

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It’s official: Phillips 66 is going to IPO a master limited partnership before the end of this year. The company announced yesterday it has filed registration paperwork with the SEC. Currently a wholly owned subsidiary, Phillips 66 Partners will trade under the ticker PSXP. Management has yet to decide how many limited partner units will be offered, or how they will be priced, but it intends to raise about $300 million in proceeds from the sale. This could be a great opportunity for investors looking for a stable business to add to their portfolios. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the midstream story at Phillips 66. 

Midstream at PSX
Phillips 66 has a significant midstream business, and reorganizing into an MLP makes plenty of sense. The assets that will fall under the Phillips 66 Partners entity include:

  • Clifton Ridge crude oil pipeline
  • Terminals and storage in Louisiana, Illinois, and Texas
  • Sweeny to Pasadena refined products pipeline
  • Hartford Connector refined products pipeline
  • 3 NGL fractionators: 130,000 bpd capacity 

Phillips 66 also holds a 50% interest in DCP Midstream, the parent company of DCP Midstream Partners . Spectra Energy holds the other 50% stake. DCP specializes in natural gas gathering systems, and is also one of the largest producers and marketers of natural gas liquids in the U.S. The company produced 400,000 bpd of NGLs, and contributed EBITDA of $1.1 billion to Phillips 66 in 2012. .

Room to run
Phillips 66 Partners will IPO in the second half of this year, but don’t expect this MLP to sit still for very long. Management sees compelling growth opportunities ahead, especially in exports, and is looking to significantly increase full-year EBITDA from the current level of about $180 million.

Both Phillips 66 and DCP Midstream have a strong asset footprint on the Gulf Coast, which makes it easy to target export growth. PSXP will focus on international markets for petrochemicals and heating, specifically aiming to increase exports of liquefied petroleum gas and NGLs.

DCP Midstream is also targeting growth, and it expects to grow its NGL production by 25% over the next five years.

Foolish takeaway
I encourage Fools interested in this IPO to take a long look at the prospectus, once it becomes available on the SEC website. Specifically, look for an indication of what level of commodity risk PSXP will be exposed to. NGL prices have wreaked havoc on the industry in the past, and by Phillips 66’s own calculation, a $0.01 change in NGL prices causes a $4 million change in net income.  If PSX structures fee-based contracts with the new MLP, this IPO will be hard to resist.

Enterprise Products Partners is another midstream company targeting export growth. To help investors decide whether Enterprise Products Partners is a buy or a sell today, click here now to check out The Motley Fool’s brand new premium research report on the company.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

QEP Resources Nominates Candidate for Board of Directors

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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QEP Resources Nominates Candidate for Board of Directors

DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)– QEP Resources, Inc. (NYSE: QEP, “QEP” or the “Company”) today announced its Board of Directors has nominated Julie A. Dill to stand for election to QEP‘s Board. Her name will appear in the Company’s 2013 proxy statement.

Dill is currently group vice president of strategy for Spectra Energy; and president and chief executive officer of Spectra Energy Partners, LP, the $4 billion market capitalization master limited partnership formed by Spectra Energy. Before assuming her current roles in January 2012, Dill served as president of Union Gas Limited, Spectra Energy‘s major Canadian natural gas utility company. Dill’s previous positions include: group executive of investor relations and chief communications officer, Duke Energy; senior vice president of planning and finance, chief financial officer, and executive vice president – Asia Pacific, Duke Energy International; and several leadership capacities with Royal Dutch Shell company that included assignments in exploration and production, internal auditing, and refining and marketing.

Ms. Dill received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from New Mexico State University, where she graduated summa cum laude.

“We are pleased to announce the nomination of Julie Dill to our Board,” said Chuck Stanley, Chairman, President and CEO of QEP Resources. “Julie’s more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, her strong financial background, and her operational and commercial expertise will bring valuable knowledge to our Board, the Company, and our shareholders.”

About QEP Resources

QEP Resources, Inc. (NYS: QEP) is a leading independent natural gas and crude oil exploration and production company focused in two major regions: the Northern Region (primarily in the Rockies and the Williston Basin) and the Southern Region (primarily Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, and Louisiana) of the United States. QEP Resources also gathers, compresses, treats, processes and stores natural gas. For more information, visit QEP Resources’ website at: www.qepres.com.

QEP Resources, Inc.
Greg Bensen, 303-405-6665
Director, Investor Relations

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Colorado

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:

The article QEP Resources Nominates Candidate for Board of Directors originally appeared on Fool.com.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Inside Kinder Morgan: KM Canada

By Aimee Duffy, The Motley Fool

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Based on combined enterprise value, Kinder Morgan is the third-largest energy company in North America. We tend to associate the giant with its 75,000 miles of pipelines, but in reality its operations are incredibly diverse. Over the next few days, I’ll take a closer look at each of the midstream company’s five distinct business units. I’ve already tackled terminalsnatural gas pipelines, and products pipelines, so today we’ll break down the partnership’s Canada segment.

Background on the assets
Kinder Morgan Canada consists of five pipeline systems and two terminals. The capacity of the pipeline systems are broken out below:

  • Trans Mountain (crude oil, refined products): 300,000 bpd 
  • Trans Mountain Jet Fuel (jet fuel): 45,000 bpd 
  • Puget Sound (crude oil, refined products): 180,000 bpd
  • Express & Platte (crude oil): Express, 280,000 bpd; Platte, ~150,000 bpd
  • Cochin (propane): 70,000 bpd

There are five terminals that are technically part of the Trans Mountain pipeline system. The biggest one is the Edmonton terminal, which features 19 storage tanks and a current capacity of 2.5 million barrels.

The two main terminals are operated by a Kinder Morgan Energy Partners subsidiary, cleverly titled Kinder Morgan Canada Terminals. Its North Forty terminal is located east of Edmonton. It provides storage and blending services for crude oil and petroleum products and has a capacity of 2.2 million barrels. Its Vancouver Wharves terminal sits in Port Metro, British Columbia, and handles over 3 million tons of bulk cargo every year.

From a fiscal standpoint, Kinder Morgan Canada makes the smallest contribution to the bottom line out of all of the partnership’s business segments. It earned $71 million in the fourth quarter of last year, which was a 38% increase over 2011. At the end of 2012, Kinder Morgan sold its ownership interest in the Express-Platte pipeline system to Spectra Energy, which will affect earnings in the short term. That being said, this segment is going to be a powerhouse in five years, based largely on some expansion work.

A look ahead
The biggest news for the segment is the potential growth of the Trans Mountain line, which we’ll get to in a minute. First, let’s cover the expansion of the Edmonton terminal, which sits on the Trans Mountain line.

In January, Kinder Morgan announced that it had secured contracts that would support the additional expansion of the facility. This would be phase two of the build out (phase one is already under way), and it will add 1.2 million barrels of additional storage capacity to the site. The partnership expects to spend $112 million to bring the new capacity online by the end of 2014. Once completed, the Edmonton terminal will have a total capacity of 9.4 million barrels.

And now on to the Trans Mountain expansion. As stated above, the current capacity is 300,000 barrels per day. Management was originally looking to increase that number to 750,000 bpd, but received so much interest during its open season, that the target is now …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Infrastructure Stocks Poised to Grow and Deliver Dividends

By Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool

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Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you’d like to add some global infrastructure stocks to your portfolio, the SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Global Infrastructure 100 ETF could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.

The basics
ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The SPDR ETF‘s expense ratio — its annual fee — is 0.59%, and it recently yielded 3.2%. The fund is fairly small, too, so if you’re thinking of buying, beware of possibly large spreads between its bid and ask prices. Consider using a limit order if you want to buy in.

This ETF has underperformed in recent years, lagging the world market over the past three and five years. As with most investments, of course, we can’t expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.

With a low turnover rate of 10%, this fund isn’t frantically and frequently rejiggering its holdings, as many funds do.

Why global infrastructure?
Our global economic slump won’t last forever, and there are already signs of life here and there. Thus, companies specializing in materials and utilities are poised to prosper as construction and infrastructure projects get under way and manufacturing kicks into a higher gear.

More than a handful of global infrastructure companies had strong performances over the past year. Utility company PPL , for example, advanced 16%. Yielding 4.8%, it recently hit a 52-week high, but its debt has been growing, too, along with capital spending. The company has been focusing more on regulated generation, which tends to be less risky. Bulls like its adoption of greener smart grid technology, and management is optimistic about 2013.

National Grid gained 15%, and offers a hefty yield. With extensive operations in the U.S. and the U.K., it’s investing in clean energies, which is promising, but its growth has stalled in recent years, and some fear a dividend cut. Others have been dismayed by the company buying back shares at relatively rich values.

Other companies didn’t do as well last year, but could see their fortunes change in the coming years. Natural gas specialist Spectra Energy shed 3%, and yields 4.2%. Growth initiatives have included opening a new natural-gas processing plant in British Columbia, and expanding its pipeline to deliver more natural-gas capacity to the New York-New Jersey region. It’s also been inking some promising partnerships. Its fourth-quarter earnings were pressured by lower commodity prices.

Exelon , the nation’s largest nuclear-power company, lost 12%, and recently slashed its dividend by 41%. The company has been hurt by the relatively high cost of nuclear energy in an environment of very low gas prices, but the current situation won’t last forever, and Exelon is …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance