May 4, 2015 [OPIS] - Buckeye Partners cited strong storage demand, particularly for crude oil, in its report Friday of higher first-quarter income from continuing operations, as well as sturdy pipeline and terminal throughput volumes.
Income from continuing operations in the January-March period was $112 million, up from $101.5 million a year earlier, the Houston-based midstream master limited partnership said. Income attributable to unitholders was 88cts per diluted unit in the first quarter, up from 87cts in the first quarter of 2014.
For its pipelines segment, Buckeye reported gasoline throughput of 695,000 b/d, up 6% year on year; jet fuel at 336,900 b/d, up 10%; and middle distillates at 413,600 b/d, up 2% versus a year earlier. Pipeline average tariff was 83.7cts/bbl, up from 83.1cts/bbl year on year.
Total products throughput at its terminals was 1,195,600 b/d, up 6.5% compared to the first quarter of 2014. The average capacity utilization rate for Buckeye’s global marine terminals was 93% in the first quarter of 2015, up from 85% in the same period of 2014.
Progress continues on the company’s construction of the new condensate splitter and refrigerated LPG storage capacity in Corpus Christi, Texas, which it expects to be operational in the third quarter of 2015, Buckeye said in the statement. In early February, the company had pegged the in-service date for the 50,000-b/d splitter and LPG capacity as mid-2015.
The condensate and naphtha storage now under construction at Buckeye’s Texas hub facility is expected to be in service in late 2015, the company said Friday.
