April 26, 2012 [OPIS] - NuStar Energy LP today announced first quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $96.8 million, compared to first quarter 2011 EBITDA of $92.9 million.
“Our storage and transportation segments continue to benefit from several internal growth projects completed in 2011,” said Curt Anastasio, Chief Executive Officer and President of NuStar Energy LP and NuStar GP Holdings LLC.
“As a result, EBITDA in both our storage and transportation segments were higher than last year’s first quarter.” Anastasio said the storage segment benefited primarily from the completion in third quarter 2011 of a storage expansion project at the St. James, La., terminal facility.
Increased throughputs and new revenue streams from two Eagle Ford shale internal growth projects completed in the last half of 2011 contributed to improved results in the transportation segment.
Full-Year 2012 Outlook
“We expect 2012 distributable cash flow and EBITDA results to be higher than 2011,” Anastasio said. “NuStar’s results for the remainder of this year should benefit from several additional internal growth projects completed in 2012.”
Storage segment EBITDA is expected to be $30 million to $40 million higher than in 2011. The segment should benefit from last year’s storage terminal expansion project plus the April 2012 completion of a unit train offloading facility project, both at the St. James, La., storage facility.
In regard to internal growth spending, Anastasio added, “Our list of internal growth projects continues to expand as we identify additional profitable capital projects. Currently we expect to spend $400-$450 million on internal growth projects during 2012 that should contribute to our EBITDA growth over the next several years.”
NuStar Energy LP is a publicly traded, limited partnership based in San Antonio, with:84 terminal and storage facilities that store and distribute crude oil, refined products and specialty liquids.
NuStar has operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico (Laredo storage terminal), the Netherlands (Amsterdam storage terminal), including St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom (Grays, Eastham, Runcorn, Clydebank, Grangemouth, Belfast) and Turkey (Aves, Soil).
