Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.

NYSE:  PAA

 

 

            Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. is engaged in the interstate and intrastate gathering, marketing, transportation and terminaling of crude oil and the marketing and storage of liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") and other petroleum products.  The partnership was formed in 1998 to acquire the midstream crude oil business and assets of Plains Resources, Inc.

 

            Plains’ operations are concentrated in Texas, Oklahoma, California and Louisiana and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and consist of the following principal business activities:

 

Ø                  Crude Oil Pipeline Transportation.  Plains owns and operates approximately 7,000 miles of gathering and mainline crude oil pipelines located throughout the United States and Canada. Activities from pipeline operations generally consist of transporting crude oil for a fee, third party leases of pipeline capacity, barrel exchanges and buy/sell arrangements.

 

Ø                  Terminaling and Storage Activities.  Plains owns and operates approximately 24.0 million barrels of above-ground crude oil terminaling and storage facilities, including the state-of-the-art, 3.1 million barrel crude oil terminaling and storage facility at Cushing, Oklahoma. Cushing is the largest crude oil trading hub in the United States and the designated delivery point for New York Mercantile Exchange, or NYMEX, crude oil futures contracts.  These operations generate revenue through a combination of storage and throughput charges to third parties. Storage tanks are also used to counter-cyclically balance Plains’ gathering and marketing operations and to execute different hedging strategies to lock in profits and reduce the negative impact of crude oil market volatility.

 

Ø                  Gathering and Marketing Activities.   Plains’ gathering and marketing operations include:

 

·                    The purchase of crude oil at the wellhead and the bulk purchase of crude oil at pipeline and terminal facilities;

 

·                    The transportation of crude oil on trucks, barges or pipelines, some of which are owned by Plains;

 

·                    The subsequent resale or exchange of crude oil at various points along the crude oil distribution chain; and

 

·                    The purchase of LPG from producers, refiners and other marketers, and sale of LPG to wholesalers, retailers, and industrial end users.

 

Plains’ business strategy is to capitalize on the regional crude oil supply and demand imbalances that exist in the United States and Canada by combining the strategic location and unique capabilities of its transportation and terminaling assets with its extensive marketing and distribution expertise to generate sustainable earnings and cash flow.  This strategy will be executed by:

 

Ø      Increasing and optimizing throughput on its pipeline and gathering assets and realizing cost efficiencies through operational improvements and potential strategic alliances;

 

Ø      Utilizing and expanding the Cushing Terminal and other assets to service the needs of refiners and to profit from merchant activities that take advantage of crude oil pricing and quality differentials;

 

Ø      Pursuing strategic and accretive acquisitions of crude oil transportation assets and businesses, including pipelines, gathering systems, terminaling and storage facilities, and other assets that complement Plains’ existing asset base and distribution capabilities; and

 

Ø      Optimizing and expanding Canadian operations to take advantage of anticipated increases in the volume and qualities of crude oil produced in, and exported from, Canada.

 

Plains engages in a similar business strategy, albeit to a lesser degree, with respect to the wholesale marketing and storage of LPG, which began as a result of an acquisition in mid 2001.

 

Plains also adheres to a financial strategy of maintaining a strong credit profile in order to maintain a competitive cost of capital and access to the capital markets.  Its target profile consists of an average long-term debt-to-total capitalization ratio of approximately 60% or less, and an average long-term debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) ratio of approximately 3.5x or less, and an average of average EBITDA-to-interest coverage ratio of approximately 3.3x or better.

 

For additional information on Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. contact

 

Carolyn F. Tice

Administrator of Investor Relations

Phone: 713-646-4491

Toll free: 800-564-3036

Fax: 713-646-4572

Email: [email protected]

    

or visit the Plains’ web site at http://www.plainsallamerican.com.

 

 

Financial Information from 2003 10-K

(in thousands, except per unit amounts)

 

 

2003

2002

 

 

 

Market value*

$1,100,000

$644,935

Current assets

$732,974

$602,935

Net property, plant and equipment

$ 1,151,039

$952,753

Total assets

$2,096,631

$1,666,600

Current liabilities

$801,919

$637,249

Long-term debt

$518,991

$509,700

Partners’ capital

$746,727

$511,610

Revenues

$12,849,589

$8,384,223

Operating income

$98,204

$94,560

Net income

$59,448

$65,292

Net income/unit

$1.01

$1.34

Distribution / unit     

$2.21

$2.14

High unit price

$32.82

$27.30

Low unit price

$24.20

$19.54

*As of June 30, 2003 and June 28, 2002.

 

 

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