Cutting Cash Payouts to Investors May Put Energy MLPs on the Brink

摘要

While the commodity price slump's impact is far-reaching, it is particularly detrimental to one corner of the upstream energy sector: master limited partnerships (MLPs). And if market conditions don't improve soon, midstream MLPs could find themselves just as vulnerable. This year alone, four drillers structured as MLPs or similarly situated limited liability companies (LLCs) have suspended their cash distributions to investors, a desperation move that doesn't bode well for those companies' outlooks, analysts say.