石油行业中游公司开始感受到压力

据今日油价6月13日报道，尽管能源基础设施运营商采用收费和按需付费的商业模式，但中游行业仍无法幸免油价暴跌和上游运营商为应对价格暴跌而实施停产带来的影响。穆迪投资者服务公司(Moody's Investors Service)在本周发布的一份新报告中表示，随着油气行业面临供需双重冲击，油气产量迅速下降，全球油气基础设施公司将受到影响。

该评级机构表示，中游能源板块将无法完全抵消产量下降和价格暴跌的影响，并首次将其对全球中游能源板块的展望从“稳定”调整为“负面”。

穆迪表示："虽然该行业的资产基础主要由‘必须运营’的基础设施组成，但并非所有收入和收益都能完全免受大宗商品价格和成交量风险的影响，一些中游板块比其他板块更容易受到价格和产量下跌的影响。”

根据穆迪公司的预测，由于当前的供需失衡和油气产量下降，该行业的息税折旧及摊销前利润（EBITDA）今年将至少下降5%。不过，该评级机构预计中游行业明年将逐步恢复盈利增长。

穆迪副总裁安德鲁布鲁克斯(Andrew Brooks)表示:“全球中游产业的负面前景，反映出产量下滑的速度之快和幅度之大，已影响到中游业务，并将在未来12至18个月损害该行业的信贷质量。”

德州和俄克拉何马州驳回了支持定量配给的想法，这一事实帮助了美国的中游行业。安德鲁称："除了可能以低效的方式关闭生产之外，强制减产可能还让陷入困境的生产商避免了最低产量承诺以及向其中游交易对手支付的相关差额。"

随着强制性减产的想法落空，美国能源基础设施避免了更糟糕的后果，但由于油价暴跌，中游行业也不能完全免受石油产量减少的影响。

伍德麦肯兹本月早些时候表示，产量下降导致管道利用率大幅下降。

王佳晶 摘译自 今日油价

原文如下：

Midstream Oil Companies Are Beginning To Feel The Pinch

Despite the fee-based and take-or-pay business models of energy infrastructure operators, the midstream sector is not immune to the oil price crash and the production shut-ins that upstream operators undertook in response to collapsing prices. Oil and gas infrastructure companies worldwide will be impacted by the rapid reduction of oil and gas volumes as the broader oil and gas industry struggles with the simultaneous demand and supply shocks, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report this week.

The midstream sector will not be able to offset the lower volume throughput and crash in prices fully, the rating agency said, changing its outlook on the global midstream energy sector to "negative" from "stable" for the first time.

"While the sector's asset base consists mainly of "must-run" infrastructure, not all its revenue and earnings are fully protected from commodity price and volume risks, with some midstream segments more vulnerable to price and production declines than others," Moody's said.

According to Moody's, the sector's aggregate earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) will drop by at least 5 percent this year, due to the current supply-demand imbalance and lower oil and gas production. However, the rating agency expects the midstream sector to recover its earnings growth next year gradually.

"The negative outlook for the global midstream sector reflects the rapid pace and magnitude of production declines that have now spilled into midstream operations and will compromise the sector's credit quality over the next 12 to 18 months," Andrew Brooks, a Moody's VP-Senior Credit Officer, said.

The fact that the idea of pro-rationing was dismissed in Texas and Oklahoma helped the midstream sector in the U.S., according to Alerian.

"In addition to potentially shutting-in production in an inefficient manner, mandated cuts may have allowed struggling producers to avoid minimum volume commitments and the related deficiency payments to their midstream counterparties," Alerian said.

The U.S. energy infrastructure was spared worse consequences as ideas of mandatory cuts fell through, but the midstream sector is not entirely safe from the reduced oil production due to the price crash.

Lower production volumes have resulted in a sharp drop in utilization rates on pipelines, Wood Mackenzie said earlier this month.