EAGLE ROCK ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P. - COMMON UNITS RE Reports Operating Results (10-Q)

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Aug 06, 2010
EAGLE ROCK ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P. - COMMON UNITS RE (EROC, Financial) filed Quarterly Report for the period ended 2010-06-30.

Eagle Rock Energy Partners, L.p. - Common Units Re has a market cap of $370.6 million; its shares were traded at around $6.1 with a P/E ratio of 16.9 and P/S ratio of 0.5. The dividend yield of Eagle Rock Energy Partners, L.p. - Common Units Re stocks is 1.6%.EROC is in the portfolios of Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies LLC.

Highlight of Business Operations:

Adjusted EBITDA, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009, excludes amortization of commodity hedge costs (including costs of hedge reset transactions) of $0.4 million, $3.1 million, $11.1 million and $23.3 million, respectively. Including these amortization costs, our Adjusted EBITDA for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009 would have been $31.7 million, $60.7 million, $30.5 million and $56.7 million, respectively.

Revenues and Cost of Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, revenues minus cost of natural gas and NGLs for our Texas Panhandle Segment operations totaled $29.3 million and $56.0 million, respectively, compared to $19.6 million and $33.4 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009. The increase is primarily driven by the higher NGL, natural gas and condensate pricing as compared to pricing in 2009. This increase for the six months ended June 30, 2010 was partially offset by inclement weather during the first quarter of 2010, which management estimates negatively impacted operating income in the Texas Panhandle Segment by approximately $1.0 million.

Operating Expenses. Operating expenses, including taxes other than income, were $8.4 million and $16.5 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, compared to $8.1 million and $16.2 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009. The $0.3 million increase for three and six months ended June 30, 2010 can be primarily attributed to higher maintenance costs.

Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 were $11.6 million and $23.2 million, respectively, compared to $11.0 million and $22.1 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009. The major item impacting the $0.7 million and $1.2 million increases was depreciation expense associated with the capital expenditures placed into service during the period.

Revenues and Cost of Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, revenues minus cost of natural gas and NGLs for our East Texas/Louisiana Segment totaled $16.3 million and $30.5 million, respectively, compared to $11.4 million and $21.0 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 and 2009, we received deficiency payments of $6.5 million, $8.1 million, $0.3 million and $0.3 million, respectively, from certain of our producers due to lower than anticipated volumes. These amounts are included within gathering and treating services revenue. Excluding these deficiency payments, revenues minus cost of natural gas and NGLs for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 would have been $9.8 million and $22.4 million, respectively. The decrease for the three months ended June 30, 2010 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2009, excluding the impact of the deficiency payments, is primarily due to the decrease in volumes, partially offset by higher commodity prices. The increase for the six months ended June 30, 2010 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2009, excluding the impact of the deficiency payments, is primarily due to higher commodity prices and higher NGL equity gallons due to recovery of additional ethane gallons. During the first two months of 2009, we were operating our facilities in ethane rejection mode. Ethane rejection mode is when we elect to not recover the ethane component in the natural gas stream in our plants and instead choose to leave the ethane component in the residue gas stream sold at the tailgate of our plants. We operate in this manner when the value of ethane is worth more in the gas stream than as a separate component.

Operating Expenses. Operating expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 were $4.2 million and $8.4 million, respectively, compared to $4.6 million and $9.2 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009. The major items impacting the $0.4 million and $0.8 million decreases in operating expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 was due to overall cost reduction initiatives implemented across the segment in operating expenses.

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