Buckeye Partners’ adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $86.6 million compared to $72.6 million in the first quarter of the prior year. Operating income in the first quarter of 2009 was $70.1 million compared with operating income of $58.1 million in the first quarter of 2008.
The board of directors of Buckeye GP LLC, the general partner of Buckeye, declared a regular quarterly partnership cash distribution of $0.90 per LP unit, payable on May 29, 2009 to unitholders of record on May 11, 2009. This cash distribution represents a quarterly increase in the distribution of $0.0125 per LP unit and an annualized cash distribution level of $3.60 per LP unit. This is the 89th consecutive quarterly cash distribution paid by Buckeye.
Forrest E. Wylie, chairman and chief executive officer of Buckeye GP LLC, stated, “We are extremely pleased to report that, despite the overall weakness in the general economy, the first quarter of 2009 was another successful period for Buckeye. Our revenues, Adjusted EBITDA, operating income, and earnings all increased significantly relative to the first quarter of 2008, with particularly strong contributions from our largest operating segment, Pipeline Operations, and our two newest segments, Natural Gas Storage and Energy Services. Increased tariffs and effective cost management in our Pipeline Operations segment more than offset a modest 1% decline in transportation volumes in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year. Our Terminalling and Storage segment experienced lower earnings during the first quarter of 2009 largely due to lower settlement revenues driven by lower commodity pricing. We were encouraged to see product volumes in our Terminalling and Storage segment that essentially were flat compared to the same period in the prior year. Increased hub services revenues in our Natural Gas Storage segment also contributed to the increase in Adjusted EBITDA. Additionally, we are extremely pleased with the performance of our Energy Services segment, which benefited from higher volumes and improved margins in its refined petroleum product marketing business during the first quarter of 2009. As we previously announced, we successfully completed a public offering of 2.6 million LP units in March and an additional 390,000 LP units from the exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option, which further strengthened our financial position and improved our ability to take advantage of opportunities that may arise during the balance of 2009. Based on our overall financial performance in the first quarter, we are pleased to announce another increase in our quarterly cash distribution to unitholders.”
