Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) 2021 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Enterprise Products Partners L.P. Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Enterprise Products Partners L.P. 2021 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Randy Burkhalter, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給今天的發言人、投資者關係副總裁蘭迪·伯克哈爾特 (Randy Burkhalter)。請繼續。

Thank you, Shannon. Good morning, and welcome, everyone, to the Enterprise Products Partners conference call to discuss second quarter 2021 earnings. Our speakers today will be Co-Chief Executive Officers of Enterprise's General Partner, Jim Teague and Randy Fowler. Other members of our senior management team are also in attendance for the call today.

謝謝你，香農。早安，歡迎大家參加企業產品夥伴電話會議，討論 2021 年第二季財報。今天我們的演講者是 Enterprise 普通合夥人的聯合執行長吉姆·蒂格 (Jim Teague) 和蘭迪·福勒 (Randy Fowler)。我們高階管理團隊的其他成員也出席了今天的電話會議。

During this call, we will make forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 based on the beliefs of the company as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Enterprise's management team. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Please refer to our latest filings with the SEC for a list of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements made during this call.

在本次電話會議中，我們將根據 1934 年《證券交易法》第 21E 條的含義，根據公司的信念以及 Enterprise 管理團隊所做的假設和當前可獲得的信息，做出前瞻性陳述。儘管管理階層認為此類前瞻性聲明中反映的預期是合理的，但不能保證此類預期將被證明是正確的。請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新文件，以了解可能導致實際結果與本次電話會議期間做出的前瞻性聲明中的結果有重大差異的因素清單。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Jim.

有了這個，我會把它交給吉姆。

Thank you, Randy. We -- our businesses continued to perform extremely well during the second quarter. We reported over $2 billion of EBITDA for the second quarter. Our distributable cash flow was 1.6x coverage. Cash flow from operations for the second quarter was $2 billion which more than fully funded both our CapEx and our distributions. So as we sit halfway through the year, our distributable cash flow totaled $3.3 billion, providing $1.35 billion in retained cash.

謝謝你，蘭迪。我們的業務在第二季度繼續表現出色。我們公佈的第二季 EBITDA 超過 20 億美元。我們的可分配現金流量是覆蓋率的 1.6 倍。第二季營運現金流為 20 億美元，足以為我們的資本支出和分配提供充足資金。因此，今年過半時，我們的可分配現金流量總計為 33 億美元，留存現金為 13.5 億美元。

Second quarter results reflect the ongoing recovery in demand for hydrocarbons as the global economy continues to reopen from COVID lockdowns. Our liquids pipelines transported 6.4 million barrels a day in the second quarter. Our natural gas pipelines transported 14.2 billion BTUs a day for the second quarter that equaled 2019 volumes. Summing it all up in crude oil equivalent, we transported 10.2 million barrels a day. Our fractionation volumes remained strong at or near record of 1.2 million barrels a day. Our propylene production for the second quarter of 2021 was a record 113,000 barrels a day, and liquid volumes handled by our marine terminals for the second quarter were 1.6 million barrels a day, which continues to lag pre-pandemic first quarter '20 performance of 2 million barrels a day, primarily due to the weakness in crude oil exports. Really, this would be expected as strong prices, backward-dated markets and lower inventories at Cushing are signaling that volume needs to stay at home, at least for now. In short, it shows that markets worked.

第二季業績反映出，隨著全球經濟持續從新冠疫情封鎖中重新開放，碳氫化合物需求持續復甦。第二季我們的液體管線每天運輸 640 萬桶。第二季度，我們的天然氣管道每天輸送 142 億 BTU，相當於 2019 年的輸送量。以原油當量計算，我們每天運輸 1,020 萬桶。我們的分餾量仍然強勁，達到或接近每天 120 萬桶的記錄。我們 2021 年第二季的丙烯產量達到創紀錄的每天 113,000 桶，第二季度我們的海運碼頭處理的液體量為每天 160 萬桶，繼續落後於大流行前 20 年第一季的表現每天100 萬桶，主要是由於原油出口疲軟。事實上，這是預料之中的，因為強勁的價格、落後的市場和庫欣庫存的減少都表明銷量需要保持在國內，至少目前是如此。簡而言之，這表明市場發揮了作用。

This time last year, we were slipping deeper into the pandemic. It looked and felt like a black hole to some. But by this time last year, we had already returned to our headquarters office in what was virtually an empty downtown Houston. We set protocols. We started wearing masks before they were mandated. We put plexiglass around our cubicles. We insisted on keeping our distance. And we had hand sanitizers all over the building. But I really think it was a competitive advantage being back because we worked as a team. We moved products for our customers and our producers, we were buying and selling, we were arbing the system and collecting on steep contango in about every product we touch. We were determined in the middle of the pandemic to make money, not make excuses.

去年的這個時候，我們在疫情中陷入了更深的境地。對某些人來說，它看起來和感覺起來都像一個黑洞。但去年這個時候，我們已經回到了位於幾乎空蕩蕩的休士頓市中心的總部辦公室。我們制定協議。在強制要求之前我們就開始戴口罩了。我們在小隔間周圍放置有機玻璃。我們堅持保持距離。我們大樓各處都有洗手液。但我真的認為回歸是一種競爭優勢，因為我們作為一個團隊工作。我們為客戶和生產商轉移產品，我們進行買賣，我們套利系統，並在我們接觸的每種產品中收集陡峭的期貨溢價。在疫情期間，我們決心賺錢，而不是找藉口。

If you fast forward to today and the environment and sentiment are completely different. In the second quarter, crude averaged $28 a barrel, and as we all know, traded severely negative on April 20, 2020. Almost overnight, rig counts dropped from 800 to less than 250, producers shut in significant amounts of production and the Texas Railroad Commission held an online hearing on mandatory proration that was attended by 35,000 people worldwide. I gave testimony to this hearing, and I was very straightforward and probably wouldn't have been as much so had I known we had 35,000 people listening. Today, WTI sits at $72. Natural gas has more than doubled from $1.75 to around $4. Rig counts have returned to 500 and growing. Producers are self-financing their capital, paying down debt and returning funds to their shareholders.

如果快轉到今天，環境和情緒都完全不同了。第二季度，原油平均價格為每桶28 美元，眾所周知，2020 年4 月20 日，原油價格嚴重下跌。薩斯鐵路委員會就強制比例分配問題舉行了線上聽證會，全球有 35,000 人參加。我在這次聽證會上作了證詞，我的態度非常直率，如果我知道有 35,000 人在聽，我可能就不會那麼直率了。今天，WTI 價格為 72 美元。天然氣價格上漲了一倍多，從 1.75 美元增加到 4 美元左右。鑽機數量已恢復至 500 台，並且還在增加。生產商正在自籌資金、償還債務並將資金返還給股東。

Just to give you an idea for a couple of key products. We won't go through all of them. This time last year, ethane was selling at $0.18 a gallon. Today, it's $0.33. Propane moved from $0.35. Today, it's what $1.09? Brent? Even with natural gas prices up though, our gross processing spreads in the Permian, in particular, have gone from around $0.22 to $0.50 a gallon. Responding to significantly increasing demand, wholesale gasoline has moved from $0.75 to $2. It was as low as $0.50 in March of last year. And refining utilization has moved from an anemic 70% at the low to over 90%. Crude and product inventories have gone from a hard to imagine 3.6 billion barrels, at least 600 million barrels overstocked to below normal levels of 2.8 billion and continuing to fall. The economies are recovering and demand for virtually everything is increasing worldwide, pressuring supply chains. Our cash flow -- while our cash flows are markedly different, largely because of the movement in all commodities from steep contango into backwardation, our businesses and our employees proved time and time again that they will perform regardless of the environment, or today in what feels something like hyper growth. While the press release has a lot of details I'll bullet this way.

只是為了給您一些關鍵產品的想法。我們不會詳細介紹所有這些。去年這個時候，乙烷的價格為每加侖 0.18 美元。今天，價格為 0.33 美元。丙烷價格從 0.35 美元上漲。今天是 1.09 美元？布倫特？儘管天然氣價格上漲，但我們在二疊紀盆地的總加工價差已從每加侖約 0.22 美元升至 0.50 美元。為了因應顯著成長的需求，批發汽油價格已從 0.75 美元漲至 2 美元。去年 3 月，該價格低至 0.50 美元。煉油利用率也從低水準的70%上升到90%以上。原油和成品油庫存已從難以想像的36億桶（至少6億桶庫存過剩）降至低於正常水準的28億桶，持續下降。經濟正在復甦，全球幾乎所有商品的需求都在增加，對供應鏈造成壓力。我們的現金流量－雖然我們的現金流量明顯不同，主要是因為所有大宗商品從急劇的正價差變為現貨溢價，但我們的企業和我們的員工一次又一次地證明，無論環境如何，或者今天在什麼情況下，他們都會表現出色。雖然新聞稿有很多細節，但我會這樣介紹。

During last year's collapse, we leaned hard on our marketing teams. And we said at the time, our storage was worth its weight in gold as we took advantage of steep contango, arb in the system, coupled with a significant cost cutting by our operations. This year, with prices and volumes up considerably, our assets are who is leading the way with significant increases in volume for gathering and processing, pipeline transportation and exports and what I'll generally describe as fairly steady.

在去年的崩潰期間，我們非常依賴我們的行銷團隊。我們當時表示，我們的儲存價值與黃金相當，因為我們利用了系統中陡峭的期貨溢價，再加上我們的營運大幅削減了成本。今年，隨著價格和數量的大幅上漲，我們的資產處於領先地位，收集和加工、管道運輸和出口的數量顯著增加，我通常將其描述為相當穩定。

Moving to an update on capital. We expect our growth capital for 2021 to be $1.7 billion. We haven't changed, I don't think, Randy. For the rest of '21, we continue to be on schedule to complete our Acadian gas system to Gillis, the expansion of our ethylene and propylene pipeline systems and the construction of our natural gasoline hydrotreater. Our growth CapEx in '22 and '23 projects currently sanctioned is $800 million and $400 million respectively. But we expect these to increase as some of the projects under developer -- development are sanctioned. The long-dated capital is largely around our PDH 2. We couldn't be more pleased with the market fundamentals and momentum that we see in our petrochemicals business. The reopening of global economies has caused a surge in demand for propylene due to high demand from durables, which has caused the refinery-grade to polymer-grade spread to widen from $0.15 a pound historically to $0.40 a pound. Our Petrochemicals & Refined Products segment contributed 5 out of the total 6 financial and operational records. The strong performance of our petrochemicals business was led by our propylene segment which offset lower results from our octane enhancement due to a planned turnaround. Our Mont Belvieu propylene splitters achieved record throughput of 98% of nameplate, with strong margins and our PDH plant operated at an average of 112% of nameplate following the planned maintenance in the first quarter.

轉向資本更新。我們預計 2021 年的成長資本為 17 億美元。我們沒有改變，我不認為，蘭迪。在 21 年剩餘時間內，我們將繼續按計劃完成通往吉利斯的阿卡迪亞天然氣系統、乙烯和丙烯管道系統的擴建以及天然汽油加氫處理裝置的建設。我們目前批准的 '22 和 '23 項目的成長資本支出分別為 8 億美元和 4 億美元。但我們預計，隨著一些正在開發的項目受到批准，這些數字將會增加。長期資本主要圍繞在我們的 PDH 2。由於耐久財需求旺盛，全球經濟重新開放導致丙烯需求激增，導致煉油級與聚合物級價差從歷史上的每磅 0.15 美元擴大至每磅 0.40 美元。我們的石化和精煉產品部門貢獻了 6 項財務和營運記錄中的 5 項。我們石化業務的強勁表現是由丙烯業務帶動的，抵消了因計劃週轉而導致辛烷值提高帶來的業績下降。我們的 Mont Belvieu 丙烯分離器實現了創紀錄的額定產量 98%，利潤豐厚，在第一季度計劃維護後，我們的 PDH 工廠平均運行率為額定值的 112%。

Finally, we recently closed on a transaction acquiring the ethylene storage business from NOVA. This transaction, although it didn't take a lot of cash is meaningful in that it is yet another milestone in the development of our petrochemical hubs, which is a key in furthering our petrochemical growth strategy. We feel very good about our strong position and our momentum in the midstream petrochemical space. We're pleased with how our assets and our people performed again last quarter. We have been outspoken about why we have been bullish on prices for well over a year, and have been preparing accordingly. The global inventory excesses that came with the global pandemic have for the most part been exhausted. And it's nice to see both supply and demand participating in what we believe will be a very strong extended recovery cycle. We expect continued upside in demand, both in the U.S. and globally and appropriate production increases from a healthy U.S. E&P industry. With that, Randy?

最後，我們最近完成了從 NOVA 收購乙烯儲存業務的交易。雖然這筆交易沒有花費大量現金，但意義重大，因為它是我們石化中心發展的另一個里程碑，也是進一步推動我們石化成長策略的關鍵。我們對我們在中游石化領域的強勢地位和勢頭感到非常滿意。我們對上季度我們的資產和員工的表現再次感到滿意。我們一直直言不諱地解釋了為什麼我們一年多來一直看好價格，並一直在做相應的準備。全球大流行帶來的全球庫存過剩大部分已經耗盡。很高興看到供應和需求都參與到我們認為將是一個非常強大的延長復甦週期。我們預計美國和全球的需求將持續上升，健康的美國勘探與生產產業也將適當增加產量。就這樣，蘭迪？

Thank you, Jim, and good morning, everyone. First, I'll hit some of the income segment items. Net income attributable to common unitholders for the second quarter of 2021 was $1.1 billion or $0.50 per common unit on a fully diluted basis. This compares to $1 billion or $0.47 per common unit for the second quarter of 2020. Net income was reduced by noncash impairment charges of $0.01 per fully diluted unit, both for the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021.

謝謝吉姆，大家早安。首先，我將討論一些收入部分的項目。 2021 年第二季歸屬於普通單位持有人的淨利為 11 億美元，或完全攤薄後每普通單位 0.50 美元。相比之下，2020 年第二季的淨利潤為10 億美元，即每普通單位0.47 美元。值費用而減少。

Moving on to cash flows. Cash flows from operations increased to $2 billion for the second quarter compared to $1.2 billion for the second quarter of 2020. The swing in cash provided by or used for working capital accounts between the 2 quarters explains $731 million or 90% of the increase. So again, changes in working capital accounts. Free cash flow for the 12 months ended June 30, 2021, and again, we define that as cash flow from operations, less investing activities, less distributions paid out to noncontrolling interests in our joint venture projects, was $4.2 billion compared to $2.7 billion for the comparable 12 months ended June 30, 2020.

轉向現金流。第二季營運現金流增加至 20 億美元，而 2020 年第二季為 12 億美元。再次，營運資金帳戶的變動。截至2021 年6 月30 日的12 個月的自由現金流，我們再次將其定義為營運現金流，減去投資活動，減去支付給我們合資項目中非控股權益的分配，為42 億美元，而2021 年的自由現金流為27 億美元。

We declared a distribution of $0.45 per common unit with respect to the second quarter of 2021. That will be paid on August 12. This distribution represents a 1.1% increase compared to the second quarter of 2020.

我們宣布 2021 年第二季每普通單位分配 0.45 美元。

EPD's distribution reinvestment plan and employee unit purchase plan purchased a combined $38 million or approximately 1.6 million EPD common units in the open market during the second quarter. Our payout ratio, which we define as some of our cash distributions and buybacks as a percent of cash flow from operations over the trailing 12 months was 60% as of June 30, 2021. Compared to the latest available data, which is 12 months ending March 31, 2021, for our nine midstream C-corps or MLPs, Enterprise has one of the highest payout percentages.

第二季度，環保署的分配再投資計畫和員工單位購買計畫在公開市場上購買了總計 3,800 萬美元的環保署普通單位，即約 160 萬個環保署普通單位。截至2021 年6 月30 日，我們的派息率（我們將其定義為部分現金分配和回購佔過去12 個月營運現金流的百分比）為60%。數據相比截至 2021 年 3 月 31 日，對於我們的九個中游 C 型企業或 MLP 來說，Enterprise 是支付百分比最高的企業之一。

In the near term, while we wait for better visibility on federal regulatory and tax policies as it pertains to the energy industry, and as we assess the potential opportunities and related capital requirements for energy evolution projects, we are continuing to make financial flexibility our priority at the margin. However, we do plan to opportunistically buy back common units in the second half of this year. The amount of the buyback would probably be comparable to the $200 million we purchased in 2020.

短期內，當我們等待與能源產業相關的聯邦監管和稅收政策的更好透明度時，當我們評估能源發展項目的潛在機會和相關資本要求時，我們將繼續將財務靈活性作為我們的首要任務在邊緣。不過，我們確實計劃在今年下半年趁機回購普通單位。回購金額可能相當於我們 2020 年購買的 2 億美元。

Turning to capitalization. Our total debt principal outstanding was approximately $28.8 billion as of June 30. Assuming the first call date or the final maturity date for our hybrids, the average life of our debt portfolio was 16.5 years and 20.8 years, respectively. Our effective average cost of debt is 4.5%. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2021 was $2 billion and $8.4 billion for the 12 months ended. Our consolidated leverage was 3.24x after adjusting debt for the partial equity content attributed to the hybrid debt securities, and further reduced by any unrestricted cash. Our consolidated liquidity was approximately $5.4 billion at June 30, including availability under our existing credit facilities, and approximately $400 million of unrestricted cash on hand.

轉向大寫。截至6 月30 日，我們的未償債務本金總額約為288 億美元。年和20.8 年。我們的有效平均債務成本為 4.5%。 2021 年第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 20 億美元，截至 12 個月的調整後 EBITDA 為 84 億美元。在根據混合債務證券的部分股權內容調整債務後，我們的綜合槓桿率為 3.24 倍，並因任何不受限制的現金而進一步降低。截至 6 月 30 日，我們的綜合流動性約為 54 億美元，包括我們現有信貸安排下的可用資金，以及約 4 億美元的非限制性庫存現金。

Finally, we expect to publish our annual Sustainability Report update, which is intended to supplement our 2019-2020 Sustainability Report next Monday on August 2. The report will be available on our website. We hope you have an opportunity to read it, and we look forward to publishing our next complete report in the summer of 2022. With that, Randy, I think we're ready for questions.

最後，我們預計將發布年度永續發展報告更新，該報告旨在補充我們 8 月 2 日下週一的 2019-2020 年永續發展報告。我們希望您有機會閱讀它，我們期待在 2022 年夏天發布下一份完整報告。

Okay. Thank you, Randy. Shannon, we're ready to take questions from our participants.

好的。謝謝你，蘭迪。香農，我們準備好回答參與者的問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Jeremy Tonet with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Jeremy Tonet。

Just wanted to follow up on the energy evolution initiatives there as it relates to carbon capture. And just wondering if you might be able to provide a little bit more detail, I guess, on what you see as possible there? Is this something kind of in the Ship Channel itself, a hub concept? Do you see that as something that is possible at some point in the future? And if so, where do you think the carbon could be stored? Do you think it's more of an onshore or offshore solution?

只是想跟進那裡與碳捕獲相關的能源發展計劃。我想知道您是否能夠提供更多關於您在那裡看到的內容的詳細資訊？這是否是航道本身的某種樞紐概念？您認為這在未來某個時候有可能實現嗎？如果是這樣，您認為碳可以儲存在哪裡？您認為這更像是陸上解決方案還是離岸解決方案？

I guess it could be both. We're looking at what we think are some low-hanging fruit. And then we're looking along with a major chemical company, major oil company as to what we could do beyond that. And you can make a case to sequester it offshore, but you've got depleted reservoirs in the Permian, Tony. And so I mean we're still in an infancy stage, but we're beginning to see that there might be some low-hanging fruit that we can take advantage of.

我想兩者皆有可能。我們正在研究一些我們認為容易實現的目標。然後我們正在與一家大型化學公司、大型石油公司一起研究除此之外我們還能做些什麼。你可以提出將其隔離在海上的理由，但二疊紀的水庫已經枯竭，托尼。所以我的意思是我們仍處於起步階段，但我們開始看到可能有一些我們可以利用的容易實現的成果。

Got it. That makes sense. I was just curious if poor issues onshore kind of influenced the decision onshore versus offshore there. But just also curious, I guess, what type of time line do you think that this could be really materialized over? It seems like we're really in the infancy here. If the Texas Railroad Commission gets kind of primacy on the Class 6 wells, that could really change things a bit here. And if we get more federal legislation within the 45Q to 85, that could really change things here. But curious as far as what you think the time line is for things coming together here?

知道了。這是有道理的。我只是很好奇，陸上的糟糕問題是否會影響陸上與海上的決定。但我也很好奇，你認為這可以在什麼類型的時間軸內真正實現？看來我們真的還處於嬰兒期。如果德州鐵路委員會在 6 級油井上佔據主導地位，這確實可能會改變一些事情。如果我們在 45 季到 85 年間獲得更多聯邦立法，這可能會真正改變這裡的情況。但好奇你認為這裡的事情發生的時間線是什麼？

Well, it's not immediate for sure. Tony, you got any ideas?

嗯，這肯定不是立即的。東尼，你有什麼想法嗎？

Given the amount of regulation that's in front of us, anything short of 3 years would surprise me. Angie, you feel any different?

考慮到我們面前的監管量，任何短於三年的時間都會讓我感到驚訝。安吉，你覺得有什麼不同嗎？

No, I think that's about right on timing.

不，我認為這恰逢其時。

Our next question comes from Jean Ann Salisbury with Bernstein.

我們的下一個問題來自讓安·索爾茲伯里和伯恩斯坦。

A couple of questions about the quarter. Your NGL pipeline gross margin was down kind of 8% to 10% from its usual run rate. The news release referenced lower rates and volumes on Dixie and MAPL and also some downtime, but it wasn't clear to me how much was one-off and how much is kind of ongoing due to lower rates? Can you expand on that?

關於本季的幾個問題。你們的 NGL 管道毛利率比平常的運行率下降了 8% 到 10%。新聞稿提到 Dixie 和 MAPL 的費率和交易量下降，以及一些停機時間，但我不清楚有多少是一次性的，有多少是由於費率下降而持續的？能擴展一下嗎？

Dixie was impacted. We had a hydro test, so that would be, I'll call that a one-off but...

迪克西受到了影響。我們進行了水力測試，所以我稱之為一次性測試，但是...

Okay. Because for the quarter, I guess, that segment was kind of 555 and it's been a while since you've been that low in a couple of years. So just trying to figure out if that should be my new norm, plus some for the hydro test.

好的。因為我猜這個季度這個細分市場的數量為 555，而且已經有一段時間沒有出現幾年來的低水平了。所以只是想弄清楚這是否應該成為我的新標準，再加上一些水力測試。

Jean Ann, this is Randy. I think there were also some -- we've got an integrated system. So to the extent we have NGL fracs down as well, I think we may have had some downtime over in Norco that, that could also impact the volumes moving across South Louisiana system, too. So there may be some ripple effects in that as well.

珍安，這是蘭迪。我認為還有一些——我們有一個整合系統。因此，就我們的 NGL 壓裂而言，我認為我們在 Norco 可能會有一些停機時間，這也可能影響南路易斯安那系統的運輸量。因此，這也可能會產生一些連鎖反應。

Yes, I think Lou-Tex was probably, I believe was down.

是的，我認為盧泰克斯可能，我相信已經倒下了。

Okay. That's helpful. And then my other question is that the NGL prices year-to-date have obviously been very strong, but it hasn't seemed to really hit your processing gross margin. Can you kind of just talk about why that is because gas price has also been strong or you hedged or something else?

好的。這很有幫助。我的另一個問題是，今年迄今為止的液化天然氣價格顯然非常強勁，但它似乎並沒有真正影響您的加工毛利率。您能談談為什麼這是因為汽油價格也很強勁或您進行了對沖或其他原因嗎？

I guess in terms of NGLs, Jean Ann, this is Brent. We have some keep whole exposure, but it's probably not as much as some of our peers. So last year, I don't think in terms of when prices were very low, it wasn't probably nearly as impactful to us as it was to others. And in the same vein, when prices have been higher, we probably don't benefit as much as others. We do benefit, obviously. And I think the benefit that we have is more of a delayed effect in terms of what we see on volumes. And then ultimately, kind of what drives our business is it's not just as high prices, it's that gas to crude ratio that, where we see benefits in other parts of our business.

我想就 NGL 而言，Jean Ann，這就是布倫特。我們有一些保持整體曝光，但可能沒有我們的一些同行那麼多。因此，去年，我認為當價格非常低時，它對我們的影響可能不如對其他人的影響那麼大。同樣，當價格上漲時，我們可能不會像其他人那樣受益。顯然，我們確實受益。我認為，就我們所看到的銷售量而言，我們所獲得的好處更多的是延遲效應。最終，推動我們業務發展的不僅是高價格，還有天然氣與原油的比率，我們在業務的其他部分看到了好處。

And Jean Ann, one other impact may be out there as well is at the processing plant, we elect to extract ethane. And we may be working on variable economics as far as extracting that ethane, which would not be -- the benefit would not be reflected at the processing plants. If anything, it would be a cost associated with that at the processing plants, and you get benefit on your downstream assets.

Jean Ann，另一個影響可能也存在於加工廠，我們選擇提取乙烷。就提取乙烷而言，我們可能正在研究可變經濟學，但這種情況不會——好處不會在加工廠中反映出來。如果有的話，這將是與加工廠相關的成本，並且您可以從下游資產中受益。

Our next question comes from Shneur Gershuni with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Shneur Gershuni。

I appreciated the commentary in the prepared remarks today about returning capital to unitholders, including the $200 million of buybacks for this year. Randy, you spent a bit of time today kind of highlighting the 60% payout ratio, kind of on a trailing 12-month basis for CFFO, which does include buybacks. I am kind of wondering as you feel more comfortable with policy outlook and so forth, whether we could be thinking about 60% as kind of a signpost of where you'd ideally like to pay out, to kind of shake out with buybacks being a portion of it for not just '21 but for like '22 and beyond? Just kind of curious how you're thinking about that?

我很欣賞今天準備好的發言中關於向單位持有人返還資本的評論，包括今年 2 億美元的回購。蘭迪，您今天花了一些時間強調了 60% 的派息率，這是基於 CFFO 過去 12 個月的基礎，其中確實包括回購。我有點想知道，當你對政策前景等感到更加滿意時，我們是否可以將 60% 視為你理想的支付方式的路標，以擺脫回購作為一種選擇。適用於22 年及以後？只是有點好奇自己怎麼想的？

Yes. Shneur, I have to go back in. I know we've got a slide in the deck in our investor deck that shows over time what our percent payout has been as a percentage of cash flow from operations. And some of that's impacted by changes of cash used or provided by working capital accounts. So it will move around depending on how much money we have tied up in working capital. But typically, I mean, if you go back and look over time, I want to say that, I'm going off memory, that has probably ranged from 55% to 65%. So I think that's a range. I don't think we're going to come in and get precise dialed into a percentage that almost be like the tail wagging the dog. I think some of it is more of what's going on in the business, what kind of cash flows are we seeing being thrown off. So I don't think we're going to get as precise as 60% or 61% or 62%, but it would be more in a range.

是的。 Shneur，我得回去了。其中一些受到營運資金帳戶使用或提供的現金變化的影響。因此，它的變動取決於我們在營運資金上佔用了多少資金。但通常情況下，我的意思是，如果你回頭看一段時間，我想說的是，我會忘記記憶，範圍可能在 55% 到 65% 之間。所以我認為這是一個範圍。我不認為我們會精確地調整到幾乎就像尾巴搖狗一樣的百分比。我認為其中更多的是業務中正在發生的事情，我們看到什麼樣的現金流被拋棄。所以我認為我們不會達到 60%、61% 或 62% 的精確度，但會在一個範圍內。

Okay. That makes sense. Perfect. Appreciate that. And then sort of a follow-up to how you're thinking about CapEx for '22. I understand that you have $800 million of sanctioned projects. In addition to SPOT, are there any larger scale projects that you're evaluating, whether it's on energy evolution or kind of on the base business that's expanded today. But are there any projects that you're evaluating or even in the permitting process that could move the number by more than $500 million for next year? Just kind of curious where you are in terms of what you're evaluating right now?

好的。這是有道理的。完美的。很欣賞這一點。然後是您對 22 年資本支出的看法的後續行動。據我所知，你們有 8 億美元的批准項目。除了 SPOT 之外，您是否正在評估任何更大規模的項目，無論是關於能源發展還是今天擴展的基礎業務。但是，您正在評估甚至正在審批過程中的項目是否有可能使明年的數字增加超過 5 億美元？只是有點好奇你現在正在評估什麼？

Yes. I'll kick off with this, Shneur and then see if Jim wants to add. We had mentioned really going back to, I think, our January call that we were working on a few projects that we -- just for commercial sensitivity, we weren't going to provide a lot of detail, and that's still where we are today, that I can't provide a lot of detail. But those -- we'll see -- could it come in and add to 2022? Yes, it could. It could be in the $500 million incremental area. But I go back to what Jim said in the call back in -- these calls come around so quick, in April, I guess, where he said, if you think longer term, something in the $1.5 billion to $2 billion run rate could be in the near term, what you could see our growth CapEx. I don't know if we'd get to that number for next year. But I think that's a good go by.

是的。我將從這個開始，Shneur，然後看看 Jim 是否願意補充。我想，我們確實提到過，在我們一月份的電話會議上，我們正​​在進行一些項目，只是出於商業敏感性，我們不會提供太多細節，而這仍然是我們今天的情況，我無法提供很多細節。但那些——我們拭目以待——它能加入到 2022 年嗎？是的，可以。它可能在 5 億美元的增量領域。但我回到吉姆在電話中所說的——這些電話來得如此之快，我想是在 4 月份，他說，如果你從長遠來看，15 億至 20 億美元的運行率可能會是在短期內，您可以看到我們的資本支出成長。我不知道明年我們能否達到這個數字。但我認為這是一個很好的做法。

Okay. So just to reclarify, so $1.5 billion to $2 billion is kind of the range, but hard to kind of hit the top of the range next year?

好的。需要澄清一下，15 億至 20 億美元是一個範圍，但明年很難達到這個範圍的頂部嗎？

I hate to underestimate our guys. But yes, that's how we feel.

我討厭低估我們的球員。但是，是的，這就是我們的感覺。

We'd have to hurry.

我們得快點。

Our next question comes from Tristan Richardson with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Tristan Richardson。

Remarking on the petchem business, strong results there, particularly on the propylene and PDH side. Clearly, past few quarters have had some turnarounds and downtime. But just looking at this quarter, based on what you're seeing from a spread perspective, is this a good general run rate for gross margin when the spread is available to you and facilities are online and highly utilized?

談到石化業務，業績強勁，尤其是丙烯和 PDH 方面。顯然，過去幾季出現了一些轉變和停工。但僅看看本季度，根據您從利差角度看到的情況，當您可以使用利差且設施在線且利用率較高時，這是一個良好的毛利率總體運行率嗎？

You know what in the near term, I think we're going to be hanging in here with this kind of results. Chris?

你知道，在短期內，我認為我們將堅持下去，達到這樣的結果。克里斯？

Yes, Jim, I agree. We should be in the same run rate with everything running and refinery utilization hanging in there.

是的，吉姆，我同意。我們應該保持相同的運行速度，一切都在運行，煉油廠利用率也保持不變。

Well, I was with -- I've talked to a couple of CEOs from petrochemical companies. And what they both said to me is they're running full out and they can't catch up. So we kind of like that business and probably see us do more things in it.

嗯，我和幾位來自石化公司的執行長進行了交談。他們兩個對我說的是，他們已經全力以赴，無法追上。所以我們有點喜歡這個行業，並且可能會看到我們在其中做更多的事情。

That's great. And then I think you talked -- historically, you guys have talked about in any given year there might be $500 million to $800 million of spread opportunities. And I think as of the most recent quarter, kind of talked about potentially 2021 being north of $600 million. Curious if that's still, north of $600 million is a comfortable figure or how we should think about how that's changed over the past quarter?

那太棒了。然後我想你們談到了——從歷史上看，你們談到在任何一年都可能有 5 億至 8 億美元的價差機會。我認為截至最近一個季度，人們都在談論 2021 年的收入可能會超過 6 億美元。很好奇，如果這仍然是 6 億美元以上的數字，或者我們應該如何考慮過去一個季度的變化？

North of $600 million will be conservative.

超過 6 億美元將是保守的。

Our next question comes from Keith Stanley with Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自沃爾夫研究公司的基斯‧史丹利。

First, just wanted to clarify the demand response items. So the total benefit, it looks like for Q2 was the $66 million in the release, and that's across the fractionation and that's Seaway. And then also, I just want to confirm that's incremental to the $250 million yearly gain you talked about last quarter, right?

首先，我想澄清一下需求響應項目。因此，第二季的總收益看起來是 6,600 萬美元，這是 Seaway 的分項收益。另外，我只是想確認一下，這相對於您上季度談到的 2.5 億美元的年收益來說是增量，對吧？

Yes, Keith. So I think what we're -- probably in total, we're looking at about $300 million in total. And then in the second quarter, yes, the benefit was probably around $70 million. And some of the reason why you didn't see that hit until the second quarter is, frankly, we were waiting on clarity from the state of Texas as far as what the definitive settlement was going to be around ERCOT and around the LARS program.

是的，基斯。所以我認為我們的資金總額可能約為 3 億美元。然後在第二季度，是的，收益可能約為 7000 萬美元。坦白說，直到第二季才看到這種打擊的部分原因是，我們正在等待德克薩斯州澄清有關 ERCOT 和 LARS 計劃的最終解決方案。

Got it. Okay. One follow-up question on capital allocation. So just looking back, you raised the distribution slightly in Q4 last year. Should we expect similar timing for distribution growth announcements? And I guess, how are you thinking about distribution growth generally into next year versus buybacks as part of the capital return story?

知道了。好的。一個關於資本配置的後續問題。回顧過去，去年第四季的分配略有提高。我們是否應該期待類似的分銷成長公告發佈時間？我想，您如何看待明年的分配成長與作為資本回報故事一部分的回購？

Yes. Keith, I think the Board comes in. And I mean, we take a look at the distribution every quarter. But compared to the last 2 or 3 years, we've done it where we've come in and really announced the increase in January for the next year. And I think we would probably stick to that. I don't think that's cast in stone. If you -- as far as the whole thing on distributions versus buybacks, we're an MLP. The most tax-efficient way to return capital and cash to your partners is through distributions. And that's what we've done. I think we've got -- this is the 23rd year in a row that we've increased our cash distribution. And I -- there's not another midstream company out there that I know of that can say that.

是的。基思，我認為董事會會介入。但與過去兩三年相比，我們已經做到了，並在明年一月份真正宣布了成長。我認為我們可能會堅持這一點。我不認為這是一成不變的。如果你——就分配與回購的整個問題而言，我們是 MLP。將資本和現金返還給合作夥伴的最節稅的方式是透過分配。這就是我們所做的。我認為，這是我們連續 23 年增加現金分配。據我所知，沒有哪家中游公司可以這麼說。

So distributions are really our first go to. As far as on the buyback side, I think as an Options Professor talked one time, it depends. It depends on what your level of CapEx is, and I think we need to see not only level of CapEx, we just need to get some better visibility on government policy because right now, there's just a lot of question marks. I thought we would have known something by now, but it looks like that's dragging out. So -- but I think a lot of things go into the calculus of coming in and doing buybacks. And -- but I think we've demonstrated our willingness to come in and do buybacks, but we're just going to be deliberate in the way that we look into it.

所以發行版確實是我們的第一個選擇。至於回購方面，我認為正如一位選擇權教授曾經說過的那樣，這取決於情況。這取決於你的資本支出水平，我認為我們不僅需要看到資本支出水平，我們還需要更好地了解政府政策，因為現在還有很多問號。我以為我們現在已經知道一些事情了，但看起來這有點拖延了。所以，但我認為很多事情都需要考慮進來和回購。而且 - 但我認為我們已經表現出了參與回購的意願，但我們只會謹慎對待我們的調查方式。

Our next question comes from Christine Cho with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Christine Cho。

So maybe if I could start with the LPG market. There's been market reports that you guys have been buying back cargoes in recent weeks. Is this just marketing -- your marketing subsidiary, preparing for what could potentially be a short propane market in the coming months? It seems like the amount that you've been buying back is more than what your PDH facility could take, but any kind of color on what you guys are thinking there would be helpful?

所以也許我可以從液化石油氣市場開始。有市場報道稱，你們最近幾週一直在回購貨物。這只是行銷嗎？看來你們回購的金額超出了你們的 PDH 設施的承受能力，但你們認為有什麼顏色會有幫助嗎？

Christine, I'll start and give it to Brent. We bought back because the fees were too cheap. We could make more money doing something else with the propane, Brent.

克莉絲汀，我先把它交給布倫特。我們買回來是因為費用太便宜了。我們可以用丙烷布倫特做其他事情賺更多的錢。

That's it. I mean at the end of the day, we look at every molecule and what the value of it is to Enterprise versus what we'd get across the dock, and what we'd achieve across the dock isn't worth what we have keeping it in the system.

就是這樣。我的意思是，歸根結底，我們會審視每一個分子，以及它對企業的價值與我們在碼頭上獲得的東西的價值，以及我們在碼頭上取得的成就不值得我們保留的東西它在系統中。

Now could -- is some of this potentially going into storage for like later, I mean, the curve is backward dated, so it just didn't seem like you would be able to hedge things out.

現在可能——其中一些可能會被存儲起來，等以後，我的意思是，曲線已經過時了，所以看起來你無法對沖這些事情。

Yes, I wouldn't look at it as a storage play.

是的，我不會將其視為存儲遊戲。

Okay. And then could you give an update around SPOT, just where the regulatory process is? What the next milestones are, especially if it's to hit '22 CapEx? And just given expectations for overall U.S. production growth isn't what it used to be. Can you just go over your thoughts on why SPOT is necessary? And would you still need your crude export facilities along the Gulf? Or would you look to potentially repurpose those assets for something else?

好的。那麼能否介紹一下 SPOT 的最新情況，即監管流程的情況？下一個里程碑是什麼，特別是要達到 '22 資本支出？考慮到美國整體產量成長的預期已不再像以前那樣。您能回顧一下您對為什麼需要 SPOT 的想法嗎？您還需要海灣沿岸的原油出口設施嗎？或者您會考慮將這些資產重新用於其他用途？

Yes. I think one of the things, we still believe SPOT is something that we -- that is needed. It serves, it's kind of like a magnet to pull things through your pipeline system. But we've got a strong anchor, and I think we've got some interest from others. We expect the final EIS to come out. I think it's ready by the Coast Guard. And the last thing we heard from Myriad is to expect a permit in the fourth quarter. But yes, we feel like it's a project. Now we can build this project in phases and that's what we intend to do.

是的。我認為其中一件事是，我們仍然相信 SPOT 是我們所需要的。它的作用就像一塊磁鐵，可以將物體拉過管道系統。但我們有一個強大的支柱，我認為其他人也對我們感興趣。我們預計最終的 EIS 將會出來。我認為海岸警衛隊已經準備好了。我們從 Myriad 聽到的最後一件事是預計將在第四季度獲得許可。但是，是的，我們覺得這是一個專案。現在我們可以分階段建造這個項目，這就是我們打算做的。

And would you still keep your existing crude facilities along the Gulf?

您還會保留海灣沿岸現有的原油設施嗎？

I'm sorry, Christine, you did ask that. I think we need to -- we're looking at a need to expand our LPG capability out of the Ship Channel. So that's what -- is Bob Sanders in here? Let me talk to him. We're looking at -- we've got some expansion projects on our LPG facility on the Ship Channel.

對不起，克莉絲汀，你確實問過這個問題。我認為我們需要——我們正在考慮將我們的液化石油氣能力擴展到船舶航道之外。那麼，鮑勃桑德斯在這裡嗎？讓我跟他談談。我們正在考慮——我們在船舶航道上的液化石油氣設施上有一些擴建項目。

We have a lot of long-term contracts that are on Enterprise assets. And so if we have joint venture partners on the VLCC terminal, there's still -- there's still a need for what we have existing, and then it would be more of an optimization as it relates to the joint venture partners. But between petchem and NGLs, there's ways to use those docks to dispatch crude oil.

我們有很多關於企業資產的長期合約。因此，如果我們在 VLCC 碼頭上有合資夥伴，那麼我們現有的東西仍然需要，然後它會更多地是一種優化，因為它與合資夥伴有關。但在石油化學和液化天然氣公司之間，有許多方法可以利用這些碼頭來運送原油。

Our next question comes from Michael Lapides with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的邁克爾·拉皮德斯。

A little bit of a theoretical one. How do you think -- when you think about capital allocation versus CapEx, whether that capital allocation is deleveraging, buybacks or even just normal course distribution growth or special distribution payouts. How do you think about what your cost of capital is? And what is the return a new project has to hit to make it kind of a more valuable use of cash relative to some of the other alternatives?

有點理論性。當您考慮資本配置與資本支出時，您如何看待，資本配置是否是去槓桿化、回購，甚至只是正常的分配成長或特別分配支出。您如何看待您的資金成本？相對於其他一些替代方案，新項目必須達到多少回報才能使其成為更有價值的現金用途？

Yes. Michael, I'm glad you asked that because I was actually incomplete with my answer earlier. Because that's one of the things that factors in there is when we come in and look at our CapEx and if you come in and you look at the buyback, when you -- we look at what our return on capital is on the project, but we also look at what the downstream benefits are from a project that, again, we run a value chain system. So if we add a project, it has the ability to come in and add incremental volumes and incremental margin to other parts of our system. So that adds onto the project economics. And we look at that holistic return. And also it adds on -- it increases EBITDA as well. Compared to a buyback, I mean, we -- I think as I look this morning, I think we were yielding, I don't know, 7%, 7.5%. Our coverage is about 1.5x. So I think that rough math is probably between 11% and 12% cash yield, if you think about it from -- if I go back to distributable cash flow because, again, that's subtracting out maintenance CapEx. So that's the bogey that we look at on the buyback side. And those are 2 of the returns that we look at just from a return threshold. Does that cover it off for you?

是的。邁克爾，我很高興你問這個問題，因為我之前的答案實際上並不完整。因為這是需要考慮的因素之一，當我們介入並查看我們的資本支出時，如果您介入並查看回購，當您 - 我們會查看該項目的資本回報率，但是我們還研究了我們運行價值鏈系統的項目的下游效益。因此，如果我們添加一個項目，它就有能力加入並為我們系統的其他部分添加增量數量和增量利潤。這增加了項目的經濟性。我們著眼於整體回報。而且它還增加了 EBITDA。我的意思是，與回購相比，我們——我認為，正如我今天早上所看到的，我認為我們的收益率是，我不知道，7%、7.5%。我們的覆蓋率約為 1.5 倍。因此，我認為粗略計算現金收益率可能在 11% 到 12% 之間，如果你考慮一下——如果我回到可分配現金流，因為這又減去了維護資本支出。這就是我們在回購方面看到的忌諱。這些是我們僅從回報門檻來看的回報中的兩個。這能為你遮蓋嗎？

Yes, that helps a ton. And just trying to think about special distributions. Are there any -- are there any reasons why special distributions would ever be off the table?

是的，這有很大幫助。只是想考慮一下特殊的發行版。是否有任何原因導致特殊發行版被排除在外？

Michael, we've not really contemplated them in the past. I mean a little bit, I'd turn that question on you. It seems like a lot of what I read in sell-side reports really dismisses the effectiveness of special distributions. If you're -- and I understand not being able to come in -- the inability for the equity markets to capitalize a special distribution into the unit price. But frankly, our guys ran some correlation analysis the other day, and it's crazy to me that when you come back in and you pick the period, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, we actually have -- our unit price has an inverse correlation to cash flow per unit. It has an inverse correlation to EBITDA. And really, the only correlation, the highest correlation that it has, is to the price of the XLE, the S&P energy sector. So I scratch my head anyway that the cash that we generate, our unit price isn't correlated to the cash that we generate anyway. So I'm -- we're in a little bit of a quandary. So I don't know if the special distribution would be good or bad because I don't know what our unit price correlates to anymore. But I go back to what I said earlier, the most efficient, tax efficient way to get cash and return capital to limited partners is through distributions.

邁克爾，我們過去並沒有真正考慮過它們。我的意思是，我會把這個問題轉給你。我在賣方報告中讀到的很多內容似乎都忽略了特別分配的有效性。如果你——就我所知無法參與——股票市場無法將特殊分配資本化為單價。但坦白說，我們的人前幾天進行了一些相關性分析，這對我來說很瘋狂，當你回來選擇3年、5年、10年的時期時，我們實際上有——我們的單價有一個倒數與單位現金流量的相關性。它與 EBITDA 呈負相關。實際上，唯一的相關性、最高的相關性是與 XLE（標準普爾能源板塊）的價格。所以我無論如何都摸不著頭腦，我們產生的現金，我們的單價與我們產生的現金無關。所以我——我們有點進退兩難。所以我不知道特殊分配是好是壞，因為我不知道我們的單價與什麼有關。但我回到我之前所說的，獲得現金並將資本返還給有限合夥人的最有效、最節稅的方式是透過分配。

Our next question comes from Gabe Moreen with Mizuho.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mizuho 的 Gabe Moreen。

Recently, there was -- I guess one of your peers announced a JV transaction with a private equity-backed gathering system. Just wondering if something like that, is of interest potentially maybe circumvent, some I think beyond antitrust issues you've raised in the past. Just curious what your thoughts on that?

最近，我猜你的一位同行宣布了一項與私募股權支持的收集系統的合資交易。只是想知道類似的事情是否可能會被規避，我認為除了您過去提出的反壟斷問題之外。只是好奇你對此有何看法？

Our thoughts on that transaction?

我們對那筆交易的看法？

Yes, specifically, if it might make sense in either the Permian or in over piped areas like the Eagle Ford, for example, and a way to consolidate the sector when private equity owns quite a bit of assets out there?

是的，具體來說，這是否在二疊紀盆地或鷹福特等管道過大的地區有意義，以及當私募股權公司擁有大量資產時整合該行業的一種方式？

I guess we never say never. And Randy, we're kicking tires all the time. As to that, I don't know that we would be interested in a joint venture with a private equity. I'd tell you, we're spending a lot of time right now looking at our pipeline system and trying to determine what are the opportunities to repurpose. But I mean, we look at everything, but I can't see us doing a joint venture with a private equity. Can you, Brent, you?

我想我們永遠不會說永遠。蘭迪，我們一直在踢輪胎。對此，我不知道我們是否會對與私募股權公司成立合資企業感興趣。我想告訴你，我們現在花了很多時間研究我們的管道系統，並試圖確定有哪些機會可以重新利用。但我的意思是，我們會考慮一切，但我不認為我們會與私募股權公司建立合資企業。你可以嗎，布倫特，你嗎？

Same. To your comment never say never, but there's a lot of opportunities that we look at, and we'll see what comes of it.

相同的。對於你的評論，永遠不要說永遠，但我們會關注很多機會，我們會看看它會帶來什麼結果。

Got it. And then maybe if I can just follow up and ask specifically as it pertains to Randy's comments about kind of waiting for definitive stuff out of D.C. on policy. What should we be looking for, is it really just tax rates? Are you looking kind of for the, I guess, the federal permitting, the infrastructure build, all of the above? I'm just specifically wondering kind of what -- of those things, what's most prominent, I guess, in your mind?

知道了。然後也許我可以跟進並具體詢問蘭迪關於等待華盛頓特區關於政策的明確內容的評論。我們該尋找什麼，真的只是稅率嗎？我想，您是否正在尋求聯邦許可、基礎設施建設以及上述所有內容？我只是特別想知道，在這些事情中，我想，在你看來，什麼才是最突出的？

Yes, Gabe, I think it's all of the above. And Gabe, I think some of it even you could come in and say it's even -- we're -- I think the energy industry is in a little bit of a conundrum.

是的，加布，我想以上都是。加布，我認為其中一些甚至你也可以進來說它甚至 - 我們 - 我認為能源行業遇到了一點難題。

Randy, talk about the focus on supply and not on demand. Yes, you do good on that.

蘭迪，談談對供應而不是需求的關注。是的，你在這方面做得很好。

Yes, because if you come in, by last count, there are like 194 countries in the EU that have signed on to the Paris account. And part of that is coming in and trying to get to net-zero emissions by 2050. But none of those countries have enacted any policies addressed to oil and gas demand. And it seems like the policies that are being driven are more on supply. And more really, I think in the U.S., what we've seen thus far this year is really on domestic supply and but not anything on demand. And you come back in, I think that what we've heard out, you pick it IEA, EIA is the expectations, we're going to be back to 100 million barrels a day of crude demand by the end of the year. And looking for that demand to grow, I think, again, no matter what EIA or IEA that you look at, looking for crude oil demand to grow for the rest of the decade, at least. And -- but really, the only policies out there domestically are on supply constraints. And so where that leads us is -- and I think you've seen it to a degree -- you're going to end up with higher crude oil prices, higher motor gasoline prices across the board, which will be inflationary, but we're at a little bit of a conundrum on energy policy in the country as well.

是的，因為如果你進來看看，根據最新統計，歐盟大約有 194 個國家簽署了巴黎帳戶。其中一部分是努力在 2050 年實現淨零排放。所推動的政策似乎更多是針對供應的。更重要的是，我認為在美國，今年迄今為止我們所看到的實際上是國內供應，而不是任何需求。回來後，我認為我們聽到的消息是 IEA、EIA 的預期，到年底我們的原油需求將恢復到每天 1 億桶。我認為，無論你關注什麼 EIA 或 IEA，都希望這種需求能夠成長，至少在未來十年內，原油需求都會成長。但實際上，國內唯一的政策是限制供給。因此，這導致我們的結果是——我想你們已經在一定程度上看到了——最終將導致原油價格上漲，車用汽油價格全面上漲，這將導致通貨膨脹，但我們該國的能源政策也遇到了一些難題。

The other thing that -- well, because I mean in the most recent example is, I guess, with the -- some of this has been going on since January. Domestically, we've come in and we are putting a freeze on permits on federal lands, but we're asking OPEC Plus to come in and produce more oil so oil prices won't go up. And so again, just a head scratcher. And -- but I think when you come in and you look, the world OPEC Plus countries, they have the capacity to produce more oil and they have the capacity to come in and respond to demand. Again, I think it's going to be at a higher price. And you've seen recently whether it's the Saudi Oil Minister or the Prime Minister of Norway. And I believe Norway is part of the Paris climate agreement. They've both said that they're going to drill and withdraw every last barrel of oil that they have in the ground.

另一件事——嗯，因為我的意思是在最近的例子中，我猜，其中一些事情自一月份以來就一直在發生。在國內，我們已經介入並凍結了聯邦土地的許可證，但我們要求歐佩克+介入並生產更多石油，這樣油價就不會上漲。再說一遍，這只是一個令人頭痛的問題。但我認為，當你進來看看，世界上的歐佩克+國家，他們有能力生產更多的石油，他們有能力進來並響應需求。再說一次，我認為它的價格會更高。最近你也看到了，無論是沙烏地阿拉伯石油部長還是挪威首相。我相信挪威是巴黎氣候協議的一部分。他們都表示將鑽探並開採地下的每一桶石油。

So we are -- so Gabe, I think there's just a lot of unknowns out there. We're early on in this energy evolution. We think we've got a role to play. In fact, when we look at midstream companies, on this whole energy evolution and handling carbon sequestration and hydrogen, we may be one of the early on that we can respond quicker than a lot of companies that are trying to do this from the get-go because we already have pipes everywhere, and we know geology. So again, we just need some more clarity, whether it's tax policy, regulatory policy, energy policy. And then frankly, I think the other thing that will be out there is just what we're seeing, there's so much changes going on at the FTC as well. But I mean, that's more of a broad comment. It doesn't matter if you're in energy or in tech as far as what's coming on into the -- I mean, what's coming out of the government in that regard too. So I didn't mean to get on my soapbox to you, but just again, waiting on a little bit more clarity. And -- but that's not -- but we will come in and act on opportunities as we see them come forward.

所以我們——所以加布，我認為還有很多未知因素。我們正處於能源演進的早期階段。我們認為我們可以發揮作用。事實上，當我們觀察中游公司時，在整個能源演變以及處理碳封存和氫方面，我們可能是最早做出反應的公司之一，我們比許多從一開始就試圖這樣做的公司反應更快。去吧，因為我們到處都有管道，而且我們了解地質學。再說一遍，我們只需要更加明確，無論是稅收政策、監管政策或能源政策。坦白說，我認為另一件事將是我們所看到的，聯邦貿易委員會也發生了許多變化。但我的意思是，這更像是一個廣泛的評論。無論你是在能源領域還是科技領域，只要政府在這方面的進展如何，這並不重要。所以我並不是想跟你講我的演講，只是再次等待更清晰的情況。而且——但事實並非如此——但當我們看到機會出現時，我們會介入並採取行動。

And I'm currently showing no further questions at this time.

目前我沒有提出任何進一步的問題。

Okay. Thank you, Shannon. With that, we will conclude the call today. And if you wouldn't mind, Shannon, would you please give our participants the replay information? And thank you all for joining us today.

好的。謝謝你，香農。至此，我們今天的電話會議就結束了。如果您不介意的話，Shannon，可以給我們的參與者重播資訊嗎？感謝大家今天加入我們。

Thank you. This concludes today's call. A replay will be available from 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, July 28, 2021, to 12:59 p.m. Eastern Time, August 4, 2021. Please use the dial-in number (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406 for international participants, enter access code 986-9482. Thank you, and have a wonderful day.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。下午 1:00 起可重播。美國東部時間 2021 年 7 月 28 日至中午 12:59美東時間，2021 年 8 月 4 日。謝謝你，祝你有美好的一天。