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Anyone happen to know if acquisitions might be in the works anytime soon?
You got that right mofo
Now isn’t the time to sit on sidelines? So many ways to make profit in this crazy market? We will never see the market at or below 18,000 again?? Are you seeing a Pattern yet? I have big time? And today seeing up this morning? We will be over 24,000 ??in just one month recovered all of our losses? Well stay safe and good luck.
Cheers
We have a lot more pain to endure before we see improvement. This dead cat bounce in the market is a good time to get out and be patient.
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/some_american_oil_selling_at_under_10_a_barrel-30-mar-2020-161565-article/
Next week we’re going to see, a major and exciting news Monday or Tuesday when Donald Trump will speak about the controlled testing 10,000 people in New York regarding these two drugs that have extremely exciting news fighting this coronavirus. When we get the news we are going to see huge jumps that’s so many stocks set a new record highs. Now is the time to look seriously at all that call options that will bring well over 10,000% returns!!! So once I get in Monday morning I’ll be doing the happy dance.. these prices we haven’t seen in over 20yrs. So sitting at $51 dollars is crazy undervalued. Only 2 months ago we were sitting at $120. I truly believe 100% we are going to experience a huge bounce to the minimum hitting a $100 if you get in PSX Monday morning with in a few weeks we will make over a 10,000 % returns. I believe 100% we hit bottom this past week. So any one that was sitting on sidelines now is the time to buy buy and look into all the call options $$$$
Go luck and Cheers to everyone
Every seeing this PSX ready to spring back to 100 in the next few weeks??
Buy up every call option at 100 !!!
$10,000 turns in it $huge$ returns!!!
Enjoy the ride every one
Cheers!!!!!
Buy buy, today is the come back . The big V starts today this is when the huge Barnes returns back to 29,500 with in weeks?? Dont miss the boat!!
Cheers
Super cheap here imo crazy
Who would ever imagine that you could get in this being so cheap!!!! WOW today is the day sitting onlines waiting for the perfect storm!!! This is going to make alot of people very rich!!! Buy up all the CALLS you can. And sit back and enjoy your account grow so fast !!! And if it doesn’t give you a cardiac arrest of overexcitement this is going to be huge watch and see!!!
Just buy a shit ton of calls so so cheap!!!!
Cheers
News: $PSX This 6.2%-Yielding Dividend Stock Continues to Prove It's an Excellent Income Investment
Phillips 66 Partners (NYSE: PSXP) has been an excellent dividend stock over the years. The master limited partnership ( MLP ) has increased its payout every quarter since its initial public offering ( IPO ) in 2013, recently notching its 23rd straight increase. With its latest raise -...
Read the whole news PSX - This 6.2%-Yielding Dividend Stock Continues to Prove It's an Excellent Income Investment
Have a great feeling , its going to break 100 this week!!!!!! With Q coming out by the end of This month. I believe there earnings are going to be through the roof? If im right it will pass 52 week high!!!!!!
Have a great feeling , its going to break 100 this week!!!!!! With Q coming out by the end of This month. I believe there earnings are going to be through the roof? If im right it will pass 52 week high!!!!!!
Phillips 66 Is Showing Weak Relative Strength, Watch This Trade Level
Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) is a leading manufacturer of chemicals and oil refining products. The stock peaked out on January 24, 2018 at $107.42 a share. Since that high pivot, the stock has sold off sharply and is now trading around the $92.68 level today. Last week, PSX stock tested the 200-day moving average at $89.14. So far, that level has held up as support. Should PSX stock trade and close below this key moving average it would signal another decline is likely for the stock. The next key support area for PSX stock will be around the $82.00 level. This area is where the 200-week moving average is at. Generally, the first move down into a key moving average will serve as support when tested.
Nicholas Santiago
InTheMoneyStocks
Phillips PSX and Enbridge ENB announce plans to build a major pipeline from west Texas' Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast, with connectivity to more than 3M bbl/day of refining capacity and multiple dock facilities capable of crude oil exports.
Based on 2017 earnings, Phillips 66 trades at 30 times trailing earnings. That, however, is primarily due to low refining margins. The company's average price-to-earnings over the course of its life is just over ten times trailing earnings. This is due to good better refining margins in previous times, and so, it would not be accurate to call Phillips 66 "expensive" - at least not for that reason.
For the past few quarters, Phillips 66 has been spending well above its cash flow. Year to date, it generated $2.6 billion in cash flow from operations and distributed $2.2 billion to shareholders, with another $1.3 billion in capital expenditure. Stripping all else out, the company therefore burned through $900 million in cash this quarter.
Refining is a volatile business. Margins can, and do, fluctuate all the time, and so Phillips 66's earnings can be lumpy. Such was the case this quarter. Refining margins expanded, which led to much higher earnings year on year. Historically speaking, refining margins in 3Q 2016 were pretty low.
Top east coast refiner shuns Bakken delivery as Dakota Access Pipeline starts
Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the east coast's largest refiner, will take just five rail deliveries of North Dakota's Bakken crude oil in May and none in June, Reuters reports, a sign that the impending start of the Dakota Access Pipeline is upending trade flows.
At its peak, PES would have routinely taken ~3 miles' worth of trains filled with Bakken oil each day during its 2013-15 peak, but it will be more lucrative for producers to transport oil to Gulf coast refineries after Dakota
Access begins interstate crude oil delivery on May 14.
The long-delayed pipeline will provide a boost for Bakken prices and is seen as unofficially ending the crude-by-rail boom that had revived east coast refining operations.
The east coast reportedly has averaged just ~100K bbl/day of crude rail deliveries in recent weeks; east coast refiners operated by Phillips 66 (PSX -0.3%) and PBF Energy (PBF +0.2%) are still receiving modest volumes of Bakken crude.
PES is owned by Carlyle Group (CG) and a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP +0.7%).
Cashflow models imply Phillips 66 $PSX has small upside before earnings Friday:
Fair Value Analysis
Delta Air to sell gasoline and diesel as losses at its refinery climb (12/02/16)
By Chris Prentice and Jarrett Renshaw
Delta Air Lines Inc is preparing to market gasoline from a refinery it owns outside Philadelphia, signaling a shift in strategy toward managing the plant as a commercial refiner rather than a dedicated jet fuel supplier.
Delta became the first airline to own a refinery when it bought the shuttered plant in 2012, hoping to turn the facility into its own jet fuel supplier and capitalize on cheap oil supplies from a boom in U.S. shale output.
Instead of marketing the gasoline and diesel from the 185,000 barrels per day Monroe Energy plant, until now Delta has swapped the billions of dollars of motor fuel for jet fuel under a contract with Phillips 66 that is set to expire next year.
Now, Monroe is ramping up to sell small volumes of blended gasoline and ultimately diesel at a distribution center owned by Sunoco Logistics Partners outside Philadelphia, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters.
The sales will allow Monroe to benefit from motor fuel profit margins, an attempt to turn around a loss-making plant at a difficult time for the refining industry along the U.S. East Coast, added the source.
The region's refiners are fighting to survive, as they rely on foreign waterborne crude for supply. Two plants in the region have been shut in the past decade.
The company plans to increase sales volumes, including of diesel, over the next year after the Phillips 66 swap agreement expires, according to the source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak with the press.
A Delta spokesman declined to comment on the plan and a Monroe Energy spokesman said the company does not discuss operations.
"At this point, they may feel they have better economics to sell the gasoline outright," said Robert Mann, a former airline executive and principal at R.W. Mann & Company, Inc.
A commercial refiner would look at profit margins for each fuel, which vary seasonally, and adjust production to maximize the output of the fuel with the best margin. Delta has been maximizing jet fuel output, regardless of variations in margins.
That may have saved Delta money on jet fuel supplies, but cost it potential profit from producing other products.
Mann said if the refiner abandons efforts to maximize jet fuel supply, Delta may reconsider whether owning the plant is worthwhile.
DRAG ON PROFITS
After a few successful years, the refinery has lost money in 2016 amid an industry-wide slump that has hit East Coast refiners the hardest. The refinery lost $83 million in the first nine months of the year compared to $282 million in profits last year.
Monroe Energy slashed employee bonuses to save money earlier this year. But the refiner's manager, Jeff Warmann, told employees then not to worry about mounting losses because the real goal was to pump jet fuel and drive prices down.
Monroe, like other merchant refiners, has also taken a hit from rising costs to meet U.S. annual biofuels requirements. Those require refiners who cannot blend biofuels, as mandated by the government, to buy paper credits from those that can. Those credits, called RINs, have soared in cost in the time Delta has owned the plant.
In the first three quarters of this year, Monroe paid $130 million to purchase RINs, nearly double the $67 million during the same time the year earlier.
Blending ethanol into gasoline will allow Monroe for the first time to generate credits, though it will still meet just a fraction of its total biofuels obligation. Delta has been embroiled in a years-long lawsuit with the Environmental Protection Agency over the scheme, which the airline says are too heavy a burden.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-refinery-delta-air-idUSKBN13R2F3
Phillips 66 Partners Announces $1.3 Billion Acquisition (10/11/16)
Acquisition Includes 30 Phillips 66 Crude, Products, and NGL Logistics Assets
• Expected to be immediately accretive to unitholders
• Assets support Phillips 66’s Bayway, Billings, Borger and Ponca City refineries
• Phillips 66 to enter into long-term minimum volume commitments
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phillips 66 Partners LP (NYSE: PSXP) (the “Partnership”) has reached agreement with Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) to acquire 30 crude, refined products and natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics assets for total consideration of $1.3 billion. The Partnership plans to fund the acquisition with a combination of debt and $196 million in new PSXP units issued to Phillips 66, to be allocated proportionally between common units and general partner units allowing the general partner to maintain its 2 percent general partner interest. The transaction is anticipated to close this month, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and is expected to be immediately accretive to unitholders. Upon closing, the Partnership will be entitled to receive the cash earnings associated with the acquired assets as of Oct. 1, 2016.
The acquisition consideration reflects an approximate 8.7 times multiple based on the forecasted full year 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) attributable to the assets of approximately $150 million. In connection with the acquisition, Phillips 66 will enter into 10-year terminaling and throughput agreements that will include minimum volume commitments covering approximately 85 percent of forecasted volumes.
“As our largest dropdown acquisition to date, this represents a milestone for the Partnership and will provide additional fee-based income and diversity to our already strong midstream portfolio,” said Greg Garland, Phillips 66 Partners chairman and CEO. “We remain committed to maintaining a stable, fee-based, growing business model at Phillips 66 Partners, and are on track to deliver on our commitment to a five-year distribution compound annual growth rate of 30 percent through 2018.”
The transaction includes the following assets:
• A crude pipeline and terminal system that provides crude supply for Phillips 66’s Ponca City Refinery, consisting of 503 miles of pipeline and 1.7 million barrels of storage;
• A refined products and NGL pipeline and terminal system that provides product takeaway transportation services for Phillips 66’s Ponca City Refinery, consisting of 524 miles of pipeline and 1.7 million barrels of storage;
• A crude pipeline and terminal system that provides crude supply for Phillips 66’s Billings Refinery, consisting of a 79 percent undivided interest in a 623-mile pipeline and 570,000 barrels of storage;
• A refined products pipeline and terminal system that provides product takeaway transportation services for Phillips 66’s Billings Refinery, consisting of 342 miles of pipeline and 386,000 barrels of storage;
• A refined products and NGL terminal system that provides storage services for Phillips 66’s Bayway Refinery, consisting of 2.0 million barrels of storage;
• A crude pipeline and terminal system that provides crude supply for the Phillips 66-operated Borger Refinery, consisting of 1,089 miles of pipeline and 400,000 barrels of storage; and
• A refined products pipeline and terminal system that provides product takeaway transportation services for the Phillips 66-operated Borger Refinery, consisting of 93 miles of pipeline, a 33 percent undivided interest in a 102-mile segment and a 54 percent undivided interest in a 19-mile segment of a 121-mile pipeline, a 50 percent interest in a 293-mile pipeline and 700,000 barrels of storage.
A detailed listing of these assets including names and maps is available on the Phillips 66 Partners website.
The terms of the transaction were approved by the board of directors of the general partner of Phillips 66 Partners, based on the approval and recommendation of its conflicts committee comprised solely of independent directors. The conflicts committee engaged Evercore to act as its financial advisor and Vinson & Elkins, L.L.P. to act as its legal counsel.
About Phillips 66 Partners
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Phillips 66 Partners is a growth-oriented master limited partnership formed by Phillips 66 to own, operate, develop and acquire primarily fee-based crude oil, refined petroleum product and natural gas liquids pipelines and terminals and other transportation and midstream assets.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161011005928/en/Phillips-66-Partners-Announces-1.3-Billion-Acquisition
Phillips 66 cuts output at Linden refinery amid weak margins: source (8/30/16)
By Jarrett Renshaw
Phillips 66 has cut production by roughly five percent at its 238,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Linden, New Jersey, amid weak refining margins, according to a source familiar with the plant's operations.
Phillips 66 joins Monroe Energy's 185,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania, in making economic run cuts on the East Coast. Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, continues to run the refinery at roughly 150,000 bpd following run cuts that began in July, a source said Tuesday.
Phillips 66 did not immediately return a request for comment.
The U.S. gasoline crack spread, an indicator of how much refiners make from converting a barrel of oil into a barrel of gasoline, remains at its lowest level in the past five years.
The U.S. diesel crack spread also remains at five-year lows.
U.S. and global refining margins have been hurt by historically high gasoline and diesel inventories. Refining executives and analysts across the globe are predicting refiners are going to be forced to scale back production to reduce inventories, balance the market and boost margins.
East Coast refineries see some of the weakest margins due in part to their supply constraints, and experts predict they would be among the first to cut runs.
Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the largest East Coast refinery, is currently running at full capacity, a source told Reuters Tuesday. It was not immediately known whether PBF Energy has made cuts at either of its East Coast refineries, one in Delaware City, Delaware and the other in Paulsboro, New Jersey.
PBF plans on shutting down the 55,000 bpd gasoline-making unit at its Paulsboro refinery in mid-September for up to eight weeks of planned work.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-refinery-operations-phillips-66-baywa-idUSKCN11523G
Got it right in 2012. And BRK keeps buying.
Validation!
As soon as the spinoff was announced, I immediately wondered which stake would increase over time. My expectation was that future money would go into PSX. I also envisioned a decrease in COP if total funds invested were purely reallocated.
COP has to allocate capital to find more oil and gas. PSX is more of a "toll bridge".
Buffett Bets $1 Billion More on Phillips 66 (8/29/16)
Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries have raised its stake in the refiner to 15.2%.
By Ed Lin
Warren Buffett has shown a lot of love in 2016 for a stock that has been playing dead.
So far this year, Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRKB ) and its subsidiaries have paid about $1.39 billion for an additional 18 million more Phillips 66 ( PSX ) shares, according to regulatory filings, lifting its stake to 79,486,181 shares, or a 15.2% stake. Berkshire held 61,486,926 Phillips 66 shares at year-end 2015, an 11.8% stake. Percentage stakes are based on the refiner’s outstanding shares as of June 30.
In his much-scrutinized annual shareholder letter, released in February, Buffett touted Berkshire’s big four holdings — American Express ( AXP ), Coca-Cola, International Business Machines (IBM) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) — as “excellent businesses” run by “talented and shareholder-oriented” managers. He didn’t single out Phillips 66 for commentary, but it was noted in a table that as of Dec. 31, Berkshire had paid $4.357 billion for 55.4 million Phillips 66 shares, or an average of $78.67 each, excluding 6.1 million shares held in subsidiary pension funds. In 2016, Berkshire paid an average of $77.23 each for the 18 million shares purchased.
Unfortunately, Phillips 66’s now 3.24% dividend yield has topped the lackluster share-price appreciation. Phillips 66 closed at $78.62 on Friday. Shares purchased in 2015 have on average lost a nickel each, excluding dividends, while those purchased this year have inched up a lowly 1.8%, excluding dividends.
Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire, turned heads when he disclosed that his stake in Phillips 66 had exceeded 10% in late August of last year. We were bullish on Phillips 66 at the time .
Phillips 66 shares did in fact rise through the end of 2015, as we noted. But good news hasn’t been gushing in 2016.
A disappointing fourth-quarter report in late January sent Phillips 66 shares sliding to the low $70s from the $80s. As the stock rallied back in the ensuing months to the high $80s, a disappointing first-quarter report in late April was a knockout blow — the stock would mostly trade sub-$80 going forward. In June, the company was one of several refiners who were issued subpoenas by California’s attorney general as part of an investigation into whether the companies artificially raised retail gasoline prices in the state. Investors braced themselves for the second-quarter report in late July, and even though both revenue and profits slid, the latter surprisingly topped expectations.
The latest issue is a standoff between members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and police guarding the construction site for a 1,154-mile pipeline that would carry oil from North Dakota. Phillips 66 owns 25% of the pipeline.
This year Buffett bought Phillips 66 shares mostly when the stock dipped throughout January and early February, and also late May and early June. His most recent purchases, totaling about $55 million, were made week. Buffett bought in blocks as small as 100 shares and as large as over a million shares.
http://www.barrons.com/articles/buffet-bets-1-billion-more-on-phillips-66-1472470538
Buffet buying in will certainly bring investors eyes to this one! Will be watching closely for an entry next week.
Sempra Energy Unit Agrees To Sell Stake In Rockies Express Pipeline (3/29/16)
SAN DIEGO, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, a unit of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), today announced that it has entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement with a subsidiary of Tallgrass Development, LP to sell Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's 25-percent interest in the Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) for approximately $440 million in cash.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and a right of first refusal. Sempra Energy expects the transaction to close in the second quarter and result in an after-tax loss of approximately $27 million.
Additionally, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power intends to permanently release the remaining uncontracted capacity that it holds on REX that it had been releasing on an interim basis. The effect of the permanent capacity release is expected to result in a charge to earnings of between $100 million and $120 million during the second quarter 2016, representing an acceleration of losses that would otherwise be realized over the contract term, which extends through November 2019. It is expected that the approximately $27 million after-tax loss from the sale, as well as the loss resulting from the permanent release of capacity, will be excluded from Sempra Energy's adjusted 2016 earnings guidance.
"After careful evaluation of our natural gas portfolio, we determined that our minority stake in REX is not consistent with our long-term growth strategy," said Patti Wagner, president and chief executive officer of Sempra U.S. Gas & Power. "While REX is an important part of the country's natural gas pipeline system, we believe that given the changing market conditions, we can more productively redeploy the proceeds from the REX sale into long-term growth opportunities that better meet our strategy and risk profile."
"While Sempra Energy's earnings from REX for March through December 2016 will be reduced by approximately $60 million, forecasted earnings from REX were expected to be immaterial to Sempra Energy beginning in 2020," said Joseph A. Householder, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sempra Energy. "We expect to redeploy the sale proceeds to mitigate the loss of REX earnings in the near term and increase our long-term earnings profile."
Sempra Energy plans to provide updated adjusted earnings guidance for 2016 by the company's annual financial analyst conference on May 24, 2016.
Rockies Express Pipeline LLC is a Delaware limited liability company engaged in the ownership and operation of the Rockies Express Pipeline, a 1,712-mile natural gas transmission pipeline that extends from Opal, Wyoming, and Meeker, Colorado, to Clarington, Ohio, and is one of the largest natural gas pipelines ever constructed in North America. Rockies Express Pipeline LLC is a joint venture of: a subsidiary of Tallgrass Development, LP (50-percent share); Sempra U.S. Gas & Power (25-percent share); and a subsidiary of Phillips 66 (25-percent share). A wholly owned subsidiary of Tallgrass Development, LP operates the pipeline. Tallgrass Development, LP is a member of the Tallgrass Energy family of companies, which includes Tallgrass Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: TEP) and Tallgrass Energy GP, LP (NYSE: TEGP).
Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, LLC is a leading developer of renewable energy and natural gas projects. For more information, visit www.SempraUSGP.com. Sempra U.S. Gas & Power is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2015 revenues of more than $10 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 17,000 employees serve more than 32 million consumers worldwide.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sempra-energy-unit-agrees-to-sell-stake-in-rockies-express-pipeline-300243178.html
Buffett's new buys bring Phillips 66 stake near 14% (2/04/16)
By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) discloses the purchase of 1.69M more shares this week of Phillips 66 worth ~$132M to give it ownership of nearly 14% of the oil refiner.
Over 15 days of buying since Jan. 4, Warren Buffett's conglomerate has spent $964M to add 12.5M shares to its PSX stake.
The new purchases were made between $77.40 and $78.53; the average price paid overall for the January and February buys is $77.13.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/3083386-buffetts-new-buys-bring-phillips-66-stake-near-14-percent
Phillips 66 Announces Quarterly Dividend (2/03/16)
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The board of directors of Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) has declared a quarterly dividend of 56 cents per share on Phillips 66 common stock. The dividend is payable on March 1, 2016, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Feb. 16, 2016.
About Phillips 66
Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. With a portfolio of Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties businesses, the company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Phillips 66 Partners, the company's master limited partnership, is an integral asset in the portfolio. Headquartered in Houston, the company has 14,000 employees committed to safety and operating excellence. Phillips 66 had $49 billion of assets as of Dec. 31, 2015. For more information, visit www.phillips66.com or follow us on Twitter @Phillips66Co.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160203006186/en/Phillips-66-Announces-Quarterly-Dividend
Truthfully it does make sense to average down for them now that they have controlling interest.
Phillips 66 Reports Fourth-Quarter Earnings of $650 Million or $1.20 Per Share (1/29/16)
Adjusted earnings of $710 million or $1.31 per share
Highlights
Fourth Quarter
• Generated $1.5 billion in cash from operations
• Refining achieved 94 percent utilization and record 85 percent clean product yield
• Sweeny Fractionator One and Clemens Caverns commenced operations
Full-Year 2015
• Earnings of $4.2 billion; operating cash flow of $5.7 billion
• Refining generated $2.6 billion of earnings
• Chemicals delivered $962 million in earnings amid declining commodity prices
• Received $1.5 billion from Phillips 66 Partners debt and equity offerings
• Capital spending of $4.3 billion, excluding $1.5 billion DCP Midstream contribution
• Midstream growth capital of $2.8 billion
• Increased quarterly dividend 12 percent to $0.56 per common share
• Returned $2.7 billion of capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), an energy manufacturing and logistics company, announces fourth-quarter earnings of $650 million, compared with earnings of $1,578 million in the third quarter of 2015. Adjusted earnings, excluding special items of $60 million, were $710 million.
“We operated well in the quarter, as refining capacity utilization remained high and clean product yield increased," said Greg Garland, Chairman and CEO. "We also reached a significant milestone with the Sweeny Fractionator One and Clemens Caverns coming online. Solid execution in the fourth quarter generated $1.5 billion of cash from operations, and we returned over $700 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases."
"Our financial performance in 2015 demonstrates the resiliency of our diversified portfolio in a low commodity price environment. We create value by focusing on operating excellence, enhancing Refining returns, and delivering on our Midstream and Chemicals growth programs. Our balance sheet is strong, and we maintain a disciplined approach to capital allocation. We remain firmly focused on these core priorities in 2016."
Midstream
[tables deleted]
Phillips 66's Midstream fourth-quarter adjusted earnings were $42 million, a decrease of $49 million from the third quarter.
Phillips 66’s Transportation business generated adjusted earnings of $78 million during the fourth quarter, consistent with the third quarter.
NGL adjusted losses were $2 million for the fourth quarter. The $34 million decrease from the prior quarter was largely driven by the timing of adjustments related to the tax extenders bill, signed in December, as well as additional costs associated with the Sweeny Hub.
Phillips 66 Partners (PSXP) contributed $37 million to the Midstream segment's fourth-quarter earnings. PSXP's limited partner distribution increased to $0.458 per unit, a 7 percent increase from the third quarter. Distributions to Phillips 66 from PSXP increased 14 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the prior quarter, reflecting the impact of incentive distribution rights.
For the fourth quarter of 2015, the company’s equity investment in DCP Midstream, LLC (DCP Midstream) had an adjusted loss of $34 million, compared with an $18 million adjusted loss in the prior quarter. DCP Midstream's lower results were primarily due to lower natural gas and natural gas liquids marketing margins, as well as the impact of lower commodity prices.
During the fourth quarter, DCP Midstream recognized asset impairments primarily as a result of the continuing low commodity price environment. The impairments negatively impacted earnings from Phillips 66’s equity investment in DCP Midstream by $104 million after-tax, and were excluded from adjusted earnings.
Chemicals
The Chemicals segment reflects Phillips 66's equity investment in Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (CPChem). Fourth-quarter Chemicals adjusted earnings were $182 million, compared with adjusted earnings of $272 million in the third quarter.
During the fourth quarter, CPChem's Olefins and Polyolefins business contributed $181 million to Phillips 66's Chemicals earnings. This was a decrease of $80 million compared with the prior quarter largely due to reduced margins, as well as decreased equity earnings. Turnaround and maintenance activity in the fourth quarter increased operating costs and decreased global utilization for O&P to 92 percent compared with 94 percent in the third quarter.
CPChem's Specialties, Aromatics and Styrenics business contributed $9 million of adjusted earnings in the fourth quarter, a decrease of $8 million from the prior quarter primarily due to lower earnings at CPChem's SA&S equity affiliates as a result of planned turnarounds and lower margins.
Chemicals earnings for the fourth quarter were positively impacted by a $34 million tax adjustment. This item was excluded from adjusted earnings.
Refining
Refining adjusted earnings were $376 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $1,052 million in the third quarter.
The decrease in earnings was largely driven by lower realized margins due to a 35 percent decline in global market cracks compared to the third quarter. Fourth-quarter gasoline market cracks dropped to $12.72 per barrel, compared with $21.44 per barrel during the third quarter, while distillate cracks declined from $15.67 per barrel to $12.86 per barrel for the same period.
Market capture increased to 74 percent, compared with 72 percent in the prior quarter. Phillips 66's refining utilization and worldwide clean product yield were 94 percent and 85 percent, respectively, in the fourth quarter. Turnaround costs for the fourth quarter were $130 million pre-tax, primarily relating to the Western/Pacific Region.
Refining's earnings in the fourth quarter were impacted by certain tax impacts, including a $91 million benefit resulting from a change in German tax law. Additionally, the WRB joint venture recognized a lower-of-cost-or-market inventory adjustment resulting from declining commodity prices, which negatively impacted earnings from Phillips 66’s equity investment in WRB Refining LP by $33 million after-tax. These items were excluded from adjusted earnings.
Marketing and Specialties
Marketing and Specialties (M&S) fourth-quarter adjusted earnings were $227 million, compared with $344 million in the third quarter.
Adjusted earnings for Marketing and Other were $198 million, a decrease of $93 million from the prior quarter. The decrease in earnings was largely due to lower realized margins driven by less favorable market conditions relative to the third quarter. Refined product exports in the fourth quarter were 127,000 barrels per day (BPD), compared with 118,000 BPD in the prior quarter.
Phillips 66’s Specialties businesses generated adjusted earnings of $29 million during the fourth quarter. The $24 million decrease from the prior quarter was mainly due to reduced base oil margins, as well as lower finished lubricants margins and volumes.
Corporate and Other
Corporate and Other adjusted costs were $117 million after-tax in the fourth quarter, an increase of $5 million compared with the prior quarter.
Financial Position, Liquidity and Return of Capital
During the fourth quarter, Phillips 66 generated $1.5 billion of cash from operations. Operating cash flow excluding working capital changes was $1.8 billion. Capital expenditures and investments totaled $2.5 billion, supporting execution of the company's Midstream growth strategy, as well as the DCP Midstream recapitalization. The recapitalization, which included the company's $1.5 billion contribution to DCP Midstream, provides DCP Midstream with a stronger balance sheet and increased financial flexibility through the commodity cycle.
Phillips 66 returned $704 million to shareholders during the quarter, consisting of $298 million in dividends and the repurchase of 4.7 million shares of common stock for $406 million. For the year, the company repurchased 19.3 million shares of common stock for $1.5 billion, paid $1.2 billion in dividends, and increased the quarterly dividend by 12 percent. Since July 2012, the company has repurchased 92.5 million shares for $6.4 billion. Phillips 66 ended the quarter with 529 million shares outstanding.
As of Dec. 31, 2015, cash and cash equivalents were $3.1 billion and debt was $8.9 billion, including $1.1 billion at Phillips 66 Partners. The company's consolidated debt-to-capital ratio was 27 percent. Excluding Phillips 66 Partners, the debt-to-capital ratio was 25 percent. Additionally, Phillips 66 reported a 2015 return on capital employed (ROCE) of 14 percent.
Strategic Update
The company continues to execute on its plan to grow the Midstream and Chemicals businesses, while maintaining commitments to shareholder distributions, financial flexibility and a strong balance sheet. Midstream growth is fueled in part by robust operating cash flows generated by the company’s Refining and M&S operations. In addition, PSXP provides a cost-efficient vehicle to fund that growth and invest in fee-based infrastructure, as demonstrated by the $1.5 billion raised by PSXP in debt and equity offerings in the first quarter of 2015.
The company continued development of the Sweeny Hub with the 100,000 BPD Sweeny Fractionator One and Clemens Caverns projects, which came online in the fourth quarter. Construction of the 150,000 BPD Freeport LPG Export Terminal is on schedule and on budget with startup expected in the second half of 2016.
The company is participating in joint ventures to develop the approximately 470,000 BPD Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline (ETCOP) system. Phillips 66 has a 25 percent interest in these joint ventures with Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners. Commercial operations are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2016.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, Phillips 66 Partners acquired Phillips 66's interest in the Bayou Bridge Pipeline joint venture. The joint venture was created to develop a pipeline from the Phillips 66 and Sunoco Logistics terminals in Nederland, Texas, to St. James, Louisiana. Construction is underway on the first segment of the pipeline, which will deliver crude oil from Nederland to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Commercial operations on this segment are expected to begin by the end of first-quarter 2016.
In Chemicals, overall progress on CPChem's world-scale U.S. Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project is now approaching 70 percent completion, with startup expected in mid-2017. This project consists of an ethane cracker and related polyethylene facilities that will increase CPChem's U.S. ethylene and polyethylene capacity by more than 40 percent.
Later today, members of Phillips 66 executive management will host a webcast at noon EST to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter performance and provide an update on strategic initiatives. To access the webcast and view related presentation materials, go to www.phillips66.com/investors and click on "Events & Presentations." For detailed supplemental information, go to www.phillips66.com/supplemental.
About Phillips 66
Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. With a portfolio of Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties businesses, the company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Phillips 66 Partners, the company's master limited partnership, is an integral asset in the portfolio. Headquartered in Houston, the company has 14,000 employees committed to safety and operating excellence. Phillips 66 had $49 billion of assets as of Dec. 31, 2015. For more information, visit www.phillips66.com or follow us on Twitter @Phillips66Co.
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