Rod Sailor
Analyst · J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead
Thanks, Matt. Good morning. And thank you for joining us for today’s call. Enable ended 2017 with another great quarter of performance. In the fourth quarter of 2017, natural gas gathered, processed and transported volumes as well as crude oil gathered volumes, all increased compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. The increased volumes contributed to higher net income attributable to common units, higher adjusted EBITDA, and higher distributable cash flow for the quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Our strong fourth quarter financial and operational results capped off a record year for Enable. I am proud to announce that in 2017, Enable delivered the highest full-year results for gathered volumes, processed volumes, NGLs, produced and transported volumes as well as the highest full-year results for adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow, since Enable’s formation in May of 2013. Slide five highlights our commitment to growing our business while remaining financially disciplined. Our major commercial successes in 2017 included the Wildcat and CaSE projects and the Align Midstream acquisition. Once online, Wildcat and CaSE will provide over 600 million cubic feet per day of capital-efficient market solutions for growing supply in the Anadarko Basin while the acquisition of Align Midstream extends our footprint in the active Ark-La-Tex Basin and further optimizes our midstream services and product lines in the region. During the year, we were also successful in contracting firm, fee-based agreements on EGT and EOIT pipelines and continued to increase acreage dedicated to our gathering and processing segment. We continued to balance our business growth with a focus on cost discipline. We saw significant growth in revenues and gross margin in 2017 while keeping our O&M and G&A expenses flat to 2016 levels. I am also pleased to announce that we exceeded the upper end of our 2017 outlook ranges for net income, adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow. We achieved our objectives in 2017 while maintaining a strong balance sheet and generating significant distribution coverage. We ended the year with a total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 3.75 times and with a distribution coverage ratio of 1.2 times. That distribution coverage equates to approximately 35% of our expansion capital spending for the year, excluding our M&A activities. Turning to slide six. We will look to build on our success in 2018, leveraging our strategically located assets and our highly interconnected systems. As you can see, there is significant growth in both producer supply and expected market demand around our footprint over the next couple of years, and Enable is well-positioned to serve this growth. Turning to slide seven. Our gathering and processing segment has the right assets in the right places. We see positive activity and development in each of our basins, and there are 49 rigs drilling wells to be connected to our gathering system. As a result of the strong producer activity across our footprint, our natural gas gathered volumes have increased for eight consecutive quarters and we are well-positioned for continued growth. In the Anadarko Basin, we continue to hold a market leading SCOOP and STACK position, and we offer producers over 1.8 Bcf per day of processing capacity in the basin. Rig activity remains strong in the basin with 35 rigs drilling wells to be connected to our gathering systems in the SCOOP and STACK plays. Our Wildcat project provide an additional 400 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity for growing SCOOP and STACK production, and the project remains on schedule for second quarter of 2018 startup. We are also seeing significant rig activity and production growth in the Ark-La-Tex Basin. We saw our gathered volumes in the basin increased by 40% in 2017 as producers in the Haynesville and Cotton Valley plays improved their completion techniques and drilled longer laterals. 2018 will see a full-year impact of the Align Midstream acquisition, and we continue to work to optimize and integrate those assets. In the Arkoma Basin, leasing activity in eastern Oklahoma has significantly increased, leading to growth opportunities in both wet and dry gas windows. During the fourth quarter of 2017, we signed a new 10-year fee-based natural gas gathering contract with approximately a 138,000 gross acres of dedication from a producer focused on drilling lean gas areas of the Arkoma Woodford Shale. We have natural gas gathering contracts with minimum volume commitments in the Ark-La-Tex and Arkoma basins. Natural gas gathered volumes in the Ark-La-Tex Basin have increased for eight consecutive quarters, and continued growth further reduces shortfall payments and provides the opportunity for increased margin as volumes exceed in DC [ph] levels. Finally, in the Williston Basin, crude oil gathered volumes continued to grow as a result of the recent 8,000 barrel per day system expansion and continued improvement in producer completion techniques. Moving to slide eight. Enable’s transportation and storage assets are highly integrated and well-positioned to provide market solutions for both growing demand and supply markets in and around our footprint. Our 5,900-mile Enable Gas Transmission pipeline system supports producer activity and market demand across six states. Significant producer growth in the Anadarko Basin has driven increased demand for transportation capacity. And in the fourth quarter, we signed a three-year 1,000 dekatherms per day firm transportation agreement with an Anadarko Basin producer. The transportation agreement provides access to delivery points on the west side of our EGT system that connect the downstream markets in the West and the Midwest. With this project and completion of our CaSE and Wildcat projects, we will have provided over 1.1 Bcf per day of market solutions for SCOOP and STACK production since 2015. In January, Enable announced a 600,000 dekatherm per day open season for capacity on EGT’s Line CP. That included a foundation shipper that subscribed to total of 300,000 dekatherms per day of firm capacity. The open season ended in early February and we are currently evaluating the bids received. The Mississippi River Transmission pipeline system provides the St. Louis market with access to Mid-Continent and Northeast supply at competitive rates. MRT’s planned 2018 rate case provides us the opportunity to adjust rates, based on historical investments and updated contracted capacity levels. Our EOIT pipeline system continues to benefit from increased Anadarko production as well as its core position with Oklahoma utilities. Annual average deliveries on our intrastate system increased approximately 9% in 2017 compared to 2016 as a result of significant producer growth in the Anadarko Basin. Our Muskogee project is still on schedule to be in service by the end of 2018. And once online, the project will provide OG&E 228,000 dekatherms per day of firm contracted transpiration service for natural gas fired electric generation. Finally, the SESH pipeline is a 50% joint venture that serves the high growth demand markets of the southeastern United States and Florida with a diversity of supply from Southeast and Northeast markets through its interconnections with 20 third-party pipelines. I would now like to turn the call over to John to further discuss our fourth quarter and full-year operational and financial results.