Key Takeaways

Beginning with this issue of Energy & Income Advisor, we have expanded the depth of our comments in our International Coverage Universe to provide more color for readers.

We updated the majority of our comments prior to leaving for the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships’ annual MLP investor conference (video report here) and will take care of the stragglers over the coming weeks.

Producing Results

Not surprisingly, last winter’s Polar Vortex had an enormous impact on much of Canada’s energy sector, with natural-gas prices soaring as the mercury plunged.

Meanwhile, the price differential between Western Canadian Select (WCS) and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil narrowed as winter wore on. And surging demand for propane pushed the price of a basket of natural gas liquids (NGL) sharply higher.

These developments provided a big lift to Canadian upstream operators, especially names with a production mix weighted toward NGLs and natural gas.