Duncan Energy Partners L.P. (DEP) recently rewarded unitholders by raising its distribution 3.6%. The partnership already pays a hefty yield of 9.00%. It has surprised on the Zacks Consensus Estimate three quarters in a row.

Company Description

Duncan Energy is a partnership which transports and stores natural gas, provides NGL fractionation (or separation) and transportation and petrochemical storage and transportation.

The partnership has assets primarily in Texas and Louisiana, including 9,200 miles of natural gas pipelines and 1,600 miles of NGL and petrochemical pipelines.

Duncan Energy is managed by its general partner, DEP Holdings, LLC, which is wholly-owned by Enterprise Products Partners. Enterprise owns about 74% of the limited partner interests of Duncan Energy.

Duncan Surprised by 37.93% in the Second Quarter

On July 27, the partnership reported second quarter results that easily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11 cents. Earnings per unit were 40 cents compared

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When it comes to Oil and Gas MLP’s, Three is Better than One

by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist

Much has been written about the benefits of owning oil and gas Master Limited Partnerships, or MLP’s as they’re commonly referred to.

They trade just like stocks, but are structured as limited partnerships instead of as corporations. Buyers purchase “units” instead of “shares”. This is done primarily to avoid corporate taxation, and allows more of the MLP’s profits to be passed onto the unit holder.

Of course, there’s no free lunch when it comes to taxes, so the unit holder is ultimately responsible for the taxes on the profits – potentially a complicated task when April 15th rolls around.

Despite the extra work for you or your accountant, MLP’s are just too good to overlook, especially if you have an

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So much for the reset, writes Steve LeVine, as Joe Biden visited both Kiev and Tbilisi stating that Washington will continue to support their drive for NATO membership if that is the route they choose to take.  He does a very good job explaining why Biden said what he said, pointing out that the political reality of the situation certainly doesn't mean that they are going to become NATO members soon (for example, Washington rejected Saakashvili's requests for arms).  Almost nothing is guaranteed to raise the hackles of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin more than the suggestion that Georgia should be permitted to join NATO; a close second would be the same formulation for Ukraine. Russia regards both nations as its own. Indeed, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin responded by saying that Georgia is "remilitarizing" after being pummeled by Russia ...

Bluegrass Energy Inc. is a domestic oil and gas development and exploration company. The company has begun to act on its plan to secure a significant asset base in eastern Kentucky.

Historically, eastern Kentucky has been heavily drilled with a great deal of success. Eastern Kentucky lies within the Appalachian basin, an area that has often been defined as the most drilled but least explored in the US. It is estimated that 80% of the energy reserves within the Appalachian basin still remain to be produced.

In the initial phase of Bluegrass Energy’s plan for eastern Kentucky, the company intends to secure proven reserves in excess of 100 BCFE within the next three years. The company’s plan is built around securing assets within known producing areas that offer opportunities to use historical results as a guideline. The other part of Bluegrass Energy’s plan

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Wind-Generated Power: Why Midwest Wind Power Isn’t Blowing East

by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist

In the waning days of the Great Depression, FDR Signed the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 into law, heralding a new era of growth and prosperity for the nation’s heartland.

While electricity was generally available in cities and towns, it was nearly unheard of on farms, ranches and other rural areas. The REA brought electric power to these sparsely populated Midwest farms and ranches.

Today the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak.

President Obama is hoping that Midwest rural areas will return the favor, and provide much needed wind-generated power to densely populated cities and towns up and down both coasts of the country…

Wind turbines are huge, and not well suited to more densely populated areas. They are a natural fit in the vast open plains of the nation’s heartland, where the wind

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Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) and Enterprise GP Holdings L.P. announced a definitive agreement to merge with Teppco Partners (TPP) along with Teppco's general partner. The merger of the master limited partnerships (MLPs) will take place on a unit-for-unit basis to form the largest publicly traded energy partnership with an enterprise value of more than $26 billion.

The combined partnership will operate under the Enterprise name and trade under the 'EPD' ticker symbol. Post merger, Teppco and its general partner - Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co. LLC - will become wholly owned subsidiaries of Enterprise. The completion of the merger is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2009.

We view the transaction as a win-win for unitholders of both the MLPs. In addition to access to the largest producing basins of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and

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TEPPCO Partners (TPP) will merge with Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) to forge the largest publicly traded energy partnership with an enterprise value of more than $26 billion. The merged partnership will preserve the name Enterprise Products Partners. TEPPCO unitholders, excluding certain affiliates of EPCO, will receive 1.24 common units of Enterprise for each TEPPCO unit, in consideration. This represents a 14.5% premium to the initial offer made by Enterprise on March 9, 2009.

The combined partnership will be in possession of almost 48,000 miles of pipelines. This will include over 22,000 miles of NGL, refined product and petrochemical pipelines; over 20,000 miles of natural gas pipelines; and more than 5,000 miles of crude oil pipelines. The partnership will own nearly 200 million barrels of NGL, refined product and crude oil storage capacity and 27 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage

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A reader has directed my attention to this interesting article by Clifford Levy published in The New York Times about a seemingly unnecessary $1 billion bridge - which would be the longest suspension bridge in the world - connecting Vladivostok to the sparsely populated small island of Russki (there is also an interesting video).  Levy focuses the example of the bridge, but the issue really at stake is the Kremlin's drive to create an Eastern economic identity, preparing to show off some muscle before the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting in 2012 ... part of a budget package of some $6 billion being funneled toward this region despite lacking need, population, or significant economic activity.  Kind of a "if you build it, they will come" attitude to the ...

Highlighted stocks include Sempra Energy (SRE), Allegheny Energy, inc. (AYE), The Hershey Company (HSY), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP).Given where the bottom-up analyst forecasts are for the S&P 500 -- currently at about $62.50 for 2009 -- and the rate of decline of the forecasts, it seems likely that the eventual actual earnings for the S&P 500 will be about $50. This refers to operating earnings, excluding one time charges and gains.There will be far more charges than gains, so the level of reported earnings will be well south of $50. We will most likely see a bit of an economic recovery in 2010, but it will be anemic. As with 2009, the bottom-up forecast is both far too optimistic and falling fast. It currently stands at $78.34.  Based on a much longer time frame, ...

El Paso Pipeline Partners L.P. (...