據今日油價6月13日報道，盡管能源基礎設施運營商采用收費和按需付費的商業模式，但中游行業仍無法幸免油價暴跌和上游運營商為應對價格暴跌而實施停產帶來的影響。穆迪投資者服務公司(Moody's Investors Service)在本周發布的一份新報告中表示，隨著油氣行業面臨供需雙重沖擊，油氣產量迅速下降，全球油氣基礎設施公司將受到影響。

該評級機構表示，中游能源板塊將無法完全抵消產量下降和價格暴跌的影響，并首次將其對全球中游能源板塊的展望從“穩定”調整為“負面”。

穆迪表示："雖然該行業的資產基礎主要由‘必須運營’的基礎設施組成，但并非所有收入和收益都能完全免受大宗商品價格和成交量風險的影響，一些中游板塊比其他板塊更容易受到價格和產量下跌的影響。”

根據穆迪公司的預測，由于當前的供需失衡和油氣產量下降，該行業的息稅折舊及攤銷前利潤（EBITDA）今年將至少下降5%。不過，該評級機構預計中游行業明年將逐步恢復盈利增長。

穆迪副總裁安德魯布魯克斯(Andrew Brooks)表示:“全球中游產業的負面前景，反映出產量下滑的速度之快和幅度之大，已影響到中游業務，并將在未來12至18個月損害該行業的信貸質量。”

德州和俄克拉何馬州駁回了支持定量配給的想法，這一事實幫助了美國的中游行業。安德魯稱："除了可能以低效的方式關閉生產之外，強制減產可能還讓陷入困境的生產商避免了最低產量承諾以及向其中游交易對手支付的相關差額。"

隨著強制性減產的想法落空，美國能源基礎設施避免了更糟糕的后果，但由于油價暴跌，中游行業也不能完全免受石油產量減少的影響。

伍德麥肯茲本月早些時候表示，產量下降導致管道利用率大幅下降。

王佳晶 摘譯自 今日油價

原文如下：

Midstream Oil Companies Are Beginning To Feel The Pinch

Despite the fee-based and take-or-pay business models of energy infrastructure operators, the midstream sector is not immune to the oil price crash and the production shut-ins that upstream operators undertook in response to collapsing prices. Oil and gas infrastructure companies worldwide will be impacted by the rapid reduction of oil and gas volumes as the broader oil and gas industry struggles with the simultaneous demand and supply shocks, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report this week.

The midstream sector will not be able to offset the lower volume throughput and crash in prices fully, the rating agency said, changing its outlook on the global midstream energy sector to "negative" from "stable" for the first time.

"While the sector's asset base consists mainly of "must-run" infrastructure, not all its revenue and earnings are fully protected from commodity price and volume risks, with some midstream segments more vulnerable to price and production declines than others," Moody's said.

According to Moody's, the sector's aggregate earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) will drop by at least 5 percent this year, due to the current supply-demand imbalance and lower oil and gas production. However, the rating agency expects the midstream sector to recover its earnings growth next year gradually.

"The negative outlook for the global midstream sector reflects the rapid pace and magnitude of production declines that have now spilled into midstream operations and will compromise the sector's credit quality over the next 12 to 18 months," Andrew Brooks, a Moody's VP-Senior Credit Officer, said.

The fact that the idea of pro-rationing was dismissed in Texas and Oklahoma helped the midstream sector in the U.S., according to Alerian.

"In addition to potentially shutting-in production in an inefficient manner, mandated cuts may have allowed struggling producers to avoid minimum volume commitments and the related deficiency payments to their midstream counterparties," Alerian said.

The U.S. energy infrastructure was spared worse consequences as ideas of mandatory cuts fell through, but the midstream sector is not entirely safe from the reduced oil production due to the price crash.

Lower production volumes have resulted in a sharp drop in utilization rates on pipelines, Wood Mackenzie said earlier this month.