The Current State of Midstream

A super educational interview with renowned Syria and Middle East expert, Professor Joshua Landis, the University of Oklahoma’s Director of Middle East Studies. Tune in to The Stock Podcast to hear Dr. Landis discuss the Trump Administration’s decision to renew sanctions against Iran, the Syrian Civil War, and the Kurdish problem in the Middle East. And, most relevant to some listeners, listen to Dr. Landis discuss the geopolitics of oil. A great podcast for anyone who would like to learn more about what’s going on in the Middle East, and some of the implications for energy markets and the geopolitics of energy. Check out Josh’s blog, Syria Comment, to learn more about what’s going on in the region.

Professor Joshua Landis is one of the most well-respected and knowledgeable Middle East experts around. Cumulatively, he’s spent years in the Middle East, in Syria and Lebanon in particular. Dr. Landis’ blog, Syria Comment, is one of the most widely read blogs on the Syrian Civil War and the Middle East as a whole. Full disclosure, Dr. Landis was a former professor of mine, so it’s a particular pleasure to have him on the program to talk about some of the most interesting developments in the Middle East, and how those developments are affecting the geopolitics of oil.

Chris Sighinolfi rejoins The Stock Podcast for a follow-up interview where he talks about the current state of midstream. Tune in to hear Chris talk about investor sentiment, the role of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) mandates in the midstream space, and his perspectives on distribution cuts in the sector.

Bahir Manios is the CFO of Brookfield Infrastructure, one of the largest diversified infrastructure companies in the world. Tune in to hear Bahir discuss BIP‘s asset portfolio, investment philosophy, and a very compelling investment story.

Chris Whalen is the Chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, an author, and co-founder of Institutional Risk Analytics. Chris is recognized as one of the investors who anticipated the eventual bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and has a reputation as one of the foremost banking analysts on Wall Street. Tune in to hear Chris discuss banks, interest rates, and the leadership changes at the Federal Reserve on The Stock Podcast.

If you’d like to learn more about Chris Whalen, you should check out his blog here. Also, I highly encourage anyone interested in learning more about interest rates, credit spreads, and the dynamics behind bank earnings power to subscribe to the Institutional Risk Analyst. And if you want to dig deeper, you can purchase the quarterly IRA Bank Book.

Chris Sighinolfi is a Managing Director and research analyst with Jefferies Research. Chris is one of Wall Street’s top-rated analysts covering midstream, MLPs, and natural gas services. In this episode of The Stock Podcast, Chris provides an excellent primer for the midstream/MLP sector. It’s a great interview with Chris providing a lot of context and insight into an undervalued subsector of the energy industry. If you’d like to learn about midstream space from one of the best analysts on the Street, this is the podcast to listen to.

Wouter van Kempen is the Chairman and CEO of DCP Midstream, the largest natural gas gathering and processor company in the United States. Tune in to hear Wouter describe DCP‘s operational footprint, the game-changing technological advancements his company is implementing, and a truly compelling investment story.

DCP Midstream is one of a few MLPs that can boast of having consistently delivered on the inherent agreement between shareholder and management. The agreement relates to the cash the company distributes to investors via the dividend. Sure, one could argue that DCP is a troubled investment story, evidenced by the lack of dividend growth since the commodity price collapse of 2014. However, Wouter van Kempen and his team have done a phenomenal job steering DCP through a very uncertain period of the North American energy cycle and has delivered on one of the most critical components of the MLP investment thesis – stable distributions to shareholders!

Steve Fleishman is a Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Wolfe Research. Steve and his team cover the utilities, power, renewables, and midstream sectors at Wolfe Research. Steve has been Wall Street’s top-ranked utility analyst 14 times, so it’s an enormous honor to have him on the podcast! Tune in to hear Steve provide a great utility primer including a brief history of utilities, trends he and his team are following, and some of his thoughts on utility valuations today.

Steve agreed to come onto the program to give listeners of The Stock Podcast a utility primer. So, if you have an interest in utility investing, or you just like to gain an understanding of how utility investors think about the sector, this episode may be what you’re looking for.

You may recall from the Chris Sighinolfi interview that sector specialists like Steve know their industries forward and backward and Steve is a prime example of this. Steve has a reputation for being an extremely thoughtful analyst. If you listen to an earnings call with any of the big utilities, you’ll hear why. He asks questions that, in and of themselves, have a lot of meaning.

Apart from being one of the best analysts on Wall Street, Steve is one of the nicest guys I’ve met in the industry. He’s genuinely concerned about people, as well as their stock-picking performance. He was also one of a handful of Wall Street analysts that actually reached out to me after I quit my job to start this podcast. I consider myself fortunate to be able to call Steve a friend and he’s doing me and my listeners a big honor by coming onto the podcast.

Duke Austin is the CEO & COO of Quanta Services (PWR). Quanta provides E&C contracting services and comprehensive infrastructure solutions for electric and gas utilities, oil and gas companies, and the communications industry. Tune in to hear Duke describe his business, the outlook for US energy infrastructure and 5G build-out, and the financial goals Quanta is targeting.

Ken Anderson served as Commissioner with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) from 2008-2017. Tune in to this episode of The Stock Podcast to hear Ken describes the success of Texas renewable energy, the history of ERCOT, and his views on an ERCOT capacity market. Ken also provides some of his perspectives on the current issues the PUCT will likely have to deal with down the road. In addition, Ken outlines some really interesting regulatory and market considerations regarding Sempra‘s acquisition of Oncor, as well as some of the benefits of limited federal oversight in building out CREZ and potential changes to the regulatory framework in Texas.

By means of background, Ken was a slightly controversial figure for utility investors. Ken’s opposition to an ERCOT capacity market was perplexing for many. However, Commissioner Anderson was unwavering when it came to his views on how deregulated power markets should operate. So far, he’s been spot on. ERCOT and Texas have some of the lowest power prices across the US. Part of this is attributable to strength in the Texas renewable energy industry. Sure, Texas is blessed with an extremely strong wind resource, but the free-market philosophy has helped to ensure growth in the industry, not to mention the construction of the CREZ line. It’s a fascinating success story for renewables.

Steve Newby is the Founder and CEO of Summit Midstream Partners (SMLP). Tune in to hear Steve discuss Summit’s operations, his view on industry fundamentals, and what Steve and his team are doing to grow the business and improve cash flow stability. It’s a great interview that highlights the disconnect between a positive outlook and a seemingly mispriced security!

Mike Rothman is the President and Founder of Cornerstone Analytics, an independent research firm that provides macro energy research. Mike is an industry veteran, having covered the oil market sector since 1984. He started his career at Merrill Lynch, built the energy research platform at ISI, and has attended OPEC meetings since 1986. Mike joins The Stock Podcast to discuss the global oil market, capacity reserves, and supply following the recent attack on the Abqaiq oil processing facility. On Sept. 14, 2019, the world awoke to the news that numerous drones and scud missiles hit Abqaiq, the world’s largest oil processing facility. The attack resulted in 5.7 million barrels of oil production capacity going offline, which equates to about 6% of global oil production. The event was the single largest loss of Saudi oil production in history. 

Ted Seides is the host of the Capital Allocators Podcast, one of the few podcasts I try extremely hard not to miss. Capital Allocators is a phenomenal podcast where Ted talks to investors, managers, strategists, and thought leaders. He was a founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer at Protégé Partners, an alternative investment firm. Tune in to hear Ted talk about his motivations for starting a podcast, hedge funds, and hedge fund fees.

If you listen to this podcast, there’s probably a good chance you listen to other investing podcasts, so you may already know Ted as the host of the Capital Allocators Podcast. In the event you don’t know about Capital Allocators, you really need to check it out. Before I started my own podcast, I listened to a lot of different investing podcasts. But once I started IwtB, my free time became limited and forced me to become a little more selective with the podcasts I listen to. But Capital Allocators and Ted Seides have consistently been a personal podcast staple! That’s because the content is fantastic, Ted’s guests are super high caliber, and because I really like Ted’s way of interviewing his guests.

If the name Ted Seides rings a bell, but you just can’t place it, Ted placed a charitable wager with Warren Buffett that pitted the S&P against several funds of hedge funds. It was a friendly 10-year wager that ended in 2017, and the subject really has been beaten to death, so it isn’t a focal point of this interview. There’s a ton of material on the web and I’ve included a link here that really covers everything you might want to know.

As a podcaster, it’s great for me to have Ted on the program to hear him talk about the motivation behind starting Capital Allocators, some of the challenges he’s faced with podcasting, and who he’d like to interview most. As an investor, it’s super interesting to hear Ted’s current views on the hedge fund industry and about hedge fund fees.