Making America Great Again -- Americans' Pay Rose At Fastest Pace Since 2008 During Trump's First Year In Office -- January 31, 2018

From ZeroHedge:

• while The Fed may be getting nervous, we suspect the Trump administration will be smirking quietly as Labor Department data showed total U.S. employee compensation rose in the fourth quarter to match the biggest 12-month gain since 2008, as private-sector pay picked up
• the headline index rose 0.6% q/q (matching est.) after 0.7% gain in prior three months
• wages and salaries rose 0.5% q/q following 0.7% gain
• benefit costs increased 0.5% q/q after rising 0.8%
• total compensation, which includes wages and benefits, rose 2.7% over past 12 months, the highest since 2008

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The Energy And Market Page, T+10

MPC: to reward shareholders with 15% dividend hike.

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EPD from Motley Fool via Yahoo!Finance:

For an investor looking at Enterprise Products Partners for the first time, this past quarter's results probably look great. Gross margins, net income, and cash flow all grew substantially and beat Wall Street's expectations. For those who have followed the company for a long time, though, these results aren't too much of a surprise as this quarter was pretty much business as usual for the oil and gas pipeline and processing giant.

EPD from Reuters via Yahoo!Finance, Enterprise Products eyes expansion of Midland-to-Sealy crude pipeline. Data points:

• could expand capacity on its Midland-to-Sealy crude oil pipeline by more than 20 percent to help transport even more oil from the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, the largest U.S. oilfield
• the expansion comes as Exxon Mobil Corp and others map out aggressive growth for Permian operations, fueling a rising need for transport to refining and export facilities near the U.S. Gulf Coast
• crude flows on the line averaged 330,000 bpd after the pipeline came online in November
• flows are expected to hit 450,000 bpd as soon as April once the line is fully operational
• preparations are under way to potentially further boost capacity on the line by installing pumps and drag reducing agents, chemicals added to pipelines to improve the flow of liquids
• the company has the capacity to go in the 540,000 bpd to 550,000 bpd range "right now"

Disclaimer: I'm a long term investor in two pipeline MLPs, including EPD. I have no plans to sell or buy any shares of EPD in the near future.

Hess: from Reuters via Yahoo!Finance, Hess plans $2.1 billion budget for 2018, unchanged from 2017.

• mostly in North Dakota and Guyana, keeping its budget unchanged from 2017 amid a battle over corporate strategy with activist investor Elliott Management Corp.
• Hess Corporation will spend $900 million to drill 120 wells with six drilling rigs and completing 85 wells in 2018 in the Bakken
• executives across the U.S. oil industry have been feeling pressure to focus on profitability and shareholder returns, a departure from their long-established practice of boosting production regardless of the cost
• Hess said it expects it can be "cash generative" after 2020 with oil prices of $50 per barrel. The company has not made a profit since 2014
• Hess has recently been in the news: the recently announced Hess-Targa Resources joint venture

Disclaimer: I've been an investor in Hess over the past 30 years. I have no plans to buy or sell any shares of Hess in the near future. Growing up in Williston, ND, I grew up with Hess, figuratively and literally.