Well, I think that’s kind of been a messagefrom our Board that we do like operate in a very conservative nature. I thinkthere’s a premium on having some flexibility in the business. As you’ve seenthe capital markets kind of freeze up for MLPs, we feel like we’re in a verystrong position to have the access to the funding through our debt facility asopposed to maybe being at that one or two times level that you speak of, andthen having to access the capital markets if we wanted to maintain that ratio.So I think it’s just kind of the conservative and flexibility aspect that we’vebeen looking at to provide that opportunity for us.

好的，我认为公司偏好保守运营实则是董事会传达的理念。我觉得在业务的灵活性上还有发展空间。如你所见，资本市场在MLP企业这儿基本上是冻结了，我们觉得公司在借债集资方面地位强劲，跟您所说的一到二倍的债务水平恰好相反，我们必须进入资本市场以维持这个比率。所以我们只是希望以保守、灵活的方式来获取机会。

Nevertheless, an investment in WPT takes alot of faith in management.

不仅如此，WPT的每一项投资都需要管理层强大的信念。

For example, the sponsor, Apex Oil Company,is not public. As a result, you must accept management’s assertions thatthey are doing just fine. For example, on the Q4 2015 conference call,the CFO stated: “Apex obviously does not disclose its financials, but ithas done very well during the recent market conditions, and we consider them tobe a very strong — very strong from a credit perspective. We’re not really in aposition to disclose kind of their debt balances or any specifics with regardto their financials, but we don’t see them as posing any risk.”

例如，赞助商Apex石油公司，一个非上市公司。结果是你必须相信管理层所说的该公司经营良好。例如，变态天剑狂刀页游，2015年第四季度的电话会议上，CFO说到：“Apex显然没有披露其财务信息，但是在最近的市场环境里公司发展良好，我们认为公司在信贷评级上十分良好。我们并不是在披露其债务状况、或者任何财务数据，我们认为公司不具有任何风险。”

Second, the Company has exercised a greatdeal of discretion in undertaking acquisitions. However, one of theirstated objectives is to grow via third party deals. How long will theywait for their fat pitch? Will they get impatient and make avalue-destroying acquisition?

其次，公司在并购方面考虑得十分周到。其目标之一们希望通过第三方并购促进增长。他们什么时候才能等来好球？他们会按耐不住做出贬损价值的并购案吗？

Third, as described above, WPT and itscompetitors all assert that they have limited competition because of the uniquelocation of their assets and the lack of suitable substitutes for competitors.

第三，如上所述，WPT及其竞争对手都称自己面临的竞争有限，因为资产有独特的地理位置优势，对竞争对手而言合适的替代者不多。

Nevertheless, on page 63 of the latest 10-K,WPT states: “Despite these barriers, there has been significantnew construction of residual fuel storage facilities along the GulfCoast in recent years, which we believe may account for some of theunutilized storage capacity at our Galveston terminal.” (Emphasis added.) We wrote to a member of the board of directors as wellas Investor Relations seeking a reconciliation of this seemingcontradiction. We received no response.

但是在最新的年报上，WPT在第63页表明：“尽管障碍存在，但今年有大量的新的石油存储设施在高夫海岸线修建，我们相信能为尚未开发的加尔维斯顿码头的存储能力添砖加瓦。”（特此强调）我们跟董事会中的一名成员、以及投资者关系部门写信，试图给这个可能的矛盾寻求和解。但是我们并未收到回复。

Any MLP’s management is at best a benevolentdictatorship. It has at its disposal all of the tools above. Sofar, WPT has simply chosen not to use them to a great extent.

MLP企业的管理层最多也只是仁慈的独裁家。上面提到的方法都可供其使用。到目前为止，WPT只是单纯地选择最大程度避免使用这些方法。

When The Boring Is Made Exciting, Lookout!

无趣被包装得有趣，要小心了！

When operating properly, midstream companiesshould be stable and boring. They are a utility-like business that shouldbe valued like a utility. Not content with utility-like valuations, WallStreet attempted to make them more exciting. When Wall Street makes theboring look exciting, investors should hold on tight to their wallets.

只要经营良好，中游的企业应当是平稳又无趣的。它们类似于公共设施企业，也应当被当作公共设施企业来估值。但是华尔街并不满足于用公共设施企业的那套估值方法，他们希望让中游MLP企业看上去更性感。华尔街突然让无趣的东西变得性感时，投资者就要好好抓紧自己的钱包了。

As demonstrated above, the growth indistributions was not sustainable. But even with the drop in the price ofoil and the collapse in valuations, MLPs are still unattractive due to thecomplicated structure and the poor incentives it creates.

如上所述，分红的增长并不是可持续的。但即便油价下跌，价值崩塌，MLP企业看上去仍旧没有吸引力，因为它的结构很复杂，创造出的激励机制也不完善。

[1] Another option is to reduce thequarterly dividend. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners did just that and saw itsmarket capitalization drop by 50%.

[1] 另外一个选择就是降低每季度的分红。Boardwalk Pipeline Partners降低过，市值跌了50%。

[2] It’s odd to root for a stagnantdistribution but such is the upside down world of MLPs.

[2]虽然宁愿分红停滞不前有些奇怪，但是在MLP的世界里就是要颠倒过来。