Regular readers will notice several new things as they thumb through this issue.

We have incorporated a number of changes to enhance the overall readability and value of Midstream Business. This includes design and layout enhancements that will allow us to better display the photographs, charts, graphs and maps that add so much to our feature stories. Also, the stories are longer and more thoroughly developed to provide readers with more background.

These changes build on some tweaks you may have noticed with the June issue, which included our well-received feature, The Interview.

That feature continues. The Interview for this issue spotlights C. Gregory Harper, principal executive officer for Midcoast Energy Partners LP, one of the newest MLPs in midstream and a part of the Enbridge organization.

The publication you hold is still new—we’re only in our fourth year—and we’re striving to better serve our core audience of midstream executives, management and capital providers. We’re working to better identify ourselves as the midstream, itself, strives to better identify what exactly it is.

I’m frequently asked “So what is the midstream?” even by some energy industry insiders who have traditionally divided the oil and gas business into halves. Dividing it into thirds—upstream, midstream and downstream—has come about in recent years through the emergence of independent firms set up to connect upstream producers with downstream customers. That varies from the traditional upstream/downstream split when midstream functions were an afterthought of either upstream or downstream firms.

I developed a succinct, elevator-speech reply after I joined Midstream Business that I use whenever this question comes up: The midstream includes gathering, processing, pipelines, transportation, storage, gas liquids and LNG.

But both ends of our midstream universe blur depending on the arrangements among given midstream players, the upstream producers, downstream refiners and the consumers they connect. It can overlap into some non-traditional fields, such as rail transport. It makes for an exciting place to be right now, for us who create this publication and for you who make the midstream work or finance it.

Readership survey

I want to thank all of you who took time to reply to the recent reader survey we sent out. Comments were still coming in as we went to press but respondents seem to like what they see here.

We take your suggestions and insights very seriously. We’ll be incorporating further changes in future issues based on what you say you want to see here.

The survey confirmed again the importance of the financial side of midstream. How to bankroll the current buildout remains a crucial question for the industry. Associate Editor Deon Daugherty wrote our cover story for this issue, discussing the important role of private equity in the midstream space and finding that people are just as important as money. Senior Financial Analyst Chris Sheehan contributes a review of fixed-income offering trends for early 2014—dominated by midstream players taking advantage of lingering, historically low interest rates.

Midstream Business will be at DUG Australia in August and Associate Editor Joseph Markman outlines some of the gigantic midstream projects there—including some of the biggest ever built.

I know you’ll want to join us in Brisbane if you have an interest in what’s happening there. The development of Australia’s promising LNG industry will have a significant impact on North America’s nascent LNG export business.

As always, thanks for sharing your time with us. We strive to make sure you gain insights from every issue that will help you do your job.

Paul Hart can be reached at pdhart@hartenergy.com or 713-260-6427.

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