Out running errands, including a stop at the supermarket to pick up some milk. Just inside the door I run into several huge stacks of big plastic tubs blocking my route back to the dairy cooler. Take your pick, green or blue, but there are a lot of them, and they are stout. They are sizeable too, big enough to easily bathe a fair-sized dog, such as our beloved Border Collie.

I didn’t need a big plastic tub right then, but I was intrigued and looked a green one over. The price? $5.

Now, that’s a bargain. I thought to myself this lowball item probably came from somewhere overseas, given its loss-leader price. Flipping it over, right there on the bottom, was a big MADE IN USA beside the PE—polyethylene— recycling label.

So here it is. What I held in my hand was one small example of the big change under way in North America’s petrochemical industry. Thanks to the growing stream of natural gas liquids produced by multiple shale plays, low feedstock costs are making the long-struggling U.S. petrochemical business into a world leader. Abundant supplies of ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline are creating a petrochemical boom. Perhaps that sage career and investment advice, “plastics,” Dustin Hoffman received in “The Graduate” came 50 years too early: The great days for plastics—and a lot of other consumer and industrial products—may be now.

The midstream has invested billions in the last few years in gathering systems, processing plants, railyards and pipelines to move that growing flow of gas liquids. But to where? Who needs it? Midstream Business takes a look in this issue at the gas liquids coming out of the unconventional plays, and the impact they’re having on the broader economy.

All that necessary midstream infrastructure might not be in place without the special investment opportunities offered to investors by master limited partnerships (MLPs). This issue also examines several aspects of MLPs—credited by many for financing the current midstream growth. We have tandem stories by MidstreamBusiness.com Editor Frank Nieto on MLP prospects for the year and an interview by Associate Editor Michelle Thompson with James P. Baker, who heads the midstream finance business at Simmons & Co. Our Executive Q&A takes time to visit with Mary Lyman, executive director at the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships, the MLP trade association. Senior Financial Editor Chris Sheehan discusses one midstream firm’s use of an MLP close cousin, a real estate investment trust. Plus, our always-interesting Alerian Index column updates MLP trends.

Please note the caption with a photo that appeared in our February issue’s engineering list feature contained incorrect information. It was attributed to S-Con Inc. when the photo was supplied by IPS Engineering. We regret the error and want to thank both firms for their assistance with the article. I invite our Midstream Business readers to join me at a pair of exciting Hart Energy conferences in April, the DUG Permian Basin and More event, in Fort Worth, Texas, set for April 2 to 4, and also the first DUG Midcontinent conference, to be held April 22 to 23 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Please remember we build on what you read on these pages via our website, www.MidstreamBusiness.com, and Twitter page, @MidStreamBiz.

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