The build-out in North America’s midstream appears to be taking hold, making a difference in the market after a furious three or four years’ work.

Crude oil prices offer one benchmark for where we stand today. The spread between West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and North Sea Brent crudes widened to more than $20 per barrel just a few months ago. But as Midstream Business goes to press, that gap has narrowed and the two crudes’ prices are essentially even. U.S. Energy Information Administration inventory numbers show the big build in crude stocks has started to dwindle—at last— in particular due to increased pipeline capacity out of the Cushing, Oklahoma, trading hub. Some analysts project WTI shortly will return to its traditional comparative position, trading just above Brent.

And good news for the North American energy industry, the closure is due to the fact that WTI has gone up rather than some colossal drop in Brent’s price. But overall, the importance of the U.S. and Canada as oil and natural gas producers—with infrastructure in place—continues to grow in the worldwide energy business.

The U.S. may or may not become energy independent but already spends less on energy imports. Canada, meanwhile, must add infrastructure to handle not only potential shale play production but its staggering reserves in the oil sands. Economically, both nations face a welcome midstream challenge right now.

There’s still a long way to go as midstream operators respond to the significant changes to efficiently link oil and gas production with oil and gas consumption. We take a look at where the build-out goes from here in this issue’s cover story.

Financing the build-out remains a key issue for the industry since estimates for the midstream work that remains runs hundreds of billions of dollars. Thankfully, investors know a good deal when they see one, and the master limited partnerships (MLP) that have come to dominate the midstream are a very good deal right now with attractive payouts. This month, we also feature a couple of articles written following the recent National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships investor conference. We discuss trends in the MLP universe, as well as the success of one of the biggest midstream MLP players.

Consider Australia for a moment if you think North America’s midstream sector looks busy. That nation has found significant gas reserves in recent years but doesn’t have developed midstream infrastructure in place to handle it all. Linking producing regions with some of the biggest gas liquefaction plants in the world will make Australia a midstream hotspot for years to come.

We update current midstream action down under in this issue as we lead up to Hart Energy’s first DUG Australia conference, set for Brisbane, August 27-29. If you do business in Australia’s midstream—or want to do business there—DUG Australia will be worth your while.

Remember to check our website, www.MidstreamBusiness.com, and our Twitter page, @MidStreamBiz. They supplement what we do on these pages. I always welcome your comments and suggestions, and they help us make Midstream Business better.

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