HAMILTON, Bermuda, Jan. 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Teekay Offshore GP LLC, the general partner of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. (Teekay Offshore or the Partnership) (NYSE:TOO), today announced that the Partnership is reducing its quarterly common unit cash distributions to zero, down from $0.01 per common unit in previous quarters, in order to reinvest additional cash in the business and further strengthen its balance sheet. There are no changes to the quarterly cash distributions relating to any of the Partnership’s outstanding preferred units, which were declared today and announced under a separate news release.
“The decision to reduce our common unit cash distributions was not reflective of the financial performance of the Partnership, which continues to largely generate stable cash flows, supported by a large and well-diversified portfolio of fee-based contracts with high-quality counterparties,” commented Ingvild Sæther, President and CEO of Teekay Offshore Group Ltd. “Our Board of Directors has carefully assessed our capital allocation plan and believes it is in the best interests of our common unitholders to conserve more of our internally generated cash flows to reinvest in the business and reduce financial leverage. We remain focused on creating long-term value to our unitholders through executing on our business strategy, which is primarily focused on delivering on our existing growth projects, extending contracts and redeploying existing assets on long-term charters, further strengthening our balance sheet, and selectively pursuing strategic growth projects in our core markets.”
About Teekay Offshore
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is a leading international midstream services provider to the offshore oil production industry, primarily focused on the ownership and operation of critical infrastructure assets in offshore oil regions of the North Sea, Brazil and the East Coast of Canada. Teekay Offshore is structured as a publicly-traded master limited partnership with consolidated assets of approximately $5.4 billion, comprised of 63 offshore assets, including floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units, shuttle tankers (including six newbuildings), floating storage and offtake (FSO) units, long-distance towing and offshore installation vessels, a unit for maintenance and safety (UMS) and conventional tankers. The majority of Teekay Offshore’s fleet is employed on medium-term, stable contracts. Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)(TSX:BBU.UN), together with its institutional partners (collectively Brookfield), and Teekay Corporation (NYSE:TK) own 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively, of Teekay Offshore’s general partner.
Teekay Offshore’s common units and preferred units trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “TOO”, “TOO PR A”, “TOO PR B” and “TOO PR E”, respectively.
For Investor Relations
enquiries contact:
Ryan Hamilton
Tel: +1 (604) 609-2963
Website: www.teekay.com
Forward Looking Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) which reflect management’s current views with respect to certain future events and performance, including: the Partnership’s future financial performance; and the Partnership’s future value creation, including the impact of the Partnership’s growth projects, contract extensions and redeployments, a stronger balance sheet and future growth opportunities. The following factors are among those that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, and that should be considered in evaluating any such statement: changes in exploration, production and storage of offshore oil and gas, either generally or in particular regions that would impact expected future growth, particularly in or related to North Sea, Brazil and East Coast of Canada offshore fields; significant changes in oil prices; variations in expected levels of field maintenance; increased operating expenses; potential early termination of contracts; shipyard delivery delays and cost overruns; delays in the commencement of charter contracts; the inability of charterers to make future charter payments; the inability of the Partnership to renew or replace long-term contracts on existing vessels; the ability to fund the Partnership’s remaining capital commitments and debt maturities; and other factors discussed in Teekay Offshore’s filings from time to time with the SEC, including its Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. The Partnership expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Partnership’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.