HOUSTON, Oct. 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BPL) ("Buckeye") announced today that Buckeye Pipe Line Company, L.P. ("Buckeye Pipeline") has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") its answer to the complaint filed by Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, United/Continental Air Lines, and US Airways on Thursday, September 20, 2012, challenging the tariff rates charged by Buckeye Pipeline for the transportation of jet fuel from its facilities in New Jersey to three New York City-area airports.
In answering the complaint, Buckeye Pipeline demonstrates that the airlines' allegations regarding cost over-recovery are based on inappropriate adjustments to the pipeline's costs and revenues and, more importantly, are irrelevant because Buckeye Pipeline's rates are set under a FERC-approved program that ties rates to competitive levels. Buckeye Pipeline also seeks dismissal by FERC of the complaint to the extent it seeks to challenge the portion of Buckeye Pipeline's rates that were protected by Congress in the 1992 Energy Policy Act.
Buckeye Pipeline also intends to file an application in the coming days with FERC seeking authority to charge market-based rates for deliveries of refined petroleum products to the New York City-area market. Buckeye Pipeline's market-based rate application will show that it faces significant actual and potential competition in delivering refined petroleum products in the New York City-area market, including delivery of jet fuel to the New York City-area airports. If the application is approved by FERC, Buckeye Pipeline would be permitted to set its New York City-area tariff rates on the basis of competitive forces.
Buckeye Pipeline's answer to the complaint and any other documents or filings that are officially included in the record of this proceeding will be made available through FERC's "eLibrary" (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp) under Docket No. OR12-28.
Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BPL) is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and operates one of the largest independent liquid petroleum products pipeline systems in the United States in terms of volumes delivered, with over 6,000 miles of pipeline. Buckeye also owns approximately 100 liquid petroleum products terminals with aggregate storage capacity of approximately 69 million barrels, operates and/or maintains approximately 2,800 miles of pipeline under agreements with major oil and chemical companies, owns a high-performance natural gas storage facility in Northern California, and markets liquid petroleum products in certain regions served by its pipeline and terminal operations. Buckeye's flagship marine terminal in The Bahamas, BORCO, is one of the largest crude oil and petroleum products storage facilities in the world, serving the international markets as a premier global logistics hub. More information concerning Buckeye can be found at www.buckeye.com.
This press release includes forward-looking statements that we believe to be reasonable as of today's date. Such statements are identified by use of the words "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "projects," "should," and similar expressions. Actual results may differ significantly because of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and that may be beyond our control. Among them are (i) changes in federal, state, local, and foreign laws or regulations to which we are subject, including those governing pipeline tariff rates and those that permit the treatment of us as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, (ii) terrorism, adverse weather conditions, including hurricanes, environmental releases, and natural disasters, (iii) changes in the marketplace for our products or services, such as increased competition, better energy efficiency, or general reductions in demand, (iv) adverse regional, national, or international economic conditions, adverse capital market conditions, and adverse political developments, (v) shutdowns or interruptions at our pipeline, terminal, and storage assets or at the source points for the products we transport, store, or sell, (vi) unanticipated capital expenditures in connection with the construction, repair, or replacement of our assets, (vii) volatility in the price of refined petroleum products and the value of natural gas storage services, (viii) nonpayment or nonperformance by our customers, (ix) our ability to integrate acquired assets with our existing assets and to realize anticipated cost savings and other efficiencies and benefits, and (x) an unfavorable outcome with respect to the proceedings pending before FERC regarding Buckeye Pipeline's tariff rates. You should read our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and our most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, for a more extensive list of factors that could affect results. We undertake no obligation to revise our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after today's date.