Oil and gas master limited partnership BreitBurn Energy Partners (BBEP +0.00%) reported first-quarter results before the opening bell this morning. The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $117.8 million, which was 84% higher than last year's first quarter. Meanwhile, distributable cash flow surged 88% year over year to $60.3 million.
The surge in earnings and cash flow was fueled by a 37% year-over-year increase in production to 3.2 million barrels of oil equivalent. Leading the way was surging liquids production, which reached a new quarterly high of 2.1 million BOE. That's 71% higher than last year's first quarter. The company was able to deliver very good operating results despite a challenging operating environment as severe winter weather affected its operations in several key areas.
BreitBurn Energy Partners' strong liquids production as well as higher realized commodity prices enabled the company to grow its cash flow. On a per-unit basis distributable cash flow was $0.50 per unit, which is $0.04 higher than last quarter. That pushed BreitBurn Energy Partners' key distribution coverage ratio from 0.93 times to 1.0 times this quarter.
Looking ahead BreitBurn Energy Partners is well on its way to meeting its annual production guidance of between 13.6-14.4 million BOE. Furthermore, the company continues to actively monitor and evaluate the acquisition market as it works to meet its goal of acquiring $600 million of oil and gas properties this year.
