NuStar Energy announces strong first quarter results despite low crude volumes from the Eagle Ford.

Related: Eagle Ford Rig Count Breaks 90

For the first quarter of 2017, NuStar experienced improved results and a decrease in overall operating expenses. Quarterly income was $38.5 million, with EBITDA at $154.1 million.

The company experienced low volumes form their Eagle Ford assets during the quarter but say the recent increase in drilling activity are cause for optimistic.

San Antonio-based, NuStar recently announced a $1.475 billion acquisition of the Navigator system, a fully integrated crude platform with over 500 miles of pipeline and 412,000 barrels per day of capacity in the Midland basin. In a quarterly earnings call, company executives affirmed they are looking for opportunities to connect the Navigator system with its Eagle Ford assets.

Navigator owns and operates crude oil transportation, pipeline gathering and storage assets located in the Midland Basin, including:

• 500 miles of crude oil transportation pipelines with approximately 74,000 barrels per day, ship-or-pay volume commitments and deliverability of approximately 412,000 barrels per day through multiple outbound interconnects;
• A pipeline gathering system with more than 200 connected producer tank batteries capable of more than 400,000 barrels per day of pumping capacity covering over 500,000 dedicated acres;
• Approximately 1 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity with 440,000 barrels leased to third parties

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count is continuing its climb, with our data showing 93 rigs running across our coverage area last week.