Westlake Chemical Partners LP Statement on the New Administration’s “Regulatory Freeze”
As noted in the January 19, 2017 press release issued by Westlake
Chemical Partners LP (NYSE: WLKP) (the "Partnership"), on January 19,
2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury ("Treasury") and the Internal
Revenue Service ("IRS") issued final regulations under section
7704(d)(1)(E) of the Internal Revenue Code relating to qualifying income
from the processing, refining and transportation of minerals or natural
resources, which allows a business to be treated as a partnership for
U.S. federal tax purposes.
The final regulations uphold a previous private letter ruling that
Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE: WLK) had received from the IRS that
the Partnership's production, transportation, storage and marketing of
ethylene constitutes "qualifying income" within the meaning of section
7704(d)(1)(E).
On January 20, 2017, the new administration of President Donald J. Trump
instructed all federal departments and agencies to delay the
implementation of all new or pending regulations to permit the new
administration to review and approve the regulations before their
implementation. Similar reviews have been a common feature of all recent
Presidential transitions.
“We look forward to the new administration's prompt review of the
regulations issued by the IRS and Treasury,” said Albert Chao,
Westlake's President and Chief Executive Officer.
Westlake Chemical Partners LP
Westlake Chemical Partners LP is a limited partnership formed by
Westlake Chemical Corporation to operate, acquire and develop facilities
for the processing of natural gas liquids as well as other qualifying
activities. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the Partnership owns a
13.3% interest in Westlake Chemical OpCo LP. Westlake Chemical OpCo LP’s
assets include three facilities in Calvert City, Kentucky, and Lake
Charles, Louisiana, which process ethane and propane into ethylene, and
an ethylene pipeline. For more information about Westlake Chemical
Partners LP, please visit http://www.wlkpartners.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain of the statements contained in this press release are
forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of
historical facts, included in this press release that address
activities, events or developments that the Partnership expects,
projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified
by the use of words such as “believes,” “intends,” “may,” “should,”
“could,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “will” or comparable terminology, or
by discussions of strategies or trends. Although the Partnership
believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, the Partnership cannot give any assurances
that these expectations will prove to be correct.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170123005266/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2017
Source: Business Wire
(January 23, 2017 - 6:45 AM EST)
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