Jim Carter, Calumet Board Member, Lectures Energy Students on MLPs

Jim Carter is on the Board of Directors of Calumet Specialty Products Partners and came to speak to the MME students about Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) and the Calumet case studied in James McFarland´s Energy Strategy Capstone class. Calumet began in 1990 as a specialty petroleum products business. they expanded throughout the years and acquired former Pennzoil refinery in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 2001, which increased their fuel outputs and expanded specialty product offerings. In 2005, Calumet Specialty Products was faced with the decision of whether or not to stay private and accept lower growth potential, to go public as a C Corp, just as other refinery companies had done in the past, or to go public as an MLP and be the pioneer refinery in this type of business structure. Jim Carter discussed with the class both the pros and cons of an MLP structured business and how the decision to become a Master Limited Partnership affected Calumet´s business. Both Jim Carter and James McFarland did a fantastic job in showing the MME students how strategies are established in oil and gas companies and what the thought process and decision making process are for boards of directors that operate in the energy industry.

Jen Boudreaux

Master of Management in Energy Candidate 2017