ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Limited partner interests are inherently different from capital stock of a corporation, although many of the business risks to which we are subject are similar to those that would be faced by a corporation engaged in similar businesses. If any of the following risks were actually to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations or cash flows could be materially adversely affected.  

Risks Related to Our Business

We may not have sufficient cash from operations following the establishment of cash reserves and payment of fees and expenses, including cost reimbursements to our general partner, to enable us to make cash distributions to holders of our common units at the current distribution rate under our cash distribution policy.

In order to make our cash distributions at our current quarterly distribution rate of $0.767 per common unit, we will require available cash of approximately $33.3 million per quarter based on the common units outstanding as of February 15, 2013. We may not have sufficient available cash from operating surplus each quarter to enable us to make cash distributions at this anticipated quarterly distribution rate under our cash distribution policy. The amount of cash we can distribute on our units principally depends upon the amount of cash we generate from our operations, which will fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on, among other things:

In addition, the actual amount of cash we will have available for distribution will depend on other factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

As a result of these factors, the amount of cash we distribute to our unitholders may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and may be less than the quarterly distribution amount that we expect to distribute.

If prices remain depressed for a prolonged period, our cash flows from operations will decline and we may have to lower our distributions or may not be able to pay distributions at all and may be unable to service our debt obligations.

Our revenue, profitability and cash flow depend upon the prices for oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The prices we receive for our production are volatile and a drop in prices can significantly affect our financial results and impede our growth, including our ability to maintain or increase our borrowing capacity, to repay current or future indebtedness and to obtain additional capital on attractive terms, all of which can affect our ability to pay distributions. Changes in prices have a significant impact on the value of our reserves and on our cash flows. Prices may fluctuate widely in response to relatively minor changes in supply and demand, market uncertainty and a variety of additional factors that are beyond our control, such as:

Low prices will decrease our revenues, but may also reduce the amount of oil, natural gas or natural gas liquids that we can economically produce. This may result in our having to make substantial downward adjustments to our estimated proved reserves. If this occurs, or if our estimates of development costs increase, production data factors change or drilling results deteriorate, accounting rules may require us to write down, as a non–cash charge to earnings, the carrying value of our oil and natural gas properties for impairments. We are required to perform impairment tests on our assets whenever events or changes in circumstances lead to a reduction of the estimated useful life or estimated future cash flows that would indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable or whenever management’s plans change with respect to those assets. We may incur impairment charges in the future, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the period taken and our ability to borrow funds under our credit facility, which may adversely affect our ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

We currently own interests in oil and natural gas properties in which partnerships managed by EnerVest also own an interest and we may acquire properties in which the EnerVest managed partnerships own an interest in the future. If the EnerVest partnerships elect to sell their interest in these properties, we would own a minority interest in the properties, and EnerVest may lose the ability to operate the properties.

We own interests in oil and natural gas properties in which partnerships managed by EnerVest also own interests, and we expect to make acquisitions of properties jointly with EverVest partnerships in the future. These properties are primarily in the Barnett Shale, Central and East Texas and the Appalachian Basin, and these properties represent approximately 69% of our estimated net proved reserves as of December 31, 2012. The EnerVest partnerships generally have an investment strategy to typically divest properties in three to five years, while our strategy is to hold properties for the longer term. We own less than a majority working interest in the properties in which the EnerVest partnerships also own an interest. If the EnerVest partnerships were to sell their interest in these properties to a person not affiliated with EnerVest, our working interest would not be large enough that we could control the selection of the operator and EnerVest may lose the ability to operate the properties on our behalf. Loss of operations would mean that EnerVest would no longer control decisions regarding the development and production of those properties, and any replacement operator could make decisions regarding development or production activities that make it difficult to implement our strategy.

We depend on EnerVest to provide us services necessary to operate our business. If EnerVest were unable or unwilling to provide these services, it would result in disruption in our business which could have an adverse effect on our ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

Under an omnibus agreement, EnerVest provides services to us such as accounting, human resources, office space, and other administrative services, and under an operating agreement, EnerVest operates our properties for us. If EnerVest were to become unable or unwilling to provide such services, we would need to develop these services internally or arrange for the services from another service provider. Developing the capabilities internally or by retaining another service provider could have an adverse effect on our ability make cash distributions to our unitholders and our business, and the services, when developed or retained, may not be of the same quality as provided to us by EnerVest.

Our hedging transactions expose us to counterparty credit risk.

Our hedging transactions expose us to risk of financial loss if a counterparty fails to perform under a derivative contract.  To mitigate counterparty credit risk, we conduct our hedging activities with financial institutions who are lenders under our credit facility.  Disruptions in the financial markets could lead to sudden changes in a counterparty’s liquidity, which could impair their ability to perform under the terms of the derivative contract. We are unable to predict sudden changes in a counterparty’s creditworthiness or ability to perform. Even if we do accurately predict sudden changes, our ability to negate the risk may be limited depending upon market conditions.

During periods of falling commodity prices, such as in late 2008 and 2012, our hedge receivable positions increase, which increases our exposure. If the creditworthiness of our counterparties deteriorates and results in their nonperformance, we could incur a significant loss.

The adoption of derivatives legislation and regulations related to derivative contracts could have an adverse impact on our ability to hedge risks associated with our business.  

During 2010, the President signed into law the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”).  Among other things, the Act requires the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the SEC to enact regulations affecting derivative contracts, including the derivative contracts we use to hedge our exposure to price volatility through the over–the–counter market.  

In its rulemaking under the new legislation, the CFTC has issued a final rule on position limits for certain futures and option contracts in the major energy markets and for swaps that are their economic equivalents (with exemptions for certain bona fide hedging transactions); the CFTC’s final rule was set aside by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on September 28, 2012 and remanded to the CFTC to resolve ambiguity as to whether statutory requirements for such limits to be determined necessary and appropriate were satisfied. As a result, the rule has not yet taken effect, although the CFTC has indicated that it intends to appeal the court’s decision and that it believes the Dodd–Frank Act requires it to impose position limits. The impact of such regulations upon our business is not yet clear. Certain of our hedging and trading activities and those of our counterparties may be subject to the position limits, which may reduce our ability to enter into hedging transactions.

In addition, the Act does not explicitly exempt end users (such as us) from the requirement to use cleared exchanges, rather than hedging over–the–counter, and the requirements to post margin in connection with hedging activities. While it is not possible at this time to predict when the CFTC will finalize certain other related rules and regulations, the Act and related regulations may require us to comply with margin requirements and with certain clearing and trade–execution requirements in connection with our derivative activities, although whether these requirements will apply to our business is uncertain at this time. If the regulations ultimately adopted require that we post margin for our hedging activities or require our counterparties to hold margin or maintain capital levels, the cost of which could be passed through to us, or impose other requirements that are more burdensome than current regulations, our hedging would become more expensive and we may decide to alter our hedging strategy.

The financial reform legislation may also require the counterparties to derivative instruments to spin off some of their derivative activities to separate entities, which may not be as creditworthy as the current counterparties. The new legislation and any new regulations could significantly increase the cost of derivative contracts (including through requirements to post collateral which could adversely affect our available liquidity), materially alter the terms of derivative contracts reduce the availability of derivatives to protect against risks we encounter, restrict our flexibility in conducting trading and hedging activity and increase our exposure to less creditworthy counterparties.  If we reduce our use of derivative contracts as a result of the new requirements, our results of operations may become more volatile and cash flows less predictable, which could adversely affect our ability to plan for and fund capital expenditures. Finally, the legislation was intended, in part, to reduce the volatility of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids prices, which some legislators attributed to speculative trading in derivatives and commodity instruments related to oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.  Our revenues could therefore be adversely affected if a consequence of the legislation and regulations is to lower commodity prices. Any of these consequences could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

The distressed financial conditions of customers could have an adverse impact on us in the event these customers are unable to pay us for the products or services we provide.

Some of our customers may experience, in the future, severe financial problems that have had or may have a significant impact on their creditworthiness. We cannot provide assurance that one or more of our financially distressed customers will not default on their obligations to us or that such a default or defaults will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, future results of operations or future cash flows. Furthermore, the bankruptcy of one or more of our customers, or some other similar proceeding or liquidity constraint, might make it unlikely that we would be able to collect all or a significant portion of amounts owed by the distressed entity or entities. In addition, such events might force such customers to reduce or curtail their future use of our products and services, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We may be unable to integrate successfully the operations of our recent or future acquisitions with our operations and we may not realize all the anticipated benefits of the recent acquisitions or any future acquisition.

Integration of our recent acquisitions with our business and operations has been a complex, time consuming and costly process. Failure to successfully assimilate our past or future acquisitions could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our acquisitions involve numerous risks, including:

Further, unexpected costs and challenges may arise whenever businesses with different operations or management are combined, and we may experience unanticipated delays in realizing the benefits of an acquisition. If we consummate any future acquisition, our capitalization and results of operation may change significantly, and you may not have the opportunity to evaluate the economic, financial and other relevant information that we will consider in evaluating future acquisitions.

Unless we replace the reserves we produce, our revenues and production will decline, which would adversely affect our cash flows from operations and our ability to make distributions to our unitholders or service our debt obligations.

Producing reservoirs are characterized by declining production rates that vary depending upon reservoir characteristics and other factors. Our decline rate may change when we drill additional wells, make acquisitions or under other circumstances. Our future cash flows and income and our ability to maintain and to increase distributions to unitholders are highly dependent on our success in efficiently developing and exploiting our current reserves and economically finding or acquiring additional recoverable reserves. We may not be able to develop, find or acquire additional reserves to replace our current and future production at acceptable costs, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Factors that may hinder our ability to acquire additional reserves include competition, access to capital, prevailing oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids prices and the number and attractiveness of properties for sale.

Our estimated reserve quantities and future production rates are based on many assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate. Any material inaccuracies in these reserve estimates or the underlying assumptions will materially affect the quantities and present value of our reserves.

Numerous uncertainties are inherent in estimating quantities of our reserves. Our estimates of our net proved reserve quantities are based upon reports from Cawley Gillespie, an independent petroleum engineering firm used by us. The process of estimating oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids reserves is complex, requiring significant decisions and assumptions in the evaluation of available geological, engineering and economic data for each reservoir, and these reports rely upon various assumptions, including assumptions regarding future oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids prices, production levels, and operating and development costs. As a result, estimated quantities of proved reserves and projections of future production rates and the timing of development expenditures may prove to be inaccurate. Over time, we may make material changes to reserve estimates taking into account the results of actual drilling and production. Any significant variance in our assumptions and actual results could greatly affect our estimates of reserves, the economically recoverable quantities of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids attributable to any particular group of properties, the classifications of reserves based on risk of recovery, and estimates of the future net cash flows. In addition, our wells are characterized by low production rates per well. As a result, changes in future production costs assumptions could have a significant effect on our proved reserve quantities.

The standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows of our estimated net proved reserves is not necessarily the same as the current market value of our estimated net proved reserves. We base the discounted future net cash flows from our estimated net proved reserves on average prices for the 12 months preceding the date of the estimate. Actual prices received for production and actual costs of such production will be different than these assumptions, perhaps materially.

The timing of both our production and our incurrence of expenses in connection with the development and production of our properties will affect the timing of actual future net cash flows from proved reserves, and thus their actual present value. In addition, the 10% discount factor we use when calculating discounted future net cash flows may not be the most appropriate discount factor based on interest rates in effect from time to time and risks associated with us or the oil and natural gas industry in general. Any material inaccuracy in our reserve estimates or underlying assumptions will materially affect the quantities and present value of our reserves which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and our ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders.

Our acquisition and development operations will require substantial capital expenditures, which will reduce our cash available for distribution. We may be unable to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms, which could lead to a decline in our production and reserves.

The oil and natural gas industry is capital intensive. We make and expect to continue to make substantial capital expenditures in our business for the development, production and acquisition of reserves. As part of our exploration and development operations, we have expanded, and expect to further expand, the application of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracture stimulation techniques. The utilization of these techniques requires substantially greater capital expenditures as compared to the drilling of a vertical well, sometimes more than three times the cost. The incremental capital expenditures are the result of greater measured depths and additional hydraulic fracture stages in horizontal wellbores. These expenditures will be deducted from our revenues in determining our cash available for distribution. We intend to finance our future capital expenditures with cash flows from operations, borrowings under our credit facility and the issuance of debt and equity securities. The incurrence of debt will require that a portion of our cash flows from operations be used for the payment of interest and principal on our debt, thereby reducing our ability to use cash flows to fund working capital, capital expenditures and acquisitions. Our cash flows from operations and access to capital are subject to a number of variables, including:

If our revenues or the borrowing base under our credit facility decrease as a result of lower commodity prices, operating difficulties, declines in reserves or for any other reason, we may have limited ability to obtain the capital necessary to sustain our operations at current levels. Our credit facility may restrict our ability to obtain new financing. If additional capital is needed, we may not be able to obtain debt or equity financing on terms favorable to us, or at all. If cash generated by operations or available under our credit facility is not sufficient to meet our capital requirements, the failure to obtain additional financing could result in a curtailment of our operations relating to development of our prospects, which in turn could lead to a possible decline in our reserves and production, which could lead to a decline in our reserves, and could adversely affect our business, results of operation, financial conditions and ability to make distributions to our unitholders. In addition, we may lose opportunities to acquire oil and natural gas properties and businesses.

We will rely on development drilling to assist in maintaining our levels of production. If our development drilling is unsuccessful, our cash available for distributions and for servicing our debt obligations and financial condition will be adversely affected.

Part of our business strategy will focus on maintaining production levels by drilling development wells. Although we were successful in development drilling in the past, we cannot assure you that we will continue to maintain production levels through development drilling. Our drilling involves numerous risks, including the risk that we will not encounter commercially productive oil or natural gas reservoirs. We must incur significant expenditures to drill and complete wells. Additionally, seismic technology does not allow us to know conclusively, prior to drilling a well, that oil or natural gas is present or economically producible. The costs of drilling and completing wells are often uncertain, and it is possible that we will make substantial expenditures on development drilling and not discover reserves in commercially viable quantities. These expenditures will reduce cash available for distribution to our unitholders and for servicing our debt obligations.

Our drilling operations may be curtailed, delayed or cancelled as a result of a variety of factors, including:

Properties that we buy may not produce as projected and we may be unable to determine reserve potential, identify liabilities associated with the properties or obtain protection from sellers against such liabilities, which could adversely affect our cash available for distribution and for servicing our debt obligations.

One of our growth strategies is to capitalize on opportunistic acquisitions of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids reserves. Any future acquisition will require an assessment of recoverable reserves, title, future oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids prices, operating costs, potential environmental hazards, potential tax and ERISA liabilities, and other liabilities and similar factors. Ordinarily, our review efforts are focused on the higher valued properties and are inherently incomplete because it generally is not feasible to review in depth every individual property involved in each acquisition. Even a detailed review of records and properties may not necessarily reveal existing or potential problems, nor will it permit a buyer to become sufficiently familiar with the properties to assess fully their deficiencies and potential. Inspections may not always be performed on every well, and potential problems, such as ground water contamination and other environmental conditions and deficiencies in the mechanical integrity of equipment are not necessarily observable even when an inspection is undertaken. Any unidentified problems could result in material liabilities and costs that negatively impact our financial conditions and results of operations and our ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

Additional potential risks related to acquisitions include, among other things:

If we consummate any future acquisitions, our capitalization and results of operations may change significantly.

Our hedging activities could result in financial losses or could reduce our net income, which may adversely affect our ability to pay cash distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

To achieve more predictable cash flows and to reduce our exposure to fluctuations in the prices of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, we have and may continue to enter into hedging arrangements for a significant portion of our production. If we experience a sustained material interruption in our production, we might be forced to satisfy all or a portion of our hedging obligations without the benefit of the cash flows from our sale of the underlying physical commodity, resulting in a substantial diminution of our liquidity. Lastly, an attendant risk exists in hedging activities that the counterparty in any derivative transaction cannot or will not perform under the instrument and that we will not realize the benefit of the hedge.

Our ability to use hedging transactions to protect us from future price declines will be dependent upon oil and natural gas prices at the time we enter into future hedging transactions and our future levels of hedging, and as a result our future net cash flows may be more sensitive to commodity price changes.

Our policy has been to hedge a significant portion of our near–term estimated production. However, our price hedging strategy and future hedging transactions will be determined at the discretion of our general partner, which is not under an obligation to hedge a specific portion of our production. The prices at which we hedge our production in the future will be dependent upon commodity prices at the time we enter into these transactions, which may be substantially higher or lower than current oil and natural gas prices. Accordingly, our price hedging strategy may not protect us from significant declines in oil and natural gas prices received for our future production. Conversely, our hedging strategy may limit our ability to realize cash flows from commodity price increases. It is also possible that a substantially larger percentage of our future production will not be hedged as compared with the next few years, which would result in our oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids revenues becoming more sensitive to commodity price changes.

We may be unable to compete effectively with larger companies, which may adversely affect our ability to generate sufficient revenue and our ability to pay distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

The oil and natural gas industry is intensely competitive, and we compete with other companies that have greater resources than us. Our ability to acquire additional properties and to discover reserves in the future will be dependent upon our ability to evaluate and select suitable properties and to consummate transactions in a highly competitive environment. Many of our larger competitors not only drill for and produce oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, but also carry on refining operations and market petroleum and other products on a regional, national or worldwide basis. These companies may be able to pay more for oil and natural gas properties and evaluate, bid for and purchase a greater number of properties than our financial or human resources permit. In addition, these companies may have a greater ability to continue drilling activities during periods of low prices, to contract for drilling equipment, to secure trained personnel, and to absorb the burden of present and future federal, state, local and other laws and regulations. The oil and natural gas industry has periodically experienced shortages of drilling rigs, equipment, pipe and personnel, which has delayed development drilling and other exploitation activities and has caused significant price increases. Competition has been strong in hiring experienced personnel, particularly in the accounting and financial reporting, tax and land departments. In addition, competition is strong for attractive oil and natural gas producing properties, oil and natural gas companies, and undeveloped leases and drilling rights. We may be often outbid by competitors in our attempts to acquire properties or companies. Our inability to compete effectively with larger companies could have a material adverse impact on our business activities, financial condition and results of operations.  

Our business is subject to operational risks that will not be fully insured, which, if they were to occur, could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations and, as a result, our ability to pay distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

Our business activities are subject to operational risks, including:

In addition, a portion of our natural gas production is processed to extract natural gas liquids at processing plants that we own or that are owned by others. If these plants were to cease operations for any reason, we would need to arrange for alternative transportation and processing facilities. These alternative facilities may not be available, which could cause us to shut–in our natural gas production, or the alternative facilities could be more expensive than the facilities we currently use.

Any of these events could adversely affect our ability to conduct operations or cause substantial losses, including personal injury or loss of life, damage to or destruction of property, natural resources and equipment, pollution or other environmental contamination, loss of wells, regulatory penalties, suspension of operations, and attorneys’ fees and other expenses incurred in the prosecution or defense of litigation.

As is customary in the industry, we maintain insurance against some but not all of these risks. Additionally, we may elect not to obtain insurance if we believe that the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the perceived risks presented. Losses could therefore occur for uninsurable or uninsured risks or in amounts in excess of existing insurance coverage. The occurrence of an event that is not fully covered by insurance could have a material adverse impact on our business activities, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

Our financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected if we incur costs and liabilities due to a failure to comply with environmental regulations or a release of hazardous substances into the environment.

  We may incur significant costs and liabilities as a result of environmental requirements applicable to the operation of our wells, gathering systems and other facilities. These costs and liabilities could arise under a wide range of federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, including, for example:

Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may trigger a variety of administrative, civil and criminal enforcement measures, including the assessment of monetary penalties, the imposition of remedial requirements, and the issuance of orders enjoining future operations. Certain environmental statutes, including the RCRA, CERCLA, OPA and analogous state laws and regulations, impose strict joint and several liability for costs required to clean up and restore sites where hazardous substances or other waste products have been disposed of or otherwise released. More stringent laws and regulations, including any related to climate change and greenhouse gases, may be adopted in the future. Moreover, it is not uncommon for neighboring landowners and other third parties to file claims for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by the release of hazardous substances or other waste products into the environment.

We are subject to complex federal, state, local and other laws and regulations that could adversely affect the cost, manner or feasibility of conducting our operations.

Our exploration, production and transportation operations are subject to complex and stringent laws and regulations. In order to conduct our operations in compliance with these laws and regulations, we must obtain and maintain numerous permits, approvals and certificates from various federal, state and local governmental authorities. Failure or delay in obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals or drilling permits could have a material adverse effect on our ability to develop our properties, and receipt of drilling permits with onerous conditions could increase our compliance costs. In addition, regulations regarding resource conservation practices and the protection of correlative rights affect our operations by limiting the quantity of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids we may produce and sell.

We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations as interpreted and enforced by governmental authorities possessing jurisdiction over various aspects of the exploration, production and transportation of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. While the cost of compliance with these laws has not been material to our operations in the past, the possibility exists that new laws, regulations or enforcement policies could be more stringent and significantly increase our compliance costs. If we are not able to recover the resulting costs through insurance or increased revenues, our ability to pay distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations could be adversely affected.

Climate change legislation or regulations restricting emissions of GHGs could result in increased operating costs and reduced demand for the oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids we produce.

On October 30, 2009, the EPA published a final rule requiring the reporting of GHG emissions from specified large GHG emission sources in the United States beginning in 2011 for emissions occurring in 2010. On November 30, 2010, the EPA published its amendments to the GHG reporting rule to include onshore and offshore oil and natural gas production facilities and onshore oil and natural gas processing, transmission, storage and distribution facilities, which may include facilities we operate. Reporting of GHG emissions from such facilities will be required on an annual basis beginning in 2012 for emissions occurring in 2011. We have submitted our report for 2011 and are currently working on our report for 2012.

On December 15, 2009, the EPA officially published its findings that emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other GHGs present an endangerment to public health and the environment because emissions of such gases are, according to the EPA, contributing to warming of the earth’s atmosphere and other climatic changes. These findings allow the EPA to adopt and implement regulations that would restrict emissions of GHGs under existing provisions of the federal CAA . On January 2, 2011, the EPA’s GHG emission standards for light–duty vehicles became effective. This triggers the requirement that permits issued under the CAA Title V and Prevention of Significant Deterioration programs must address GHGs. In June 2010, EPA finalized a GHG tailoring rule, applying GHG permitting initially to the largest stationary sources of GHGs above certain revised emission limits.

In addition, both houses of Congress previously considered legislation to reduce emissions of GHGs and many states have adopted or considered measures to reduce GHG emission reduction levels, often involving the planned development of GHG emission inventories and/or cap and trade programs. Most of these cap and trade programs work by requiring major sources of emissions or major producers of fuels to acquire and surrender emission allowances. The adoption and implementation of any legislation or regulatory programs imposing reporting obligations on, or limiting emissions of GHGs from, our equipment and operations could require us to incur costs to reduce emissions of GHGs associated with our operations or could adversely affect demand for the oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids that we produce. Federal efforts at a cap and trade program appear to not be moving forward in Congress. Some members of Congress have publicly indicated an intention to introduce legislation to curb EPA’s regulatory authority over GHGs.

Significant physical effects of climatic change have the potential to damage our facilities, disrupt our production activities and cause us to incur significant costs in preparing for or responding to those effects.

In an interpretative guidance on climate change disclosures, the SEC indicates that climate change could have an effect on the severity of weather (including hurricanes and floods), sea levels, the arability of farmland, and water availability and quality. If such effects were to occur, our exploration and production operations have the potential to be adversely affected. Potential adverse effects could include damages to our facilities from powerful winds or rising waters in low lying areas, disruption of our production activities either because of climate related damages to our facilities in our costs of operation potentially arising from such climatic effects, less efficient or non routine operating practices necessitated by climate effects or increased costs for insurance coverages in the aftermath of such effects. Significant physical effects of climate change could also have an indirect affect on our financing and operations by disrupting the transportation or process related services provided by midstream companies, service companies or suppliers with whom we have a business relationship. We may not be able to recover through insurance some or any of the damages, losses or costs that may result from potential physical effects of climate change.

Federal legislation and state legislative and regulatory initiatives relating to hydraulic fracturing could result in increased costs and additional operating restrictions or delays.

Hydraulic fracturing is an important and common practice that is used to stimulate production of hydrocarbons, particularly natural gas, from dense rock formations. The hydraulic fracturing process involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals under pressure into the formation to fracture the surrounding rock and stimulate production. We routinely use hydraulic fracturing techniques in most of our drilling and completion programs. Hydraulic fracturing is typically regulated by state oil and natural gas commissions but the EPA has asserted federal regulatory authority pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act over certain hydraulic fracturing activities involving the use of diesel. In addition, in past sessions, legislation was introduced before Congress to provide for federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act and to require disclosure of the chemicals used in the fracturing process. At the state level, some states, including Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Texas, where we operate, have adopted, and other states are considering adopting, requirements that could impose more stringent permitting, public disclosure or well construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing activities. In the event that new or more stringent federal, state, or local legal restrictions relating to the hydraulic fracturing process are adopted in areas where we operate, we could incur potentially significant added costs to comply with such requirements, experience delays or curtailment in the pursuit of exploration, development, or production activities, and perhaps even be precluded from drilling wells.

In addition, certain governmental reviews are either underway or being proposed that focus on environmental aspects of hydraulic fracturing practices. The White House Council on Environmental Quality is coordinating an administration-wide review of hydraulic fracturing practices, and a committee of the United States House of Representatives has conducted an investigation of hydraulic fracturing practices. The EPA has commenced a study of the potential environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water and groundwater; the EPA released a progress report in December 2012 and final results are expected in 2014. Moreover, the EPA has announced that it will develop effluent limitations for the treatment and discharge of wastewater resulting from hydraulic fracturing activities by 2014. Other governmental agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of the Interior, are evaluating various other aspects of hydraulic fracturing. These ongoing or proposed studies, depending on their degree of pursuit and any meaningful results obtained, could spur initiatives to further regulate hydraulic fracturing under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act or other regulatory mechanisms.

We are now subject to regulation under NSPS and NESHAPS programs, which could result in increased operating costs.

On April 17, 2012, the EPA issued final rules that subject oil and natural gas production, processing, transmission and storage operations to regulation under the NSPS and the NESHAP programs. The EPA rules include NSPS standards for completions of hydraulically fractured natural gas wells. Before January 1, 2015, these standards require owners/operators to reduce VOC emissions from natural gas not sent to the gathering line during well completion either by flaring, using a completion combustion device, or by capturing the natural gas using green completions with a completion combustion device. Beginning January 1, 2015, operators must capture the natural gas and make it available for use or sale, which can be done through the use of green completions. The standards are applicable to newly fractured wells and also existing wells that are refractured. Further, the finalized regulations also establish specific new requirements, effective in 2012, for emissions from compressors, controllers, dehydrators, storage tanks, natural gas processing plants and certain other equipment. These rules may require changes to our operations, including the installation of new equipment to control emissions. We are currently evaluating the effect these rules will have on our business.

Changes in interest rates could adversely impact our unit price and our ability to issue additional equity and incur debt.

Interest rates on future credit facilities and debt offerings could be higher than current levels, causing our financing costs to increase accordingly. As with other yield oriented securities, our unit price is impacted by the level of our cash distributions and implied distribution yield. The distribution yield is often used by investors to compare and rank related yield oriented securities for investment decision-making purposes. Therefore, changes in interest rates, either positive or negative, may affect the yield requirements of investors who invest in our units, and a rising interest rate environment could have an adverse impact on our unit price and our ability to issue additional equity to make acquisitions, incur debt or for other purposes.

We may encounter obstacles to marketing our oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, which could adversely impact our revenues.

The marketability of our production will depend in part upon the availability and capacity of natural gas gathering systems, pipelines and other transportation facilities owned by third parties. Transportation space on the gathering systems and pipelines we utilize is occasionally limited or unavailable due to repairs or improvements to facilities or due to space being utilized by other companies that have priority transportation agreements. Our access to transportation options can also be affected by U.S. federal and state regulation of oil and natural gas production and transportation, general economic conditions and changes in supply and demand. The availability of markets are beyond our control. If market factors dramatically change, the impact on our revenues could be substantial and could adversely affect our ability to produce and market oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, the value of our units and our ability to pay distributions on our units and service our debt obligations.

We may experience a temporary decline in revenues and production if we lose one of our significant customers.

To the extent any significant customer reduces the volume of its oil or natural gas purchases from us, we could experience a temporary interruption in sales of, or a lower price for, our production and our revenues and cash available for distribution could decline which could adversely affect our ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

Our ability to make cash distributions will depend on our ability to successfully drill and complete wells on our properties. Seasonal weather conditions and lease stipulations may adversely affect our ability to conduct drilling activities in some of the areas where we operate.

Drilling operations in the Appalachian Basin, the San Juan Basin and Michigan are adversely affected by seasonal weather conditions, primarily in the spring. Many municipalities in Appalachia impose weight restrictions on the paved roads that lead to our jobsites due to the muddy conditions caused by spring thaws. In addition, our Monroe Field properties in Louisiana are subject to flooding. This limits our access to these jobsites and our ability to service wells in these areas on a year around basis.

The amount of cash we have available for distribution to holders of our common units depends on our cash flows.

The amount of cash that we have available for distribution depends primarily upon our cash flows, including financial reserves and cash flows from working capital borrowing, and not solely on profitability, which will be affected by noncash items. As a result, we may make cash distributions during periods when we record losses for financial accounting purposes and may not make cash distributions during periods when we record net income for financial accounting purposes.

We have significant indebtedness under our credit facility and our 8% senior notes due 2019. Restrictions in our credit facility and our 8% senior notes due 2019 may limit our ability to make distributions to you and may limit our ability to capitalize on acquisitions and other business opportunities.

Our credit facility and 8% senior notes due 2019 contain covenants limiting our ability to make distributions, incur indebtedness, grant liens, make acquisitions, investments or dispositions and engage in transactions with affiliates, as well as containing covenants requiring us to maintain certain financial ratios and tests. In addition, the borrowing base under our facility is subject to periodic review by our lenders. Difficulties in the credit markets may cause the banks to be more restrictive when redetermining our borrowing base.

We may incur substantial debt in the future to enable us to maintain or increase our production levels and to otherwise pursue our business plan. This debt may restrict our ability to make distributions to our unitholders and service our debt obligations.

  Our business requires a significant amount of capital expenditures to maintain and grow production levels. If prices were to decline for an extended period of time, if the costs of our acquisition and development operations were to increase substantially, or if other events were to occur which reduced our revenues or increased our costs, we may be required to borrow significant amounts in the future to enable us to finance the expenditures necessary to replace the reserves we produce. The cost of the borrowings and our obligations to repay the borrowings will reduce amounts otherwise available for distributions to our unitholders.

Risks Inherent in an Investment in Us

Sales of our common units by the selling unitholders may cause our unit price to decline.

Sales of substantial amounts of our common units in the public market, or the perception that these sales may occur, could cause the market price of our common units to decline. In addition, the sale of these units could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional common units.

EnerVest controls our general partner, which has sole responsibility for conducting our business and managing our operations. EnerVest, EV Investors, L.P. (“EV Investors”) and EnCap Investments, L.P. (“EnCap”), which are limited partners of our general partner, will have conflicts of interest, which may permit them to favor their own interests to your detriment.

EnerVest owns and controls our general partner and EnCap owns a 23.75% limited partnership interest in our general partner. Conflicts of interest may arise between EnerVest, EnCap and their respective affiliates, including our general partner, on the one hand, and us, our unitholders and the holders of our debt obligations, on the other hand. In resolving these conflicts of interest, our general partner may favor its own interests and the interests of its owners over the interests of our unitholders and the holders of our debt obligations. These conflicts include, among others, the following situations:

Many of the directors and officers who have responsibility for our management have significant duties with, and will spend significant time serving, entities that compete with us in seeking out acquisitions and business opportunities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating time or pursuing business opportunities.

In order to maintain and increase our levels of production, we will need to acquire oil and natural gas properties. Several of the officers and directors of EV Management, the general partner of our general partner, who have responsibilities for managing our operations and activities hold similar positions with other entities that are in the business of identifying and acquiring oil and natural gas properties. For example, Mr. Walker is Executive Chairman of EV Management and President and Chief Executive Officer of EnerVest, which is in the business of acquiring oil and natural gas properties and managing the EnerVest partnerships that are in that business. Mr. Houser, President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of EV Management, is also Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of EnerVest. We cannot assure you that these conflicts will be resolved in our favor. Mr. Gary R. Petersen, a director of EV Management, is also a senior managing director of EnCap, which is in the business of investing in oil and natural gas companies with independent management which in turn is in the business of acquiring oil and natural gas properties. Mr. Petersen is also a director of several oil and natural gas producing entities that are in the business of acquiring oil and natural gas properties. The existing positions of these directors and officers may give rise to fiduciary obligations that are in conflict with fiduciary obligations owed to us. The EV Management officers and directors may become aware of business opportunities that may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are or may be affiliated. Due to these existing and potential future affiliations with these and other entities, they may have fiduciary obligations to present potential business opportunities to those entities prior to presenting them to us, which could cause additional conflicts of interest. They may also decide that the opportunities are more appropriate for other entities which they serve and elect not to present them to us.

Neither EnerVest nor EnCap is limited in its ability to compete with us for acquisition or drilling opportunities. This could cause conflicts of interest and limit our ability to acquire additional assets or businesses which in turn could adversely affect our ability to replace reserves, results of operations and cash available for distribution to our unitholders and for servicing our debt obligations.

Neither our partnership agreement nor the omnibus agreement between EnerVest and us prohibits EnerVest, EnCap and their affiliates from owning assets or engaging in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. For instance, EnerVest, EnCap and their respective affiliates may acquire, develop or dispose of additional oil or natural gas properties or other assets in the future, without any obligation to offer us the opportunity to purchase or develop any of those assets. Each of these entities is a large, established participant in the energy business, and each has significantly greater resources and experience than we have, which factors may make it more difficult for us to compete with these entities with respect to commercial activities as well as for acquisition candidates. As a result, competition from these entities could adversely impact our results of operations and accordingly cash available for distribution and for servicing our debt obligations.

Cost reimbursements due to our general partner and its affiliates for services provided may be substantial and will reduce our cash available for distribution to our unitholders and for servicing our debt obligations.

Pursuant to the omnibus agreement between EnerVest and us, EnerVest will receive reimbursement for the provision of various general and administrative services for our benefit. In addition, we entered into contract operating agreements with a subsidiary of EnerVest pursuant to which the subsidiary will be the contract operator of all of the wells for which we have the right to appoint an operator. Payments for these services will be substantial and will reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to unitholders. In addition, under Delaware partnership law, our general partner has unlimited liability for our obligations, such as our debts and environmental liabilities, except for our contractual obligations that are expressly made without recourse to our general partner. To the extent our general partner incurs obligations on our behalf, we are obligated to reimburse or indemnify it. If we are unable or unwilling to reimburse or indemnify our general partner, our general partner may take actions to cause us to make payments of these obligations and liabilities. Any such payments could reduce the amount of cash otherwise available for distribution to our unitholders.

Our partnership agreement limits our general partner’s fiduciary duties to holders of our common units.

Although our general partner has a fiduciary duty to manage us in a manner beneficial to us and our unitholders, the directors and officers of EV Management, the general partner of our general partner, have a fiduciary duty to manage our general partner in a manner beneficial to its owners. Our partnership agreement contains provisions that reduce the standards to which our general partner and its affiliates would otherwise be held by state fiduciary duty laws. For example, our partnership agreement permits our general partner and its affiliates to make a number of decisions either in their individual capacities, as opposed to in its capacity as our general partner, or otherwise free of fiduciary duties to us and our unitholders. This entitles our general partner and its affiliates to consider only the interests and factors that they desire, and they have no duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of, or factors affecting, us, our affiliates or any limited partner. Examples include:

Our partnership agreement restricts the remedies available to holders of our common units for actions taken by our general partner that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duty.

Our partnership agreement contains provisions restricting the remedies available to unitholders for actions taken by our general partner or its affiliates that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duty. For example, our partnership agreement:

Our general partner may elect to cause us to issue Class B units to it in connection with a resetting of the target distribution levels related to our general partner’s incentive distribution rights without the approval of the conflicts committee or holders of our common units. This may result in lower distributions to holders of our common units in certain situations.

In 2011, our general partner reset the target distribution levels and received Class B units as provided in our partnership agreement. In December 2012, the Class B units were converted into common units. Our general partner has the right to further reset the cash target distribution levels at higher levels based on the distribution at the time of the exercise of the reset election. Following a reset election by our general partner, the minimum quarterly distribution amount will be reset to an amount equal to the average cash distribution amount per common unit for the two fiscal quarters immediately preceding the reset election (such amount is referred to as the “reset minimum quarterly distribution”) and the target distribution levels will be reset to correspondingly higher levels based on percentage increases above the reset minimum quarterly distribution amount.

In connection with resetting these target distribution levels, our general partner will be entitled to receive a number of Class B units. The Class B units will be entitled to the same cash distributions per unit as our common units and will be convertible into an equal number of common units. The number of Class B units to be issued will be equal to that number of common units whose aggregate quarterly cash distributions equaled the average of the distributions to our general partner on the incentive distribution rights in the prior two quarters. We anticipate that our general partner would exercise this reset right in order to facilitate acquisitions or internal growth projects that would not be sufficiently accretive to cash distributions per common unit without such conversion; however, it is possible that our general partner could exercise this reset election at a time when it is experiencing, or may be expected to experience, declines in the cash distributions it receives related to its incentive distribution rights and may therefore desire to be issued our Class B units, which are entitled to receive cash distributions from us on the same priority as our common units, rather than retain the right to receive incentive distributions based on the initial target distribution levels. As a result, a reset election may cause our common unitholders to experience dilution in the amount of cash distributions that they would have otherwise received had we not issued new Class B units to our general partner in connection with resetting the target distribution levels related to our general partner’s incentive distribution rights.

Holders of our common units have limited voting rights and are not entitled to elect our general partner or the board of directors of its general partner.

Unlike the holders of common stock in a corporation, unitholders have only limited voting rights on matters affecting our business and, therefore, limited ability to influence management’s decisions regarding our business. Unitholders will not elect our general partner, its general partner or the members of its board of directors, and will have no right to elect our general partner, its general partner or its board of directors on an annual or other continuing basis. The board of directors of EV Management is chosen by EnerVest, the sole member of EV Management. Furthermore, if the unitholders were dissatisfied with the performance of our general partner, they will have only a limited ability to remove our general partner. As a result of these limitations, the price at which the common units will trade could be diminished because of the absence or reduction of a takeover premium in the trading price.

Even if holders of our common units are dissatisfied, they will have difficulty removing our general partner without its consent.

The vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of all outstanding units voting together as a single class is required to remove the general partner. EnerVest owns and controls our general partner, and as of February 15, 2013, officers and directors of EV Management owned an aggregate of 9.3% of our outstanding common. Accordingly, it may be difficult for holders of our common units to remove our general partner.

Our partnership agreement restricts the voting rights of unitholders owning 20% or more of our common units.

Unitholders’ voting rights are further restricted by the partnership agreement provision providing that any units held by a person that owns 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, other than our general partner, its affiliates, their transferees and persons who acquired such units with the prior approval of the board of directors of our general partner, cannot vote on any matter. Our partnership agreement also contains provisions limiting the ability of unitholders to call meetings or to acquire information about our operations, as well as other provisions limiting the unitholders’ ability to influence the manner or direction of management.

Control of our general partner may be transferred to a third party without unitholder consent.

Our general partner may transfer its general partner interest to a third party in a merger or in a sale of all or substantially all of its assets without the consent of the unitholders. Furthermore, our partnership agreement does not restrict the ability of the owners of our general partner or EV Management, from transferring all or a portion of their respective ownership interest in our general partner or EV Management to a third party. The new owners of our general partner or EV Management would then be in a position to replace the board of directors and officers of EV Management with its own choices and thereby influence the decisions taken by the board of directors and officers.

We may issue additional units without your approval, which would dilute your existing ownership interests.

Our partnership agreement does not limit the number of additional limited partner interests that we may issue at any time without the approval of our unitholders. The issuance by us of additional common units or other equity securities of equal or senior rank will have the following effects:

We have the right to borrow to make distributions. Repayment of these borrowings will decrease cash available for future distributions, and covenants in our credit facility may restrict our ability to make distributions.

Our partnership agreement allows us to borrow to make distributions. We may make short term borrowings under our credit facility, which we refer to as working capital borrowings, to make distributions. The primary purpose of these borrowings would be to mitigate the effects of short term fluctuations in our working capital that would otherwise cause volatility in our quarter to quarter distributions.

The terms of our credit facility may restrict our ability to pay distributions if we do not satisfy the financial and other covenants in the facility.

Our partnership agreement requires that we distribute all of our available cash, which could limit our ability to grow our reserves and production and service our debt obligations.

Our partnership agreement provides that we will distribute all of our available cash to our unitholders each quarter. As a result, we will be dependent on the issuance of additional common units and other partnership securities and borrowings to finance our growth. A number of factors will affect our ability to issue securities and borrow money to finance growth, as well as the costs of such financings, including:

Our general partner has a limited call right that may require you to sell your units at an undesirable time or price.

If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 80% of our common units, our general partner will have the right, but not the obligation, which it may assign to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the common units held by unaffiliated persons at a price not less than their then current market price. As a result, you may be required to sell your common units at an undesirable time or price and may not receive any return on your investment. You may also incur a tax liability upon a sale of your units.

Your liability may not be limited if a court finds that unitholder action constitutes control of our business.

A general partner of a partnership generally has unlimited liability for the obligations of the partnership, except for those contractual obligations of the partnership that are expressly made without recourse to the general partner. Our partnership is organized under Delaware law and we conduct business in a number of other states. The limitations on the liability of holders of limited partner interests for the obligations of a limited partnership have not been clearly established in some of the other states in which we do business. You could be liable for any and all of our obligations as if you were a general partner if:

Unitholders may have liability to repay distributions that were wrongfully distributed to them.

Under certain circumstances, unitholders may have to repay amounts wrongfully returned or distributed to them. Under Section 17–607 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, we may not make a distribution to you if the distribution would cause our liabilities to exceed the fair value of our assets. Delaware law provides that for a period of three years from the date of the impermissible distribution, limited partners who received the distribution and who knew at the time of the distribution that it violated Delaware law will be liable to the limited partnership for the distribution amount. Substituted limited partners are liable for the obligations of the assignor to make contributions to the partnership that are known to the substituted limited partner at the time it became a limited partner and for unknown obligations if the liabilities could be determined from the partnership agreement. Liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interest and liabilities that are non–recourse to the partnership are not counted for purposes of determining whether a distribution is permitted.

If we distribute cash from capital surplus, which is analogous of a return of capital, our minimum quarterly distribution rate will be reduced proportionately, and the distribution thresholds after which the incentive distribution rights entitle our general partner to an increased percentage of distributions will be proportionately decreased.

Our cash distribution will be characterized as coming from either operating surplus or capital surplus. Operating surplus generally means amounts we receive from operating sources, such as sales of our production, less operating expenditures, such as production costs and taxes, and less estimated maintenance capital, which are generally amounts we estimate we will need to spend in the future to maintain our production levels over the long term. Capital surplus generally means amounts we receive from non–operating sources, such as sales of properties and issuances of debt and equity securities. Cash representing capital surplus, therefore, is analogous to a return of capital. Distributions of capital surplus are made to our unitholders and our general partner in proportion to their percentage interests in us, or 98 percent to our unitholders and two percent to our general partner, and will result in a decrease in our minimum quarterly distribution and a lower threshold for distributions on the incentive distribution rights held by our general partner.

Our partnership agreement allows us to add to operating surplus up to two times the amount of our most recent minimum quarterly distribution. As a result, a portion of this amount, which is analogous to a return of capital, may be distributed to the general partner and its affiliates, as holders of incentive distribution rights, rather than to holders of common units as a return of capital.

  If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, current and potential unitholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our units.

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, prevent fraud and operate successfully as a public company. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our reputation and operating results would be harmed. We cannot be certain that our efforts to maintain our internal controls will be successful, that we will be able to maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future or that we will be able to continue to comply with our obligations under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Any failure to maintain effective internal controls, or difficulties encountered in implementing or improving our internal controls, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our units.

Tax Risks to Common Unitholders

Our tax treatment depends on our status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and not being subject to a material amount of entity–level taxation by individual states. If the Internal Revenue Service treats us as a corporation or we become subject to a material amount of entity-level taxation for state tax purposes, it would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our unitholders.

The anticipated after–tax economic benefit of an investment in our common units depends largely on our being treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We have not requested, and do not plan to request, a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, which we refer to as the IRS, on this or any other tax matter affecting us.

If we were treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would pay federal income tax on our taxable income at the corporate tax rate, which is currently a maximum of 35%, and would likely pay state income tax at varying rates. Distributions to you would generally be taxed again as corporate distributions, and no income, gains, losses or deductions would flow through to you. Because a tax would be imposed upon us as a corporation, our cash available for distribution to you would be substantially reduced. Therefore, treatment of us as a corporation would result in a material reduction in the anticipated cash flows and after–tax return to the unitholders, likely causing a substantial reduction in the value of our common units.

Current law may change so as to cause us to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes or otherwise subject us to entity–level taxation. In addition, because of widespread state budget deficits and other reasons, several states are evaluating ways to subject partnerships to entity–level taxation through the imposition of state income, franchise and other forms of taxation. For example, in Texas, we are now subject to an entity level tax at a maximum effective rate of 0.7% on the portion of our income that is apportioned to Texas. Imposition of such a tax on us by Texas, or any other state, will reduce the cash available for distribution to a unitholder.

The partnership agreement provides that if a law is enacted or existing law is modified or interpreted in a manner that subjects us to taxation as a corporation or otherwise subjects us to entity-level taxation for federal, state or local income tax purposes, the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels will be adjusted to reflect the impact of that law on us.

An IRS contest of our U.S. federal income tax positions may adversely affect the market for our common units, and the cost of any IRS contest will reduce our cash available for distribution to our unitholders.

We have not requested a ruling from the IRS with respect to our treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes or any other matter affecting us. It may be necessary to resort to administrative or court proceedings to sustain some or all of our counsel’s conclusions or the positions we take. A court may not agree with all of our counsel’s conclusions or positions we take. Any contest with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for our common units and the price at which they trade. In addition, costs incurred in any contest with the IRS will be borne indirectly by our unitholders and our general partner because the costs will reduce our cash available for distribution.

You may be required to pay taxes on income from us even if you do not receive any cash distributions from us.

Because our unitholders will be treated as partners to whom we will allocate taxable income which could be different in amount than the cash we distribute, you will be required to pay any federal income taxes and, in some cases, state and local income taxes on your share of our taxable income even if you receive no cash distributions from us. You may not receive cash distributions from us equal to your share of our taxable income or even equal to the tax liability that results from that income.

Tax gain or loss on disposition of common units could be more or less than expected.

If you sell your common units, you will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and your tax basis in those common units. Prior distributions to you in excess of the total net taxable income you were allocated for a common unit, which decreased your tax basis in that common unit, will, in effect, become taxable income to you if the common unit is sold at a price greater than your tax basis in that common unit, even if the price is less than your original cost. A substantial portion of the amount realized, whether or not representing gain, may be ordinary income. In addition, if you sell your units, you may incur a tax liability in excess of the amount of cash you receive from the sale.

Tax–exempt entities and foreign persons face unique tax issues from owning common units that may result in adverse tax consequences to them.

Investment in common units by tax–exempt entities, such as individual retirement accounts (known as IRAs), other retirement plans and non–U.S. persons raises issues unique to them. For example, virtually all of our income allocated to organizations that are exempt from federal income tax, including IRAs and other retirement plans, will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to them. Distributions to non–U.S. persons will be reduced by withholding taxes at the highest applicable effective tax rate, and non–U.S. persons will be required to file U.S. federal tax returns and pay tax on their share of our taxable income.

We will treat each purchaser of our common units as having the same tax benefits without regard to the actual common units purchased. The IRS may challenge this treatment, which could adversely affect the value of the common units.

Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of common units and because of other reasons, we will take depreciation and amortization positions that may not conform to all aspects of existing Treasury regulations. A successful IRS challenge to those positions could adversely affect the amount of tax benefits available to you. It also could affect the timing of these tax benefits or the amount of gain from the sale of common units and could have a negative impact on the value of our common units or result in audit adjustments to your tax returns.

The sale or exchange of 50% or more of our capital and profits interests during any twelve–month period will result in the termination of our partnership for federal income tax purposes.

We will be considered to have terminated our partnership for federal income tax purposes if there is a sale or exchange of 50% or more of the total interests in our capital and profits within a twelve–month period. For example, an exchange of 50% of our capital and profits could occur if, in any twelve–month period, holders of our common units sell at least 50% of the interests in our capital and profits. Our termination would, among other things, result in the closing of our taxable year for all unitholders and could result in a deferral of depreciation deductions allowable in computing our taxable income.

Unitholders may be subject to state and local taxes and tax return filing requirements in states where they do not live as a result of investing in our common units.

In addition to federal income taxes, you will likely be subject to other taxes, including Medicare, state and local taxes, unincorporated business taxes and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that are imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property, even if you do not live in any of those jurisdictions. You will likely be required to file state and local income tax returns and pay state and local income taxes in some or all of these jurisdictions. Further, you may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. We own assets and do business in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Each of these states, other than Texas, currently imposes a personal income tax. As we make acquisitions or expand our business, we may own assets or do business in additional states that impose a personal income tax. It is your responsibility to file all U.S. federal, foreign, state and local tax returns.