On Oct. 9, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BBB' corporate credit ratings on Enterprise Products Partners L.P. and Enterprise Products Operating L.P. and revised the outlook on the companies to negative from stable. The Houston, Texas-based master limited partnership (MLP) had about $1.8 billion of debt as of June 30, 2003. The outlook revision is based upon weaker-than-anticipated profitability for 2003 and a change in ownership at Enterprise Products GP LLC, which is the general partner of Enterprise Products Partners. Weak demand for natural gas liquids (NGLs), which started in the second quarter of 2003 and has continued into the third quarter, will result in lower results for Enterprise Products' processing, fractionation, and transportation businesses. The lower-than-expected
