Penn Virginia GP Holdings LP

(NYSE: PVG)

Industry: Coal
On the web: http://www.pvgpholdings.com
Employees: 157

Penn Virginia GP Holdings, L.P. is a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership, which was formed in June 2006. The Company owns three types of equity interests in Penn Virginia Resource Partners, L.P. (PVR), a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership that is mainly engaged in the management of coal and natural resource properties and the gathering and processing of natural gas. As of December 31, 2008, the equity interests are: a 2% general partner interest in PVR, which the Company holds through its 100% ownership interest in Penn Virginia Resource GP, LLC, PVR's general partner all of the incentive distribution rights in PVR, which the Company holds through its 100% ownership interest in PVR's general partner and an approximately 37% limited partner interest in PVR. With the incentive distribution rights, it receives an increasing percentage of PVR's quarterly distributions of available cash from operating surplus after certain levels of cash distributions have been achieved. The Company, through its ownership of the general partner of PVR, manages the operations and activities of PVR. Its only cash generating assets consist of its equity interests in PVR. PVR is a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership formed by Penn Virginia Corporation or Penn Virginia, in 2001 that is mainly engaged in the management of coal and natural resource properties and the gathering and processing of natural gas in the United States. Both in its current limited partnership form and in its previous corporate form, PVR has managed coal properties since 1882. PVR currently conducts operations in two business segments: coal and natural resource management and natural gas midstream. The PVR coal and natural resource management segment mainly involves the management and leasing of coal properties and the subsequent collection of royalties. PVR's coal reserves are mainly located in Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and New Mexico. PVR also earns revenues from other land management activities, such as selling standing timber, leasing fee-based coal-related infrastructure facilities to certain lessees and end-user industrial plants, collecting oil and gas royalties and from coal transportation, or wheelage, fees. The PVR natural gas midstream segment is engaged in providing natural gas processing, gathering and other related services. It owns and operates natural gas midstream assets located in Oklahoma and Texas. PVR's natural gas midstream business derives revenues mainly from gas processing contracts with natural gas producers and from fees charged for gathering natural gas volumes and providing other related services. In addition, PVR owns a 25% member interest in Thunder Creek Gas Services, LLC, a joint venture that gathers and transports coalbed methane in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. PVR also owns a natural gas marketing business, which aggregates third-party volumes and sells those volumes into intrastate pipeline systems and at market hubs accessed by various interstate pipelines. The operations of PVR's coal and natural resource management business and natural gas midstream business are subject to environmental laws and regulations adopted by various governmental authorities in the jurisdictions in which these operations are conducted.