Michael Hennigan
Analyst · UBS
Thank you, Gary. I’m pleased to report that MPLX delivered strong results with the third quarter adjusted EBITDA of $1.3 billion, including full quarter results from ANDX. Our distributable cash flow of $1 billion for the quarter provided strong distribution coverage of 1.4 times and we reported leverage of 4 times. As noted in our last earnings call, we successfully closed our acquisition of Andeavor Logistics on July 30. This acquisition simplified MPC’s midstream structure into one public company, allowing us to high-grade our commercial opportunities and create a large-scale, diversified midstream company, anchored by fee-based cash flows. We progressed our slate of high-return projects. We’ve advanced our strategy of creating integrated crude oil and natural gas logistics systems from the Permian to the U.S. Gulf Coast. We also high-graded our growth CapEx portfolio and announced our projected 2020 growth capital target. Our expected portfolio of projects demonstrates our continued focus on growing the L&S side of the business in key shale areas in the U.S. and leveraging downstream projects to support MPC’s refineries as well as the growing export market. Turning your attention to Slide 4, I’d like to provide an update on our initiatives to optimize MPLX’s growth CapEx that we introduced last quarter. As I mentioned previously, our first priority, following the combination with ANDX, was to high-grade the combined capital portfolio. We have completed plans to streamline our growth capital expenditures focusing on the most attractive returns. For 2020, we are targeting growth CapEx of approximately $2 billion. This is approximately $600 million less than what the two prior midstream companies had projected in total. Virtually, all of the reduced spending is in the G&P segment of our business. In doing so, we believe we have selected the highest return projects available to us, which will best position us to deliver long-term value to our unitholders. Our target to spend approximately 75% of growth CapEx in the L&S segment continues to shift in our strategic direction over the last couple of years. At the same time, our G&P business remains an important part of our portfolio. Slowing Northeast growth allows our portfolio of premier G&P assets in the region to deliver positive cash flow, which can be deployed to our strategic investments, especially in the Permian. Additionally, as Gary mentioned, MPC announced that it is forming a special committee of its Board of Directors to continue to evaluate alternatives to enhance value across its midstream segment. Moving to Slide 5, we highlight our strategy to create an integrated crude oil and natural gas logistics systems from the Permian to the Gulf Coast. During the third quarter, design and construction of the Whistler natural gas pipeline has progressed. Deal purchase orders, construction agreements and compression purchase orders have all been signed. Let us remind you that this joint venture project is been designed to transport approximately 2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to approximately 475 miles of 42-inch pipe from Waha, Texas to the Agua Dulce market in South Texas. We expect to ultimately deliver natural gas to MPC’s Galveston Bay refinery. Supply to the Whistler pipeline will be sourced from multiple upstream connections in the Permian Basin, including direct connections to plants in the Midland Basin through an approximately 50-mile 30-inch pipeline lateral as well as a direct connection to the 1.4 billion cubic feet per day Agua Blanca pipeline. We expect Whistler to be in service in the third quarter of 2021. Last quarter, we announced our participation in the Wink-to-Webster Permian crude oil project, 36-inch diameter pipeline with planned origination points in Wink and Midland, Texas. The pipeline will have destination points in the Houston market, including MPC’s Galveston Bay refinery. We have a 15% equity ownership in the Wink-to-Webster joint venture. And the project continues to be targeted to be in service in early 2021. As part of the ANDX acquisition, our Permian business now includes the Conan crude gathering system, a 250,000 barrel a day capacity system in Lea County, New Mexico and Loving County, Texas. Volumes on the system continue to grow to new records, averaging 250,000 barrels per day in the third quarter, up approximately 8% over the second quarter of 2019. And lastly, we continue to progress our Permian to Gulf Coast NGL pipeline called BANGL, targeting FID by year-end to ensure a 2021 startup. Slide 6 provides second quarter Logistics and Storage highlights for our new combined L&S business. Total pipeline throughputs averaged 5.2 million barrels per day, 54% increase over the same quarter last year and the year-on-year increase in throughput is primarily driven by the acquisition of ANDX. We are also providing quarter-over-quarter volume information to help provide an apples-to-apples view of our business, as if we had owned ANDX last quarter. On a sequential basis, pipeline throughputs increased 2% versus the second quarter of 2019. Terminal throughput averaged 3.3 million barrels per day for the quarter, an increase of 123% versus the third quarter of 2018. The year-on-year increase in throughput for our terminals was primarily driven by the addition of ANDX terminalling assets. On a sequential basis, terminal throughputs were flat versus the second quarter of 2019. MPC’s Capline reversal project progressed with the purge of the mainline initiated in October. Once reversed, Capline will be capable of supplying discounted Mid-Continent and Canadian crudes at St. James, Louisiana, which has a direct connection to MPC’s Garyville refinery. Capline is now expected to begin light crude service in the first half of 2021, with heavy crude service expected in 2022. Slide 7 provides second quarter Gathering and Processing highlights for the new combined G&P business segment. Gathered volumes in our legacy MPLX Gathering and Processing business increased 12% year-over-year and 7% sequentially over the second quarter of 2019, primarily in the Marcellus, Utica basins. Total gathered volumes averaged 6.3 billion cubic feet per day, representing a 33% increase over the third quarter of 2018 and a 6% increase versus the second quarter of 2019, primarily driven by the ANDX acquisition. Processed volumes in our legacy MPLX Gathering and Processing business increased 13% year-over-year and 3% sequentially over the second quarter of 2019, primarily due to significant volume growth at our Sherwood and Harmon Creek complexes. Total processed volumes increased 23% versus the same quarter last year to 8.8 billion cubic feet per day primarily driven by the ANDX acquisition, and sequentially processed volumes increased 3% over the second quarter of 2019. This month, we placed the Sherwood 12 processing plant in the Marcellus and the Tornado processing plant in the Permian in service, adding 400 million cubic feet per day of incremental capacity. We plan to commission Sherwood 13 later in the fourth quarter of 2019, bringing the total capacity of this complex to 2.6 billion cubic feet per day. We also have 2 additional plants under various stages of development in the Permian, which would add 400 million more cubic feet per day of incremental capacity. Once completed, they’ll bring our total Permian processing capacity to 1 billion cubic feet per day, with approximately 125,000 barrels per day of liquids. Volumes from our Permian Gathering and Processing operations, which feed our planned Whistler natural gas and our proposed BANGL NGL pipelines. Fractionated volumes in our legacy MPLX Gathering and Processing business increased 5% year-over-year and 4% sequentially due to C2 and C3 fractionation capacity added in 2018 in the Marcellus and Utica basins. Total fractionated volumes averaged 547,000 barrels per day in the second quarter, representing a 12% increase over the third quarter last year and a 5% increase versus the second quarter of 2019, primarily driven by the ANDX acquisition. As part of the acquisition, our G&P segment now includes the North Dakota NGL logistics hub in the Bakken. This project was built to transport mixed NGLs from a third-party processing plant in McKenzie County, North Dakota to our Belfield gas processing plant for fractionation and then to ship these purity NGL products on manifest and unit trains from our Fryburg rail terminal. The NGL Logistics Hub project was completed in the second quarter of 2019 and all services, including pipeline, fractionation and rail loading are fully operational. Let me conclude my comments by summarizing our strategic direction related to capital spending. First, we continue to shift the portfolio more towards the L&S side of the business and less towards G&P. Our 2018 plan had roughly 85% of our growth capital targeted to the G&P processing area. Our 2019 plan was approximately 50-50, and we anticipate our 2020 growth capital will target approximately 75% of the spend in the L&S segment. Second, related to our Northeast G&P business, we continue to diversify the portfolio by investing less in the Northeast G&P business and more in the other areas of growth, particularly in the Permian. Our Northeast G&P business represents approximately 20% of our 2019 expected EBITDA and is projected to be cash flow positive for the first year since the MarkWest acquisition. Third, with the high-graded 2020 capital target we discussed earlier, we anticipate that outside of the Permian all of our G&P basins, in which we operate, will be cash flow positive next year to support our investments in the Permian. I will now turn the call over to Pam to cover our financial highlights.