Equitrans Midstream Corporation Common Stock

Hello and thank you for standing by. My name is Regina and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Equitrans Midstream first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I would now like to turn the conference over to Nate Tetlow. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome to the first quarter 2023 earnings call for Equitrans Midstream Corporation. A replay of this call will be available for 14 days beginning this evening. The phone number for the replay is 800-770-2030 or 647. The conference ID is 6625542. Today's call may contain forward-looking statements related to future events and expectations. Please refer to today's news release and risk factors in the ETRN's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and as updated by Form 10-Q's for factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Today's call may contain certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to this morning's news release and our investor presentation for important disclosures regarding such measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measure. On the call today are Tom Karam, Chairman and CEO Diana Sharletta, President and Chief Operating Officer. Kirk Oliver, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Justin Mackin, Senior Vice President, Gas Systems Planning and Engineering. Brian Petrandrea, Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. And Janice Brenner, Vice President and Treasurer. After the prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions. With that, I will turn it over to Tom.

Thanks, Nate. Good morning everyone. Today we reported first quarter 2023 results ahead of expectations, including net income of $106 million, adjusted EBITDA of $300 million, and deferred revenue of $77 million. Kirk will provide details on the financial results in a few minutes. As you know, we have approximately four to five months of construction remaining to complete Mountain Valley Pipeline. What you may not know is that we are now more than 100 months from the project's initial filing with FERC. More than 100 months of analysis, reviews and scrutiny and repeated reissuances of permits. We are now on our third biological opinion. The seemingly endless loop of permit challenges and court action is causing more negative environmental impact than allowing MVP to simply complete construction. The adverse impact on our regional energy security and reliability and affordability is real. And so is the negative impact on our employees, communities, and customers. We certainly empathize with the many landowners along the right of way who simply want us off their property. As I said, the best way to protect the environment is to finish the project, get off landowner's property, and permanently restore the right-of-way. And our view has been supported time and again by federal and state agencies that are best positioned to evaluate this project and its impacts. And so, notwithstanding setbacks and continued risks, we are continuing to pursue the permitting path available under the law. Let's talk about that path for a minute. The outstanding required permits are a right-of-way authorization to cross the Jefferson National Forest from the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. We expect to receive this authorization in about two weeks. Beyond the forest permit, we need a water quality certification from West Virginia and the individual water crossing permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Fourth Circuit vacated the previously issued West Virginia water quality certification on April 3rd. This did not come as a surprise as the oral argument last October foreshadowed the ruling. Since the ruling, we've been in close contact with West Virginia DEP and have a high degree of confidence that the issues raised in the ruling can and will be adequately addressed. And lastly, once all permits are issued, we expect FERC will grant the necessary authorizations to resume full construction. We see a path to obtaining all approvals by early summer. And while narrow, This will give us the opportunity to complete construction in late 2023. All of this, of course, is contingent on no additional court intervention. Last week, Project Opponents did file a motion seeking a stay of the biological opinion. We are confident that the Fish and Wildlife Service produced a biological opinion that addresses the previous court concerns and exceeds the standards required. We expect the court to rule on the stay request in a few weeks. In addition to the fish and wildlife, we're confident that all the state and federal agencies involved are producing permits that address previous court concerns and exceed the standards required for each authorization. And as we've said before, projects like MVP that follow every required process and receive every required permit should prevail. Last week, the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, sent a letter to the FERC commissioners highlighting the importance of energy infrastructure and, in particular, Mountain Valley Pipeline. The letter highlights the many benefits of MVP and natural gas infrastructure. including supporting the reliability of the electric system and enhancing regional and national energy security. We are grateful for the Biden administration's outward support of MVP. MVP truly is a real-time case study supporting the critical need to pass permitting reform legislation. We believe permitting reform at a high level has the necessary bipartisan support to keep advancing and that differences between the political parties can and should be reconciled. We continue to urge both sides to come together to act on comprehensive permitting reform legislation. And now I'll turn it over to Diana for the operations update, and then Kirk will discuss the financial results. Diana.