MPLX LP

Welcome to the MPLX fourth quarter 2020 earnings call. My name is Amber, and I will be your operator for today's call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session. Press star 1 on your touchtone phone to enter the queue. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Christina Kazarian. Christina, you may begin.

Good morning and welcome to the MPLX Fourth Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. The slides that accompany this call can be found on our website at MPLX.com under the Investors tab. Joining me on the call today are Mike Hennigan, Chairman, President, and CEO, Pam Beal, CFO, and other members of the executive team. We invite you to read the Safe Harbor Statements and Non-Gap Disclaimer on slide two. It's a reminder that we will be making forward-looking statements during the call and during the question and answer session that follows. Actual results may differ materially from what we expect today. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are included there, as well as in our filings with the SEC. Now, with that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.

Thanks, Christina. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call. Earlier today, we reported adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2020 of $1.4 billion. and full year 2020 adjusted EBITDA of $5.2 billion. Considering the unprecedented challenges our industry faced throughout 2020, we're proud of the way our performance highlighted the resiliency and stability of our underlying business. Despite the difficult macro environment, we were able to grow total DCF for 2020 compared to 2019. Additionally, our results demonstrate our commitment to executing on the priorities we laid out for the year. We made strides on optimizing our portfolio, announcing the sale of the Abilene facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. While not large in size, this is an example of the continued effort we're making to focus on the assets that have long-term strategic value to the company. We reduced our capital spend in 2020 by over $700 million from the target. We also took necessary steps to address our long-term cost structure, achieving our target to reduce forecasted operating expenses by over $200 million. These expense reductions were key to offset earnings headwinds, particularly in the L&S segment, and we believe they will be enduring long term. Our cost reduction efforts are particularly meaningful when you consider we have not compromised our commitment to safely operating our assets, protect the health and safety of our employees, and support the communities in which we operate. As a result of these concerted efforts, we were able to generate excess cash flow for the full year 2020 after self-funding our distribution and capital program. This inflection occurred earlier than our original target of 2021 and gave us the financial flexibility to begin repurchasing units in the fourth quarter of 2020. Today, we also announced the growth capital outlook for 2021 of $800 million, focused on investments and projects expected to deliver our highest returns. This outlook represents a continued reduction in capital spend as we work to high-grade our portfolio of investments, focusing on projects that achieve robust returns irrespective of the market environment. We remain committed to strict capital and expense discipline, and that discipline, combined with EBITDA growing over time, supports our continuing goal of generating excess cash for 2021, providing the opportunity to return incremental capital to our unit holders. Shifting to slide five, I'd like to provide some comments on our responsibilities around sustainability and corporate leadership. Last quarter, we discussed the publication of our 2020 Climate Perspectives Report, highlighting opportunities and strategic planning work that companies engaged in related to climate scenarios. We also discussed our goal to reduce methane emission intensity in the GMP business. It's important that we set objectives for the organization that drive our continuous improvement on ESG. Our focus on leading in sustainable energy positions us to deliver strong results in this space, from lowering the carbon intensity of our operations and products to improving energy efficiency and conserving natural resources while using innovative technologies to do it. We believe the goals we are setting and our transparent disclosures on how we plan to achieve them position us well for the future. I'm proud to see some of our team's efforts in the ESG arena recognized in 2020 with API's Distinguished Pipeline Safety Award, as well as two EPA Energy Star Challenge Awards for energy efficiency. These accomplishments highlight that at all levels of our business, our team members are proactive and engaged in ensuring the safety of those in the communities where we have the privilege to operate and protecting the environment we all share. Now let me turn the call over to Pam to discuss our operational and financial results.