MPLX LP

Welcome to the MPLX fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. My name is Amanda 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 one on your touch tone 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.

Welcome to MPLX's fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. The slides that accompany this call can be found on the website at MPLX.com under the investor tab. Joining me today on the call are Marianne Manin, President and CEO, Chris Hagedorn, CFO, and other members of the executive team. We invite you to read the safe harbor statements on slide two. We will be making forward-looking statements today. Actual results may differ. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are included there as well as in our filings with the SEC. As you saw in our earnings release, MPLX revised its reporting to better reflect the value chains and growth strategy of MPLX's operations. The logistics and storage segment, formerly referred to as L&S, has been renamed crude oil and products logistics. The gathering and processing segment, formerly referred to as GMP, has been renamed natural gas and NGL services. With the chain, Certain equity method investments serving natural gas and NGL customers now reside in the natural gas and NGL services segment. Prior periods have been recast for comparability. Additional details on these reporting changes can be found on slides 16 and 17. With that, I will turn the call over to Mary Ann. Thanks, Christina. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call.

In 2024, we executed our strategic commitments. Full year adjusted EBITDA was $6.8 billion, an 8% increase year over year. In the crude oil and products logistics segment, results were driven by strong operational performance and demand. In the natural gas and NGL services segment, we placed two processing plants into service in 2024, and achieved record throughput driven by our growing asset portfolios in the Utica, Marcellus, and Permian basins. And today, MPLX handles over 10% of all the natural gas produced in the United States. This was the fourth consecutive year of MPLX generating mid-single digit adjusted EBITDA growth. Since 2021, we have grown adjusted EBITDA at a compound annual rate of 7%. In 2024, we invested $1.7 billion in organic growth projects and strategic acquisitions of increased ownership interest in existing joint ventures. These capital investments were targeted in key basins and value chains where we operate. We believe these investments will generate mid-teens returns, extending the durability of our mid-single-digit EBITDA growth profile, and our ability to return capital to our unit holders. In November, we increased our quarterly distribution by 12.5%, marking the third consecutive year MPLX has increased its quarterly distribution by 10% or more. Over the course of 2024, MPLX returned nearly $4 billion of capital to unit holders while maintaining distribution coverage of 1.5 times. Strong. given the stability of our business. Looking forward, our growth opportunities are robust. And today we announced a capital expenditure outlook of $2 billion for 2025. 85% of our growth capital will be allocated to opportunities within our natural gas and NGL services segment. We anticipate mid-teen returns on these projects in aggregate. And believe our execution on these investments will extend the durability of our mid single digit growth profile, allowing us to invest in the business and support annual distribution increases in the future. And we believe we have the financial flexibility to execute strategic acquisition opportunities that would be complimentary to these organic capital deployment plans. MPLX reached a significant milestone in its NGL wellhead to water chain strategy with the announcement of a project to construct a Gulf Coast fractionation complex and export terminal. MPLX's fully integrated NGL value chain connects the Permian to the Gulf Coast and will supply growing global demand for LPGs. Our $2.5 billion investment in the Fractionation Complex and Export Terminal complements MPLX's existing asset base and leverages existing infrastructure. MPLX will build and operate the Gulf Coast Fractionation Complex consisting of two 150,000 barrel per day fractionation facilities and a 400,000 barrel per day LPG export terminal, all of which will be located adjacent to MPC's Galveston Bay Refinery. MPLX has entered into a joint venture agreement with One Oak for the export terminal and a bi-directional purity pipeline between Mount Bellevue and Texas City. One Oak will market its 200,000 barrels per day and provide connectivity to Mount Bellevue storage, enhancing the competitiveness of the terminal. We also believe this strategic partnership with One Oak will create additional optionality and value to our customers. We also see it as a platform for future collaboration and growth across our Gulf Coast assets. MPLX plans to market ethane production from the FRAX to both existing and new customers. MPC plans to contract with MPLX to purchase the remaining LPG production from the FRAX which MPC will market globally through its existing marketing business via the new export terminal. This contract structure once again demonstrates the strength of our strategic relationship with MPC. The fractionation facilities are expected to be in service in 2028 and 2029, and the export terminal is expected to be in service in early 2028. We anticipate mid-teens returns on the project, which is expected to begin generating EBITDA when placed in service in 2028 and will ramp through the end of 2030. Additionally, we believe the expansion of our Gulf Coast NGL value chain will create a platform for optimization and incremental growth opportunities. As we look at additional opportunities for MPLX, we are investing for durable growth in response to strong producer demand. MPLX is expanding its natural gas and NGL integrated value chains, progressing long-haul pipeline growth projects, and investing in processing capacity. In the Permian Basin, MPLX is constructing its seventh processing plant secretariat, a 200 million cubic feet per day processing plant expected online in the fourth quarter of 2025, bringing our gas processing capacity in the Permian Basin to 1.4 billion cubic feet per day. Integral to our wellhead to water NGL strategy, the Bengal Joint Venture is progressing segment expansions, enabling additional NGLs to reach our Gulf Coast Fractionation Complex. The Bengal Pipeline's expansion to 250,000 barrels per day is expected to be in service by the end of the first quarter, and the JV partners have sanctioned the expansion of the mainline to 300,000 barrels per day, which is expected online in the second half of 2026. Within our natural gas value chain, the Matterhorn Express pipeline began full commercial service in November, and we continue to see strong demand from shippers. Additionally, MPLX and its partners are progressing the Blackcomb and Rio Bravo pipelines designed to transport natural gas from the Permian to domestic and export markets along the Gulf Coast. Both pipelines are expected in service in the second half of 2026. In the Marcellus Basin, MPLX is constructing the Harmon Creek III processing plant and adding fractionation capacity as we work with our customers to align capacity expansion with their drilling plans. This complex will comprise of a 300 million cubic feet per day processing plant and 40,000 barrel per day de-ethanizer. Following completion in the second half of 2026, MPLX expects gas processing capacity in the Northeast to total 8.1 billion cubic feet per day and fractionation capacity to total 800,000 barrels per day. Within the crude oil and products logistics segment, we anticipate spending $250 million on growth projects. This includes expanding crude gathering pipelines supporting the Permian and Bakken basins, various butane blending projects at our products terminals and investing in other high-return investments targeted at the expansion or de-bottlenecking of assets. We have a very high degree of confidence in these investments as the macro environment for energy remains favorable. The United States is a low-cost producer of energy fuels needed across the globe, and the outlook for hydrocarbons remains robust. Grid electrification, on-shoring, near-shoring, and data center development are driving natural gas demand growth forecast through the end of the decade. As demand increases for natural gas powered electricity, we are well positioned to support the development plans of our producer customers. Globally, demand for transportation fuels is expected to grow. The U.S. refining industry is expected to remain structurally advantaged over the rest of the world. Furthermore, We believe the MPC refining assets are the most competitive in each region MPC operates, and our strategic relationship with MPC will provide additional opportunities to enhance value chains supporting their operations. We are confident in our growth opportunities to generate durable cash flow for MPLX, supporting our commitment to return capital to unit holders. Now, let me turn the call over to Chris. to discuss our operational and financial results for the quarter.