Kinetik Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:KNTK) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Spiro Dounis: Got it. And then moving to the $900 million of the run rate you guys pointed to for December ’23. Curious how much of that reflects G&P volume behind the system waiting for PHP to come online. Some of the way once PHP does enter service in November, I don’t expect you see those volumes kind of rush in at the back end of the system. Could we see sort of several quarters after the fact kind of ramp up on the G&P side?

Jamie Welch: I think that’s probably a fair — that’s a fair perspective. We, ourselves, as a management team, have been really — this is probably one of the elements that we’ve really agonized over, which is exactly what a turn-in-line forecast looks like, given depressed pricing that we’re seeing. And obviously, we’re seeing, obviously, the runway towards the back end of the year in November, December, in particular, where we start to see some of that relief. So I do think we’ll start — we will see more activity towards the back of the year, particularly when we’ve got Whistler and PHP expansion online. I think that will give the ability of the basin to actually breathe for a second and then sort of work out what the next steps will be.

Spiro Dounis: Got it. Great. Last one, if I could just quickly sneak it in. Just looking out to 2024, it seems like the setup today is for a fairly nice inflection point in free cash flow. You’ve got CapEx coming down. You obviously have EBITDA projected to be a lot higher. So that does come up with few options as you think about capital allocation. And so I’m just curious, you’ve got several things going obviously, a lot of robust growth. You’ve some capital return this year and so maybe an expectation you sort of return to that next year. Then you’re also trying to sort of deleverage and achieve investment grade. So I guess how are you thinking about those options in 2024 when you do have a little more free cash flow in front of you?

Jamie Welch: Look, I think our capital allocation priorities that we’ve laid out is committed to the 3.5x leverage target then — raising the dividend. And obviously, that I think is front and center for us as far as our overall objectives are concerned.

Operator: . And our next question goes to Robert Mosca of Mizuho Securities.

Robert Mosca: Just wondering, so now that, I guess, Grand Prix is off the table. I know you guys have identified that as a potential acquisition target. I’m just wondering how that affects your desire to increase the downstream connectivity of your system? Could we see that mindset shift to perhaps getting more involved on a fractionator asset or aligning more closely with the specific midstream providers such as EPD. Just curious to hear your thoughts there.

Jamie Welch: Look, I think we have been consistent to say we like having a vertically integrated business. I think in saying that we realize that we’ve got a significant capital spend for this year. We have obviously stacked hands with our core shareholders to make sure that it is funded in an appropriate and prudent manner from a balance sheet and credit standpoint. And I think it is important that we focus going forward in 2025 that we not literally expect the less than $150 million of capital to start to grow again. So I really do think — our first — the first order of business for us is New Mexico was critical. Treating was critical. PHP expansion was critical. Delaware length for Kinetik NGL, that was absolute core to our vision.

Anything else is interesting and — but it’s not nowhere near that priority or importance. So I think right now, what we see going out ’24 and longer is that we’ve got some pretty good tailwinds, particularly as we see overall growth from our producer set as well as our customer opportunities, whether they’re in New Mexico or whether they’re obviously in Central Reeves or .