MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Michael Hennigan: And Michael, it’s Mike. I’ll just add that, obviously, what FERC is trying to do is to look at all those impacts that are raising costs and they’re hitting us as well. And what we do as a team is to say we got to be better than that average. We’ve got to look for opportunities for us where we can run it at a lower cost compared to where the average of the industry is. And in that way, we’ll create a little bit of value. But our costs definitely move up with those impacts, and we try and optimize around that.

Michael Blum: Perfect. Thank you.

Michael Hennigan: You’re welcome.

Operator: Our next question comes from Doug Irwin with Citi. Your line is open.

Doug Irwin: Hi. Thanks for the question. Just another on the balance sheet. Looking at Slide 10 in the earnings presentation. It looks like you have almost $3 billion of debt maturing over the next couple of years. I’m just curious if you could talk about how you’re thinking about the securities here in the high rate environment, particularly in the context of all the cash you have on the balance sheet and already being below your leverage target?

John Quaid: Yes. Hey, Doug, it’s John. Thanks for the question. Yes, we’ve got, what, about $1.150 billion [ph] due December of next year and then the next several years at plus or minus $1 billion, $1.4 billion [ph] So I think as you’ve seen us in the recent past, we’ll look to be thoughtful about how we do that. Certainly, you’re spot on, given where rates are today versus the last refinancing we did. Again, we’ve got some financial flexibility there. And I’d say it’s not only the cash on our balance sheet, but we’ve got revolver with our parent as well, which gives us some flexibility to be thoughtful about the right time to look to refinance.

Doug Irwin: Got it. Thanks. And then you talked about potential growth opportunities with MPC. And I think one that came up last quarter was hydrogen. And I think MPC is involved in at least one of the hydrogen hubs that was just selected for funding negotiations. Wondering if you could kind of talk about what you see MPLX’s potential role being here and maybe just help frame that opportunity to that.

David Heppner: Yes, Doug, this is Dave. So yes, you are correct, actually. Of the 7 hydrogen hubs that received DOE funding at $7 billion, MPC/MPLX is involved in 2 of those. One in Appalachia and one end one in the Heartland. And so specifically around MPLX involvement, it’s going to be more around the storage and transportation of hydrogen and CO2 rather than constructing hydrogen production facilities. That would be more on the MPC side of the equation. The last piece I’ll leave you with, why all these projects have received DOE funding. That’s just the first step. It’s a big milestone, first of all. It’s good to get narrowed down and secure the funds from the DOE. But that’s the first step in a long journey to secure the agreements with DOE, design and construct the project. So we’ll talk more about these into next year, but I appreciate you bringing that up. And like I say, we’re excited on the first step of receiving funding on those 2 projects.

Doug Irwin: Great. Thanks.

David Heppner: You’re welcome.

Operator: And our final question will come from Neal Dingmann with Truist Securities. Your line is open.

Neal Dingmann: Good morning, guys. Thanks for getting me in. You’ve talked around this and my first question, maybe just around general activity thoughts. I’m just wondering, is the long-term production outlook for your G&P producer customers, would you all consider that as good today as you thought it would be at the beginning of the year or maybe even it sounds like it would be slightly better than you initially expected. Just wondering sort of general thoughts.

Gregory Floerke: Neal, this is Greg. I would say that if you look at a year ago where prices were, they were about double on gas and NGLs. And a lot of the forecast was built around some expectation of that as the prices came down, we did see some slowing of growth in terms of rig activity and bringing new pads on. So yes, I think that, that was expected based on the pricing changes, but we have been seeing growth maybe beyond even what you would expect. And I think that shows that people are still very – producers are still bullish on where pricing is going with the LNG plants that are going to come online over the next couple of years. NGL prices have been supportive. And really, the production – drilling and production costs have come down as the producers are drilling longer laterals.

That brings more volume in faster and it keeps the cost level below even where some of the lower prices are. So yes, we have seen growth single-digit low to medium single-digit across most of the basins, and that’s been really good to see.

Neal Dingmann: That’s great detail. And then just my second, maybe just around your capital program, specifically, given the – it sounds like just continuous efficiencies you all see, would you expect maybe going forward, that maintenance capital declined slightly from the current 150 level?

John Quaid: Neal, it’s John. I don’t know that I’d expect the change in maintenance capital, right? When we think about our capital allocation framework, that first kind of step is making sure we’re investing to maintain the safety and reliability of our assets. So I don’t know that I’d expect a change there.

Neal Dingmann: Okay. Thank you, all. Appreciate it.

John Quaid: You’re welcome.

A – Kristina Kazarian: All right. Sheila. Well, if there’s nobody else in the queue. Thank you for joining us today, and thank you for your interest in MPLX. Should you have additional questions or would you like clarification on any of the topics discussed today. Members of the Investor Relations team will be available to take your call. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. That does conclude today’s conference. Thank you for participating. You may disconnect at this time.

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