Steve Bender : So Steve, the way we think about those costs, and of course, with the labor cost rising and materials costs rising, yes, cost per turnaround have trended higher naturally. And so as we think about the fee that the Partnership charges the parent on a monthly basis, those estimated costs are built into the charges that are charged to the parent on a monthly basis. So we charge the parent on a monthly basis, those expected cost, and they accumulate in the cash balances that you see on the balance sheet. And then as we undertake a turnaround, we use those funds to undertake the cost of the turnaround. So that turnaround reserve that you might think about as some of that cash balance is designed to be able to address those costs.
Stephen Byrne : Okay. That makes sense. And the crackers also generate hydrogen as a byproduct, and I was just curious how the Partnership is incentivized to pursue higher-value opportunities for that hydrogen?
Steve Bender : So we constantly assess what is the right value mix certainly as we think about it, Steve. And so certainly, to the extent that there is a credit associated with the coproducts or byproducts, the Partnership will see the associated benefits accordingly.
Stephen Byrne : And then just lastly, the continuous improvements on cracker operations could potentially lead to some incremental production rate, maybe nothing like what it would take if you added on additional furnaces. But is there incentives in place for the partnership to pursue those operating advances as well?
Steve Bender : Yes, there is, Steve. And so when you think about the opportunity to debottleneck, and we’ve undertaken a number of debottlenecks since the IPO of the Partnership, and there is naturally an incentive to increase the production of the ethylene units because we — the Partnership is able to achieve that increased volume with that margin that is associated with those increased pounds. That allows us, therefore, to grow the cash balances, grow the distributable cash flow, which allows us to increase distributions over time. So there is a strong motivation to undertake opportunities that are economically valued for a debottleneck if 1 is so there — 1 of their.
Operator: At this time, Q&A session has now ended. I will turn the call back over to Jeff Holy.
Jeff Holy : Thank you again for participating in today’s call. We hope you’ll join us for our next conference call to discuss our third quarter 2023 results.
Operator: Thank you for participating in today’s Westlake Chemical Partners’ Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, this call will be available for replay beginning 2 hours after the call has ended, and may be accessed until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on [Thursday], August, 17, 2023. The replay can be accessed via the Partnership website. Goodbye.
