MPLX LP (MPLX) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending March 31, 2023

May 2, 2023 9:30 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Welcome to the MPLX First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. My name is Sheila, and I will be your operator for today's call. [Operator Instructions].

I will now turn the call over to Kristina Kazarian. Kristina, you may begin.

Kristina Kazarian

Good morning, and welcome to the MPLX First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. The slides that accompany this call can be found on our website at mplx.com under the Investor tab. Joining me on the call today are Mike Hennigan, Chairman and CEO; John Quaid, CFO; and other members of the executive team.

We invite you to read the safe harbor statements and non-GAAP disclaimer on Slide 2. It's a reminder that we'll 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.

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.

Michael Hennigan

Thanks, Kristina. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. Earlier today, we reported our first quarter results. Our business continues to grow and delivered adjusted EBITDA of $1.5 billion, an increase of 9% year-over-year and a new quarterly record for the partnership. Distributable cash flow of nearly $1.3 billion was up 5% year-over-year.

Turning to the macro environment. While natural gas prices have come down recently, our long-term production outlook in our key regions remains largely unchanged. In our largest basin, the Marcellus, the cost to deliver for our key producer customers is still below the current prices. In the Permian and Bakken, our production outlook is unchanged as crude prices are strong and prices for associated gas do not significantly impact producer activity in these basins.

This quarter, we advanced our growth projects, which are anchored in the Marcellus, Permian and Bakken basins. We expect these disciplined investments in high-return projects, along with our focus on cost and portfolio optimization continue to drive cash flow growth. While our capital outlook is focused on our current O&S and G&P asset base, we are participating in 3 publicly announced alliances focused on CCUS and hydrogen technologies.

We will continue to evaluate low-carbon opportunities where we can leverage technologies that are complementary with our asset footprint and expertise. And we remain -- we remain optimistic -- sorry about that, about our opportunities in 2023, and are focused on executing the strategic priorities of strict capital discipline, fostering a low-cost culture, optimizing our asset portfolio, all of which are foundational to the growth of MPLX's cash flows.