Conferencia de resultados del 3T de 2026 de Sunoco LP: EBITDA récord y perspectivas de crecimiento

Sunoco LP registró un EBITDA ajustado récord en el tercer trimestre de 2026, impulsado por la optimización de la distribución de combustible y la solidez económica de la Refinería de Burnaby. La dirección afirmó que la empresa confía plenamente en que los resultados de todo el año superarán el límite superior de sus previsiones.

Puntos clave

• El EBITDA ajustado récord del T3 de 2026 alcanzó los 1.060 millones de dólares, excluyendo aproximadamente 11 millones de dólares de gastos extraordinarios de transacción. El flujo de caja distribuible ajustado fue de 588 millones de dólares.
• La distribución trimestral fue de aproximadamente 1,015 dólares por unidad ordinaria de Sunoco LP y acción de SunocoCorp, un 1,25% intertrimestralmente y más de un 10% interanual.
• El EBITDA ajustado de Distribución de Combustible aumentó a 532 millones de dólares, en comparación con los 516 millones de dólares del T2 de 2026 y los 238 millones de dólares del T3 de 2025, excluyendo los gastos de transacción.
• El EBITDA ajustado de la Refinería de Burnaby aumentó a 238 millones de dólares desde los 175 millones de dólares del trimestre anterior. El margen de refinación superó los 54 dólares por barril, mientras que los gastos se mantuvieron por debajo de los 10 dólares por barril por segundo trimestre consecutivo.
• Sunoco cerró el trimestre con un apalancamiento aproximado de 3,5 veces, por debajo de su objetivo a largo plazo de 4 veces, y con 2.300 millones de dólares disponibles en su línea de crédito revolvente.
• La dirección prevé que los resultados de 2026 superen el límite superior de sus previsiones y confía en que 2027 pueda ser otro año récord, incluso si los márgenes de refinación (cracks) vuelven a niveles más cercanos a mitad de ciclo.

Datos financieros clave

Rendimiento operativo y del negocio

Distribución de combustible

El EBITDA ajustado fue de 532 millones de dólares, excluyendo 9 millones de dólares de gastos de transacción. Sunoco distribuyó aproximadamente 4.200 millones de galones, con un margen de combustible de 0,168 dólares por galón. El volumen aumentó ligeramente respecto al trimestre anterior, mientras que el margen disminuyó ligeramente.

La dirección atribuyó el rendimiento a la escala, la flexibilidad de suministro y la optimización comercial en un entorno de elevada volatilidad de mercado, especialmente en el diésel. La empresa enfatizó que gestiona el negocio en función del beneficio total del combustible, el EBITDA y el retorno sobre el capital empleado, en lugar de centrarse en resultados trimestrales aislados de volumen o margen.

Sunoco cerró su adquisición de Offen Petroleum por 600 millones de dólares tras el cierre del trimestre. Offen aporta aproximadamente 2.500 millones de galones de volumen de distribución anual de combustible y amplía la presencia de Sunoco en el Medio Oeste y en la región de las Montañas del Oeste. La dirección prevé que la adquisición refuerce las oportunidades de suministro, transporte y crecimiento en las operaciones de marca y sin marca.

Refinería

El EBITDA ajustado de la Refinería de Burnaby alcanzó los 238 millones de dólares, frente a los 175 millones de dólares del T2. El procesamiento medio fue de 57.000 barriles por día, ligeramente por encima del trimestre anterior.

El margen de refinación superó los 54 dólares por barril, mientras que los gastos se mantuvieron por debajo de los 10 dólares por barril. La dirección afirmó que tanto el entorno favorable del mercado como la ejecución operativa contribuyeron al resultado, al tiempo que reconoció que los márgenes de refinación fluctuarán con el tiempo.

Sistemas de oleoductos

El EBITDA ajustado de Sistemas de Oleoductos fue de 166 millones de dólares, por debajo de los 190 millones de dólares del T2 de 2026 y de los 182 millones del T3 de 2025. El volumen transportado fue de aproximadamente 1,3 millones de barriles por día, prácticamente sin cambios tanto en variación intertrimestral como interanual.

El descenso intertrimestral reflejó una menor contribución de las empresas conjuntas y la ausencia de los beneficios por recuperaciones de la FERC recibidos durante la primera mitad de 2026. La dirección sigue considerando este segmento como un negocio de infraestructuras estable con oportunidades para mejorar la utilización y expandir los volúmenes mediante inversiones de capital específicas.

Terminales

El EBITDA ajustado de Terminales fue de 124 millones de dólares, excluyendo 2 millones de dólares de gastos de transacción, frente a los 115 millones del T2 de 2026 y los 76 millones del T3 de 2025. El volumen mantenido se situó cerca de 1 millón de barriles por día.

Los resultados se vieron beneficiados por el procesamiento de mezclas residuales (transmix) y las aportaciones de la red europea ampliada de Sunoco. La dirección también destacó las oportunidades para aumentar la utilización y respaldar el segmento de Distribución de Combustible a través de inversiones respaldadas por clientes.

Previsiones de la dirección

La dirección afirmó que Sunoco confía plenamente en que el EBITDA ajustado de 2026 superará el límite superior de sus previsiones actuales, aunque no facilitó un rango actualizado. La empresa prevé que 2026 sea su octavo año consecutivo de crecimiento del EBITDA.

Sunoco planea publicar sus previsiones formales para 2027 a principios de enero. La dirección cree que 2027 puede ser otro año récord, incluso si los márgenes de refinación (cracks) se aproximan a niveles de mitad de ciclo, y también espera que el negocio crezca en 2028.

La empresa estableció anteriormente un objetivo plurianual de al menos 500 millones de dólares anuales en adquisiciones complementarias. La dirección prevé que las adquisiciones complementarias de 2026 asciendan a aproximadamente 1.500 millones de dólares. Incluyendo el capital de crecimiento orgánico, se espera que el desembolso total de crecimiento supere los 2.000 millones de dólares.

Los gastos operativos de Distribución de Combustible pueden fluctuar de un trimestre a otro, pero la dirección prevé una disminución general en 2027 en comparación con 2026, respaldada en parte por la continuación de la integración de Parkland.

Riesgos y factores clave a vigilar

• La demanda de gasolina y diésel en Canadá disminuyó en porcentajes de un solo dígito entre bajos y medios en medio de una mayor volatilidad de los precios del combustible, aunque la dirección calificó los márgenes de sólidos.
• La demanda de gasolina en Estados Unidos cayó un porcentaje de un solo dígito bajo interanual, mientras que la demanda de diésel se mantuvo prácticamente estable, según los datos de la EIA citados por la dirección.
• Burnaby aporta potencial al alza cuando los márgenes de refinación (cracks) se amplían, pero su contribución sigue expuesta a la volatilidad de los márgenes de refinación.
• Los resultados de los oleoductos pueden variar de un trimestre a otro debido a las contribuciones de las empresas conjuntas, la fijación de precios en los contratos, los efectos temporales y las partidas regulatorias no recurrentes.
• La dirección afirmó que la cronología y la magnitud de la sensibilidad de la demanda a los precios elevados y sostenidos del combustible siguen siendo difíciles de predecir.

Puntos destacados del turno de preguntas de analistas

Perspectivas de crecimiento para 2027: La dirección afirmó que 2026 no se considera un hecho atípico. Espera un crecimiento continuo en 2027 incluso bajo supuestos de refinación de mitad de ciclo, respaldado por los cuatro segmentos operativos, las adquisiciones y la inversión orgánica.

Integración de Parkland: Sunoco afirmó que la adquisición de Parkland generó un crecimiento de aproximadamente el 25% en el flujo de caja distribuible por unidad ordinaria en menos de un año de propiedad. Los esfuerzos de integración también contribuyeron a reducir los gastos operativos de Distribución de Combustible.

Papel estratégico de Burnaby: La dirección no tiene intención de expandir la refinación como una estrategia independiente. Considera a Burnaby como un segmento menor que ofrece un potencial alcista asimétrico cuando los márgenes de refinación se fortalecen, junto con tres segmentos más estables y en crecimiento. Sunoco solo consideraría otra refinería como parte de una transacción más amplia similar a la de Parkland.

Demanda de combustible y márgenes: La dirección señaló que la demanda en Estados Unidos se ha mantenido resiliente a pesar de la volatilidad. En Canadá, una demanda más débil ha coincidido con márgenes sólidos. El Caribe sigue siendo un mercado en crecimiento donde la empresa prevé un crecimiento saludable del volumen y la expansión del margen.

Cambios potenciales en los flujos de productos: La dirección afirmó que los proyectos de oleoductos propuestos podrían alterar los flujos de productos refinados en la zona central de Estados Unidos. Sunoco considera que su sistema de oleoductos de Mid-Continent y su cartera logística más amplia la posicionan para adaptarse o beneficiarse de los cambios en la cadena de suministro.

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Comentarios de la dirección

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Desiree, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Sunoco and SunocoCorp Q3 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the call over to Scott Grischow, Senior Vice President of Finance. Please go ahead.

Scott Grischow

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. On the call with me this morning are Joe Kim, President and Chief Executive Officer; Karl Fails, Chief Operating Officer; Austin Harkness, Chief Commercial Officer; Brian Hand, Chief Sales Officer; and Dylan Bramhall, Chief Financial Officer.

Today's call will contain forward-looking statements that include expectations and assumptions regarding Sunoco LP's future operations and financial performance. Actual results could differ materially, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements based on subsequent events. Please refer to our earnings release as well as our filings with the SEC for a list of these factors.

During today's call, we will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow as adjusted. Please refer to the Sunoco LP website for a reconciliation of each financial measure.

The partnership continued its strong performance in 2026, with a record third quarter adjusted EBITDA of $1.06 billion, excluding approximately $11 million of onetime transaction expenses. Third quarter distributable cash flow as adjusted was $588 million. On October 22, we announced a distribution of approximately [ $1.015 ] for both Sunoco LP common units and SunocoCorp shares. This represents a quarterly increase of 1.25% from the prior quarter, over 10% versus the third quarter of 2025.

Our business continues to generate strong cash flow, resulting in a trailing 12-month coverage ratio of 2.1x. Our balance sheet and liquidity position remains strong. We had $2.3 billion in availability under our revolving credit facility at the end of the quarter, and leverage was approximately 3.5x, well below our long-term target. Finally, we spent $121 million on growth capital and $116 million on maintenance capital.

I want to wrap up my comments by stating that our execution in 2026 has put us in an outstanding financial position. In less than 1 year since closing on the Parkland acquisition, we have already delivered double-digit growth to DCF per common unit, while also getting our balance sheet below our long-term leverage target of 4x. Investors have benefited from this execution through year-over-year distribution growth of over 10%. Finally, we have continued to execute on growth opportunities, including the acquisition of Offen Petroleum for $600 million, which we closed last week.

In summary, we expect our financial position will continue to strengthen, which will provide us with continued flexibility to pursue high-return growth opportunities, while maintaining a healthy balance sheet in a secure and growing distribution for our unitholders.

With that, I will turn it over to Karl to walk through some additional thoughts on our third quarter performance.

Karl Fails

Thanks, Scott. Good morning, everyone. As Scott outlined, we delivered record financial results in the third quarter. Our teams continue to optimize gross profit across fuel distribution, operate our midstream assets reliably and capture a favorable market environment at the Burnaby Refinery.

Let me walk through the performance of each segment. Starting with our Fuel Distribution segment. Adjusted EBITDA was $532 million, excluding $9 million of transaction expenses. This compares with $516 million last quarter and $238 million in the third quarter of 2025, both excluding transaction expenses. We distributed approximately 4.2 billion gallons during the quarter, and fuel margin was $0.168 per gallon. Volume was up slightly and margin was down slightly from last quarter.

While industry demand indicators were mixed and varied by geography, the volatility in the market continued to provide opportunities for gross profit optimization, especially for a system with our scale. Volatility remained elevated, particularly in diesel, reflecting tight distillate inventories, global supply disruptions, refinery outages and fall maintenance activity. Our scale, supply optionality and commercial capabilities allowed us to respond to those market conditions.

When you step back, our model continues to deliver on what it is designed to do. We do not manage the business for an individual quarterly volume or margin outcome. Instead, we manage for total fuel profit, EBITDA and returns on deployed capital. The third quarter result demonstrates the value of applying that approach across a much larger geography. And more importantly, that geography continues to expand.

As Scott shared earlier, we closed on the acquisition of Offen Petroleum last week, often adds approximately 2.5 billion gallons of annual fuel distribution volume and strengthens our presence in the Midwest and Mountain West regions. The Offen business is a great fit with our existing portfolio. Its geographic footprint complements our network, while its logistics capabilities and market density create opportunities to improve supply, transportation and growth in both our branded and unbranded businesses. We look forward to the integration process and welcome the new team members to Sunoco.

In our Pipeline Systems segment, adjusted EBITDA was $166 million compared with $190 million last quarter and $182 million in the third quarter of 2025. Throughput was approximately 1.3 million barrels per day, essentially flat with last quarter and the third quarter of 2025. Sequential reductions were related to lower contributions from our joint ventures and some FERC clawbacks we received in the first half of the year that did not repeat in the second half. However, the underlying characteristics of the segment remained consistent. The segment consists of critical infrastructure assets generating stable income, with targeted opportunities to grow volumes, improve utilization and generate attractive returns from relatively modest capital investments.

Moving on to our Terminal segment. Adjusted EBITDA was $124 million, excluding $2 million of transaction expenses, compared with $115 million last quarter and $76 million in the third quarter of 2025, both excluding transaction expenses. Throughput was approximately 1 million barrels per day, in line with last quarter. Overall results were supported by a strong quarter in our transmix processing business as well as the continued contribution of our larger European network. This is another segment where the operating story is straightforward. The assets continue to generate stable results, and the expanded system gives us additional opportunities to increase utilization, support fuel distribution and deploy growth capital where we have attractive customer-backed returns.

Turning to our Refinery segment. Adjusted EBITDA was $238 million compared with $175 million last quarter. The Burnaby Refinery throughput averaged 57,000 barrels per day during the quarter, slightly up from the second quarter. Refining margin topped $54 per barrel and expenses were below $10 per barrel for the second quarter in a row. The market environment clearly remained favorable, but the financial result also reflects strong execution by the team.

Our priorities at Burnaby remain safe and reliable operations, disciplined expense management and positioning the facility to capture available market opportunities. We understand that refining margins will move over time. Our job is to manage what we can control and operate the facility with a long-term mindset.

Before I wrap up, I want to share a few final thoughts. This was an outstanding quarter, but it is really a continuation of the same operating focus that we delivered quarter after quarter, year after year. We grow and integrate. We operate our assets reliably and efficiently. We fully capture market opportunities all through disciplined execution of our strategy.

I will now turn it over to Joe to share his final thoughts. Joe?

Joseph Kim

Thanks, Karl. Good morning, everyone. We had an outstanding third quarter. Although 2026 is not quite over, I want to share some perspective on this year as a whole. 2026 will be another record year for Sunoco. With 3 quarters completed and visibility into the fourth quarter, we're highly confident that we will surpass the top end of our guidance. This will be our eighth consecutive year of EBITDA growth.

Obviously, the Parkland acquisition is a big part of our recent success. We have already delivered approximately a 25% growth in DCF per common unit in less than 1 year of ownership. In addition, our pre-Parkland businesses are performing at a high level. Our portfolio has become more diversified with greater scale and geographic reach. Combining this enhanced portfolio with our proven business model, we're able to succeed in various commodity environments.

2026 is a good example of our ability to deliver outstanding results in a higher priced volatile market. Looking further into the future, we believe volatility will persist. Agnostic of the direction of prices, we're confident that we'll deliver strong results in various scenarios.

Let me wrap up with some final thoughts. We've had material accretive growth over the last 5 years, and we expect this to continue. Earlier this year, we provided a multiyear guidance of at least $500 million a year of bolt-on acquisitions. We exceeded this amount in 2026 and we expect this to be a modest bar in 2027 and beyond. In addition, we'll continue to deploy attractive organic growth capital. Bottom line, when you combine our portfolio of stable income streams with acquisitions and investments that are delivering on expected economics, our cash flow will continue to grow. We're in a strong position to continue to increase distributions while executing on accretive growth and maintaining a strong balance sheet.

Operator, that concludes our prepared remarks. You may open the line for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Spiro Dounis with Citi.

Preguntas y respuestas

Charles Douglas Bryant

This is Chad on for Spiro. Just starting off on guidance. You're now trending over the [ 26 ] guidance range. Could you just provide kind of your latest thoughts on how the fourth quarter is shaping up versus your record third quarter results? And maybe any outlook into '27?

Joseph Kim

Chad, this is Joe. I think the first takeaway is that 2026 is going to be another outstanding year for Sunoco. Obviously, the refinery has performed very well this year. But even if we had more cracks that were closer to the mid-cycle levels for this year, we will still surpass the guidance that we gave back in January. I think the key point is that all 4 business segments are performing very well, and we've delivered on our very high expectations on the Parkland acquisition as well as other smaller acquisitions. But I think the most important takeaway is that 2026 is not an outlier. But instead, we're going to continue to grow our business. We are very well positioned for 2027 to be another record year, even if refining cracks are closer to the mid-cycle levels.

Charles Douglas Bryant

Perfect. And just following up on fuel demand. I guess kind of in this elevated crude price volatile environment, what are you seeing with respect to the impact on fuel demand and margins as a result going forward?

Austin Harkness

Yes. Chad, this is Austin. Happy to walk you through kind of some of the themes that we're seeing across the portfolio. If you start domestically, demand in the U.S. has been remarkably resilient despite all the fuel price volatility that we've seen recently. So if you look at EIA data, the monthly data shows that diesel is roughly flat on a year-over-year basis, with gasoline demand being off low single digits year-over-year. And then all this is against a backdrop of healthy margins, despite the fact that we've had all this flat price volatility and haven't yet hit the part of the volatility curve where prices durably come off and margins widen. So we feel really good about kind of where the U.S. business is for the segment and kind of the outlook there.

If you move to Canada, -- just as a reminder, in point of reference, flat price volatility has actually been amplified in Canada relative to what we've seen in the U.S. So as an example, diesel recently touched $7 a gallon, USD equivalent there. And so some of the themes that we had touched on last quarter around demand starting to soften continue into Q3. So diesel and gasoline demand is off low to mid-single digits. But as a reminder, that's -- it's a very strong margin environment. We've seen strong margins and durable margins likely, in large part, owed to the flat price volatility that we're seeing there.

And then lastly, in the Caribbean, that continues to be its own kind of animal. We've got 20-plus markets that we operate in, each with their own demand and margin profiles. What I would just say there is, in general, the theme is, the Caribbean has been a growth engine for us. It will continue to be a growth engine for us, and we expect that to be both on healthy volume growth and margin expansion.

So all that said, if you followed our story, you all know that demand softens from here. That paints a pretty bullish picture for what the margin environment looks like. And then also, as Joe mentioned in his opening remarks, we've built this portfolio in this segment to perform in a range of economic scenarios. And so we feel really well positioned to grow the segment from an EBITDA and fuel profit standpoint durably into the future.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Gabe Moreen with Mizuho.

Gabriel Moreen

$500 million, I guess, is a pretty easily -- easy bogey to clear at this point. But often nonetheless, it was a pretty big transaction for you. Can you just talk about is that asset as a fuel distributor versus others and what it may give you? And then also, any chance of another acquisition announcement 2 days after earnings like you did with Offen?

Karl Fails

Well, thanks, Gabe. This is Karl. Clearly, we're excited about Offen. And in many ways, Offen is just a continuation of our roll-up strategy, but clearly, it's on a much larger scale. So one of the pillars of our overall fuel distribution strategy is that scale matters. And that is not just from an aggregate basis, but also on a more regional view.

So Offen gives us scale in areas of the U.S. that we haven't necessarily had scale before. So that really leads into the next benefit, which is supply optionality. So that larger scale in the Midwest, Mountain West region really integrates well into our footprint in Canada, in the South, Southwest and a little bit further east. So it provides a lot of options for us to supply and integrate those markets into our much broader network.

And then I think the last thing I'd mention is people. With Offen, we picked up a couple of really good leaders that are going to help us on our much larger portfolio, and we're excited to have him join the team.

Gabriel Moreen

Great. And then maybe if I can just ask in terms of going back to the guidance for the year and the bump and I guess not giving kind of specific range for where you might wind up for 2026. But just within the larger context of thinking about giving guidance going forward, I predict it was [ Burnaby ] and the volatility in the backdrop here. Just can you talk about how you're thinking about that in terms of laying out specific parameters for the market and what you want your -- you obviously want to show a ratable growth rate, I think, with the underlying business, and how you would kind of go about communicating that?

Joseph Kim

Yes, Gabe. This is Joe. As far as guidance, we'll follow the same kind of rhythm that we've done in the past. We'll provide guidance in early January of next year. But here's -- I'll kind of reiterate what I said earlier. I want to reemphasize that [ 26 ] is not an outlier for us. Yes, cracks were really great this year. At the same time, the point is that even if we assume a mid-cycle type level, we're going to see SUN grow in 2027, and you should expect SUN to grow in 2028.

And that's why we gave that guidance earlier this year that we think that we can do bolt-on acquisitions of at least $500 million. This year, we should end up roughly about $1.5 billion in bolt-on acquisition. And if you add in our organic growth capital, we're well over $2 billion. And I said it in the prepared remarks, I think $500 million of your bolt-on acquisitions, a modest bar. As we kind of look at all the different geographies we're in, we look at the different sectors we're in and we see what's kind of coming to the market, what's not on the market, what those opportunities are, we feel really good about our growth. And that's all with the foundation that all of our businesses are performing very well.

Operator

Next question comes from the line of Theresa Chen with Barclays.

Theresa Chen

Given the recent M&A activity across refining and the strength in margins, how are you thinking about the strategic value and long-term fit of Burnaby within your portfolio? Is there a valuation at which you would consider monetizing the asset?

Joseph Kim

Theresa, this is Joe. Here's the way that we look at -- look at the Burnaby Refinery. So I've talked to a lot of you many times. We've -- our strategic intent was never to say that we're going to go buy a refinery and put into the portfolio. But the Parkland acquisition, as I said, we're already 25% DCF growth within a year. So that worked out tremendously for us.

The way that I think you should look at our business is that if you look at our other 3 sectors, Fuel Distribution, our Pipeline and our Terminals segment, they're stable and growing. And the way that I would look at the Burnaby Refinery is kind of an asymmetrical upside for us, where whenever cracks blow out, we're going to -- we're going to take that to the bottom line. But even if it goes back to a mid-cycle or slightly below mid-cycle level, we're going to continue to grow our overall business. So that's the way we're looking at it.

As far as opportunistically, are we trying to grow the refining sector? And the answer is no. It's one scenario that I would say that we would look at is if there was an identical type of match to Parkland that came with a fantastic business that also happens to have a refinery, yes, we'll take a look at that. But as far as on a stand-alone segment basis, we like the position we're in, where we have 3 segments that are stable and growing and we have the smaller segment that gives us asymmetrical upside in various environments.

Theresa Chen

And I want to go back to Austin's comment about demand elasticity, taking into account your comment about not hitting the part of the volatility curve that would impact demand and margins at this point. But it does feel that the market has been testing that threshold for some time. Where do you see that inflection point today?

Austin Harkness

Theresa, it's a good question. I think it's one that's on a lot of our minds. But frankly, it's not one that we spend a lot of time thinking about because our guess is likely going to be wrong. I think what we have seen is there's a couple of different themes that we can talk to. One is when there's spot price volatility, the degree and direction which is going to impact demand is really a question of how high this price going for how long, right? And so to your point, I think we've seen extended periods of pretty significant volatility, but demand has been holding up. As to when it gets -- demand gets impacted, I think, is anyone's guess.

What I would say is we've built a portfolio -- just going back to my earlier comments and Joe's opening remarks, we built the portfolio to perform in a range of economic conditions. And I think given our scale, the supply chain optionality, the logistics capabilities that Karl referenced earlier, we feel really well positioned regardless of what the macroeconomic future kind of holds, that we're going to be well positioned to grow the segment's EBITDA well into the future.

Operator

Next question comes from the line of [ Vrathan Reddy ] with JPMorgan.

Unknown Analyst

I wanted to start on the Fuel Distribution segment and maybe if you guys could just speak to strengthen margins there, your outlook and the synergies you still have left to capture in that segment?

Austin Harkness

Yes, this is Austin. Just going back to kind of some of the earlier comments that have been shared, I think we feel really good about where margins are right now. I think for those that are maybe newer to the story, we don't really solve for margin or volume independently. It's more a story around fuel profit and optimizing for EBITDA growth on a year-over-year basis.

There's always going to be some quarter-to-quarter volatility, but as mentioned earlier, and then I think implied relative to Theresa's question a moment ago, we feel really good about where margins are right now given where flat price volatility has been, and the fact that we haven't yet come -- prices haven't durably come off, which is where we tend to see the most margin expansion.

Unknown Analyst

And then in Pipeline, is there anything that we should note this quarter, a little softer versus expectations beyond seasonality?

Unknown Executive

Yes. I mean, I mentioned a couple of things in my prepared remarks. I don't know that there's a lot more color to add, other than -- just like in most of our segments, we look at it on a rolling 12-month sort of basis. So there's always quarter-to-quarter fluctuations, whether it's certain contracts or certain pricing or certain kind of timing variations. But overall, we're really happy with our Pipeline business. And as Joe mentioned earlier, I think both of our midstream segments, Terminals and Pipelines, provide a lot of stability in our portfolio.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And our final question comes from the line of Ned Baramov with Wells Fargo.

Ned Baramov

Could the planned pipeline, which is linking the Midwest, Mid-Con and Gulf Coast refinery supply to Arizona, Nevada and California, together with the recently completed refined products pipeline expansion into Denver and the Denver Airport, could this tighten product balances in the Mid-Con and potentially increase demand for northbound shipments from the Gulf Coast? And if yes, do -- is there a role for Sunoco to play in this rerouting of flows?

Unknown Executive

Yes, Ned. I mean the short answer is yes. I mean, there are obviously a lot of hypotheticals in what you've laid out. I know they're -- there are other pipeline companies that have announced projects that could impact the product flows in the middle part of the U.S.

I'd say here's -- our view is if those projects are built and product flows change, we've experienced that a lot in our history, and we are well positioned, particularly in the Mid-Continent, we have our pipeline system that kind of flows north in the Mid-Continent. But I'd extend that to the broader kind of point that Joe made earlier, given our portfolio, I mean, we've intentionally put together the portfolio we have to be able to withstand and take advantage of lots of different product shifts or supply chain shifts, whether they're a tailwind like the hypothetical that you gave us could be. Or even if they are a headwind, we can find some other way in other parts of our business to continue to grow year after year.

Ned Baramov

Understood. And then a quick housekeeping item on operating expenses in the Fuel Distribution segment, it seems OpEx was well below our forecast. Can you maybe just talk about drivers behind the lower number? And how sustainable this is going forward?

Scott Grischow

Ned, this is Scott. I'd offer a couple of comments there. I think, one, being a low-cost operator has always been a focus for us. And the decline you saw in Q3 is another example of that.

Second, the Parkland integration efforts continue, and that also contributed to the sequential decline. I think moving forward, there may be some ups and downs sequentially, but looking forward to 2027, we expect an overall decline relative to '26.

Operator

That concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Scott Grischow for closing remarks.

Scott Grischow

Well, thank you for joining us on the call today, and we appreciate the continued interest in Sunoco. Please feel free to reach out if you have any follow-up questions. This concludes today's call.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.