MPLX 2026년 3분기 실적 발표 콜: EBITDA 5% 증가, 배당금 12.5% 인상

핵심 요약

• MPLX는 2026년 3분기 조정 EBITDA가 전년 동기 대비 5% 증가한 19억 달러를 기록했다고 발표했습니다. 2025년 말 로키 산맥 자산 매각을 제외하면 조정 EBITDA는 7.3% 증가했습니다.
• 파트너십은 3년 연속으로 분기별 분배금을 12.5% 인상하여 연간 환산 분배금을 유닛당 4.84달러로 늘렸습니다. 해당 분기 동안 유닛 보유자에게 약 11억 달러가 환원되었습니다.
• MPLX는 마라톤 페트롤리엄(Marathon Petroleum)의 세인트폴 파크 및 먼단 정제소를 지원하는 미드스트림 자산을 7억 5,000만 달러에 매각한다고 발표했습니다. 해당 거래는 약 9배의 조정 EBITDA 배수에 해당합니다.
• 집적 및 처리 물량은 각각 14%와 5% 증가했습니다. 마셀러스 및 유티카 분지의 견조한 활동에 힘입어 미 북동부 지역의 처리 설비 가동률은 93%에 달했습니다.
• MPLX의 2026년 자체 성장 자본 투자 프로그램 29억 달러 중 90% 이상이 천연가스 및 NGL 인프라에 할당되었습니다.
• 경영진은 지속 가능한 4~6%대의 조정 EBITDA 성장을 계속 목표로 하고 있으며, 자산 매각과 관련된 역풍에도 불구하고 2027년 조정 EBITDA 성장이 2026년보다 강할 것으로 예상합니다.

주요 재무 데이터

사업 및 영업 실적

원유 및 제품 물류 부문의 조정 EBITDA는 2025년 3분기 대비 6,700만 달러 증가했습니다. 높은 요율과 부탄 블렌딩 증가가 영업비용 증가분을 상당 부분 상쇄했습니다. 터미널 처리량은 주로 수출 물량 증가에 힘입어 6% 늘어났습니다.

천연가스 및 NGL 서비스 부문의 조정 EBITDA는 2,600만 달러 증가했습니다. 유티카, 마셀러스, 퍼미안 분지 전반에 걸친 생산 업체의 활발한 활동에 힘입어 집적 물량은 14% 증가했습니다. 유티카 지역의 생산량 증가와 마셀러스 및 퍼미안 지역의 신규 설비 가동에 따라 처리 물량은 5% 늘어났습니다.

유티카 지역의 집적 및 처리 물량은 각각 19%와 20% 증가했습니다. 유티카 지역의 처리 가동률은 2분기 73%에서 3분기 89%로 상승했으며, 광범위한 미 북동부 처리 시스템 전체는 93%의 가동률을 기록했습니다.

하몬 크릭 III는 일산 3억 입방피트의 가스 처리 능력과 일산 4만 배럴의 탈에탄화 능력을 갖추고 가동을 시작했습니다. 이에 따라 MPLX의 북동부 처리 능력은 일산 81억 입방피트로, 분류 능력은 일산 80만 배럴로 확대되었습니다.

퍼미안 분지에서는 타이탄 시설의 산성 가스 처리 물량이 일평균 1억 5,000만 입방피트를 넘었습니다. MPLX는 연말까지 해당 단지의 처리 능력을 일산 4억 입방피트 이상으로 확장하고 있으며, 타이탄 II는 2027년 중 가동률을 본격적으로 올려갈 것으로 예상됩니다.

MPLX와 파트너사들은 솔리튜드 파이프라인 시스템에 대해 최종 투자 결정(FID)에 도달했습니다. 이 프로젝트는 퍼미안 천연가스의 외부 수송 능력을 일산 45억 입방피트 추가 제공하도록 설계되었으며, 2029년 말에 상업 가동될 예정입니다. 이를 통해 MPLX가 소유한 퍼미안 장거리 파이프라인 수송 용량 지분은 일산 110억 입방피트에서 약 160억 입방피트로 늘어납니다.

경영진 가이던스

경영진은 최근 완공된 프로젝트들의 가동률 상승이 계속됨에 따라 2026년 4분기 조정 EBITDA가 3분기 대비 증가할 것으로 예상합니다. 시크리터리 원, 하몬 크릭 III, 유티카 지역의 가동률 상승, 블랙콤의 상업 가동 개시 등이 실적 성장에 기여할 요인입니다.

베이 러너 파이프라인은 4분기에 상업 가동에 들어가 2027년까지 수송 물량이 점차 확대될 것으로 보입니다. 방고 파이프라인 확장공사 역시 4분기로 예정되어 있으며, 이를 통해 NGL 외부 수송 능력이 일산 25만 배럴에서 30만 배럴로 늘어날 예정입니다.

경영진은 세인트폴 파크 및 먼단 미드스트림 자산 매각에 따른 EBITDA 감소를 감안하더라도, 포트폴리오 전체가 2027년에 2026년보다 강한 조정 EBITDA 성장을 달성할 것으로 예상합니다. MPLX는 계속해서 4~6%대의 조정 EBITDA 성장과 약 1.3배의 연간 분배금 커버리지 비율을 목표로 하고 있습니다.

회사는 2027년에 분배 가능 현금 흐름 성장을 상회하는 상당한 수준의 분배금 인상을 예상하지만, 자산 매각으로 인해 또 한 번의 12.5% 인상이 영향을 받을 수 있음을 경영진은 인정했습니다.

MPLX의 첫 일산 15만 배럴 규모 멕시코만 연안 분류 시설, 관련 순수 파이프라인, 일산 40만 배럴 규모의 합작 LPG 수출 시설은 여전히 2028년 상반기 준공 예정입니다. 두 번째 일산 15만 배럴 규모의 분류 시설은 2029년으로 예정되어 있습니다.

경영진은 주요 자체 프로젝트 투자 지출이 앞당겨짐에 따라 2027년 자본 지출이 2026년보다 감소할 가능성이 높다고 언급했습니다. 장기적으로는 MPLX의 사업 기반 확장에 따라 필요한 투자가 늘어날 수 있으며, 연간 지출이 선형적인 패턴을 보이지 않을 수 있습니다.

리스크 및 주요 관전 포인트

• 7억 5,000만 달러 규모의 자산 매각은 이전 운영 목표 수립 당시 반영되지 않았던 2027년 EBITDA의 역풍 요소로 작용합니다.
• 높아진 성과 보상 비용은 연초 대비 누적 조정 EBITDA 성장률을 약 1%포인트 낮췄습니다. 경영진은 성과 지표에 따라 보상 비용이 향후 역풍 또는 순풍으로 작용할 수 있다고 설명했습니다.
• 경영진은 자산 매각으로 인해 2027년에 12.5%의 분배금 인상을 재현할 수 있는 파트너십의 역량이 제한될 수 있음을 인정했습니다.
• 애널리스트들은 2030년까지 퍼미안 지역 파이프라인 수송용량이 과잉될 수 있다는 우려를 제기했습니다. 경영진은 화주들과의 계약 이행 확약과 LNG, 발전, 데이터 센터 등으로부터의 수요를 지적하는 한편, 지속적인 자본 규율 유지를 강조했습니다.
• 애팔래치아 지역의 고객사 간 통합은 향후 상업 협상에 영향을 미칠 수 있습니다. MPLX는 자사의 계약이 견고한 장기 약정 및 광구 전속 지정을 포함하고 있어 EQT와 렌지(Range)의 합병이 부정적인 영향을 미치지 않을 것으로 예상한다고 밝혔습니다.

애널리스트 Q&A 하이라이트

경영진은 타이탄 II가 2026년 말까지 완공되고, 2027년 중 타이탄 단지의 일산 4억 입방피트 이상 용량을 향해 가동률을 올려갈 것으로 예상된다고 밝혔습니다. 타이탄 I은 이미 일산 1억 5,000만 입방피트 이상을 처리하고 있습니다.

자본 재배치에 대해 MPLX는 자산 매각 대금이 재무구조를 강화하고 자체 투자와 인수합병 모두에 유연성을 제공한다고 설명했습니다. 잠재적 거래는 우두에서 해상까지 연결되는 통합 전략을 지원하고, 퍼미안, 마셀러스, 유티카의 우선순위에 부합해야 하며, 15% 안팎의 수익률 기준을 충족해야 한다고 밝혔습니다.

경영진은 마라톤 페트롤리엄과의 관계가 전략적으로 중요하며 양사 모두 계약을 갱신할 의향이 있다고 밝혔습니다. MPLX는 통상 만료 12~18개월 전부터 재계약 검토를 시작합니다.

유닛 매입은 안전하고 신뢰할 수 있는 영업, 분배금 성장, 성장 자본 투자 다음으로 MPLX의 자본 배치 프레임워크에서 가장 후순위로 남아 있습니다. 경영진은 분배금 커버리지를 유의미하게 개선하려면 대규모 지출이 필요하기 때문에 현재 그러한 목적의 매입은 고려하고 있지 않다고 말했습니다.

북동부 지역에서 MPLX는 파이프라인 우회 증설, 압축 설비 추가, 공정 병목 현상 해소를 계획하고 있습니다. 경영진은 가동률이 90%대 초중반에 도달할 때 엔지니어링 작업을 시작하고 자본을 투입하기 전에 광구 전속 지정과 향후 물량에 대한 가시성을 확보하는 적시 투자 모델을 따른다고 밝혔습니다.

실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 전문

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

Welcome to the MPLX Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. My name is Julie, and I will be your operator for today's call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded.

I will now turn the call over to Brian Worthington. Brian, you may begin.

Brian Worthington

Welcome to MPLX's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. The slides that accompany this call can be found on our website at mplx.com under the Investors tab. Joining me on the call today are Maryann Mannen, President and CEO; Kris Hagedorn, CFO; and other members of the executive team. We invite you to read the safe harbor statements on Slide 2. We will be making forward-looking statements today. Actual results may differ. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are included here as well as in our filings with the SEC.

With that, I will turn the call over to Maryann.

Maryann Mannen

Thanks, Brian. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. Effective November 1, 2 new independent directors joined the MPLX Board, Michael Dunn and Bruce Niemeyer have strong records of accomplishment in the energy industry, making them outstanding additions, and we're happy to have them join our Board. Delivering on our commitments to return capital, MPLX increased its quarterly distribution by 12.5% for the third consecutive year. The increase is supported by our multiyear track record of delivering mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth and growth projects coming online over the next several years.

Additionally, this increase reflects conviction in the durability of our cash flows and execution of our strategy. MPLX's distribution now equates to an annualized rate of $4.84 per unit. And as also announced this morning, in conjunction with Marathon Petroleum sale of the St. Paul Park and Mandan refineries, MPLX announced the divestiture of midstream assets supporting these refineries for $750 million, representing an EBITDA multiple of approximately 9x. Ensuring the competitive positioning of our portfolio is a strategic commitment, and we expect to redeploy proceeds from the sale to advance MPLX growth plans are in the Permian and Marcellus basins.

In the third quarter, MPLX delivered adjusted EBITDA of $1.9 billion, reflecting 5% growth versus the same period in 2025 -- excluding the impact of the Rockies divestiture in late 2025, MPLX adjusted EBITDA would have grown 7.3% year-over-year for the third quarter. Strong execution across our business and continued progress on the growth strategies across our integrated natural gas and NGL value chains enabled a return of approximately $1.1 billion to our unitholders. During the quarter, the Harmon Creek III complex began operations with 300 million cubic feet per day of gas processing and 40,000 barrels per day of de-ethanization capacity, increasing our Northeast to 8.1 billion cubic feet per day and fractionation capacity to 800,000 barrels a day.

As we continue placing high-return projects into service and increasing utilization across our system, MPLX remains positioned to deliver durable mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth. Natural gas and NGL fundamentals are robust, creating compelling opportunities to support increasing domestic and global demand for U.S. energy. Growing producer activity increasing demand for natural gas-fired power generation and expanding access to global markets support continued investment across our integrated value chains. Our disciplined capital allocation framework remains unchanged. Investments must provide strategic fit, durable demand and attractive risk-adjusted returns.

In the third quarter, MPLX and its joint venture partners announced the FID of the Solitude pipeline system, which, when completed, will provide an additional 4.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas egress from the Permian Basin. Solitude was 1 of the fastest projects to reach FID in the company's history with strong long-term contracts from shippers bringing the project from commercial to FID in under 90 days supporting our view of long-term production growth in the Permian Basin. Solitude increases MPLX's interest in Permian natural gas long-haul pipeline capacity from 11 billion cubic feet per day to approximately 16 billion cubic feet per day and is expected in service in late 2029.

MPLX is investing over 90% of its $2.9 billion organic growth capital program for 2026 toward natural gas and NGL infrastructure opportunities. Our growth towards the end of the year is supported by this capital investment and efforts to optimize operations. Secretary at One and Harmon Creek II have been increasing throughputs since being placed into service. We see opportunities to further increase processing utilization in the Marcellus Basin and in the Utica, where utilization rose from 73% in the second quarter to 89% in the third quarter. We also anticipate ramping additional sour gas throughput on our Titan 1 plant, which is running at over 150 million cubic feet per day. In addition to these efforts, we are advancing several projects that support our integrated value chain into 2027. The Bay runner pipeline is expected to be placed into service in the fourth quarter, providing additional access to LNG export infrastructure along the Gulf Coast.

We expect volumes to ramp through 2027 to support the end users commissioning and scaling demand. Additionally, the Bango pipeline expansion is expected to come online in the fourth quarter, increasing capacity from 250,000 barrels per day to 300,000 barrels per day and providing additional NGL takeaway capacity from the Permian Basin. The Blackcomb natural gas pipeline began commissioning activities in July. The JV partners continue to progress the pipeline as planned, and Blackcomb is expected to achieve full commercial service in the fourth quarter. In the Delaware Basin, construction is progressing to expand sour gas treating capacity at the Titan complex to over 400 million cubic feet per day expected by year-end. New pipeline connectivity was placed into service between our Titan sour gas complex and our Delaware Basin processing footprint, further enhancing our ability to optimize volumes across our integrated Permian system.

We expect these growth platforms to position MPLX for strong adjusted EBITDA growth in 2027. Our Gulf Coast fractionation and export facilities continue to progress on schedule and on budget. We expect the first 150,000 barrel per day fractionator associated purity pipeline and our 400,000 barrel per day joint venture LPG export facility to enter service in the first half of 2028. Furthermore, the second 150,000 barrel per day fractionator remains scheduled to begin operations in 2029. Through these investments, MPLX continues to strengthen its integrated wellhead-to-water strategy while positioning the partnership to generate durable cash flow growth.

Let me turn the call over to Kris to discuss our operational and financial results for the quarter.

Carl Hagedorn

Thanks, Maryann. Slide 8 outlines third quarter operational and financial performance highlights for our crude oil and Products Logistics segment. Segment adjusted EBITDA increased $67 million when compared to the third quarter of 2025. The increase was primarily driven by higher rates across the business units and increased butane blending partially offset by higher operating expenses, including incentive compensation.

Terminal throughput increased 6% year-over-year, primarily driven by higher export volumes. Moving on to Slide 9. Segment adjusted EBITDA and our natural gas and NGL Services segment increased $26 million compared to the third quarter of 2025. The increase was driven by higher volumes, including growth from acquisitions, partially offset by the divestiture of noncore gathering and processing assets in 2025 and higher operating expenses, including incentive compensation. Excluding the impacts of the Rockies divestiture, our natural gas and NGL Services segment adjusted EBITDA has grown 10% year-over-year for the third quarter. Gathering volumes increased 14% year-over-year, driven by strong producer activity across the Utica, Marcellus and Permian Basins. Processing volumes were up 5% year-over-year due to increased production in the Utica and additional processing capacity entering service in the Marcellus and Permian Basins.

Utica gathering and processing volumes rose 19% and 20% year-over-year and remain an area where we anticipate strong producer activity. Our Northeast processing system operated at an impressive 93% utilization in the third quarter, demonstrating the strength of producer activity in the Marcellus and Utica. In the Permian, increased utilization at Secretary One and growing demand, moving through Bango further demonstrates the value of our integrated value chain strategy.

Sour gas treating volumes averaged over 150 million cubic feet per day during the quarter as we continue progressing towards over 400 million cubic feet per day to capacity at Titan by year-end. As additional projects enter service, we remain well positioned to support growing producer activity. The quarter included $77 million of expense associated with incentive compensation, $37 million higher than the third quarter of 2025. Year-to-date, these expenses totaled $167 million, which is $48 million higher than the same time frame last year, impacting our adjusted EBITDA growth by approximately 1% for the year. The increase was driven by charges to the partnership for annual bonus and long-term incentive compensation programs. The programs are a combination of financial and other metrics that include performance relative to peers and linked to its strategic partner, Marathon Petroleum.

Looking ahead, MPLX remains positioned to deliver second half weighted adjusted EBITDA growth in 2026, underpinned by investment ramp investments that are ramping through the balance of the year. While we expect these investments to generate modest cash flow in 2026, we are well positioned to accelerate cash flow growth throughout 2027.

Lastly, we do not expect the sale of the midstream assets associated with the St. Paul Park and Mandan refineries to impact our ability to deliver mid-single-digit growth.

Now let me hand it back to Maryann for some concluding thoughts.

Maryann Mannen

Thanks, Kris. MPLX is executing its strategy with consistency and discipline. Our priorities remain unchanged, operate safely and reliably, grow through high-return investments optimize integrated value chains and returning capital to unitholders. The durability of our cash flows enabled us to increase our quarterly distribution by 12.5% for the third consecutive year. This increase marks the fifth consecutive year of double-digit increases resulting in annualized base distribution growth of greater than 70% over the past 5 years. The divestiture announced today currently presents a headwind to 2027 that was not initially contemplated when other operational metrics were established. We still believe we can deliver mid-single-digit EBITDA growth and are comfortable with annual distribution coverage of 1.3x.

We acknowledge that another year of 12.5% distribution growth may be impacted by the loss of this EBITDA, and we still expect a significant distribution increase in 2027 greater than distributable cash flow growth. In addition to the strong set of organic projects we are developing, we continue with evaluating inorganic opportunities. Our announced divestiture provides an additional $750 million for growth and we remain committed to deploying capital to opportunities that are strategic and deliver strong returns underpinned by the optimization of our value chains and increasing utilization across recently completed investments, MPLX remains on track to deliver durable mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth and we expect even greater EBITDA growth in 2027. Our strategic investments, financial flexibility and strong relationship with MPC continue to differentiate MPLX and support long-term value creation.

Now let me turn the call over to Brian.

Brian Worthington

Thanks, Maryann. As we open the call for your questions, as a courtesy to all participants, we ask that you limit yourself to 1 question and a follow-up. If time permits, we will reprompt for additional questions. We will now open the call to questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from John Mackay with Goldman Sachs.

질의응답

John Mackay

Maryann, maybe I'll pick up on kind of the end of your closing remarks there. You guys have been talking a lot about confidence in the second half over first half EBITDA ramp -- maybe just a little more color you can share there and kind of specifically whether you'd expect the Titan expansion to contribute in the fourth quarter?

And then any -- not to ask for too much, but kind of any incremental color you want to give on '27 over '26. I know you sound constructive on it, but maybe any incremental detail, we'd appreciate it.

Maryann Mannen

Thanks for the questions. So let me take the first part, which is the ramp first half to the second half. We have been indicating for the last several quarters that the back half of our year, second half of 2026, -- we expected that growth to be stronger than the first half of the year given the timing of project completions, et cetera. And we remain confident, frankly, in the fact that the fourth quarter we'll see incremental growth over the third.

Let me talk a little bit about why we see that, and then I'll talk about 27 for a bit. As I mentioned even in my prepared remarks, we've got Secretary at 1 continuing to ramp Harmon Creek III that came online in the middle of the year just in the third quarter. It continues to ramp into the fourth quarter as well. We're also seeing opportunity to increase Utica processing utilization. I think I mentioned in my prepared remarks, it rose from 73% in the second quarter to 89% in the third, and we still see opportunity there. Ramping on additional sour gas through our Titan 1 plant. I think the question you asked is whether or not TITAN I would see any incremental volumes? And the answer is no. We expect TITAN 2 to complete at the end of this year, and it will begin its ramp to 400 in 2027.

But certainly, Titan 1 operating well -- as a matter of fact, Greg, Kris and I had the opportunity to visit the Titan facility just a few weeks ago and experience, really, the progress on that asset as well, quite pleased with where we stand and confident in the team's ability to get that TITAN 2 completed by the end of the year.

Then we've got Black home pipeline that began its commissioning in July and that's expected to achieve full commercial service in the fourth quarter as well and then bang, the NGL pipeline, $300 to $400 million in the fourth quarter. So again, we feel pretty confident about that.

And then for 2027, even with the loss of the EBIT from the assets associated with MPC sale, we still expect 2027 EBITDA growth to be stronger than 2026 as many of the projects that we were talking about begin to come into service again. The 1 thing I want to pass to Kris, we talked a little bit about the compensation expense -- and that could be a headwind or a tailwind. Kris talked about it in his remarks, but I just wanted to give him a second to talk about that as well, and then I'll come back in the event you have any other follow-ups.

Carl Hagedorn

John, just to elaborate a little bit on what I had in my prepared remarks, emphasizing 2 numbers. When you look at third quarter and you look Q-over-Q versus 2025, our expense was $37 million higher this year than it was in prior year associated with these long-term incentive compensation programs. When you look at 3Q year-to-date versus prior year Q to date, it's about $4 higher than the 2025 year-to-date numbers. So thinking about going to our proxy like information filed in our 10-K, we know that MPLX doesn't really have employees instead, MPC employees are used to serve MPLX arrangements.

And then there's a reimbursement associated with that. That compensation program that all employees participate in is tied to certain financial metrics, but also metrics that are so your first part of your question, John?

John Mackay

No, that's great color. Maybe just a second 1 for me. We obviously saw the joint sale today. Just curious if, Maryann, you can touch on kind of how you see the MPC, MPLX relationship kind of progressing from here? Can you did a joint sale? Could you do a joint acquisition at some point? And then we had some recontracting coming up in early '28. So maybe just kind of pull that into sharing your general thoughts on the state of things.

Maryann Mannen

Yes, sure. Thank you for the follow-up, John. The relationship with MPC and MPLX remains very strong, strategically important, a lot of value there. The decision for MPC to sell the Mandan and St. Paul Park, obviously, resulted in the loss of some EBITDA for MPLX but we remain committed to the basins that we talk about, Permian, Marcellus, our nat gas, NGL strengths and then obviously, Utica increasing our utilization there. These remain strongholds in our growth portfolio. We're confident in the portfolio that we have today.

In terms of the recontracting, I see no reason why MPC and MPLX would not recontract. As you know, we typically look at this 12 to 18 months out. But it would be MPLX and MPC's intent to obviously re-up those contracts. So no change in that strategic relationship at all, John.

Operator

The next question comes from Manav Gupta with UBS.

Manav Gupta

I'm going to cheat a little here. I'm going to ask a question, which I should be asking on the other call, but I'm reasonably sure somebody else might beat me to it. So I'm going to ask you a question why Minnesota and not Dakota refineries. Why were those to not core to MPC? Why was the decision to move ahead with that divestiture along with those midstream assets.

Maryann Mannen

Sure.. So first of all, I want to thank all of the employees of MPC and MPLX critically important. These employees have continued to run all of our assets safely and reliably and we'll continue to do so throughout the rest of the year before that sale occurs. You may remember maybe as far back as August of 2024. One of the messages that I wanted to be sure that I and the rest of the leadership team continue to convey was our commitment to ensure that we had the appropriate portfolio, both at MPC and MPLX for today and the appropriate portfolio for the future. Looking at demand strength, opportunities, et cetera. We felt at this juncture, given the opportunities that we saw and what we believe to be a good valuation and the fact that we were selling to a company that we believed would take good care of the employees and the assets that the proceeds from that could be redeployed to continue to ensure that the portfolio for the future was optimized in an even better fashion than we were currently optimizing today.

So that would be the reason why we made that decision. I hope that helps.

Manav Gupta

Perfect. My second question is, we have seen some of your peers buy our assets out there, M&A market has been hot I'm trying to understand, is it more a function of the asset package that came in did not fit the MPLX profile? Or was it -- do you think the prices that were out there were a little too high for MPC to make those acquisitions and make the maths fully work? If you could talk a little bit about that.

Maryann Mannen

Yes, certainly. I would say, across both NBC and MPLX -- we continue to look at M&A opportunities that fit our strategic intent, right? They must be able to deliver the value proposition that we have shared with our unitholders and our shareholders. So when you look at the opportunities that we would be evaluating for MPLX, we want to be sure that wellhead to water, our growth of our Permian footprint and the importance of NGL is a strong area of consideration for us. Of course, looking at the utilization in the Utica and obviously, our Marcellus basin as well. We also need to be sure, particularly as we're looking at this, that they fit our returns profiles. In the case of MPLX b, we've said mid-teens returns are critical.

And these opportunities must also be able to deliver our mid-single-digit returns. We will be very disciplined in ensuring that when we put capital to work, both organically and inorganically that we meet those objectives. And that would be on of why I would say whether we have or have not transacted here in the recent past.

Operator

The next question comes from Doug Irwin with Citi.

Douglas Irwin

Tim, thanks for the question. Maybe a little bit of a follow-up to Manav's line of question there. Just on the asset sale, curious how quickly you expect to able to redeploy those proceeds and then should we be thinking about the target there as being more organic growth or M&A or maybe a mix of both as far as how you cycle those proceeds?

Maryann Mannen

Yes, certainly. Thanks for the question. So just on the proceeds from the sale of these assets, we think, one, it strengthens our balance sheet position and continues to give us flexibility while we have not talked about our 2027 capital yet, we'll obviously do that on the next earnings call. As you can imagine, there are projects that we are completing our 2 fractionators and our export dock. As a matter of fact, Sean and I were just out there a few weeks ago seeing the progress there. And as I mentioned in my remarks, that will be ready for operations, lease frac 1 in the export dock, no later than 2028.

The completion of TITAN 2 is happening this year. We've got Traverse for 2027. The second fractionator at our Texas City will also be done we've got our Marcellus gathering expansion that will be complete in the first half of '28. IGR pipeline, solid that we just announced and Secretariat. So these are all projects that are currently ongoing. And again, we don't expect 2027 capital to be stronger at this point than what we saw in 2026. As you know, we actually accelerated some, but we'll look to deploy those proceeds as quickly as we can on organic or inorganic opportunities. as we see fit that meets that criteria. I hope that helps, Doug.

Douglas Irwin

Great. Yes, that's helpful. And maybe a follow-up on the asset sale again. You've now announced 2 fairly sizable asset sales in each of the last 2 years. I guess, do you view these as more opportunistic? Or are they maybe kind of part of a broader plan to keep coring up your footprint here around the Northeast.

Maryann Mannen

Yes, I'd say it this way. When you look at the Rockies, as we shared when we decided to do that divestiture we felt that those assets were better placed in the hands of those who had a different capital allocation strategy to those assets, and we wanted to deploy funding their -- funding from that into nat gas and NGL as you have seen us do. In the case of this particular sale, this was really the result of MPC's decision to monetize and to sell those 2 assets -- so really perhaps different rationale. We continue to say that Permian, Marcellus are critical basins for us almost 90%, frankly, of our capital as being put to work in nat gas and NGL.

I mentioned actually in my remarks the speed at which the Solitude pipeline got FID-ed. So these are places where we see particularly when you look at the demand pull coming from LNG, et cetera, places where we see opportunities. Having said that, we are quite pleased with the MPLX asset portfolio. It is operating well. All of our assets are cash flow positive as are the basins where we operate -- and so we remain pleased with the portfolio as it exists today.

Operator

The next question comes from Gabe Dowd.

Unknown Analyst

And Maryann was hoping we could maybe just get your perspective on the large Appalachian M&A on the E&P side last week. Just curious how that transaction could maybe impact the business moving forward since it did include 1 of your key customers.

Maryann Mannen

Yes, thanks for the question. First and foremost, I'd say when we look at EQT and range, both of these are long-term existing customers of MPLX with whom we believe we maintain very strong relationships. And frankly, we are absolutely looking forward to continuing to work collectively on that combined set of assets. We don't typically discuss any of the specific terms of our customer contracts. But we can share that we've got durable long-term commitments and strong acreage dedications that extend largely over a decade from 1 of those customers. And we don't expect really to be negatively impacted by the combination. We MPLX strive to be the midstream company of choice to support our producer goals and customers. But anyway, let me pass it to Greg. Greg's got deep customer relationships as well, and he can share a little bit more with respect to the insights in that combination.

Gregory Floerke

Yes. Thanks, Maryann. Gabe, we're -- we were in the very beginning with Range in the Marcellus. I'm proud to say, and we've grown over that goes back almost 20 years. EQT, same 15-year relationship or a little over that. So as we build out the Marcellus and created the position, the integrated position we have with C3+ ethane purity pipelines, all interconnected to third parties. We build out a system that's integrated. And then both of these customers are part of that.

So as we've continued to build out our Liberty gathering system in Washington County that we're going to be expanding along with majors Bill. That sort of ties into the Harmon Creek 3 expansion, our Houston plants, our fractionator and the entire integrated system. So we're running at 93%, 94% even after the Harmon Creek II plant came online, which is our largest yet built. So we continue to have opportunities to grow here, and these are 2 key customers for us that we hope to continue to do that with.

Unknown Analyst

That's helpful. And then a follow-up, given your position on the Permian egress side of things, could you maybe give us your updated thoughts around supply against the expected capacity that should show up by 2030 or so. I think there's pretty close to 20 Bs a day that could come on from an incremental egress standpoint by 2030 versus the supply expectation of just maybe 7 to 8 Bcf a day of growth by then. So can you maybe just talk to the mismatch and are the volume expectations just simply too low will the basin be long pipe for maybe a short period of time? Would love to get your thoughts on that.

Maryann Mannen

Yes, sure, Gabe. I'm going to ask Dave to give you some thoughts, and then I'll come back there with any other follow-up that you might have.

David Heppner

Gabe, great question. So let me step back a little bit. And we've been participating in this basin on egress pipelines for almost 10 years now. And as Maryann's comments stated, we're participating in 6 long-haul pipes now with the most recent being solid recently announced. So moving almost 16 Bcf a day out of the pipe. So your comments are spot on. But as Marianne touched on was Solitude, that pipe was the fastest FID of any of the 6 pipes out of the basin, whether it be to Agile or to Katie. So we're seeing continued strong shipper demand, customer demand in that.

And the other interesting part about Solitude is our partners, all these pipelines are multipartner, as you know, and the partner mix from not only midstream or the producers in the salt pipeline kind of gives you a little bit of view of of how people are thinking about the necessity for capacity going forward. So as we think about it and looking forward, whether it be driven by data centers, power demand generation, but more specifically in the U.S. Gulf Coast by LNG, we continue to see the demand and the need and we see strong customer support and commitment to these long-haul pipes coming out of the basin.

So as we look forward, we will continue through the lens of strict capital discipline, participate in the basin, whether it be in basin G&P with Greg and his team or purchase these long-haul pipelines to get the gas out of the basin into the customers that are actually pulling and wanting the demand there. So we see a strong outlook there. Hopefully, that helps.

Operator

The next question comes from Keith Stanley with Wolfe Research.

Keith Stanley

I appreciate the flexibility on the distribution growth next year. I think it's a prudent move given the asset sale -- the -- you still noted you intend to raise the distribution faster than DCF growth next year. I'm curious if as part of that you'd consider a larger increase in buybacks as a lever that you could use to reduce the unit count and improve your coverage and allow for faster distribution growth if organic growth opportunities don't materialize.

Maryann Mannen

Keith, it's Maryann. Thanks for the question and appreciate your color there. I'm going to pass it to Kris to talk a little bit about buyback and your question, and then I can take any follow-up that you might have.

Carl Hagedorn

Keith, and I know you've done the math. But what I would tell you is, first and foremost, our capital allocation strategy is really unchanged. So when you think about us maintaining safe, reliable operations, then distribution growth, then growth capital -- and then your unit buybacks being the last consideration for return of capital to our unitholders. -- that's unchanged. And when you think about buybacks as a tool to help with coverage ratio, it's really -- it takes a lot of money to move that dial as I kind of opened with. So that's not -- it's something that we look at, but it's not something that we've considered at this point.

Keith Stanley

Understood. That makes sense. Second one, and I apologize in advance for revisiting it. But -- on the whole affiliate relationship, it's pretty shocking just the performance difference between MPC and MPLX this year and obviously, market conditions are driving that. NBC is $12 billion of cash at the MPC level you're selling another $3 billion of assets, you have a lot of free cash flow the rest of the next few quarters. Would the MPLX public float is only $22 billion -- is there any consideration at all to using this unique period of time to simplify the structure and consider maybe buying an MPLX? It would just seem like if you were ever going to do it, this could be the time to do it? Or is it just something you want to keep permanently out there?

Maryann Mannen

Keith. I'm happy to address the question. So as I've mentioned before, we continue to believe that MPC and MPLX, the strategic focus, the relationship is critically important. Having said that, we recognize that our objective with respect to the unitholders of MPLX and the shareholders of MPC is to ensure that we are providing and creating via structure and all other capital allocation that we do that we are creating the optimum value creation for both of those organizations. So of course, we'll always look at structure and to the extent that any changes necessary, we would certainly make any adjustments that would be necessary.

I would tell you, however, and you know this, that our exchange ratio wouldn't be the only criteria, of course, that's not the sole criteria that we would use to consider that.

Operator

The next question comes from Theresa Chen with Barclays.

Theresa Chen

I want to go back to the Northeast customer consolidation, understanding that there should be opportunities for MPLX to grow alongside the combined EQT range entity. But given the greater scale of the customer post close, how should we think about the potential impact on rates and contract economics over time?

Maryann Mannen

Thanks for the question. I'm going to let Greg talk a little bit about that. But again, we believe based on long-term contracting particularly when you look at sort of the decade of that contracting that we're quite optimistic, if you will, of our ability to execute through that. But let me let Greg give you incremental color there.

Gregory Floerke

Thanks, Maryann. Theresa, I mentioned -- as I mentioned previously, we have a long-standing relationship with both Range and EQT. We process gas for both and fractionate for both GATHER 4.1. The infrastructure we build out has been built out over 15 to 20 years. And we have continued to have the ability to incrementally add capacity whether it be in the processing side, fractionation or debottlenecking as we continue to do.

So based on the durability of our contracts, the acreage dedications and the extension of that in a rich area. We feel the contractual situation that we're in, but also the ability to grow incrementally with these customers. And as is the case with any customer and particularly with the combination and with scale, we'll always be open to discuss and be willing to discuss other win-wins.

Arrangements that could help both the producer customers and our growth. So we're interested in continuing to have those discussions.

Operator

Our final question today comes from Verathon Reddy with JPMorgan.

Vrathan Reddy

It's been a hit on a couple of times during the call, but just curious how you -- with the additional capital redeployment flexibility, how you evaluate the Marcellus Utica growth opportunities versus the Permian and should we think about that as primarily processing additions given what you've mentioned so far, there are other parts of the value chain that you're looking at, at this moment.

Gregory Floerke

This is Greg again. I would say that we continue to see, as indicated by the ramp of our Harmon Creek 3 plant that came online earlier. We are continuing to actually loop pipeline in the Marcellus area, ad compression and debottleneck some of the plants. We're obviously at high utilization near mid-90s, but we do have opportunity to continue to incrementally extract more capacity out of our fleet of plants out there. The NGL prices are really good. Light oil and crude on the Utica side is really good the pricing there. And so we've got a lot of -- you've seen we've almost doubled our volume and utilization in the last 3 years in the Utica.

And we were fortunate we had some capacity that was built out that we're able to grow into. We'll continue to do that in both the Utica and and all those systems are integrated together into fractionation and both liquids and gas takeaway. So I think we will continue to see opportunities there for incremental growth.

Unknown Executive

Yes. And I just wanted to quickly add as well. This is kind of thinking again about our capital allocation strategy and where do we see the growth -- when we think about the Northeast, you've thought about that. We've always been a just-in-time processing fractionation builder. When Greg and team get to that kind of mid-90s. We're thinking about what's that next expansion project. It's the low to mid-90s, they better start engineering it. So if you think about the Majorsville expansion that's going to be coming online, that's where that comes on just in time.

When you think about the Permian and the Southwest, that's an area where -- as you've seen, there's exponential growth. We just talked about some of the egress that we're expected to see through 2030. But it's also the area that we do just in time. Right? So we're not deploying stranded capital. Rather, we're getting the acreage dedications and the line of sight to the volumes to fill both processing and fractionation as it's scheduled to come online.

Vrathan Reddy

Great. And as a follow-up, how would you guys frame the long-term CapEx run rate at this point? Obviously, fundamentally supportive backdrop in '27 has a lot of growth projects coming online. But as you think about longer term, how would you frame that run rate CapEx.

Unknown Executive

Yes, I'll take that 1 quickly. What I would tell you is when we think about our CapEx, $126 million is an elevated amount. And what we did we pulled forward a lot of capital spend that was associated with some of these big organic projects that we're doing. You think about Secretary to, you think about our wellhead to water on the NGL side of the house. We these are pull forward, not overspend. So it's an important thing to delineate there. This is just -- so thinking about that, right, $27 million likely looks less than $26 million.

When you go longer term, you start thinking 28, you started thinking 29, what I'll remind is that base business continues to get bigger and bigger. So to get to that mid-single-digit EBITDA growth, are going to happen and you require those mid-teens return on either organic or inorganic projects, the amount you have to spend gets bigger and bigger each year. And what I would also tell you is, just like you saw with this year, it won't always be linear, right? You can come in chunks. So that's how I'd probably answer that. Hopefully, that helped.

Operator

That was our final question.

Brian Worthington

All right. Thank you for your interest in MPLX. Should you have more questions or would you want clarification on topics discussed this morning, please contact us, and our team will be available to take your calls. PAUSE Thank you for joining us today.

Operator

Thank you for your participation. Participants, you may disconnect at this time.