Western Midstream Partners Q2 2024 Earnings Report

Western Midstream Partners EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.97
• Consensus EPS: $0.88
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.09
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.64

Western Midstream Partners Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $905.63 million
• Expected Revenue: $904.94 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$690.00 thousand
• YoY Revenue Growth: +22.70%

Western Midstream Partners Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2024
• Date: 8/7/2024
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, August 8, 2024
• Conference Call Time: 2:00PM ET

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) (NYSE: WES) is a midstream energy infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops an integrated network of crude oil, natural gas and produced water gathering, processing, transportation and storage assets in the United States. The partnership’s primary offerings include pipeline transportation, fractionation services, natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics and produced water handling. Through its fee-based and commodity-based contracts, Western Midstream provides its customers with essential services that support efficient energy production and distribution.

The company’s asset portfolio spans key onshore basins, including the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado. Its infrastructure network comprises thousands of miles of dedicated pipelines, multiple natural gas processing plants, saltwater disposal wells and crude oil and NGL terminals. These strategically located facilities enable Western Midstream to deliver flexibility and reliability in meeting the evolving needs of exploration and production companies across its operating regions.

Since its spin-off in 2012 from Western Refining, Western Midstream has pursued disciplined growth through organic expansions and strategic acquisitions. The partnership places a strong emphasis on safety, sustainability and environmental stewardship, implementing advanced technologies and practices to minimize emissions, manage produced water responsibly and support local communities. This focus helps maintain reliable operations while adhering to regulatory and industry standards.

Leadership at Western Midstream is headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Steven Wieting, who brings extensive experience in the energy sector and has guided the partnership’s strategic direction toward optimizing cash flow and investment returns. The senior management team, comprising executives with backgrounds in engineering, operations, finance and commercial development, underscores the company’s commitment to maintaining a high standard of corporate governance and operational excellence.

Western Midstream Partners Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Western delivered record natural gas, crude oil, and NGL throughput for the fifth consecutive quarter and remains on track to finish 2024 at the high end of its throughput growth guidance.
• The partnership executed multiple long-term contracts in the Delaware, DJ, and Uinta basins—expanding natural gas, NGL, and produced water capacity using existing assets with minimal incremental capital.
• Asset sales and non-core divestitures enabled Western to achieve its 3× net leverage ratio target ahead of schedule, opening discipline capital allocation toward organic growth, accretive M&A, and future distribution increases.
• In Q2, Western reported net income of $370 million, $578 million adjusted EBITDA, and $425 million free cash flow, and reaffirmed full-year guidance of $2.2–2.4 billion EBITDA and $1.05–1.25 billion free cash flow at the high end.
• The board declared a $0.875 per unit base distribution (annualized $3.20) for Q3, while allocating over 80% of 2024 capex to the Delaware Basin and incremental growth capital to the Powder River, DJ, and Uinta basins.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good afternoon. My name is Ludy, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Western Midstream Partners second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press the star followed by the number two. I would now like to turn the conference over to Daniel Jenkins, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

[Daniel Jenkins, Director of Investor Relations at Western Midstream Partners]

Thank you. I'm glad you could join us today for Western Midstream's second quarter 2024 conference call. I'd like to remind you that today's call, the accompanying slide deck and last night's earnings release contain important disclosures regarding forward-looking statements and non-GAAP reconciliations. Please reference Western Midstream's most recent Form 10-Q and other public filings for a description of risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we discuss today. Relevant reference materials are posted on our website. With me today are Michael Ure, our Chief Executive Officer, and Kristen Shults, our Chief Financial Officer. I'll now turn the call over to Michael.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thank you, Daniel, and good afternoon, everyone. Yesterday afternoon, we reported another strong operational quarter for WES. Our sequential quarter throughput growth was driven by a robust system operability, and as a result, we experienced throughput records from both natural gas and crude oil and NGLs in the Delaware Basin for the 5th consecutive quarter. Taking these results into consideration, we still expect our throughput to steadily grow for the remainder of the year and for West to be towards the high end of our 2024 Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow guidance ranges. The second quarter was also very successful from a commercial perspective, as we executed numerous agreements with both new and existing customers in several of our most active basins.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

First, in the Delaware Basin, we signed several new agreements with both public and private customers for natural gas and produced water services that will positively benefit West, starting in the third quarter and to an even greater extent in 2025. Second, in the DJ Basin, we executed an amendment to DCP Midstream's, now Phillips 66's natural gas processing agreement in the DJ Basin to extend the original firm processing capacity of 175 million cubic feet per day from 2027 to 2029 on a 100% take or pay basis. Additionally, this multi-year amendment provides Phillips 66 with an incremental 200 million cubic feet per day of firm processing capacity, primarily supported by minimum volume commitments starting in 2026. If fully utilized, these agreements could fill up the remaining capacity across our DJ Basin complex over the coming years.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Third, just after quarter end, in Utah, we executed a multi-year natural gas processing agreement with Kinder Morgan in support of their Altamont Green River Pipeline Project, providing for up to 150 million cubic feet per day of firm processing capacity at our Chipeta facility in the Uinta Basin, which is expected to be in service by mid-2025. Finally, we executed agreements with several customers supporting Williams Companies' MountainWest Pipeline expansion to provide up to 110 million cubic feet per day of natural gas processing capacity at our Chipeta facility. We have already begun to receive a portion of these volumes, and we expect incremental volumes in the months ahead.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Taking all these agreements into account, we believe our existing cryogenic capacity at Chipeta of 550 million cubic feet per day may be fully utilized by the second half of 2025. Turning to the balance sheet, the sale of non-core assets throughout the first quarter and early in the second quarter enabled us to achieve our trailing-twelve-month net leverage ratio threshold of 3x earlier than anticipated. In this leverage environment, we will continue to look for the most efficient ways to allocate capital to generate the best returns for our unit holders over time. Those options include: investing capital to prudently expand the business.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

In order to bring more throughput onto our systems, we will continue to allocate capital to organic growth projects that grow volumes and meet our strict returns thresholds, with the goal of driving Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow higher and enhancing our return on assets over time. Second, allocating capital towards accretive M&A. We continue to evaluate strategic opportunities that will ultimately enhance the value of our existing asset base, such as the Meritage Midstream acquisition that closed in the fourth quarter of 2023. And finally, increasing the base distribution. As our business grows and we generate incremental free cash flow, management and the board will continue to look at opportunities to grow the base distribution in line with the overall growth in our business.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

If our business outperforms relative to our initial expectations in a given year, we also have the enhanced distribution framework in place to return to the unitholders. We will remain opportunistic regarding unit buybacks and additional debt retirement. However, based on current market conditions and our net leverage ratio of 3x, we do not expect these options to be the most efficient ways to allocate capital. With that, I will turn the call over to Kristen to discuss our operational and financial performance.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thank you, Michael, and good afternoon, everyone. Our reported second quarter natural gas throughput was relatively flat on a sequential quarter basis, primarily due to strong throughput growth in the Delaware, DJ and Powder River basins, offset by decreased throughput from the sale of the Marcellus Gathering System early in the second quarter. Our natural gas throughput from our operated assets increased by 3% on a sequential quarter basis.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

... While our reported crude oil and NGL throughput declined by 9% on a sequential quarter basis as a result of equity investment divestitures completed during the first quarter, our crude oil and NGL throughput from our operated assets increased by 6% on a sequential quarter basis due to strong throughput growth in the Delaware Basin, DJ Basin, and Powder River Basin. Produced water throughput decreased by 4% on a sequential quarter basis due to fluctuations in produced water used for recycling activities in the upstream operations of our producers. Our second quarter per Mcf adjusted gross margin for natural gas assets was relatively flat quarter-over-quarter, and we expect our third quarter per Mcf adjusted gross margin to be in line with the second quarter.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

Our second quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin for our crude oil and NGL assets increased by $0.04 compared to the prior quarter. This was primarily due to the sale of our interest in the Whitethorn Pipeline and Saddlehorn Pipeline in the first quarter, both of which had a lower than average per unit margins as compared to our other crude oil and NGL assets, and increased throughput in the Delaware Basin. We expect our third quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin to be in line with the second quarter. Our second quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin for our produced water assets was also relatively flat quarter-over-quarter, and we expect our third quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin to be in line with the second quarter.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

During the second quarter, we generated net income attributable to limited partners of $370 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $578 million. Relative to the first quarter, our adjusted gross margin decreased by $9 million. This decrease was mostly driven by the sale of the Marcellus Gathering System and the equity investment, partially offset by higher throughput and profitability from the Delaware, DJ, and Powder River Basin. Our Adjusted EBITDA decreased sequentially by 5% or $30 million due to the decrease in adjusted gross margin that I just mentioned, increased operation and maintenance expense, and more normalized property and other taxes. If you recall, in the first quarter, we benefited from lower than anticipated costs, which resulted in higher than expected Adjusted EBITDA.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

Going forward, we expect our operation and maintenance expense to trend modestly higher in the third quarter, primarily driven by increased throughput, seasonally higher utility costs, and increased asset maintenance and repair expense. As a reminder, we expect seasonality associated with our utility expense in the summer months due to higher estimated electricity pricing and greater energy usage in conjunction with increased throughput. Turning to cash flow, our second quarter cash flow from operating activities totaled $631 million, generating free cash flow of $425 million. Free cash flow after our first quarter 2024 distribution payment in May was $84 million.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

From a capital markets perspective, as previously announced, in the second quarter, we opportunistically repurchased $135 million of senior notes through open market transactions, which has resulted in $150 million of total debt repurchases year-to-date, all at approximately 96% of par. Finally, in July, we declared a base distribution of $0.875 per unit, which was unchanged relative to our previous announcement in April and is payable on August 14 to unit holders of record as of August 1. Based on our operated throughput performance to date and continued strong producer activity levels, we still expect average year-over-year throughput growth for all products in the Delaware Basin, DJ Basin, and Powder River Basin.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

We still expect our portfolio-wide average year-over-year throughput to increase by mid- to upper-teens % for natural gas, low-teens % for crude oil and NGLs, and mid- to upper-teens % for produced water. Focusing on our financial guidance, with the throughput growth I just described, we still expect to be towards the high end of our previously disclosed Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow guidance ranges of $2.2 billion-$2.4 billion and $1.05 billion-$1.25 billion for the year, respectively. Additionally, we still expect our 2024 capital expenditure guidance to range between $700 million and $850 million, implying a midpoint of $775 million.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

We continue to expect just over 80% of our capital budget to be spent in the Delaware Basin, the majority of which is expansion capital for the North Loving Plant construction and additional system expansion to facilitate continued throughput growth. As previously mentioned, we expect to allocate incremental capital to the Powder River, DJ, and Uinta Basins to facilitate throughput growth over the next 18 months. In the Powder River Basin, several existing customers plan to accelerate completion activities as we exit 2024. Thus, we are allocating incremental capital in 2024 and 2025 to expand existing compression facilities and to account for incremental well connect. In the DJ Basin, we expect to invest incremental capital in 2025 to support the new and extended agreement with Phillips 66.

[Kristen Shults, CFO at Western Midstream Partners]

In the Uinta Basin, based on our commercial success, connecting Kinder Morgan's Altamont Pipeline and with the shippers on Williams MountainWest Pipeline expansion, we are allocating incremental capital predominantly in 2025 to expand pipeline connections, increase existing compression capacity, and to expand crude oil stabilization capacity at the facility. Our full year base distribution guidance of at least $3.20 per unit remains unchanged. We will continue to evaluate the base distribution on a quarterly basis, influenced by the health and growth trajectory of our business. As a reminder, any potential enhanced distribution payment in 2025 will be based on our full year 2024 financial performance, governed by our year-end 2024 leverage threshold of 3x and subject to the board's discretion. I'll now turn the call back over to Michael.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thank you, Kristen. I would like to highlight that we will be releasing our annual sustainability report in the coming weeks, which will detail our 2023 sustainability accomplishments. This report highlights our successful attainment of our 2023 sustainability goals, which included targeting and implementing systems and processes to monitor our GHG emissions, safety, culture, and community volunteering efforts, as well as additional details on all of our environmental, social, and governance practices.... Once available, I encourage you to read more about our 2023 accomplishments in the report, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the years ahead as we continue to advance energy by enhancing the sustainability of our operations. Before we open it up for Q&A, I would like to highlight a few key points and reiterate why West remains a differentiated and attractive investment opportunity.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Since becoming a standalone organization, we have worked hard to grow the business while greatly improving the financial position of the partnership. We have achieved record-operated throughput for several quarters, which has been driven by our increasing asset operability and continued strong activity levels from our producing customers. These strong throughput numbers are expected to result in record Adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow this year, and these improving trends over the past few years have put us in a position to reduce leverage and to return even more capital to stakeholders. We did this while maintaining strict returns thresholds for expansion capital spending, which drove increases in return on assets to upper double-digit territory compared to an average of approximately 13% for our midstream peers.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

We accomplished all of this while paying approximately $3.5 billion in base and enhanced distributions, reducing $943 million of net debt, and repurchasing just over $1.1 billion of WES units, or approximately 15% of the unaffected unit count, all since early 2020. This combination of efforts has culminated in leading unitholder returns and total capital return yield for WES unitholders relative to our midstream peers, the S&P 500 Index, and the S&P 500 Energy Index. Focusing on the distribution yield, West still offers a very compelling investment opportunity when comparing its yield to the average yield of all subsectors within the S&P 500 Index. In fact, WES offers more than double the average yield of any sector within the S&P 500 Index, and West continues to maintain the highest distribution yield amongst our midstream peers.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Clearly, West continues to provide one of the strongest tax-deferred investment opportunities, not only within the midstream space, but relative to all subsectors of the S&P 500. Finally, from a valuation perspective, the current average MLP valuation still trades at approximately 8.5x, a discount of just over 5x compared to the average MLP valuation from 2011 through 2016. Meanwhile, balance sheets continue to strengthen, free cash flow continues to grow, and the future business prospects of the industry remain strong. Also, the average current distribution yield remains just over 9% compared to the average MLP distribution yield of just under 7% from 2011 through 2016, a time when midstream MLPs generated negative free cash flow and leverage was increasing.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

We continue to argue that the new MLP model is deserving of a valuation re-rate, especially when you take into account the corporate tax burden that C Corps in the midstream space and other sectors of the economy will face over the coming years. There is no doubt that as net operating losses are exhausted, the current tax burden faced by C Corps will result in less capital available for unitholder returns, which continues to present a very compelling investment opportunity for WES and the MLP space. To close, I would like to thank the entire West workforce for all of their hard work and dedication. I would also like to thank all of the teams within our organization that are working to finalize our 2023 sustainability report.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

The year is off to a strong start, and I look forward to updating you on our third quarter results in November. With that, we will open the line for questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Gabe Moreen at Mizuho. Your line is now open.

[Gabe Moreen, Managing Director at Mizuho]

Hey, good afternoon, everyone. I just wanted to ask about the growth that you're seeing in the DJ and the Uinta, and it sounds like, you know, whether medium-term or long-term, using up the rest of your slack capacity there. How do you think about potentially growing beyond using up that capacity? Is that something you think you're planning for right now, and just managing growth, just in those basins where I don't think, you know, investors were expected to see that 6-12 months ago?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah. Hey, Gabe, this is Michael. We're incredibly excited about the new volumes that we're expecting to come onto the system both in the DJ and the Uinta basins. We were always big believers in those basins, you know, historically and definitely feel that way today. As we look at it now, no expectations or plans in terms of broad expansions within those areas. You know, obviously, we will continue to have capital expenditures as it relates to maintenance and compression and well connects, but currently not projecting to have any major projects in those areas. More, it's about utilization of existing assets and capacity out there, which we're really excited to be able to service our customers in those areas.

[Gabe Moreen, Managing Director at Mizuho]

Thanks, Michael. And then maybe if I can sort of follow up to that question on secondary basins and what you're seeing out there as far as M&A. You know, you're able to get Meritage at a really nice multiple. Are you still seeing that differential out there, I guess, outside, for assets outside the Permian? Is that of interest, particularly now that you've seen, I guess, some perking up in growth in some other basins?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah. For us, our focus, you know, really hasn't changed from an M&A standpoint. You know, we're really looking at ways in which we can acquire assets that we can differentiate what it is that is already happening within those assets. So that primarily means that they're in and around areas where we currently operate. And so as we think about M&A, it's about enhancing, you know, typically it's about enhancing, you know, areas in which we currently operate and can provide a differentiated set of synergies related to the opportunity itself.

[Gabe Moreen, Managing Director at Mizuho]

Great. And then just if I could squeeze one last in, one in. You mentioned some additional MVCs in Delaware. Could you maybe quantify some of that? And also within the bigger picture of kind of where you stand, third-party business versus Oxy, what those MVCs and how would they shift things for you?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah. So, you know, we are able to, you know, get MVCs that relates to contracts that we're getting, and that's, you know, irrespective of the counterparty. And so, for us, again, we're really focused on returns overall. We want to make sure that if we're going to spend any capital, that we're able to do that at a level that, you know, satisfies those returns thresholds where the MVCs come into play. And so, as you've seen in the new commercial deals that we've announced, we've been able to do that with MVCs, you know, really across the board, and those are not with related parties.

[Gabe Moreen, Managing Director at Mizuho]

Okay. Thanks very much.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thanks, Gabe.

[Operator]

Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Keith Stanley at Wolfe Research. Your line is now open.

[Keith Stanley, Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst at Wolfe Research]

Hi, good afternoon. So just touching back on, I guess, CapEx in the past, you've talked about a meaningful year-over-year decline in 2025 CapEx. Any updated comments you'd make there, given the need to invest some in growth in the DJ, PRB and Uinta Basins? And then separately, any progress on contracting for a new plant in the Permian, or is there still a lot to do on that before moving forward?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah, so, we would expect that there will be a step down. There would be a step down in capital for 2025. Obviously, we're excited about, you know, the new commercial agreements, which, you know, will require a little bit of capital in order to satisfy those agreements and make our customers happy. As it relates to new plants in the Permian, no plans to increase plant capacity in the Permian as we sit here today. So no change from previous comments that we've made on increasing capacity there.

[Keith Stanley, Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst at Wolfe Research]

Thanks for that. The second question: so leverage, you got to your 3x target now. Does that impact how you think about the timing for another distribution increase, or is that more tied to growth in free cash flow in the business?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah, it's a little bit of both. Obviously, we're really excited to be able to get to that level earlier than expectations. As we think about base distribution, the base distribution itself, we really try and tie that towards the free cash flow generation of the business, and then what it is that we, you know, can and should be using that capital for. Now that we are, you know, at the 3x leverage level, as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, you know, that really opens up the possibility for us to be able to use that capital without having the need to focus as much on buybacks, whether they're debt or equity, around distribution growth, base distribution growth, so.

[Keith Stanley, Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst at Wolfe Research]

Thank you.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thanks, Keith.

[Operator]

Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Jeremy Tonet at JPMorgan Chase. Your line is now open.

[Jeremy Tonet, Executive Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan]

Hi, good afternoon.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Hey, Jeremy.

[Jeremy Tonet, Executive Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan]

Just wanted to come back to the Uinta, if I could, and as it relates to Chipeta, just wondering how much weight in processing capacity is there right now? Just trying to think through, I guess, how, you know, runway there is, how much runway there is before there would need to be more investment.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

We do, we do have sufficient capacity as it relates today to be able to satisfy all of the needs with these incremental new commercial agreements that we've been able to achieve. So, wouldn't expect that that would require any plant expansion to be able to satisfy that that growth that we're expecting and have contracted to bring onto the system.

[Jeremy Tonet, Executive Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan]

Got it. That's helpful. And then you listed a string of, you know, commercial wins here. And just kind of curious how capital-intensive, I guess, these initiatives are, or is this just kind of, you know, very accretive, filling up open capacity for the most part?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah, highly accretive, from that standpoint. There is some capital, but it's far, far more limited capital to be able to satisfy these commercial agreements. So we're really excited to be able to utilize some of the latent capacity that we had in those areas. Like I said, we were always believers that, you know, those volumes would come, and now we're seeing some of that progress. We're really, really happy with the operational efficiencies that we've been able to drive and obviously focus on our customers, which is why we believe, in part, these new deals were able to come onto the system. So, but for the most part, you know, highly accretive, minimal capital to be able to satisfy these new agreements.

[Jeremy Tonet, Executive Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan]

Got it. Very helpful. Just last one, if I could, real quick here. I mean, we haven't seen... I can't recall this number of, you know, commercial wins in one quarter. Anything that kind of fed into it now? Do you see more opportunities like this? Just trying to get a better view of the backdrop here.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

... You know, it comes a little bit in waves. You know, obviously, the team, I can tell you, is as energized now as they've ever been about getting new transactions coming online. So, I would say that the hope is that you can sort of replicate some of these successes every quarter, but as it happens, you know, the transactions themselves take some time to bring onto our system. So, again, a lot of energy around it, a lot of excitement. We have a phenomenal commercial team that's out there trying to look for transactions all the time, but I certainly wouldn't expect this number of commercial deals every quarter. I would hope for it, but I shouldn't, we shouldn't expect that.

[Jeremy Tonet, Executive Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan]

Got it. That's helpful. I'll leave it there. Thanks.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thanks, Jeremy.

[Operator]

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Spiro Dounis at Citi. Your line is now open.

[Spiro Dounis, Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Citi]

Thanks, operator. Afternoon, team. Just wanted to start maybe with the DJ, if we could. I guess, as we understand it, obviously, it's been pretty active there so far this year. But I, but I think is the way it works with MVCs, we're maybe not seeing it show up on your side as much. And so I guess I'm just curious, any sense how close you are to seeing the torque from that, that volume ramp?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah, as it relates to, you know, crude in particular, we wouldn't expect that we'll exceed those MVCs for 2024. But to your point, they've, they've been active out there. They've seen some incredibly positive results. That's part of the reason why we're seeing, you know, some of the, the real overperformance there, in addition to the new commercial agreements. But, in particular, as it relates to the oil side, still below MVC levels expectations out through 2024.

[Spiro Dounis, Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Citi]

Got it. Okay, so we'll wait on that one. Second question, just going to the guidance, and sorry if I'm splitting hairs here a little bit, but you reaffirmed the top end of the range again, and it would seem as though some of these new agreements that you signed do have a benefit for 2024. So I guess I'm just curious, were these agreements contemplated in that guide and getting to that top end, or does this actually create a scenario where maybe you outperform the high end?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah, these, these will have some impact in 2024, but actually, the vast majority of the impact is in future periods. And so, while they're, they're incremental, hadn't, you know, been, you know, planned within our forecasts, really doesn't change, you know, where we sit as it relates to the guidance on a quarter-on-quarter basis. What it really does, though, is it gives us, you know, some really strong, tailwinds as it relates to future periods, particularly in assets that, we had some latent capacity out there. So really, excited about what it does, for some future periods with, with, less of an impact in 2024.

[Spiro Dounis, Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Citi]

Got it. I'll leave it there. Thanks, Michael.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thanks, Spiro.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Manav Gupta at UBS. Your line is now open.

[Manav Gupta, Executive Director at UBS]

Good afternoon. I basically wanted to discuss the agreements you're doing with PSX. Looks like you amended an agreement with DCP, which is now PSX, and then looks like there is additionality there, you know, incremental volumes coming probably in 2026. So can you talk about, you know, the opportunities as DCP, PSX, and PSXP have all become PSX? Are there more opportunities to do business with this company?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah. So actually, this is, we're really, really, really proud of the relationship that we've had historically with both DCP as well as Phillips 66. So I, I would say that that this relationship has been something that we've had really for a long time. In fact, the extension of one of these agreements is one that we entered into about five years ago. And so I haven't really seen or I wouldn't attribute, you know, any of these new agreements to a changeover in ownership. It's just been a strong relationship we've had for some time.

[Manav Gupta, Executive Director at UBS]

Okay. And how should we think about volumes and margins that, you know, Mentone III's in service, and how is the ramp at North Loving Plant looking like? Thank you.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah, North Loving still expecting to be on time and on budget for Q1 2025. As we look to margins, you know, for the third quarter, we would expect margins for the third quarter to be relatively in line with the second quarter.

[Manav Gupta, Executive Director at UBS]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Neel Mitra at Bank of America. Your line is now open.

[Neel Mitra, Senior Analyst at Bank of America]

Hi. Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to understand the processing needs past North Loving. I understand there's a lot of interruptible volumes that you're offloading there. So when you think about offloading versus processing needs, could you maybe quantify how much capacity are for offloads or timing of when those contracts end? And then would you build a new processing plant if you had enough interruptible volumes that you think it could underwrite the plant?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah. Thanks, Neel. Good question. So the way that we think about interruptible volumes, generally speaking, is that if we don't have existing capacity available, then, you know, that's when we'll try and use offloads to pay, to take some of that interruptible volume. When it is that we do receive commitments, that's when we try and tie our long-term capital with the long-term commitment of our customers. And that helps us get much more comfortable with the investment itself. You know, as we sit here today, we do have, you know, some offloads, and, you know, that's really bridging those interruptible volumes to when we get North Loving online. Once North Loving comes online, then we'll bring those, you know, onto our system.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

I guess it depends a little bit in degrees and confidence level on the interruptible side. You know, if we had, you know, significant excess interruptible volumes that would justify a plant under the, you know, conservative assumptions that we might apply to those volumes coming through our system, then it could justify it, but historically, that's not been the way that we've done it. We've done it more to align our long-term capital with the long-term commitments of our customers.

[Neel Mitra, Senior Analyst at Bank of America]

Okay, perfect. Thanks for the answer. Second question pertains to the commercial wins that you had in the Delaware for the quarter. Could you maybe walk through offering, you know, gas gathering, crude gathering, and water, if you were able to bundle some services, excuse me, and that gave you an advantage in procuring some of these contracts?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah. So these contracts actually were not necessarily related to bundling. They're just a one product, you know, set of contracts that we were able to achieve in these particular areas. We do see, however, in the Permian, in particular, great value in us being able to, you know, gain new customers on either, you know, the water or the gas side, and that has enabled us to differentiate the way that we operate. And as customers get much more comfortable with our area, our manner of operating, then it has resulted in incremental new volume streams onto the system. So in West Texas, that's definitely been employed as it relates to these new customer contracts. For the most part, these are just, you know, single product contracts that we've entered into.

[Neel Mitra, Senior Analyst at Bank of America]

Got it. Really appreciate the color. Thank you.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah. Thanks, Neel.

[Operator]

Again, if you would like to ask a question, press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from the line of Zack Van Everen at TPH. Your line is now open.

[Zack Van Everen, Director of Equity Research Division at TPH]

Hey, guys, thanks for taking my question. Just a quick one on the contract extension with PSX or DCP. Was that at the same rate, and it was just a length extension, or was there any changes to the fixed rate there?

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Yeah, we typically... Thanks for the question, Zack. We typically don't talk about contract specific items as it relates to, you know, any contract that we enter into for various reasons. What I would say, though, is that, again, this highlights the wonderful partnership that we have with them. We think a lot of them overall, and obviously this series of agreements, you know, highlights the strong manner in which we've been able to work together.

[Zack Van Everen, Director of Equity Research Division at TPH]

Gotcha. That makes sense. And then maybe a bit of a hypothetical one here, but on M&A, you know, with PSX going through a bit of a transition, if those DCP assets were ever to hit the market, are you guys, would that be too high of a concentration at DJ as far as FTC risk, or do you think that's something that they would allow? Obviously, very hypothetical, but just looking at location and, and opportunity and how much contracts you already have with them.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Very hypothetical, but very specific, Zack. I can't actually comment on any, you know, specific transaction, hypothetical, or otherwise. As it relates to M&A, I just reiterate, you know, kind of what our position is, which is, you know, we're looking for ways that we can, you know, add some accretive opportunities to us to continue to, you know, emphasize what it is that we believe that we do differently from a customer service standpoint, and allow those types of transactions to enhance the returns to the enterprise, which we've been really focused on, you know, from the very beginning of becoming a standalone enterprise.

[Zack Van Everen, Director of Equity Research Division at TPH]

Perfect. I appreciate that. Thanks, guys.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Ure, I turn the call back over to you.

[Michael Ure, CEO at Western Midstream Partners]

Thank you very much. Thanks, everyone, for joining. This marks the five-year anniversary of my appointment to this role. I'm so proud of what this organization has been able to achieve, the incredible benefits and abilities that we've been able to demonstrate to the market, the debt reduction, the repurchase of units, the increase in the distribution, the new customer wins. Our focus on our customer has been remarkable overall. I'd like to also congratulate Danny Holderman on the appointment as Chief Operating Officer. Danny's an excellent leader, and we really look forward to what he'll continue to do as we focus on operational excellence and excellence in customer service. I want to thank the West people for their continued efforts in the pursuit of excellence overall. With that, we thank you all for joining.

[Operator]

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Daniel Jenkins, Director of Investor Relations
• Kristen Shults, CFO
• Michael Ure, CEO

Analysts

• Gabe Moreen, Managing Director at Mizuho
• Jeremy Tonet, Executive Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan
• Keith Stanley, Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst at Wolfe Research
• Manav Gupta, Executive Director at UBS
• Neel Mitra, Senior Analyst at Bank of America
• Spiro Dounis, Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Citi
• Zack Van Everen, Director of Equity Research Division at TPH