MPLX LP Acquires US Gulf Coast Export Terminal

FINDLAY, Ohio, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) today announced it has purchased an eastern U.S. Gulf Coast export terminal with 4 million barrels of third-party leased storage capacity and a 120,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) dock from Pin Oak Holdings, LLC, for approximately $450 million. The transaction will be financed with a combination of cash from operations and debt. This facility has the capability to significantly expand its storage capacity to 10 million barrels and is permitted for construction of a second 120,000 bpd dock. This growth potential is significant, as multiple pipelines and rail lines cross the property, and the terminal is positioned as an aggregation point for liquids growth in the region for both ocean-going vessels and inland barges. As the facility expands, this investment is expected to generate a mid-teens percent return.

The facility, which will be known as MPLX’s Mt. Airy Terminal, is strategically located on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, near nine lower-Mississippi refineries, including Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (NYSE: MPC) Garyville refinery. The Mt. Airy facility can handle multiple refined products, as well as residual fuel and bunker products to provide optionality and flexibility of feedstocks and finished products in a single location.

“This acquisition provides an excellent platform for MPLX, as production growth and refining output increase the requirement for additional export capacity,” said Michael J. Hennigan, president of MPLX. “With a prime location on the Mississippi River and proximity to over 2 million barrels per day of refining capacity, this terminal will serve as a platform to meet growing export needs, expand our third-party business, and give MPLX tremendous flexibility to help its customers meet upcoming International Maritime Organization fuel standards.”

The facility, which will be known as MPLX’s Mt. Airy Terminal, is strategically located on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, near nine lower-Mississippi refineries, including Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (NYSE :MPC ) Garyville refinery. The Mt. Airy facility can handle multiple refined products, as well as residual fuel and bunker products to provide optionality and flexibility of feedstocks and finished products in a single location.

“This acquisition provides an excellent platform for MPLX, as production growth and refining output increase the requirement for additional export capacity,” said Michael J. Hennigan, president of MPLX. “With a prime location on the Mississippi River and proximity to over 2 million barrels per day of refining capacity, this terminal will serve as a platform to meet growing export needs, expand our third-party business, and give MPLX tremendous flexibility to help its customers meet upcoming International Maritime Organization fuel standards.”

About MPLX LP

MPLX is a diversified, growth-oriented master limited partnership formed in 2012 by Marathon Petroleum Corporation to own, operate, develop and acquire midstream energy infrastructure assets. MPLX is engaged in the gathering, processing and transportation of natural gas; the gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage and marketing of NGLs; the transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil and refined petroleum products; and the refining logistics and fuels distributions services through a marine fleet and approximately 10,000 miles of crude oil and light product pipelines. Headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, MPLX’s assets consist of a network of crude oil and products pipelines and supporting assets, including storage facilities (tank farms) located in the Midwest and Gulf Coast regions of the United States; 62 light-product terminals with approximately 24 million barrels of storage capacity; an inland marine business; storage caverns with approximately 2.8 million barrels of storage capacity; a barge dock facility with approximately 78,000 barrels per day of crude oil and product throughput capacity; tanks with storage capacity of approximately 56 million barrels as well as refinery docks, loading racks and associated piping; and gathering and processing assets that include approximately 5.9 billion cubic feet per day of gathering capacity, 8.7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas processing capacity and 610,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity.

Investor Relations Contacts: 
Kristina Kazarian (419) 421-2071

Media Contacts: 
Chuck Rice (419) 421-2521

Press release: prnewswire.com