MPLX 3Q: Marcellus Gathering Up 21%, Utica Up 19%; Plants Near Full

MPLX, the Marathon Petroleum offshoot that bought Utica pioneer MarkWest Energy in 2015, released its third-quarter 2026 results yesterday, and the Marcellus/Utica (M-U) numbers look very good. Marcellus gathering volumes rose 21% from a year ago, and Utica gathering volumes rose 19%. In August, MPLX started up its new Harmon Creek III gas processing plant in Washington County, PA, which added 300 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of capacity (see MPLX Marcellus Proc. Plants 96% Full, Harmon Creek III Starts Up). Even with that new plant running, MPLX's Northeast processing plants were 93% full during the quarter. Its Utica plants went from 73% full in the second quarter to 89% full in the third. And when analysts on the earnings call asked whether the EQT-Range merger is bad news for MPLX, management answered with a polite "no."

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