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Change at the Top of MPLX, the Former MarkWest Energy

Maryann T. Mannen

In late 2015, MPLX (i.e., Marathon Petroleum) bought out and merged in the Utica Shale’s premier midstream company, MarkWest Energy, for $15 billion (see MarkWest Energy Investors/Unitholders Approve Merger with Marathon). The “new” MarkWest, aka MPLX, plays on a much larger stage now, including ownership and operation of major assets in the Permian Basin and in the Bakken Shale, in addition to the Marcellus/Utica. Big news: MPLX CEO Mike Hennigan is stepping back and will be succeeded by Maryann T. Mannen, currently President of Marathon Petroleum.
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MPLX (former MarkWest) Reports Gathering & Processing Less M-U Gas

In late 2015, MPLX (i.e. Marathon Petroleum) bought out and merged in the Utica Shale’s premier midstream company, MarkWest Energy, for $15 billion (see MarkWest Energy Investors/Unitholders Approve Merger with Marathon). The “new” MarkWest, aka MPLX, plays on a much larger stage now, including ownership and operation of major assets in the Permian Basin and in the Bakken Shale, in addition to the Utica/Marcellus. On Tuesday, MPLX issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2022 update. The company reports gathering and processing slightly less natgas in the M-U in 2022. But it was a comment from MPLX’s CEO during a conference call that really hit us in the gut.
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Shale Insight Day 1: Toby Rice, Nick Dell’Osso, Neal Chatterjee, More

Yesterday was the first day of the two-day Shale Insight conference being held in Erie, PA. By all accounts, it was a great day. Among the all-stars presenting were Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corporation, Nick Dell’Osso, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, Greg Floerke, COO of MPLX, and Neil Chatterjee, former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman. The important role of LNG, pipelines, regulations, and more were discussed. One of the themes of the day: Natural gas is not a bridge fuel, but the destination.
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MPLX (MarkWest) Expands in Marcellus/Utica in 2022, New De-ethanizer

In late 2015 MPLX (i.e. Marathon Petroleum) bought out and merged in the Utica Shale’s premier midstream company, MarkWest Energy, for $15 billion (see MarkWest Energy Investors/Unitholders Approve Merger with Marathon). The “new” MarkWest, aka MPLX, plays on a much larger stage now, including ownership and operation of major assets in the Permian Basin and in the Bakken Shale, in addition to the Utica/Marcellus. Last week MPLX issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 update. Among the good news is that MPLX will increase spending in 2022, and some of the increase will go to projects in the M-U.
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EQT, Shell, Others Launch CCUS/Hydrogen Hub Initiative for OH-PA-WV

EQT, Equinor, Shell Polymers, U.S. Steel, and several other companies with either a base of operations or major interest in the Marcellus/Utica region, yesterday announced a new initiative to establish a carbon capture, utilization & storage (CCUS), as well as hydrogen production and utilization hub. A CCUS/H2 hub, if you will. While no specifics were announced, the aspiration seems to be establishing several facilities that capture, store or reuse carbon dioxide created during industrial activities, and figure out how to create more hydrogen (H2) and use it as a power source and (perhaps) as a raw input for manufactured products. Ultimately the aim of the group is to generate more business in the Appalachian region by committing to reduce CO2 emissions.
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Unplanned Outage at MarkWest WV Gas Plants Fixed, Prices Go Up

Last week MDN told you about an unplanned outage at two MarkWest natural gas processing plants located in West Virginia (see Unplanned Outage at 2 WV MarkWest Plants Knocks 2.4 Bcf/d Offline). We have more details about what happened that led to the shutdowns. More importantly, we have new information that the outage is now over and full production capacity has been restored at the two plants.
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Unplanned Outage at 2 WV MarkWest Plants Knocks 2.4 Bcf/d Offline

MarkWest Sherwood Complex (click for larger version)

It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s disconcerting. We’re talking about an “operational event” (i.e. outage) at not one but two MarkWest Energy natural gas processing plants–both in West Virginia. MarkWest’s Sherwood plant in Doddridge County and Mobley plant in Wetzel County are affected. According to NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index, four pipeline receipt locations affected by the outage are scheduled to go to zero beginning today “until further notice.”
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Marcellus/Utica Helps Lift MPLX/MarkWest Profits in 3Q

MPLX assets (click for larger version)

Back in 2015, MarkWest Energy, one of the premier midstream companies in the Utica that built and operated numerous gas processing plants and pipeline systems, sold itself to Marathon Petroleum (see MarkWest Energy Investors/Unitholders Approve Merger with Marathon). The pipeline subsidiary of Marathon that includes MarkWest is called MPLX. On Monday MPLX released its third-quarter 2020 update showing the Marcellus/Utica region continues to lift the company economically.
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Marathon Petroleum Won’t Sell MarkWest Midstream Subsidiary

Marathon Petroleum, the parent company of MPLX (formerly called MarkWest Energy) announced some big changes last November. Namely, they caved to “activist” investors (we still call them corporate raiders) and their demands to split the company in three and dump the current CEO (see Partial Activist Victory: Marathon to Sell Speedway, CEO Retiring). The one thing the activists didn’t get was a commitment from Marathon to sell off the MarkWest/MPLX division. However, to keep the raiders happy, Marathon did commit to reviewing a sale of MPLX/MarkWest. The review is now done and yesterday Marathon announced not only will they keep MPLX/MarkWest, but the CEO of MPLX is also becoming the CEO of parent Marathon.
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MarkWest Gets New CEO, New Processing Plants Coming in M-U

Last week Marathon Petroleum, the parent company of MPLX (formerly called MarkWest Energy) announced some big changes during their third quarter update. Namely, they have caved to “activist” investors (we still call them corporate raiders) and their demands to split the company and dump the current CEO (see Partial Activist Victory: Marathon to Sell Speedway, CEO Retiring). The one thing activists didn’t get was a commitment to sell off the MarkWest/MPLX division. What we overlooked at the time (correcting it now) is the fairly big news that the MPLX division got a new CEO, and they continue to build new natural gas and NGL processing plants in the Marcellus/Utica region.
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Partial Activist Victory: Marathon to Sell Speedway, CEO Retiring

As MDN reported in early October, so-called “activist investors” Elliott Management and D.E. Shaw want Marathon Petroleum (parent of MPLX, otherwise known as MarkWest Energy) to split itself into three separate companies, and a couple of other large shareholders called for Marathon CEO Gary Heminger to be fired (see Major Investors Pressure Marathon Petroleum to Split into 3 Cos.). Heminger and board member Greg Goff politely but firmly told Elliott, Shaw, et al to, in essence, buzz off (see Marathon/MarkWest Tells Activist Investor Co. Will Not Split). Looks like someone has to eat their words.
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Marathon/MarkWest Tells Activist Investor Co. Will Not Split

As MDN reported two weeks ago, so-called “activist investors” Elliott Management and D.E. Shaw want Marathon Petroleum (parent of MPLX, otherwise known as MarkWest Energy) to split itself into three separate companies, and a couple of other large shareholders are calling for Marathon CEO Gary Heminger to be fired (see Major Investors Pressure Marathon Petroleum to Split into 3 Cos.). Heminger and board member Greg Goff have just politely, but firmly, told Elliott, Shaw, et al to “buzz off” (our words). Heminger is going to fight the effort to split the company and dump him.
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Major Investors Pressure Marathon Petroleum to Split into 3 Cos.

Here we go again. “Activist investor” Elliott Management is pressuring Marathon Petroleum to split itself up into three companies–retail (Speedway convenience store chain), refining, and midstream (or MarkWest Energy). Recall that Marathon bought out and merged in MarkWest just a few years ago, in December 2015 (see MarkWest Energy Investors/Unitholders Approve Merger with Marathon). Now Elliott wants the company carved up to “unlock value.” Two other large shareholders either want the company split up and/or Marathon CEO Gary Heminger gone–now.
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MarkWest Continues to Expand NGL Infrastructure in the Wet M-U

Our friends at RBN Energy recently launched a new mini-series of blog posts delving into Marcellus/Utica gas processing and fractionation in the wet gas region–meaning southwest PA, eastern OH, and the northern panhandle of WV. We previously brought you part 1 of that series (see Overview of Gas Processing & Fractionation in M-U Wet Gas Region). Today we have part 2, which takes a close look at MPLX (i.e. MarkWest Energy) and the key role their processing plants play in allowing NGL production in the M-U to continue growing.
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Top Energy CEOs Skate on Thin Ice by Turning Against Shareholders

If Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO) and Tim Cook (Apple CEO) jump off a cliff, should you, as CEO of an energy company, jump off too? The CEOs of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum and several other big oil and gas companies have just answered that question in the affirmative. Splat. Perhaps they were caught up in the euphoria of the moment. Perhaps they were shamed. (A new disorder for the DSM V: “CEO shaming.”) For whatever reason, a group of CEOs from some of the largest U.S. companies now say the people who buy their company’s stock and fund them via infusions of investment capital are no longer the #1 priority for their companies. We wonder what investors in those companies think. Have they had a change of heart? “Here, take my money and pee it away with no returns. Please! I don’t need this money any more.” Hey Jeff and Tim, we have a bridge in Brooklyn we’d like to sell ya…
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MPLX M-U Processing, Fractionation Plants Coming Online Soon

MPLX, formerly known as MarkWest Energy, recently released their second quarter 2019 update. There seems to be a new emphasis for MPLX on the Texas Permian play, which is detectable in the update. However, much of the company’s revenue continues to come from our region. A slide embedded deep in the Appendix of the latest slide deck tells an interesting story for us: Of the ten processing and fractionation plants MPLX is currently building or planning to build, six of them are in the Marcellus/Utica region. We have the list below.
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