Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Brian Reynolds: Great, thanks. I appreciate the color on that. Maybe just a quick follow up on the Permian natural gas liquids. Seminal conversion seems to be catered towards the highest margin molecule, whether that’s crude and natural gas liquids or I think you kind of referenced refined products in your prepared remarks going forward. So just given the opportunities for SPOT in 2025 plus Petchem 2025 plus, how should we think about maybe opportunities for Shin Oak and Seminole, kind of just go to the highest margin market. Is that kind of just a wait and see of what the market’s going to give you in that time frame? Or do you ultimately see seminal returning back to crude service? If you do want to pursue crude exports in the back half of the decade, I think we’re going….

Jim Teague: I think we go type flexible, Brian, but, I mean, all of the above is possible. If those are full, it’s possible we’ll just build another one. It’s really dependent on SPOT success. And like I said earlier, we’re getting a lot more optimistic on being able to get this thing done with good commercialization. We’re talking to a lot of people. Brent and I were in Europe, what, three weeks ago, Brent? And our sole purpose was to promote SPOT, and we got some pretty good feedback from people.

Brian Reynolds: Great, thanks. I’ll leave it there. Enjoy the rest of your morning.

Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. Our next question comes from the line of Spiro Dounis with Citi. Your line is open.

Spiro Dounis: Thanks, operator. Good morning, everybody. A few cleanup questions for me. Randy going to see if I can try and get you to say lumpy one more time, but just going back to SPOT and thinking about capital allocation next year. I think you mentioned that you’d still be able to sort of maintain this level of distribution growth with the current CapEx program and not come off this sort of buyback plan. But I just want to verify, if SPOT does get sanctioned, CapEx presumably goes higher, and I think you guys lean on the balance sheet maybe for the first time in a while. So, just curious, does all that still hold if SPOT does get sanctioned?

Randy Fowler: Bob, once we get a license to construct, we’re not through, are we?

Robert Sanders: No, sir. That’s just the first of about 2024 that are needed.

Randy Fowler: It’s going to take a while to license to construct. Didn’t mean we can go out there and start digging ditches.

Robert Sanders: No, sir.

Randy Fowler: Yes, I think, again, with or without SPOT, it doesn’t impact 2024. And frankly, I mean, if we’re successful with SPOT, most of that’s going to be 2025, 2026, 2027, and we’re in good shape to continue distribution growth and buybacks during that time period.

Jim Teague: Chris, the one thing I would also add to that is I still think even if we get to a point where SPOT is sanctioned, we’ll still be within our three times leverage, plus or minus a quarter of a turn.

Spiro Dounis: Okay. Got you. Helpful color there. Just going to M&A from two different perspectives. So, one, I guess on the upstream side, we’ve seen a lot of your customer base continue to consolidate. So, I guess I’m curious to skip your updated views on the potential impact to EPD into midstream more broadly. And then as we think about M&A for EPD, just given the slate of growth projects in front of you, I imagine you’re sort of out of that market for the time being, but don’t want to put words in your mouth.

Jim Teague: I like what Randy says price matters. The right deal, the right price. I’m not sure we’d back away from it, but it’s got to be the right deal at the right price that fits us strategically.

Spiro Dounis: All right, I’ll leave it there. Thanks, guys.

Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of John Mckay with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

John Mckay: Hey, good morning, everyone. Thanks for the time. I wanted to pick up on something that I think Chris mentioned earlier in the call. Just in terms of we’re looking at all these new Permian growth projects on the NGL side. How much of the flow do you think is going to come from your own plants on the EPD side versus third party flows? And if we’re thinking about that overall, how do you think your market share trends on NGL pipeline throughput over the next couple of years?

Jim Teague: Justin, you got any idea?

Justin Kleiderer: I think going back to some of the previous commentary, I mean, our G&P asset base is what the feeder to our NGL pipes will continue to be and will continue growing and on a percentage basis, don’t have the exact percent, but I’d bet it’s 80% plus Fed from our own G&P. And I would expect that’s going to continue to grow as we continue to grow that footprint.

John Mckay: That’s fair. I appreciate it. Maybe just shifting gears quickly, have the commentary on the PDH 2 ramp in there. Just if you give us an update now that we’re a little bit into the fourth quarter and what we should look for there?

Jim Teague: We did have some operational issues in the third quarter with the PDH. We’re working some issues with a reactor with the licenser. We should have that resolved later this month and expect this to be a one off and returning to full operation later in November.

John Mckay: I appreciate the time. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Michael Blum.

Michael Blum: Thanks. Good morning, everyone.

Operator: I’m sorry.

Michael Blum: No worries. Thanks. So, a lot of questions, obviously, today on the projects and on supply, but wonder if you can give us an update on what you’re seeing on the demand side, particularly in China and India, and how any Panama Canal issues are impacting your exports. And then the second part of that question is really the same question, but longer term, you’re obviously very bullish on U.S. supply here for a long time. Where do you see all these products being consumed? Do you see that shifting at all from the current setup? Thanks.

Jim Teague: I’ll start and I’ll probably ask Brent a question. As I said in our script, Michael, it’s been a pleasant surprise at the appetite for ethane and that’s not in Europe, that’s in Asia. And we’ve got a couple more contracts that I expect that we will sign. So I thought ethane was going to be just a point to point project and I wanted to build the first one, but I didn’t really expect it. It looks to me like it’s becoming, Brent, much more a traded product?

Brent Secrest: More so…

Michael Blum: Than I expected. And then, Brent, speak to the type of demand we see on LPG.