Phillips 66 (Houston, Texas), Kinder Morgan Inc. (Houston, Texas;) and HF Sinclair Corp. (Dallas, Texas) announced that they have finalized a joint venture agreement and made a final investment decision to move forward with the proposed Western Gateway Pipeline system (Western Gateway). Under the joint venture, Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan and HF Sinclair will own 49.9%, 35.1% and 15% of the system, respectively.
“The final investment decision reflects the strength of this industry partnership. By combining the capabilities of Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan and HF Sinclair, Western Gateway is expected to strengthen fuel supply reliability and deliver a more cost-effective, resilient path for growing markets across the West,” said Phillips 66 Chairman and CEO Mark Lashier. “This project will connect our Central Corridor and Gulf Coast refining assets to our West Coast and Southwest Marketing assets and demonstrates the value of our integrated business model and the opportunities it creates.”
Kinder Morgan CEO Kim Dang added, “This project brings together strategic supply access, existing infrastructure and experienced operators to improve affordability and assurance of supply for customers in the Western United States. Kinder Morgan is proud to contribute its long-standing presence and decades of experience safely and reliably serving the region’s energy needs. We expect to earn attractive returns on our investment based on the incremental project earnings above those of our contributed assets.”
“We believe in the merits of Western Gateway and are proud to be a part of such a transformational endeavor shaping the fuels markets of the West,” said Franklin Myers, CEO, HF Sinclair.
Western Gateway is a proposed 1,300-mile refined products pipeline system that would create a new fuel supply path from St. Louis, Missouri, and expanded Gulf Coast origin points to Arizona and California. With a design capacity of 230,000 barrels per day, the project is also being developed to allow for future expansion with limited capital and no new pipe necessary as future demand requires. The project will include:
- Approximately 900 miles of new-build 20-inch and 24-inch pipeline from Borger, Texas, to Phoenix, Arizona. Phillips 66 will construct and operate the new-build pipeline.
- Kinder Morgan’s contribution of its existing SFPP East Line pipeline from El Paso, Texas to Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, and its SFPP West Line pipeline from Colton, California, to Phoenix, which would be reversed to move product east to west into California. Kinder Morgan will continue to operate those pipelines.
- Supply to Western Gateway would also be supported by Phillips 66’s Gold Pipeline, which will connect to the Explorer Pipeline. The Gold Pipeline would be reversed to allow refined products to flow toward Borger.
The project’s enterprise value is approximately $5.0 billion. Upon completion of the new-build pipeline from Borger into Phoenix, Kinder Morgan’s existing SFPP East Line and West Line assets would be contributed to the joint venture at a value of approximately $1.5 billion. Based on the approximately $5.0 billion enterprise value, Kinder Morgan will also make cash contributions of approximately $250 million. Phillips 66 would make cash contributions of approximately $2.5 billion, and HF Sinclair would make cash contributions of approximately $750 million to the project. The new system is underpinned by primarily 10-year, take-or-pay contracts. It is expected that the midstream project will generate attractive returns consistent with the high-quality, long-term contracted volumes that underpin the project.
The Western Gateway project is targeting completion in 2029, subject to the receipt of all permits and regulatory approvals.