(New throughout, adds details from earnings conference call)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Energy Transfer, a leading energy company, reported third quarter 2023 earnings that slightly missed Wall Street expectations. However, the company achieved record-breaking volumes in natural gas liquids (NGL) and crude transportation.
Energy Transfer’s adjusted earnings for the third quarter of 2023 stood at $0.33 per share, falling slightly below the analyst consensus of $0.34 per share, according to LSEG data.
Furthermore, Energy Transfer’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization during the quarter amounted to $3.54 billion, compared to $3.09 billion in the previous year.
Looking ahead, the company projects its full-year 2023 adjusted EBITDA to range between $13.5 billion and $13.6 billion. Additionally, Energy Transfer anticipates its 2023 growth capital expenditures to be slightly below the previously announced guidance of $2.0 billion.
An outstanding achievement for Energy Transfer was the increase in NGL transportation volumes by 14%, setting a new company record. Similarly, crude transportation volumes experienced a notable gain of 23%, also reaching a record high. Additionally, the company saw its NGL exports surge by over 20%, marking yet another record-breaking achievement.
During a conference call held to announce the earnings, Chief Executive Thomas Long revealed that September and October were the “best months ever” for the company’s NGL export terminals. This was attributed to the growing demand from both the domestic and international markets.
Energy Transfer has plans to expand its Nederland export terminal, which is expected to provide an additional export capacity of up to 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) by mid-2025. Construction for this expansion is already underway.
Furthermore, the company had previously intended to file an application for new export authorization for its Lake Charles LNG facility project. However, the U.S. Department of Energy denied the company’s request to extend the construction deadline for the project. Executives expressed hope that a decision from the DOE would be reached by mid-first quarter 2024.
In another significant development during the third quarter of 2023, Energy Transfer successfully placed its eighth fractionator into service at its Mont Belvieu, Texas facility, thereby increasing the company’s total fractionation capacity to over 1.15 million barrels per day (bpd).
Lastly, Energy Transfer announced its plans to acquire Crestwood Equity Partners, a company that owns gathering and processing assets in key basins. The transaction is expected to be completed on November 3, as stated in the earnings release.
Stephanie Kelly, a reporter with Reuters, contributed to this article. It has been edited by Lisa Shumaker.
