FINDLAY, Ohio, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) today announced it has purchased an eastern U.S. Gulf Coast export terminal with 4 million barrels of third-party leased storage capacity and a 120,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) dock from Pin Oak Holdings, LLC, for approximately $450 million. The transaction will be financed with a combination of cash from operations and debt. This facility has the capability to significantly expand its storage capacity to 10 million barrels and is permitted for construction of a second 120,000 bpd dock. This growth potential is significant, as multiple pipelines and rail lines cross the property, and the terminal is positioned as an aggregation point for liquids growth in the region for both ocean-going vessels and inland barges. As the facility expands, this investment is expected to generate a mid-teens percent return.

The facility, which will be known as MPLX's Mt. Airy Terminal, is strategically located on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, near nine lower-Mississippi refineries, including Marathon Petroleum Corporation's (NYSE: MPC) Garyville refinery. The Mt. Airy facility can handle multiple refined products, as well as residual fuel and bunker products to provide optionality and flexibility of feedstocks and finished products in a single location.

"This acquisition provides an excellent platform for MPLX, as production growth and refining output increase the requirement for additional export capacity," said Michael J. Hennigan, president of MPLX. "With a prime location on the Mississippi River and proximity to over 2 million barrels per day of refining capacity, this terminal will serve as a platform to meet growing export needs, expand our third-party business, and give MPLX tremendous flexibility to help its customers meet upcoming International Maritime Organization fuel standards."

About MPLX LP

MPLX is a diversified, growth-oriented master limited partnership formed in 2012 by Marathon Petroleum Corporation to own, operate, develop and acquire midstream energy infrastructure assets. MPLX is engaged in the gathering, processing and transportation of natural gas; the gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage and marketing of NGLs; the transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil and refined petroleum products; and the refining logistics and fuels distributions services through a marine fleet and approximately 10,000 miles of crude oil and light product pipelines. Headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, MPLX's assets consist of a network of crude oil and products pipelines and supporting assets, including storage facilities (tank farms) located in the Midwest and Gulf Coast regions of the United States; 62 light-product terminals with approximately 24 million barrels of storage capacity; an inland marine business; storage caverns with approximately 2.8 million barrels of storage capacity; a barge dock facility with approximately 78,000 barrels per day of crude oil and product throughput capacity; tanks with storage capacity of approximately 56 million barrels as well as refinery docks, loading racks and associated piping; and gathering and processing assets that include approximately 5.9 billion cubic feet per day of gathering capacity, 8.7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas processing capacity and 610,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity.

Investor Relations Contacts:
Kristina Kazarian (419) 421-2071

Media Contacts:
Chuck Rice (419) 421-2521

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, statements with respect to forecasts regarding expansion plans for the opportunities discussed above, as well as MPLX's future growth and results of operations. You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "design," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "guidance," "imply," "intend," "objective," "opportunity," "outlook," "plan," "platform," "position," "pursue," "prospective," "predict," "project," "potential," "seek," "strategy," "target," "could," "may," "should," "would," "will"  or other similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the control of the company and are difficult to predict. Factors that could impact the opportunities described above are: the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices and demand for crude oil, refined products, feedstocks or other hydrocarbon-based products; continued/further volatility in and/or degradation of market and industry conditions; changes to the expected construction costs and timing of projects; completion of capacity by our competitors; the ability to obtain required regulatory approvals on a timely basis; the occurrence of an operational hazard or unforeseen interruption; and the factors set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in MPLX's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition, the forward-looking statements included herein could be affected by general domestic and international economic and political conditions. Unpredictable or unknown factors not discussed here or in MPLX's Form 10-K could also have material adverse effects on forward-looking statements. Copies of MPLX's Form 10-K are available on the SEC website, MPLX's website at http://ir.mplx.com or by contacting MPLX's Investor Relations office.

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SOURCE MPLX LP