Gary R. Heminger
Analyst · Macquarie
Thank you, Pam, and good morning to everyone and thank you for joining us. I know that many of you that are listening today are from the Northeast. And just let us mention that we are thinking of you, and we wish you the very best and to be safe in this very difficult and challenging time. We posted another strong financial and operational performance in the third quarter, with adjusted net income of $1.1 billion, which is comparable with our results for the third quarter last year. These positive financial results are primarily attributed to our Refining & Marketing segment, where we were able to capture benefits from favorable market conditions. In addition, we believe our focus on safe and efficient operations allowed us to utilize our assets at optimal levels and provide us a strategic advantage. Upgrades to our Detroit refinery are nearly complete and remain on-budget and on-schedule. Shortly after Labor Day, we began a 70-day planned turnaround to tie in the new units. The turnaround has gone according to plan, and we are in the early stages of startup and gradually ramping up operations with the upgraded and expanded refinery online later this month. When completed, these upgrades should allow us to lower our feedstock cost and capture incremental value from a heavier crude oil slate. Once the refinery is running at its new capacity of 120,000 barrels per day, the plant's heavy crude oil processing capacity will increase from 20,000 to 100,000 barrels per day. As we've shared in the past, using the LLS to WCS spread of 2006 to 2010 and for 2011, respectively, the incremental EBITDA from this project could be $200 million to $350 million per year. Over the past few weeks, we announced 2 significant corporate developments. On October 8, we announced we had signed an agreement to acquire BP's Texas City Texas refinery and relay the logistics and marketing assets. The refinery is one of the largest and most complex refineries in the U.S., with a Nelson Complexity Index of 15.3. This is unique opportunity to acquire world-scale refining assets at an attractive price. In addition to the 451,000 barrel per calendar day refinery, the agreement also includes 1,040 megawatt cogen facility, 4 terminals, 3 intrastate NGL pipelines, contracts representing 1,200 brand locations and 50,000 barrels per day of assigned shipper history on Colonial Pipeline. This refinery and related assets will strategically complement our existing business and provide an opportunity to create additional long-term value for our shareholders. We expect to close the transaction early in 2013. Also, early in October, our 80,000 barrel per day Texas City refinery was certified as a Voluntary Protection Program Star site by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. I'm proud of our employees' commitment to safety and operational excellence, and I commend all of our Texas City refinery personnel on this significant achievement. I firmly believe that our commitment to safety is one of the strongest components of our operational advantage in this very challenging industry. And last week, we announced the completion of an Initial Public Offering of MPLX. We intend for MPLX to be MPC's primary vehicle for ownership, operation and growth of our midstream business. The common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MPLX. Garry Peiffer is President of MPLX, and I've asked Garry to cover this in more detail in just a few minutes. We believe the formation and Initial Public Offering of MPLX has the potential to unlock shareholder value and improve our ability to participate in the ongoing expansion of logistics to transport the rapidly growing North American crude and natural gas production to consuming markets. Turning to demand. We estimate that U.S. gasoline demand was down about 0.3% and distillate demand was down 3% in the third quarter 2012 compared to a year ago. We expect U.S. gasoline demand to remain soft through the remainder of 2012 and expect total year 2012 demand to be down approximately 0.2%. Full year distillate demand is expected to decline about 1.9% in 2012. Looking ahead into 2013, we expect U.S. gasoline demand to be flat and distillate demand to be up about 3.7%. In addition, we expect export opportunities to remain attractive in 2013. Our distillate exports rose to 112,000 barrels per day during the third quarter compared to 73,000 barrels per day in the same quarter last year. Strong cash flow from operations provides a means for organic investments in the business, to make selective acquisitions like the BP transaction and to return capital to shareholders. Since becoming an independent public company in 2011 -- excuse me, in July of 2011, we have returned over $1.2 billion to shareholders through a combination of a 75% increase in our base dividend and share repurchases. We also have $1.15 billion remaining under the current board authorization for the repurchase of shares. Our mission continues to be value creation for our investors, incorporating a balance between internal and external investment and return of capital to shareholders. Now I will ask Garry Peiffer to provide a little more color on the recently-completed IPO of MPLX.