Targa Resources Corp (TRGP) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Targa Resources Corporation Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Webcast Presentation. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Sanjay Lad, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎觀看 Targa Resources Corporation 2023 年第二季財報網路廣播展示。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人、財務和投資者關係副總裁桑傑·拉德 (Sanjay Lad)。

Thanks, Tes. Good morning, and welcome to the Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call for Targa Resources Corp. The second quarter earnings release, along with the second quarter earnings supplement presentation for Targa Resources that accompany our call are available on our website at targaresources.com in the Investors section. In addition, an updated investor presentation has also been posted to our website. Statements made during this call that might include Targa Resources' expectations or predictions should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. For a discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to our latest SEC filings.

謝謝，泰斯。早安，歡迎參加Targa Resources Corp 的2023 年第二季財報電話會議。第二季財報發布以及電話會議隨附的Targa Resources 第二季財報補充說明可在我們的網站targaresources.com 上的投資者中獲取。部分。此外，更新後的投資者介紹也已發佈到我們的網站上。本次電話會議期間發表的可能包含Targa Resources 預期或預測的聲明應被視為1934 年《證券交易法》第21E 條含義內的前瞻性聲明。實際結果可能與前瞻性聲明中預測的結果有重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果不同的因素的討論，請參閱我們最新的 SEC 文件。

Our speakers for the call today will be Matt Meloy, Chief Executive Officer; and Jen Kneale, Chief Financial Officer. Additionally, the following senior management team members will also be available for Q&A: Pat McDonie, President, Gathering and Processing; Scott Pryor, President, Logistics and Transportation; and Bobby Muraro, Chief Commercial Officer.

今天電話會議的發言人是執行長馬特梅洛伊 (Matt Meloy)；和財務長 Jen Kneale。此外，以下高階管理團隊成員也將參與問答：Pat McDonie，收集和處理總裁； Scott Pryor，物流與運輸總裁；和首席商務官鮑比·穆拉羅 (Bobby Muraro)。

And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Matt.

現在，我將把電話轉給馬特。

Thanks, Sanjay, and good morning. The second quarter results were consistent with our expectations as the strength of our business drove record volumes for the quarter, which really set us up well for a strong year. Adjusted EBITDA was lower sequentially given our significant marketing gains in the first quarter, but consistent with previous disclosures, we expect EBITDA to ramp over the balance of the year and we remain confident in our full year 2023 adjusted EBITDA estimate of $3.5 billion to $3.7 billion.

謝謝桑傑，早安。第二季的業績與我們的預期一致，因為我們的業務實力推動了該季度創紀錄的銷量，這確實為我們強勁的一年奠定了良好的基礎。鑑於我們在第一季取得了顯著的營銷收益，調整後的EBITDA 環比較低，但與之前披露的情況一致，我們預計EBITDA 將超過今年剩餘時間，並且我們對2023 年全年調整後EBITDA 預計為35 億美元至37 億美元仍充滿信心。

During the second quarter, we had record volumes in the Permian, driving record NGL transportation and fractionation volumes downstream. We fully brought online our Legacy II Plant in Permian Midland and commenced operations on our Midway plant in Permian Delaware, and we executed on a quarterly record $149 million of common share repurchases which is reflective of our strong conviction in the outlook for our business going forward.

第二季度，我們在二疊紀盆地的運輸量創歷史新高，推動了下游液化天然氣運輸和分餾量創紀錄。我們在二疊紀米德蘭的Legacy II 工廠全面上線，並在特拉華州二疊紀的Midway 工廠開始運營，我們執行了創紀錄的1.49 億美元的季度普通股回購，這反映了我們對未來業務前景的堅定信念。

Natural gas volumes across our Permian systems continue to grow and the recent completion of our Legacy II and Midway Plants provide us with incremental Midland and Delaware processing capacity to handle a continued ramp in inlet volumes driving incremental volumes through our integrated NGL downstream assets. Given our increasing Permian volumes and consistent with our previous messaging that we are already ordering long lead items, today, we officially announced our next plant in the Permian Midland and our next plant in the Permian Delaware to support the infrastructure needs of our producer customers.

我們的二疊紀系統的天然氣產量持續增長，最近竣工的Legacy II 和Midway 工廠為我們提供了增量的米德蘭和特拉華加工能力，以應對入口量的持續增長，透過我們的綜合NGL下游資產推動增量產量。鑑於我們的二疊紀產量不斷增加，並且與我們先前的消息一致，即我們已經訂購了長交貨期的產品，今天，我們正式宣布我們在二疊紀米德蘭的下一個工廠和在二疊紀特拉華州的下一個工廠，以支援我們生產商客戶的基礎設施需求。

We continue to estimate 2023 growth CapEx spending of between $2 billion and $2.2 billion, and all of our previously announced projects remain on track and on budget. As we think about 2024 growth capital, we will continue to have spending to complete a number of our major projects already underway, including frac Trains 9 and 10, the majority of capital on our Daytona NGL pipeline and 5 Permian gas plants driving expenditures for 2024, which may approximate spending levels similar to 2023.

我們繼續預計 2023 年資本支出成長將在 20 億至 22 億美元之間，並且我們先前宣布的所有項目仍按計劃進行且符合預算。當我們考慮2024 年的成長資本時，我們將繼續支出來完成一些已經在進行的主要項目，包括壓裂列車9 和10、我們的代托納NGL 管道和5 個二疊紀天然氣廠的大部分資本，推動2024 年的支出，支出水準可能與 2023 年類似。

Growth capital spend beyond '24 is likely to come down as we will have caught up on the downstream side of the business as those major growth capital projects will be complete. Investing in organic growth projects across our core integrated footprint provides Targa with attractive returns and puts us in a strong position to continue to return incremental capital to our shareholders.

24 年後的成長資本支出可能會下降，因為隨著這些主要成長資本項目的完成，我們將趕上下游業務。投資於我們核心綜合業務的有機成長項目為 Targa 提供了有吸引力的回報，並使我們處於有利地位，可以繼續向股東返還增量資本。

Let's now discuss our operations in more detail. Starting in the Permian, high activity levels continue across our dedicated acreage. Our systems across the Midland and Delaware basins, averaged of record 5.1 billion cubic feet per day of reported inlet volumes during the second quarter, increasing 5% sequentially. In Permian Midland, we continue to see strong producer activity and our system continues to operate near capacity. Capacity for our new Legacy II Plant became fully available partway through the second quarter and is currently running near full. Our next Midland plant, Greenwood remains on track to begin operations in the late fourth quarter of 2023 and is expected to be highly utilized when it comes online.

現在讓我們更詳細地討論我們的操作。從二疊紀開始，我們的專用區域繼續保持高活動水平。我們的系統遍布米德蘭和特拉華盆地，第二季報告的進水量平均每天達到創紀錄的 51 億立方英尺，比上一季增加 5%。在二疊紀米德蘭，我們繼續看到強勁的生產者活動，我們的系統繼續接近產能運作。我們新的 Legacy II 工廠的產能在第二季中期全面投入使用，目前已接近滿載運轉。我們的下一個米德蘭工廠 Greenwood 仍有望在 2023 年第四季末開始運營，預計上線後將得到高度利用率。

In Permian Delaware, activity and volumes across our footprint are also running strong. Our Midway plant commenced operations late in the second quarter and is providing much needed incremental processing capacity. Midway became fully operational this week, and we idled our Sand Hills facility. These actions will increase operational reliability and enhance plant recoveries for our customers.

在德拉瓦州二疊紀，我們足跡的活動和數量也表現強勁。我們的中途島工廠於第二季末開始運營，正在提供急需的增量加工能力。中途島本周全面投入運營，我們閒置了沙山工廠。這些行動將提高客戶的營運可靠性並增強工廠恢復能力。

Our Wildcat II and Roadrunner II Plants remain on track to begin operations in the first and second quarters of 2024, respectively, and both plants are expected to start up highly utilized given the robust activity across our entire Delaware footprint. We are currently offloading an average of around 70 million cubic feet per day of gas in the Permian and are in the process of adding significant compression horsepower during the balance of the year and are continuing to see strong producer activity across our acreage, which gives us the confidence that we remain on track for our average 2023 Permian inlet gas volumes to increase 10% over the fourth quarter of 2022.

我們的 Wildcat II 和 Roadrunner II 工廠仍有望分別於 2024 年第一季和第二季開始運營，鑑於我們整個特拉華州業務的強勁活動，預計這兩個工廠都將高度利用率啟動。目前，我們在二疊紀地區平均每天卸載約 7000 萬立方英尺的天然氣，並且正在今年剩餘時間內顯著增加壓縮馬力，並且我們整個區域的生產商活動持續強勁，這使我們能夠我們相信，2023年二疊紀平均入口天然氣量將比2022 年第四季增加10%。

In our Central region in the Badlands, our combined natural gas volumes increased 3% sequentially, and we are currently not seeing any material change in activity across our producer customers despite lower commodity prices. Shifting to our Logistics and Transportation segment, Targa's NGL pipeline transportation volumes were a record 621,000 barrels per day and fractionation volumes were a record 794,000 barrels per day during the second quarter. The ramp in supply volumes from our Permian systems and third parties drove the record sequential increase in NGL transportation. Additionally, Grand Prix pipeline volumes also benefited from the expiration of certain medium-term commitments we had on third-party pipes.

在荒地中部地區，我們的天然氣總量較上季成長了 3%，儘管大宗商品價格較低，但目前我們的生產商客戶的活動並沒有發生任何重大變化。轉向我們的物流和運輸部門，第二季度 Targa 的 NGL 管道運輸量達到創紀錄的每天 621,000 桶，分餾量達到創紀錄的每天 794,000 桶。我們的二疊紀系統和第三方供應量的增加推動了液化天然氣運輸的創紀錄連續增長。此外，大獎賽管道銷售也受益於我們對第三方管道的某些中期承諾的到期。

Our fractionation facilities in Mont Belvieu remain highly utilized and the restart of GCF will provide some much-needed capacity when it is fully restarted in the first quarter of 2024, and we expect to continue and we continue to expect our Train 9 fractionator to be highly utilized when it commences operations during the second quarter of 2024. Our recently announced Train 10 fractionator is expected to be much needed given the expected continued growth in our G&P business and plant expansions and remains on track for the first quarter of 2025.

我們在 Mont Belvieu 的分餾設施仍然保持高度利用率，GCF 的重啟將在 2024 年第一季完全重啟時提供一些急需的產能，我們預計將繼續，並且繼續預計我們的 Train 9 分餾塔將高度運作於2024 年第二季開始營運時使用。考慮到我們的G&P 業務和工廠擴建的預期持續增長，我們最近宣布的Train 10 分餾塔預計將非常需要，並且在2025 年第一季仍將按計劃進行。

At Galena Park, we loaded an average of 9.2 million barrels per month of LPGs during the second quarter. In the third quarter, our loading capability will be reduced for about a month due to a portion of our facility undergoing its required 10-year inspection. Our low-cost expansion project increased our propane loading capabilities with an incremental 1 million barrels per month of capacity will be complete this quarter and we expect our loadings to ramp after the inspection is complete and through the balance of 2023.

在 Galena Park，我們第二季平均每月裝載 920 萬桶液化石油氣。第三季度，由於我們的部分設施正在進行所需的 10 年檢查，我們的裝載能力將減少約一個月。我們的低成本擴建項目提高了我們的丙烷裝載能力，每月增加 100 萬桶的產能將於本季度完成，我們預計我們的裝載量將在檢查完成後和 2023 年剩餘時間內逐步增加。

We are excited about the long-term outlook at Targa and remain focused on executing our strategic priorities. We believe that we offer a unique value proposition for our shareholders and potential shareholders, growing EBITDA, growing the dividend and reducing share count while maintaining leverage within our target range. Before I turn the call over to Jen to discuss our second quarter results in more detail, I would like to extend a thank you to the Targa team for their continued focus on safety and execution while continuing to provide best-in-class service and reliability to our customers.

我們對 Targa 的長期前景感到興奮，並繼續專注於執行我們的策略重點。我們相信，我們為股東和潛在股東提供了獨特的價值主張，增加 EBITDA、增加股息並減少股票數量，同時將槓桿率保持在我們的目標範圍內。在我打電話給 Jen 更詳細地討論我們第二季的業績之前，我要感謝 Targa 團隊持續專注於安全性和執行力，同時繼續提供一流的服務和可靠性給我們的客戶。

Thanks, Matt. Good morning, everyone. Targa's reported adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $789 million. The sequential decrease was predominantly attributable to the significant optimization opportunities we benefited from in our marketing and LPG export businesses during the first quarter. Higher volumes were offset by lower realized natural gas and NGL prices and higher operating expenses. As Matt mentioned, we expect adjusted EBITDA to be higher in the third and fourth quarters as we benefit from strong volume tailwinds across our Permian and downstream assets and are comfortable with our full year 2023 adjusted EBITDA estimate of between $3.5 billion and $3.7 billion. We are well hedged across all commodities for the balance of 2023 and continue to add hedges for 2024 and beyond.

謝謝，馬特。大家，早安。 Targa 公佈的第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 7.89 億美元。環比下降主要歸因於第一季我們在行銷和液化石油氣出口業務中受益的重大優化機會。銷售量的增加被天然氣和液化天然氣價格的下降以及營運費用的增加所抵消。正如馬特所提到的，我們預計第三季和第四季調整後EBITDA 將更高，因為我們受益於二疊紀和下游資產的強勁銷售順風，並對2023 年全年調整後EBITDA 預計在35 億美元至37 億美元之間感到滿意。我們在 2023 年剩餘時間內對所有商品進行了良好的對沖，並在 2024 年及以後繼續增加對沖。

Coupled with our fee 4 contracts, we have significantly derisked our earnings and cash flow outlook while preserving the upside when commodity prices increase. Inclusive of our newly announced Greenwood II and Bull Moose plants in the Permian, there is no change to our estimate for 2023 growth capital spending of between $2 billion and $2.2 billion. Our current year estimate for net maintenance capital spending remains $175 million. At quarter end, we had $2.2 billion of available liquidity and our pro forma leverage was at the midpoint of our long-term leverage ratio target range, which provides us with a lot of flexibility looking forward.

加上我們的 Fee 4 合約，我們大大降低了盈利和現金流前景的風險，同時在大宗商品價格上漲時保持了上漲空間。包括我們新宣布的二疊紀盆地 Greenwood II 和 Bull Moose 工廠在內，我們對 2023 年成長資本支出的預測沒有變化，即 20 億美元至 22 億美元之間。我們今年對淨維護資本支出的估計仍為 1.75 億美元。截至季末，我們擁有 22 億美元的可用流動性，我們的備考槓桿率處於長期槓桿率目標範圍的中點，這為我們未來提供了很大的靈活性。

We continue to expect year-end leverage around the midpoint of our long-term leverage ratio target range of 3 to 4x, maintaining a strong investment-grade balance sheet across cycles continues to be a priority. Our balance sheet strength remains the foundation that affords us the financial flexibility to continue to execute on our strategic priorities. That is investing in high-returning integrated projects and prudently returning an increasing amount of capital to our shareholders. The strength of our balance sheet and outlook were recognized recently by both Fitch and S&P that place Targa on positive watch.

我們仍預期年終槓桿率將在 3 至 4 倍長期槓桿率目標範圍的中點左右，跨週期保持強勁的投資級資產負債表仍然是首要任務。我們的資產負債表實力仍然是為我們提供財務靈活性以繼續執行我們的策略重點的基礎。就是投資高回報的綜合項目，審慎地向股東返還越來越多的資本。我們的資產負債表實力和前景最近得到了惠譽和標準普爾的認可，對 Targa 給予了積極的關注。

We repurchased a quarterly record $149 million of common shares in the second quarter at a weighted average price of $71.37 per share and have repurchased over $200 million in common stock through the first half of the year. During the quarter, we exhausted our $500 million share repurchase program and had about $943 million remaining under our $1 billion share repurchase program as of June 30.

我們在第二季以每股 71.37 美元的加權平均價格回購了創紀錄的 1.49 億美元普通股，並在今年上半年回購了超過 2 億美元的普通股。本季度，我們用盡了 5 億美元的股票回購計劃，截至 6 月 30 日，我們的 10 億美元股票回購計劃剩餘約 9.43 億美元。

Looking ahead, we have significant flexibility to continue to execute under our opportunistic repurchase framework and further increase our return of capital to shareholders and reduce our share count over time. Lastly, I'd like to echo Matt and extend a thank you to our employees for their continued focus on safety and commitment to Targa.

展望未來，我們擁有很大的靈活性，可以繼續在機會主義回購框架下執行，進一步提高股東的資本回報率，並隨著時間的推移減少我們的股份數量。最後，我想呼應馬特，並向我們的員工表示感謝，感謝他們對安全的持續關注和對 Targa 的承諾。

And with that, I will turn the call back over to Sanjay.

然後，我會將電話轉回桑傑。

Thanks, Jen. (Operator Instructions) Tes, we are ready for the Q&A session.

謝謝，珍。 （操作員指示）那麼，我們準備好進行問答環節了。

(Operator Instructions) Theresa Chen from Barclays.

（操作員指示）來自巴克萊銀行的Theresa Chen。

First, I'd like to touch on the CapEx outlook over the medium to long term. To your comments earlier, Matt, about 2024 being similar to 2023, and then beyond that, the expectations for cap to step down. Do you have a sense of what do you think a post-2024 run rate CapEx could look like? And then on the heels of that, in terms of capital allocation, what do you view the split in the return of capital to shareholders between dividend growth and buybacks as that free cash flow generation becomes more visible?

首先，我想談談中長期資本支出前景。馬特，根據您先前的評論，2024 年與 2023 年類似，除此之外，預計上限將會降低。您是否知道 2024 年後的資本支出運作率會是什麼樣子？緊隨其後，在資本配置方面，隨著自由現金流的產生變得更加明顯，您如何看待股利成長和回購之間的股東資本回報率差異？

Yes. Sure, Theresa. I talked about capital for 2024 and pointed to really some of the major projects. So let's talk about Daytona most of the spending we're going to have on Daytona is next year. We have 2 fractionators, Train 9 and Train 10, and we're also spending some money this year on GCF. So we're that's not a normal cadence to have that much fractionation being added, the lion's share of a transportation NGL pipeline being added is kind of higher than normal. Now we have a lot of that spending in 2023, too. And so that's why when you look at the major projects, those are the ones we see in process through '23 and then through 24.

是的。當然，特蕾莎。我談到了 2024 年的資本，並指出了一些重大項目。那麼，讓我們來談談代托納，我們在代托納上的大部分支出都是明年。我們有 2 個分餾器，Train 9 和 Train 10，今年我們也在 GCF 上花了一些錢。因此，添加如此多的分餾並不是正常的節奏，添加的運輸液化天然氣管道的最大份額比正常情況要高。現在我們在 2023 年也有很多這樣的支出。這就是為什麼當你查看主要項目時，我們會看到這些項目從 23 年到 24 年間一直在進行中。

Once the fractionation Train 9 and 10 in Daytona are on line by the end of '24, then we do see a step down kind of thereafter. I don't have that exactly what it's going to look like as a run rate, what that would be. But we do see that stepping down because the lion's share of the spending for those large projects come off and it's adding our processing plants and some of the other kind of normal course capital that we have.

一旦代托納的 9 號和 10 號列車在 24 年底上線，我們確實會看到此後有所下降。我不知道運行率到底會是什麼樣子，那會是什麼樣子。但我們確實看到了這種做法的減少，因為這些大型項目的大部分支出都減少了，而且增加了我們的加工廠和我們擁有的其他一些正常資本。

And then in terms of return of capital, our focus has been investing in our core business that gets really good returns for us. So we're going to continue to focus on investing in both the G&P side and the downstream side to take care of our volumes for our customers. And then that should provide good EBITDA growth and good ability for us to continue to return capital to shareholders, meaningfully increasing the dividend, meaningfully buying back shares. And so I think it's going to be a little bit of all of the above approach, investing in our business, increasing the dividend and repurchasing shares. And you saw us repurchase a significant amount of shares in the second quarter. So I think it's going to be all of those things.

然後就資本回報而言，我們的重點一直是投資我們的核心業務，這為我們帶來了非常好的回報。因此，我們將繼續專注於投資於 G&P 方面和下游方面，以照顧我們的客戶的產量。然後，這將為我們提供良好的 EBITDA 成長和良好的能力，以繼續向股東返還資本，有意義地增加股息，有意義地回購股票。所以我認為這將是上述所有方法的一部分，投資我們的業務，增加股息和回購股票。你看到我們在第二季回購了大量股票。所以我認為這將是所有這些事情。

And then looking to the second half of 2023, clearly, there's been a lot of volatility on the NGL side, whether in terms of pricing or volumes or different parts of the value chain across the industry. What is your implied contribution in the second half for NGL marketing to hit your guidance for the year?

展望 2023 年下半年，顯然，無論是在定價、銷售或整個產業價值鏈的不同部分方面，NGL 方面都存在著很大的波動。您下半年對 NGL 行銷達到全年指導目標的隱含貢獻是什麼？

We had a really strong first quarter in terms of marketing, really across our export business, across gas marketing, NGL marketing and we have some seasonality in the wholesale marketing business. In the second quarter, I would say it was relatively modest amount of marketing, kind of probably a low point for us. If you look at it through the year. So we have some expectation for more normalized kind of marketing as you go into second and third -- sorry, into the third and fourth quarter but nothing like we saw kind of at the beginning part of the year. We're starting to see some opportunities for spreads to open up, we can capture some, but there's not any kind of outsized amount baked in for the second half of the year.

我們在行銷方面的第一季表現非常強勁，尤其是在我們的出口業務、天然氣行銷、液化天然氣行銷方面，而且我們在批發行銷業務方面也有一些季節性。在第二季度，我想說行銷量相對較小，對我們來說可能是一個低點。如果你從這一年來看的話。因此，當進入第二季度和第三季度時，我們對更標準化的行銷有一些期望——抱歉，進入第三季度和第四季度，但沒有像我們在今年年初看到的那樣。我們開始看到一些價差擴大的機會，我們可以抓住一些機會，但今年下半年並沒有出現任何巨額金額。

And on the LPG export side, you may have heard that we announced on this call that we expect the facility or parts of the facility on the export side to be down for a month as we complete the required 10-year review of the facilities. So that will impact the third quarter. And to the extent, though, that we see good demand internationally in the fourth quarter, we will have completed our 1 million-barrel per month expansion, Galena Park, and we'll have that inspection behind us. We'll have a lot more flexibility to move additional cargoes in the fourth quarter on the LPG export side to the extent that there is global demand for additional volumes.

在液化石油氣出口方面，您可能聽說我們在這次電話會議上宣布，我們預計出口方面的設施或部分設施將關閉一個月，因為我們完成了所需的設施十年審查。這將影響第三季。不過，就我們在第四季度看到的國際需求而言，我們將完成每月 100 萬桶的擴建，方鉛礦公園，我們將進行檢查。根據全球對額外數量的需求，我們將在第四季度在液化石油氣出口方面擁有更大的靈活性來運輸更多貨物。

One moment for our next question. Jeremy Tonet from JPMorgan Securities.

請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。摩根大通證券公司的傑里米·託內特 (Jeremy Tonet)。

Appreciate that we are not giving '24 guidance at this juncture, but just wondering if you could help us sketch out the future a little bit more. Clearly, a lot of capital being deployed, very accretive terms, a lot of growth in the Permian. But is there any flavor you could give us for what post-2023 Targa trajectory could look like, just given the amount of capital being deployed?

感謝我們此時此刻沒有提供 24 小時指導，只是想知道您是否可以幫助我們更多地勾勒未來。顯然，二疊紀盆地投入了大量資本，增值性很強，成長迅速。但是，考慮到所部署的資本數量，您能否為我們介紹一下 2023 年後 Targa 的發展軌跡？

Jeremy, this is Jen. I think that part of our conviction around all things target right now, is the fact that we do see such a strong multiyear growth outlook on the EBITDA side. I don't think we're at a point where we want to articulate any advanced guidance for 2024. Really, it will largely be dependent on the producer forecast that we receive as we go through our planning forecast this fall. But certainly, we expect the assets that we have in progress right now to be very highly utilized when they come online. That's part of what we said this morning. And with that, volume growth, filling those facilities, we would certainly expect meaningful underlying EBITDA growth in a commodity environment that looks anything like we have seen this year.

傑里米，這是珍。我認為，我們目前對所有目標的信念部分是因為我們確實看到了 EBITDA 方面如此強勁的多年增長前景。我認為我們現在不想為 2024 年制定任何高級指導。實際上，這在很大程度上取決於我們在今年秋天進行規劃預測時收到的生產商預測。但當然，我們預計目前正在進行的資產上線後將高度利用。這是我們今天早上所說的一部分。隨著銷售量的成長，填充這些設施，我們肯定會期望在大宗商品環境中實現有意義的基本 EBITDA 成長，就像我們今年所看到的那樣。

Got it. So is it fair to say the volumes would deliver strong growth year-over-year. This not like a step down with the hedging book, that's a big offset. Just trying to think gives and takes as we look forward here.

知道了。因此，可以公平地說，銷量將實現同比強勁增長。這不像是對沖帳簿的縮減，這是一個很大的抵消。當我們在這裡展望時，只是試著思考給予和索取。

As I think about hedge prices right now for 2024 relative to where they are this year, I wouldn't say that there's a step down both natural gas and NGL prices sort of approximate same prices for '23 in 2024. So I really think it's the volumes that are going to drive significant underlying EBITDA growth for us. Begins in the Permian Basin and then increasing Permian Basin volumes, of course, moving through our transportation and fractionation assets and then having those volumes available either to sell domestically or into the export market is really what positions us so well not only for 2024, but beyond that and is part of what is driving our conviction in the Targa story.

當我考慮 2024 年相對於今年的對沖價格時，我不會說天然氣和 NGL 價格都會下降，與 2024 年 23 年的價格大致相同。所以我真的認為這是這些銷量將為我們帶來顯著的基本EBITDA 成長。當然，從二疊紀盆地開始，然後增加二疊紀盆地的產量，透過我們的運輸和分餾資產，然後將這些產量用於國內銷售或進入出口市場，這確實是我們不僅在 2024 年，而且在除此之外，這也是我們對Targa 故事充滿信心的部分原因。

Got it. That's very helpful. And just looking at the midstream industry more broadly, we've seen some kind of bigger moves take place some mergers out there. And just wondering if we're in the midst of a period of industry consolidation, how does Targa think about that? What's Targa's role moving forward here?

知道了。這非常有幫助。只要更廣泛地觀察中游產業，我們就可以看到一些更大的舉措正在發生，其中包括一些合併。只是想知道我們是否正處於產業整合時期，Targa 對此有何看法？ Targa 在這裡扮演什麼角色？

Yes. Jeremy, we are really focused on investing in our core business we have a lot of really attractive organic growth opportunities with a budget of $2 billion to $2.2 billion this year and significant capital spending next year as well. Those are really good projects for us. We've seen significant volume growth. You saw our volumes really move up across Permian across the NGL footprint here in the second quarter. We expect continued growth the back half of '23 and into '24 and '25. So we're really focused on what we can do on an organic growth basis. That's the focus. That's where we're going to get the best returns. And so what others are doing, it's interesting. We pay attention, but our focus is on our core business.

是的。傑里米，我們真的專注於投資我們的核心業務，我們有很多真正有吸引力的有機成長機會，今年的預算為 20 億至 22 億美元，明年的資本支出也很大。這些對我們來說確實是很好的項目。我們看到了銷量的顯著成長。您看到第二季度我們在二疊紀 NGL 足跡中的銷量確實有所上升。我們預計 23 年後半段以及 24 年和 25 年將持續成長。因此，我們真正關注的是在有機成長的基礎上我們能做些什麼。這就是重點。這就是我們將獲得最佳回報的地方。所以其他人正在做的事情很有趣。我們關注，但我們的重點是我們的核心業務。

Thank you. As we proceed to our next question. Michael Blum from Wells Fargo.

謝謝。當我們繼續討論下一個問題。富國銀行的麥可布魯姆。

I wanted to just go back to LPG exports for a second, notwithstanding the planned downtime in Q3. I was wondering if you could just speak to what you're seeing in end market demand for the balance of the year?

儘管計劃在第三季停工，但我想暫時回到液化石油氣出口。我想知道您是否可以談談您對今年剩餘時間的終端市場需求的看法？

Yes, Michael this is Scott. We continue to see good demand across our dock. Obviously, in the first quarter, we benefited from the outline that Matt communicated earlier. And then in the second quarter, we've seen less spot opportunities. Some of that's just been driven by a less arb in the overall marketplace. We've seen some headwinds as it relates to freight economics that has tightened things up. And just when you think about just the overall seasonal demand that we came off of from the first quarter.

是的，邁克爾，這是斯科特。我們繼續看到碼頭上的良好需求。顯然，在第一季度，我們受益於馬特之前傳達的大綱。然後在第二季度，我們看到的現貨機會減少了。其中一些只是由於整個市場套利減少所致。我們看到了一些與貨運經濟相關的不利因素，這使得情況變得更加緊張。當你考慮我們從第一季開始的整體季節性需求。

When we go into the third quarter, again, we continue to extend the existing contracts that we have, adding contracts -- excuse me, adding contracts to our portfolio, especially as we have the expansion project coming on during this third quarter, where we are getting some benefit as it relates to that today. When we look at the third quarter, despite the downtime that we were going to have because of the mandatory inspection that we have on some of our vessels at the facility, we would expect our third quarter volumes to be similar or better than what we saw in the second quarter. And then as Jen alluded to, when we look at the fourth quarter with the expansion online, with a ramp-up in demand, the seasonal demand that we typically see in the fourth quarter or the first quarter we just really see a good outlook for that. Volumes through our systems will continue to ramp up, and we just view that as a very positive for us overall.

當我們進入第三季度時，我們再次繼續延長我們現有的合同，增加合同——對不起，在我們的投資組合中增加合同，特別是因為我們在第三季度正在進行擴建項目，我們在那裡正在獲得一些與今天相關的好處。當我們看第三季時，儘管由於我們對工廠的一些船舶進行強制檢查而導致停工，但我們預計第三季的產量將與我們看到的相似或更好在第二季。然後，正如Jen 所提到的，當我們看到第四季度的在線擴張時，隨著需求的增加，我們通常在第四季度或第一季看到的季節性需求，我們確實看到了良好的前景那。我們系統的交易量將繼續增加，我們認為這對我們整體而言非常積極。

Got it. That's helpful. Also just wanted to ask about this recent spike we've seen in ethane prices. It's had some impacts on some processing plant efficiencies, some frac outages. Just curious if that impacted Targa at all for Q3 either positive or negative?

知道了。這很有幫助。我也只是想問一下我們最近看到的乙烷價格上漲的情況。它對一些加工廠的效率產生了一些影響，一些壓裂中斷。只是好奇這對 Targa 第三季的影響是正面還是負面？

I would say it did not impact us negatively. Ethane found itself really in a volatile market during the month of July. And some of that was brought on as the market was pinched between weeks of rejection and improved petrochemical operating rates. The petchem operating rates probably were likely just above 90% operating rates in the month of July. And along with that, with increased ethane exports. As the price ramped up, that improved some of the recovery economics as it relates to ethane rejection recovery but there's some time lags with that. So I think the market found itself in some opportunities where it spiked in order to for folks to cover various positions.

我想說這並沒有對我們產生負面影響。七月乙烷市場確實處於波動之中。其中一些是由於市場在幾週的拒絕和石化開工率提高之間受到擠壓而出現的。 7 月石化產品開工率可能略高於 90%。同時，乙烷出口量也隨之增加。隨著價格的上漲，這改善了一些回收經濟性，因為它與乙烷廢棄回收有關，但存在一些時間滯後。因此，我認為市場發現自己遇到了一些飆升的機會，以便人們可以填補各種部位。

For us, as we see those opportunities, we can utilize our storage, we can take advantage of the storage position that we have. So I would say that it was probably a net benefit to us to a certain degree but I would suggest that some of that may come later in the year than it would be in kind of the prompt month. So things feel like they're a little more balanced. Prices have now really come back down to more of a moderate level around $0.27 per gallon this morning. They feel a little more balanced. September is trading a little bit stronger than August currently, which would suggest there may be some mild tightness. But again, I think overall, things have balanced themselves out with the recovery economics improving.

對於我們來說，當我們看到這些機會時，我們可以利用我們的存儲，我們可以利用我們擁有的存儲位置。因此，我想說，這在某種程度上可能對我們來說是淨收益，但我建議其中一些收益可能會在今年稍後出現，而不是在即月的情況下。所以感覺事情變得更平衡了。今天早上，價格確實回落至每加侖 0.27 美元左右的較為溫和的水平。他們感覺更加平衡了一些。目前 9 月的交易量比 8 月稍強，這表明可能存在一些溫和的緊張。但我再次認為，整體而言，隨著經濟復甦的改善，情況已經達到平衡。

And then we will have our next question. Neel Mitra from Bank of America.

然後我們將提出下一個問題。美國銀行的尼爾·米特拉。

I just wanted to drill down a little bit more on the ongoing CapEx needs and 2 particular topics. First, it seemed like you were maybe 2 processing plants behind on leased when you acquired them. How are we trending on that? And then second, when we look at the Grand Prix expansion from North Texas to Belvieu, when would that be necessary from the volumes that you're getting from Daytona and Grand Prix?

我只是想進一步深入了解當前的資本支出需求和 2 個特定主題。首先，當你收購它們時，你似乎落後了 2 個加工廠的租賃時間。我們的趨勢如何？其次，當我們考慮大獎賽從北德克薩斯州擴展到貝爾維尤時，從代托納和大獎賽獲得的數量來看，什麼時候有必要這樣做？

Neel, this is Pat McDonie. I'll answer the first one. Listed was behind and frankly, we're still running hard to catch up. Obviously, the Red Hills plant came on shortly after the acquisition. We've added capacity at Midway, we're adding capacity pretty quickly with Wildcat II, and now we've and Roadrunner, and we've made the announcement on Bull Moose. All of those things are to get out in front of the activity level we're seeing from our producers in the Delaware Basin.

尼爾，這是派特·麥克唐尼。我來回答第一個。上市公司落後了，坦白說，我們仍在努力追趕。顯然，紅山工廠在收購後不久就投入使用了。我們已經增加了 Midway 的運力，我們很快就增加了 Wildcat II 的運力，現在我們又增加了 Roadrunner 的運力，我們也宣布了 Bull Moose 的運力。所有這些都是為了超越我們在特拉華盆地生產商看到的活動水平。

Frankly, we have a ton of compression getting set between now and the end of the year. We're still behind a little bit and we're playing catch up, and we expect to get hopefully caught up by the end of the year on that. The production is there, the drilling activities there. We just got to execute and get it connected and online. So the capacity as you're seeing in the Delaware are really directly related to the producer activity levels that we have direct line of sight to. So we're not caught up, but we're getting there.

坦白說，從現在到今年年底，我們需要進行大量的壓縮工作。我們仍然落後一點，我們正在追趕，我們希望在今年年底之前能夠趕上。生產在那裡，鑽探活動在那裡。我們只需執行並使其連接並在線即可。因此，您在特拉華州看到的產能實際上與我們直接觀察到的生產者活動水平直接相關。所以我們沒有被趕上，但我們正在實現目標。

And Neel, this is Scott. As it relates to Grand Prix and Daytona, certainly, we welcome the expansion project that we have with Daytona coming online that will complement the western portion of our Grand Prix pipeline that feeds into our South lag moving into Mont Belvieu. Recognize that the South Lag has over just over 1 million barrels a day of capacity moving into Mont Belvieu. In the fourth excuse me, in the second quarter, we moved just over 600,000 barrels a day. So we've got a lot of operating leverage as it relates to that South lag. When Daytona comes online, we had announced initially, they would have a capacity of roughly 400,000 barrels a day with a couple of pump stations that would be a part of that expansion project.

尼爾，這是斯科特。當然，由於它與大獎賽和代托納有關，我們歡迎代托納的擴建項目上線，該項目將補充我們大獎賽管道的西部部分，該管道將填補我們向貝爾維尤山的南滯後。認識到南滯後每天有超過 100 萬桶的產能進入 Mont Belvieu。第四季度，對不起，第二季度，我們每天的運輸量略高於 60 萬桶。因此，我們有很多營運槓桿，因為它與南方滯後有關。我們最初宣布，當代托納上線時，他們的產能將達到每天約 40 萬桶，並有幾個泵站，這些泵站將成為該擴建項目的一部分。

So we've got a lot of operating leverage as it relates to that. With that said, obviously, we are evaluating what is the next step for us. When for additional pipeline requirements, we're certainly going to watch and see how path plants on the Western side in the Permian continue to ramp up over time, the additive of plants over time, but we'll certainly be in a position to expand when it's necessary and evaluate that.

因此，我們擁有大量與此相關的營運槓桿。話雖如此，顯然我們正在評估下一步是什麼。當需要額外的管道需求時，我們當然會觀察二疊紀西側的道路工廠如何隨著時間的推移繼續增加，隨著時間的推移工廠的增加，但我們肯定能夠擴大規模何時有必要並進行評估。

Got it. And then as a quick follow-up on the ethane question. We were in rejection, I guess, for most of June. So did that impact results negatively for ? And then I think I heard that you would benefit later in the year from some of the higher ethane prices. And I was just wondering how you would benefit and some commentary behind that.

知道了。然後作為乙烷問題的快速跟進。我想，六月的大部分時間我們都在被拒絕。那麼這會對結果產生負面影響嗎？然後我想我聽說你們將在今年晚些時候從乙烷價格上漲中受益。我只是想知道你會如何受益以及背後的一些評論。

Yes. I think what I would allude to there is we saw some opportunities where we actually saw some contango in the marketplace on ethane that was priced later in the year and actually into 2024. So utilizing our storage, we were able to benefit from that contango market that was presented. So I would say that it's moderate levels at this point. That's something that we, obviously, with our storage have the ability to take advantage of when there is contango plays in the marketplace. Those are not present today per se, but that's where we get some slight benefits when the market moves in those directions.

是的。我想我要提到的是，我們看到了一些機會，我們實際上在乙烷市場上看到了一些期貨溢價，這些溢價將在今年晚些時候定價，實際上會持續到2024 年。因此，利用我們的存儲，我們能夠從期貨溢價市場中受益這是介紹的。所以我想說目前處於中等水平。顯然，當市場上存在期貨溢價時，我們有能力利用我們的儲存來利用這一點。這些本身在今天並不存在，但是當市場朝著這些方向發展時，我們會得到一些輕微的好處。

Got it. And was there a negative hit on volumes on your systems just from rejection that we wouldn't otherwise have seen from the heat in Texas in June?

知道了。是否僅僅因為拒絕而對您的系統容量造成了負面影響，否則我們不會因為六月德克薩斯州的高溫而看到這種情況？

I would say not really on our system. Certainly, as we watch the percentage of ethane that's contained in the raw that comes into our Mont Belvieu facility it usually is more impactful in the third-party pipeline than it is on the Grand Prix pipeline. I will say that we saw in the latter part of July and here in August that the percentage has moved up a little bit, probably more on the third-party pipes than on Grand Prix. So that is certainly an indicator that industry as a whole is recovering more of the ethane and the field, which should benefit us over time.

我想說，在我們的系統上並不是這樣。當然，當我們觀察進入貝爾維尤山工廠的原料中所含的乙烷百分比時，它在第三方管道中的影響通常比在大獎賽管道中的影響更大。我想說的是，我們在 7 月下旬和 8 月看到百分比上升，可能在第三方管道上比在大獎賽上上升更多。因此，這無疑表明整個產業正在回收更多的乙烷和油田，隨著時間的推移，這將使我們受益。

I think the other thing that you'll see is that given the fact that we've had a couple of industry players have brought on some additional frac capacity. That also lends to coming down, if you will, the spikes that we saw in the month of July on ethane.

我認為您會看到的另一件事是，考慮到我們已經有一些行業參與者帶來了一些額外的壓裂產能。如果你願意的話，這也有助於我們在七月看到的乙烷高峰有所下降。

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Colton Bean, please proceed to your question from TPH & Company.

謝謝。請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。 Colton Bean，請繼續回答 TPH & Company 提出的問題。

Just on the G&P segment, a decent drop in sequential processing margins. Can you comment on where Q2 results sit relative to fee floors? And then just any general expectations for margins through the balance of the year?

僅在 G&P 領域，連續處理利潤率就出現了相當大的下降。您能否評論一下第二季的業績相對於費用下限的情況？那麼對今年剩餘時間的利潤率有什麼整體預期嗎？

Colton, this is Jen. In the second quarter, I'd say that our fee floors kicked in, reflecting, I think, the importance of them. I think the second quarter is illustrative of how well Targa can perform even across a lower commodity price environment, where we even saw Waha prices first of month in April, print was $0.08, $0.09. So again, I think it is reflective of the importance to us of the fee floors that we are able to continue to invest because with those floors in place, we can at least get a required minimum rate of return on that invested capital.

科爾頓，這是珍。在第二季度，我想說我們的費用底線開始生效，我認為這反映了它們的重要性。我認為第二季說明了 Targa 即使在商品價格較低的環境下也能表現出色，我們甚至在 4 月第一個月就看到了 Waha 的價格，印刷版價格為 0.08 美元、0.09 美元。因此，我再次認為，這反映了我們能夠繼續投資的費用下限對我們的重要性，因為有了這些下限，我們至少可以從投資資本中獲得所需的最低迴報率。

But where we sit today, we're seeing improved prices here in the third quarter for full year. I'd say that commodity prices on the NGL and natural gas side are, call it, 5% lower than the guidance that we set out. So we'll have to see how the rest of the year plays out. And hopefully, prices can be more of a tailwind than a headwind given we are very well hedged. And given, again, in the second quarter, we were at fee floor levels.

但我們今天看到，全年第三季的價格有所改善。我想說的是，NGL​​ 和天然氣方面的商品價格比我們設定的指導價低 5%。因此，我們必須看看今年剩餘時間的情況如何。鑑於我們的對沖能力非常好，希望價格能是順風而不是逆風。再次考慮到第二季我們處於費用底線水準。

Got it. And then shifting over to the Logistics and Transportation segment. You had some very impressive NGL throughput across Grand Prix in the frac fleet, but it looks like the weighted average F&P rate moved lower quarter-on-quarter. Any basin mix shift or recontracting impacts that drove the drop? And then again, your expectations for that rate trajectory moving forward?

知道了。然後轉向物流和運輸部門。在壓裂車隊的大獎賽中，您的 NGL 吞吐量非常令人印象深刻，但加權平均 F&P 率似乎比去年同期下降。是否有流域混合變化或重新收縮影響導致了下降？再說一次，您對未來利率軌跡的期望是什麼？

Yes, Colton. So yes, we had really good volumes across the Downstream segment. You saw a significant ramp in Grand Prix, which was part of a contract. Part of it was just the organic growth, part was a contract roll-off we had on transport. And so you saw also really good volume increase on frac. No, I don't think there was really a mix or a degradation in our overall margins. Typically, these TNF contracts are kind of escalate over time and move up. So there just might be some volatility with marketing or what all you're including in the overall L&T margin and how much you're attributing to transport and frac.

是的，科爾頓。所以，是的，我們在下游領域的銷售非常好。你在大獎賽中看到了顯著的進步，這是合約的一部分。部分原因是有機成長，部分原因是我們在運輸方面的合約滾存。所以你也看到了壓裂的成交量確實有很好的成長。不，我認為我們的整體利潤率並沒有真正混合或下降。通常，這些 TNF 合約會隨著時間的推移而升級並上漲。因此，行銷或您在整體 L&T 利潤中所包含的內容以及您將多少歸因於運輸和壓裂可能會出現一些波動。

Thank you. And one moment for our next question. We have Keith Stanley from Wolfe Research.

謝謝。請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。我們有來自沃爾夫研究中心的基斯‧史丹利。

I wanted to ask about the big step-up in buybacks during Q2. Should we view that as kind of a unique opportunity because the stock fell in May and June? Or is this possibly kind of a normal pace in how you think about buybacks and your capacity to do that going forward?

我想問第二季回購大幅增加的情況。由於該股在五月和六月下跌，我們是否應該將其視為一種獨特的機會？或者，這可能是您考慮回購以及未來回購能力的正常節奏嗎？

I think our buybacks have been a part of the way we're returning capital to shareholders. We look at really, I'd say it's underpinned by just our really strong outlook for not only the remainder of '23. But as we look out '24 and '25, we look at our overall cash flow profile, our leverage profile outlook for the business. It led us to step up our repurchases for the second quarter. So that was very attractive to us.

我認為我們的回購是我們向股東返還資本的一部分。我們確實看到了，我想說，這不僅是由我們對 23 年剩餘時間的真正強勁前景所支撐的。但當我們展望 24 和 25 年時，我們會關注我們的整體現金流狀況、我們的業務槓桿狀況前景。這導致我們在第二季加大了回購力道。所以這對我們來說非常有吸引力。

In the past, in the first quarter, we had just completed the acquisition of the 25% interest in Grand Prix. So it's kind of a mix of what's our overall spending for the quarter and then what's our outlook. And I think we feel very confident and not only back half of the year, but really kind of multiyear outlook for Targa. And so that led us to step up the repurchases for the second quarter.

過去，第一季度，我們剛完成了Grand Prix 25%股權的收購。因此，這是我們本季的整體支出和我們的前景的結合。我認為我們非常有信心，不僅是對今年下半年的情況，而且對 Targa 的多年前景也非常有信心。因此，這導致我們在第二季加強了回購力度。

Great. Second question, just the Grand Prix volumes are really high, as you said, in part from a contract roll-off on transportation. Are there any other major contract roll-offs coming up, I guess, through the end of next year that we should be mindful of that could cause another big pop in Grand Prix volumes?

偉大的。第二個問題，正如您所說，大獎賽的銷量確實很高，部分原因是運輸合約的減少。我想，到明年年底，是否還會有其他重大合約延期，我們應該注意這可能會導致大獎賽銷量再次大幅增長？

Keith, this is Scott. I would say that no, not really. We certainly benefited in the second quarter as we had some of those midterm contracts that had rolled off I would say that going forward, there's not really a large step up. We will basically benefit from the additive of new plants that are going on in the Permian Basin for us. Certainly, the next 2 plants that were announced today are something that will contribute to our Grand Prix pipeline over time.

基思，這是斯科特。我想說不，不是真的。我們當然在第二季度受益，因為我們有一些中期合約已經到期，我想說，展望未來，並沒有真正的大幅提升。我們基本上將從二疊紀盆地正在建造的新工廠中受益。當然，隨著時間的推移，今天宣布的接下來的兩家工廠將為我們的大獎賽管道做出貢獻。

And one moment for our next question. Brian Reynolds from UBS.

請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。瑞銀 (UBS) 的布萊恩雷諾茲 (Brian Reynolds)。

Just a quick follow-up on the CapEx cadence in the outer years with the focus on nat gas takeaway opportunities in Apex. Is this natural gas takeaway opportunity included in that kind of out of your CapEx decline? And perhaps can you update us on perhaps Targa's equity interest or ability to fund the whole pipe on its own?

只是對過去幾年資本支出節奏的快速跟進，重點是 Apex 的天然氣外賣機會。這種天然氣外送機會是否包含在您的資本支出下降中？也許您可以向我們介紹一下 Targa 的股權或自行為整個管道提供資金的能力嗎？

On the financing side, I think that we've consistently said, Brian, that if Apex was a project that got commercialized, it's one that lends itself really nicely to bring in JV partners and also to consider project finance. So I think we've been very consistent that if that is a project that does move forward, the likely outcome is that we would be funding it with a small portion of the equity of the project and would then utilize either joint ventures and/or project finance for the bulk of the financing.

在融資方面，我認為我們一直在說，Brian，如果 Apex 是一個商業化的項目，那麼它非常適合引入合資夥伴並考慮專案融資。因此，我認為我們一直非常一致，如果這是一個確實向前推進的項目，可能的結果是我們將用該項目的一小部分股權為其提供資金，然後利用合資企業和/或項目融資佔融資的大部分。

And then when -- this is Bobby. When you look at the parties sitting around the table, both on the producer shipper side and on the market side, it's kind of a who's who [investing in] great parties, which lends itself to what Jen is talking about, the line out the door relative to the ability to raise capital in a multitude of ways to do it.

然後當——這是鮑比。當你看到坐在桌子周圍的各方時，無論是生產商、托運方還是市場方，都會發現這是一種誰在[投資]大型聚會，這很適合 Jen 所談論的內容，即相對於以多種方式籌集資金的能力而言。

Great. Appreciate that. And maybe just a quick follow-up on the NGL market. Thanks for all the prior color. But kind of just curious if you can provide a little bit more color around your propane outlook. We're trading at historical lows for propane relative to WTI. I just looking ahead into winter and a lot of the PDH demand is going online in China and its competition with Naphtha. I was just kind of curious of what you're seeing across your system in terms of interest going into winter time this year?

偉大的。感謝。也許只是 NGL 市場的快速跟進。感謝所有先前的顏色。但有點好奇你是否可以為你的丙烷外觀提供更多的顏色。相對於 WTI，我們的丙烷交易處於歷史低點。我只是展望冬季，中國的大量 PDH 需求正在上線，並與石腦油競爭。我只是有點好奇你在整個系統中看到的今年冬天的興趣是什麼？

This is Scott. Currently, today, pricing sits around $0.72 we are -- we view the outer months currently today is slight contango. Fourth quarter is around $0.78. First quarter is around $0.79. The challenge that propane has today is that our current inventories stand around 88 million barrels, which is about 25 million barrels above this time last year. So that is part of the reason why you're seeing pricing relative to WTI from a percentage basis, down from what you've seen of late. I think really, when you look at it, production obviously is moving up. I think as overall global demand continues to increase, albeit there are times where you see some lulls in that. But the PDH plant, PDH additives that you see in China that you mentioned, obviously, is a big pool of propane over time.

這是斯科特。目前，今天的價格約為 0.72 美元——我們認為目前的外部月份有輕微的升水。第四季約為 0.78 美元。第一季約為 0.79 美元。丙烷目前面臨的挑戰是，我們目前的庫存約為 8,800 萬桶，比去年同期增加了約 2,500 萬桶。因此，這就是為什麼您所看到的相對於 WTI 的定價按百分比計算，低於您最近看到的價格的部分原因。我認為，當你仔細觀察時，你會發現產量顯然正在上升。我認為，隨著全球整體需求持續增長，儘管有時會出現一些平靜。但你提到的中國的 PDH 工廠和 PDH 添加劑顯然隨著時間的推移會產生大量丙烷。

So for us, I think it's as an industry, I think we've got adequate inventory, certainly, and I think that will provide us. The inventories have been higher historically. So this is not like it's a high watermark for us and we've been able to pull the inventories down. The other thing when you look at it from an export market perspective, you're seeing the industry continue to add vessels for LPGs, current fleet size is around 360 VLGCs. With the second half of this year, we're adding another 25 or so vessels and probably in 2024, we'll exceed 400 vessels on the water. So that clearly is an indication as an industry and as a market demand that the market is gearing up for increased demand globally as more markets mature.

因此，對我們來說，我認為作為一個行業，我認為我們當然有足夠的庫存，我認為這將為我們提供。庫存處於歷史最高水準。因此，這對我們來說並不是一個高水位線，我們已經能夠降低庫存。另一方面，當你從出口市場的角度來看時，你會看到該行業不斷增加液化石油氣船舶，目前船隊規模約為 360 艘 VLGC。今年下半年，我們將再增加 25 艘左右的船隻，可能到 2024 年，我們水面上的船隻數量將超過 400 艘。因此，這顯然表明作為一個行業和市場需求，隨著更多市場的成熟，市場正在為全球需求的增加做好準備。

Great. Really appreciate it. Thanks for the time this morning.

偉大的。真的很感激。謝謝你今天早上的時間。

One moment please for our next question. We have Tristan Richardson from Scotiabank.

請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。我們有來自豐業銀行的特里斯坦·理查森。

Just a question. You just mentioned on offloading levels that you're seeing now. Should we think of those as sort of normal levels that you would see in any given year? Or are those perhaps elevated currently in anticipation of Greenwood, Wildcat, Roadrunner. Maybe just your thoughts on offloading as a part of the portfolio?

就一個問題。您剛才提到了您現在看到的卸載水平。我們是否應該將這些視為您在任何特定年份都會看到的正常水平？或者那些目前可能在格林伍德、野貓、走鵑的期待中被提升的人。也許只是您對將卸載作為投資組合的一部分的想法？

Yes. I mean I think you're going to see it in pension periods, right, where we're in the process of adding capacity, and we need to move some gas off system until we get our incremental plant started up. So I don't know that there's a normal cadence to that. Obviously, we're building a lot of additional plant capacity with the hopes that we're out in front of our producer growth and that we're going to be able to take 100% of it. But frankly, our producers even though we are -- we have a robust outlook on their growth. They've outperformed and it means that we've needed more capacity than we've even built. And obviously, we've built a lot.

是的。我的意思是，我認為你會在退休金期間看到它，對吧，我們正在增加產能，我們需要將一些天然氣從系統中移出，直到我們的增量工廠啟動。所以我不知道這是否有正常的節奏。顯然，我們正在建造大量額外的工廠產能，希望能夠領先於生產商的成長，並且能夠 100% 地利用它。但坦白說，我們的生產商儘管我們——我們對他們的成長前景抱持樂觀的態度。他們的表現超乎預期，這意味著我們需要的產能比我們現有的產能還要多。顯然，我們已經建造了很多。

So hopefully, our offloads will remain only as needed and for short periods of time and kind of an emergency situation. And outside of that, we'll have plant capacity in place to provide those services on our own.

因此，希望我們的卸載將僅在需要時、在短時間內和緊急情況下進行。除此之外，我們將擁有適當的工廠能力來自行提供這些服務。

That's helpful. And then just on your point there on customers, just always kind of curious about producer dynamics and customer activity. Like certainly, your view on inlet growth this year hasn't changed, and we know your large-scale customers are the major drivers. But maybe just anything on the smaller to midsize customers and change behavior shifts in activity, et cetera.

這很有幫助。然後就您關於客戶的觀點而言，總是對生產者動態和客戶活動感到好奇。當然，您對今年入口成長的看法沒有改變，我們知道您的大型客戶是主要推動力。但也許中小型客戶的任何事情都會改變，行為也會發生變化，等等。

No. I mean, obviously, you've seen a little bit of consolidation through the acquisition market. Short term, it has no impact. And even longer term, the impact on growth on our systems is and consequential. We really have seen a continued high activity level across both the Delaware and Midland sides of the basin. So no material will change.

不，我的意思是，顯然，您已經透過收購市場看到了一些整合。短期來看，沒有什麼影響。甚至從長遠來看，對我們系統成長的影響也是巨大的。我們確實看到盆地的特拉華州和米德蘭兩側的活動水平持續較高。所以任何材料都不會改變。

One moment please for our next question. We have Neal Dingmann from Truist Securities.

請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。我們有來自 Truist Securities 的 Neal Dingmann。

This is Jake Nivasch on for Neal. Just a quick one here for me, and I know we've kind of touched on this a couple of times. So if I can tackle it a different way. Just the CapEx on the outer years, I'm just trying to get a sense strategically what that implies, I guess, from a capital allocation standpoint, it doesn't sound like especially the comments today, there's a big M&A appetite and given that the CapEx spend is coming down and the fundamental backdrop that you guys have with cash flow generation. Just trying to get a sense of what that means either for the target leverage ratio, if you think maybe bring that down? Or I guess, even from a buyback standpoint, would you consider going into a formulaic program. Just trying to get a sense of, I guess, how you guys are thinking about that just in general.

我是尼爾的傑克·尼瓦什。我在這裡簡單介紹一下，我知道我們已經討論過這個問題好幾次了。所以如果我能用不同的方式解決這個問題。只是外部年份的資本支出，我只是想從戰略上了解這意味著什麼，我想，從資本配置的角度來看，這聽起來不像今天的評論，有很大的併購興趣，並且考慮到資本支出正在下降，以及現金流產生的基本背景。只是想了解這對目標槓桿率意味著什麼，如果您認為可以降低目標槓桿率？或者我猜，即使從回購的角度來看，您是否會考慮進入公式化的計劃。我想，只是想了解你們一般是如何看待這個問題的。

This is Jen. I think from our perspective, it really all begins with the Permian growth and the cadence of Permian growth. And how much additional infrastructure that we'll need to service our Permian customers based on that, call it, medium and longer-term growth rate and then what larger assets will need on the downstream side to help manage those volumes through our integrated system. But certainly, part of why we've got so much conviction in our target story is as we look out to 2025 and beyond, we expect significantly higher EBITDA growth capital coming down. That means that we'll have a lot more free cash flow available to allocate and return more capital to shareholders while also continuing to invest in the business.

這是珍。我認為從我們的角度來看，這一切其實都始於二疊紀的成長和二疊紀成長的節奏。基於此，我們需要多少額外的基礎設施來為二疊紀客戶提供服務，稱之為中長期成長率，然後下游需要哪些更大的資產來幫助透過我們的整合系統管理這些數量。但當然，我們對目標故事如此堅信的部分原因是，當我們展望 2025 年及以後時，我們預計 EBITDA 成長資本將大幅下降。這意味著我們將擁有更多的自由現金流，可用於向股東分配和返還更多資本，同時繼續投資於業務。

I think that you've heard currently, the appetite for M&A is very, very low. We did 2 excellent acquisitions last year that are performing very, very well for us this year. And we expect, particularly the Lucid assets to perform very well for us on a growth basis as we move forward through really the short, medium and long term. I think that's all setting us up to be in an excellent position looking forward and then we'll have to figure out the ideal mix of increasing dividends and also repurchases.

我想你現在已經聽說，併購的興趣非常非常低。去年我們進行了兩次出色的收購，今年對我們來說表現非常非常好。我們預計，隨著我們在短期、中期和長期的發展，Lucid 資產尤其會在成長的基礎上為我們帶來非常好的表現。我認為這一切都讓我們在未來處於有利的位置，然後我們必須找出增加股利和回購的理想組合。

We like the opportunistic share repurchase program right now. I think that it's working for us, particularly as we are trying to manage leverage, a leverage ratio today of about the midpoint of our long-term leverage ratio target range. I think we've spoken to our preference to manage our leverage ratio in the bottom half of that long-term leverage ratio target range, but we're very comfortable running this business between 3 to 4x.

我們現在喜歡機會主義的股票回購計劃。我認為這對我們很有用，特別是當我們試圖管理槓桿時，目前的槓桿率約為我們長期槓桿率目標範圍的中點。我認為我們已經談到了我們傾向於將槓桿率管理在長期槓桿率目標範圍的下半部分，但我們非常樂意在 3 到 4 倍之間經營這項業務。

And I think again, that's what gives us a lot of flexibility going forward on that, all of the above approach that says we will continue to invest in the business in really attractive returning projects and that will help underpin an exceptionally strong balance sheet with the flexibility to return more capital to shareholders across a multitude of ways.

我再次認為，這給了我們很大的靈活性，所有上述方法都表明我們將繼續投資於真正有吸引力的回報項目，這將有助於鞏固異常強勁的資產負債表靈活地通過多種方式向股東返還更多資本。

Thank you. As we move to take our final question. We have Sunil Sibal from Seaport Global.

謝謝。當我們開始回答最後一個問題。我們有 Seaport Global 的 Sunil Sibal。

So I just wanted to understand a little bit better the gas takeaway situation in Permian. So obviously, you're developing your project and you also announced a number of processing additions. So from a gas take rate perspective, when do we need to see new pipelines announced to basically really service this [gas rate] of the basin?

所以我只是想更了解二疊紀的天然氣外運情況。顯然，您正在開發您的項目，並且還宣布了一些處理添加。因此，從天然氣利用率的角度來看，我們什麼時候需要宣布新的管道基本上真正為該盆地的[天然氣利用率]提供服務？

So this is Bobby. What I'd say is we are relatively comfortable over the short term -- short to medium term per gas takeaway, you see something like a pipeline that went down earlier this week and the weekend. Tight enough that a whole pipeline going away does not work for the basin. But as you see, 2 expansions coming online in the short term and then [Mont] coming online next year, we feel comfortable that those will satisfy the needs over the short to medium term, depending on how you define those.

這就是鮑比。我想說的是，我們在短期內相對舒適——從短期到中期的天然氣外賣來看，你會看到類似本週早些時候和週末的管道中斷的情況。足夠緊，以至於整個管道都無法在該盆地發揮作用。但正如你所看到的，兩個擴展將在短期內上線，然後 [Mont] 將於明年上線，我們相信這些將滿足中短期內的需求，具體取決於你如何定義這些需求。

And then the way we see we think another pipe needs to be in service in the 2026 time frame. So that probably means early '24. Hopefully, something else goes FID. We've said it before. If there is a meeting of the minds on the shipper side, with the market side on Apex and Apex ends up being that pipe grade. If it's not, it's another pipe, at the end of the day, Targa just wants to see that infrastructure gets built, whether it's Targa led or another party leading it. So sometime next year, we will be very supportive of our pipe or someone else's pipe. Making sure it goes to make sure that all that gas is flowing if there's adequate takeaway in that 2026 time frame.

然後我們認為，另一條管道需要在 2026 年的時間範圍內投入使用。所以這可能意味著 24 年初。希望最終結果能有其他結果。我們之前已經說過了。如果托運方與市場方達成共識，Apex 最終將成為該管材等級。如果不是，那就是另一條管道，歸根結底，Targa 只是希望看到基礎設施建成，無論是 Targa 領導還是另一方領導。因此，明年的某個時候，我們將非常支持我們的煙鬥或其他人的煙鬥。如果在 2026 年的時間範圍內有足夠的外賣，那麼確保所有的天然氣都在流動。

Got it. And then my second question was related to returns. So obviously, I think in the last few years, you've posted 26% of ROIC. I was curious, when you're looking at new investments, you're approving new projects, what's a good way of thinking about your threshold on returns for the proven projects?

知道了。然後我的第二個問題與退貨有關。顯然，我認為在過去幾年中，您已經發布了 26% 的 ROIC。我很好奇，當您考慮新投資、批准新專案時，考慮已驗證專案的回報門檻的好方法是什麼？

Yes. The returns have been very good for Targa across our integrated foot gathering and processing and then following the NGL molecule through Grand Prix frac and export. So when you put that slide together, I said 26% ROIC is investment in our core business, and that's what we're investing in now. So a lot of those contracts are the same contracts, really long term, 10-, 15-year contracts. So we're doing the very similar kinds of things that we did kind of last build cycle. So we feel good about the returns going forward being well in excess of our cost of capital.

是的。 Targa 透過整合足部收集和處理，然後透過 Grand Prix 壓裂和出口追蹤 NGL 分子，獲得了非常好的回報。所以當你把這張投影片放在一起時，我說 26% 的 ROIC 是對我們核心業務的投資，這就是我們現在正在投資的。因此，很多合約都是相同的合同，實際上是長期的、10 年、15 年的合約。因此，我們正在做與上一個建置週期非常相似的事情。因此，我們對未來的回報遠遠超過我們的資本成本感到滿意。

Typically, in the past, we have described organic growth as kind of 5 to 7x multiple there's perhaps a little bit of sand in there. You saw us do about 4x was kind of what we were able to execute on. I don't know that we'll hit exactly 4x. I think if we say 5 to 7x, perhaps kind of the lower end of that is something I think we could kind of target and be able to get there. Part of it will be dependent on when you're investing what our commodity prices doing throughout that time period, that can move up, can move down, that can kind of move that overall multiple. But either way, we're becoming less commodity price sensitive with the fee-based and fee margins we have in there, we see really strong returns for us. on these projects, investing in our core business, GMP and then following the NGL molecule to the water.

通常，在過去，我們將有機生長描述為 5 到 7 倍，其中可能有一點沙子。你看到我們做了大約 4 倍，這就是我們能夠執行的。我不知道我們是否會達到 4 倍。我認為，如果我們說 5 到 7 倍，也許是我們可以設定的目標並能夠實現這一目標的下限。部分取決於您何時投資，我們的商品價格在這段時間內的走勢，可能會上漲，可能會下跌，也可能會導致整體倍數的變化。但無論哪種方式，我們對商品價格的敏感度都在降低，因為我們的收費和費用利潤率很高，我們看到了非常強勁的回報。在這些項目上，投資我們的核心業務 GMP，然後追蹤 NGL 分子到水。

Got it. And just one clarification on that. So the new contracts that you're signing are basically helping you push more towards fixed fee or they just keep the fixed fee versus the commodity sensitivity constant where it is?

知道了。對此僅作一個澄清。因此，您簽署的新合約基本上是在幫助您進一步推動固定費用，還是只是將固定費用與商品敏感度保持不變？

Well, on the -- we're always entering into new contracts. We're amending, we're extending, entering into new contracts on the G&P side and on the downstream side. So it's a constantly moving and changing dynamic. But as we're talking with our producer customers, we have been successful and we're going to continue to push for more fee-based components in our gathering and processing contracts where we had just direct straight POP exposure, we are now putting floors in place. Some of them as they come up, we're moving to fee based. There's hybrids, it's a mix. And so as those come up, as we extend, as we modify those contracts, we'll be adding more fee-based component. So I just expect that to continue to move more and more fee-based as we move forward.

嗯，我們總是在簽訂新合約。我們正在修改、我們正在延長、在 G&P 方面和下游方面簽訂新合約。所以這是一個不斷移動和變化的動態。但當我們與生產商客戶交談時，我們已經取得了成功，我們將繼續在我們的收集和加工合約中推動更多基於費用的部分，在這些合約中，我們剛剛直接直接接觸POP，我們現在正在設定底線到位。其中一些出現後，我們將轉向收費。有混合體，這是混合體。因此，當這些出現時，當我們擴展時，當我們修改這些合約時，我們將添加更多基於費用的組件。因此，我只是希望隨著我們的前進，這種情況將繼續變得越來越收費。

Got it.

知道了。

Thank you. And I'm now showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the conference back to Sanjay Lad, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations for closing remarks.

謝謝。現在我不會提出任何進一步的問題。現在我想請財務和投資者關係副總裁桑傑·拉德 (Sanjay Lad) 致閉幕詞。

Thanks, everyone that was on the call this morning, and we appreciate your interest in Targa Resources. The IR team will be available for any follow-up questions you may have. Thanks, and have a great day.

謝謝今天早上參加電話會議的所有人，我們感謝您對 Targa Resources 的興趣。 IR 團隊將隨時解答您可能遇到的任何後續問題。謝謝，祝你有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。