Genesis Energy - Earnings Call - Q3 2025

Executive Summary

• Q3 2025 results were broadly in-line with internal expectations: revenue rose 4.2% YoY to $414.0M and net income attributable to GEL improved to $9.2M from a loss in Q3 2024, with strong Offshore Pipeline performance offset by transitory Marine softness.
• Offshore ramp catalysts: Shenandoah reached its targeted 100 kb/d within ~75 days of startup, and Salamanca commenced initial production with a path to 40–50 kb/d; Q3 included MVC recognition, with stronger volumetric contribution expected in coming quarters.
• Management trimmed FY25 outlook: now “slightly below the low end” of prior Adjusted EBITDA guidance ($545–$575M), citing earlier offshore mechanical issues, timing delays to first oil, and temporary marine headwinds; leverage ratio improved to 5.41x LTM under the credit agreement.
• Capital allocation signaling: excess cash generation in Q3 enabled revolver paydown; management emphasized measured debt reduction, opportunistic preferred redemption, and consideration of increased common distributions; Q3 distribution held at $0.165 per common unit (1.76x coverage).

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Offshore pipeline transportation outperformed: segment margin up 40% YoY to $101.3M, aided by MVCs on SYNC/CHOPS (Shenandoah), incremental MVCs on CHOPS (Warrior/Winterfell), and volume restoration after producer mechanical remediations.
• New project ramp success: Shenandoah reached 100 kb/d across four wells within ~75 days; Salamanca began production, with rapid ramp plans to ~40 kb/d and then ~50 kb/d, positioning future margin expansion with minimal growth capex.
• Cash generation inflection: Available Cash before Reserves was $35.5M (1.76x distribution coverage), and Q3 produced excess cash used to reduce revolver borrowings, supporting improving leverage trajectory through 2026.

Quote: “We are excited about the successful start-up and ramp-up we have seen from both the Shenandoah and Salamanca… These new developments will serve as the cornerstone of our ability to generate increasing levels of free cash flow in future quarters and years.” — Grant Sims, CEO.

What Went Wrong

• Marine Transportation softness: segment margin declined 18% YoY to $25.6M due to compressed heavy-to-light differentials (refiners ran more light sweet crude) and blue-water market disruption from vessel migration; utilization fell for both inland and offshore fleets.
• FY25 EBITDA outlook trimmed: management now expects FY25 Adjusted EBITDA to be “slightly below the low end” of the $545–$575M range due to first-half producer issues, delays to Shenandoah/Salamanca first oil, and temporary marine challenges.
• Higher Depreciation/Amortization and ongoing high interest expense: D&A rose by ~$1.5M YoY and net interest remained elevated at $66.4M in Q3, constraining net income leverage despite operational improvements.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Greetings and welcome to the Genesis Energy third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press Star 0 on your telephone keypad. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Dwayne Morley. Thank you. Dwayne, you may begin.

Dwayne Morley (VP of Investor Relations)

Good morning and welcome to the 2025 third quarter conference call for Genesis Energy. Genesis Energy has three business segments. The offshore pipeline transportation segment is engaged in providing the critical infrastructure to move oil produced from the long-lived world.

Class reservoirs of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

America to onshore refining centers. The Marine Transportation segment is engaged in the maritime transportation of primarily refined petroleum products. The Onshore Facilities and Transportation segment is engaged in the transportation, handling, blending, storage, and supply of energy products including crude oil and refined products around refining centers as well as the processing of sour gas streams to remove sulfur at refining operations. Genesis operations are primarily located in the Gulf Coast States and the Gulf of Mexico. During this conference call, management may be making forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The law provides safe harbor protection to encourage companies to provide forward-looking information. Genesis intends to avail itself of those safe harbor provisions and directs you to its most recently filed and future filings with the Securities Exchange Commission.

We also encourage you to visit our website at genesisenergy.com where a copy of the press release warning is located. The press release also presents a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures and comparable GAAP financial measures. At this time I would like to introduce Grant Sims, CEO of Genesis Energy, L.P. Mr. Sims will be joined by Kristen Jesilaidis, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer, Brian Sims, President and Chief Commercial Officer, and Louis Nichol, Chief Accounting Officer. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Grant.

Grant Sims (CEO)

Thanks, Dwayne. Good morning to everyone, and thanks for listening to the call. As noted in our earnings release this morning, our third quarter results were broadly in line with our expectations in spite of a few pluses and minuses across our businesses. On the positive side, our offshore pipeline transportation segment started to really shine as it benefited from several factors, including the absence of any weather-related disruptions and the resolution of a number of the producer mechanical issues we have experienced over the.

Past 12 to 18 months, and the.

Recognition of the minimum volume commitments to SINK and CHOPS associated with the new.

Shenandoah Floating Production Unit or FPU.

On the other hand, our Marine Transportation segment faced some temporary challenges in July and the first part of August due to some short term market conditions that affected both day rates and utilization levels. That said, we believe these headwinds are largely subsided as financial results in both September and October returned to levels consistent with the first half of the year. This improvement positions us for a more in line fourth quarter and some momentum heading into the next year from our Marine group with a sequential 16% improvement. The third quarter offered a glimpse of what's ahead for our Offshore Pipeline Transportation segment. First, in late July we received first oil from the new Shenandoah Floating Production Unit.

At the end of September the operator Salamanca announced it commenced production from the first of three pre-drilled wells with plans to relatively quickly ramp production to a total level of some 40,000 barrels a day with expectations to drill another well and further increase production to the original design capacity of 50,000 barrels per day in the first half of next year. The financial results reported today only reflect the minimum volume commitments from Shenandoah, in essence zero contribution from Salamanca. Of note, in early October the operator of Shenandoah announced the successful completion of the ramp up of its four phase one development wells to their cumulative target rate of 100,000 barrels per day, which is well above the MVC level just 75 days after initial startup.

We remain extremely encouraged by this successful startup and ramp of both the Shenandoah and Salamanca new FPUs which are now delivering oil to our 100% owned and operated SINK and Saco laterals respectively. These laterals deliver these volumes to our 64% owned and operated CHOPS and/or Poseidon crude oil pipelines for further transportation to onshore delivery points. There is no doubt these two developments will contribute to a significant increase in the future financial performance of our Offshore Pipeline Transportation segment. When combined with minimal future growth capital expenditures and the expected steady if not marginally growing performance from our other businesses, we remain well positioned to generate increasing amounts of free cash flow in excess of the cash costs of running our businesses.

In fact, I can report we generated excess cash in the third quarter from which we were able to further reduce outstanding borrowings under our senior secured revolving credit facility, and we fully expect to continue to do so in the fourth quarter. Looking forward, the combination of growing total segment margin and lower absolute debt should produce a clear trajectory of significant and rapid improvement in our leverage ratio throughout 2026 and provide us with the foundation and financial flexibility to deliver meaningful long-term value for all of our stakeholders in future periods. With that, I'll go into a little more detail on each of our business segments. As mentioned, our offshore pipeline transportation segment again saw a sequential improvement in both volumes and segment margin.

Several of the previously impacted offshore wells that have been down due to producer mechanical issues were brought back online and are now flowing again on our pipelines. While one relatively high-margin field continues to have some lingering challenges impacting some 10 to 15 kbd of production, we are confident the operator is focused on restoring the impacted production as quickly as is feasible. If the existing wells cannot be fully remediated, we believe we could possibly see an acceleration of the development of at least one other subsea discovery, which will be tied back to the subject FPU with all of its production flowing through our pipelines in 2026. In any event, we saw a steady ramp in volumes from the Shenandoah Floating Production Unit during the quarter, which in early October reached its targeted production rate of 100 kbd from its four phase one wells.

Given additional wells that have already been sanctioned at Shenandoah Monument and Shenandoah South, we would reasonably expect total throughput to grow to as much as 120 kbd and possibly 10 to 20 kbd higher than that by the end of 2026 or early in 2027. As mentioned earlier, the operator commenced production off the Salamanca Floating Production Unit at the end of September and is working to establish production from its first three wells. The operator is in the process of cleaning up these three wells and lining out the production facilities on the new FPU, which as a reminder was our previously deployed Independence Hub deepwater platform we sold to them in May of 2022.

The repurposed platform not only accelerated the date of First Oil and reduced the total development cost, but it also reduced the environmental footprint of the Salamanca Development relative to the option of constructing a new deepwater production facility. We expect volumes from these initial three wells to continue to ramp and approach approximately 40,000 barrels a day in the near future. The fourth well is planned to be drilled and completed in the second quarter 2026, at which point Salamanca production levels are anticipated to approach the original design capacity of 50,000 barrels a day. The operator now believes that the Salamanca Floating Production Unit (FPU) can likely handle as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil.

As such, there is a developing scenario that a fifth well could be drilled, completed and turned to production in late 2026 or early 2027, at which point total production could be as much as 20% higher than what was originally anticipated at the time of making the decision to sanction the Salamanca Project. The addition of new volumes from both Shenandoah and Salamanca has meaningfully increased the total throughput we transport to shore on our CHOPS and Poseidon pipelines. Total throughput on these two main pipeline systems has exceeded 700,000 barrels a day in recent days and we reasonably expect volumes to regularly surpass this level as both projects reach their full potential and additional developments are tied back and brought online. Let me try to put this in perspective at least in the context of current and future activity in the central Gulf of Mexico.

At 750,000 barrels a day of average daily throughput on Poseidon and CHOPS, which we expect once Shenandoah and Salamanca are fully ramped, we will move approximately 275 million barrels of oil over a one year period at a conservative average economic ultimate recovery of 25 million barrels of oil per deepwater well. We need to have the producing community drill, complete and tie back to FPUs currently connected to our infrastructure only 11 or so wells per year to in essence fully replace the reserves produced and transported through our pipelines in any one year. This in turn simply extends or annuitizes our ability to produce these anticipated 2026 type run rate financial results from our offshore segment for many years, if not decades in the future without having to spend any money.

As we sit here today, we are aware of 10 wells that have either already been drilled or are in the process of being drilled and which are scheduled to be turned to production from dedicated leases in 2026. Currently, almost half of the entire fleet of deepwater rigs working in the Gulf of Mexico are drilling on dedicated leases. We are confident that more than 10 currently identified wells will be drilled as we go through 2026, further adding to the backlog, so to speak, of future throughput and financial contribution from our offshore segment. We are very encouraged with the early results from Shenandoah and Salamanca. The success at Shenandoah, as well as other recent industry commentary about other high pressure high temperature opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico, is extremely exciting.

We believe there is a positive read through for additional significant discoveries and opportunities specifically around our existing pipeline infrastructure in the central Gulf of Mexico. In fact, it is very likely we are in the early innings of a multi-decade opportunity set of which we are in an enviable position with strategically located, installed, paid for, and available pipeline capacity to shore. In that regard, it is important to note that the current nameplate capacity of the Shenandoah FPU represents only about 50% of SINK's capacity and roughly half of the incremental capacity we and our partner have added to the CHOPS pipeline. We continue to engage in robust commercial discussions with producers across the central Gulf of Mexico, and we believe Genesis Energy, L.P.

is uniquely positioned as the only truly independent third-party provider of crude oil pipeline logistics in the region, setting the stage for continued growth and decades and decades of opportunities out of this world-class basin. Our Marine Transportation segment performed slightly below our expectations, primarily due to temporary market conditions. Demand for our inland or brown water fleet was modestly impacted during the first half of the third quarter as Gulf Coast refiners maximized runs of light crude oil, which temporarily reduced the supply of intermediate black oil needed to be transported. The shift in refinery feedstock was largely driven by the narrowing discount of heavier crude grades relative to light crude, prompting refiners to favor lighter barrels. Public filings from several independent refiners confirmed this trend, showing a notable decline in medium and heavy feedstock volumes consistent with what we observed in the market.

As noted last quarter, we have been closely monitoring when Gulf Coast refiners might return to heavier crude slates, including Venezuelan barrels. Early third quarter earnings commentaries from refiners such as Valero have been encouraging. To quote directly from Valero's recent call on medium sours, "We had seen discounts as narrow as 2.5%, that's why not closer to an 8% discount." Discounts have certainly moved to the point where we are seeing an economic benefit in our system to running medium and heavy sour crudes. Our expectation is you'll continue to see those widen. As medium sour discounts widen, you'll see heavy sours react to remain competitive with medium sours. We anticipate that to continue to happen as we move through the fourth quarter. We also have Venezuelan barrels back in the mix, which is helping.

I think you'll see in the fourth quarter a heavier crude diet than what we had in the third quarter, filling out a lot of our conversion capacity. Based on this commentary, we are confident that Gulf Coast refiners are responding to wider heavy crude discounts and shifting back towards heavier crude slates. This transition should generate more refinery bottoms along the Gulf Coast, increasing demand for our inland heater barges through year end and on into 2026. Meanwhile, conditions in our blue water fleet were a little softer in the first part of the quarter. Operators continued relocating equipment from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast and Mid Atlantic trade lanes, in part based upon the coming closure of approximately 17% of California's refining capacity, specifically Phillips 66 Los Angeles Area Refinery by late 2025 and Valero's Northern California Refinery by early 2026.

These relocations temporarily increase the available supply of larger vessels in our operating markets.

Temporarily pressuring both utilization and day rates.

However, we think all such relocated vessels have now found a home, and we do not expect these shifts to cause any lasting structural change in the Blue Water market. Eight of our nine Blue Water vessels are contracted through year end, with several extending well into 2026, helping to mitigate any near-term volatility as the market continues to absorb this tonnage. Overall, we remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of the Marine Transportation sector. With effectively zero net new supply of our classes of Jones Act vessels and the high cost and long lead times required to construct new equipment, the market remains structurally tight as demand continues to improve across both our Brown and Blue Water fleets. We expect our Marine Transportation segment to recover in the fourth quarter and deliver stable to modestly growing contributions in the years ahead.

Our Onshore Facilities and Transportation segment performed as expected during the quarter. We are seeing increasing volumes through our Texas and Raceland terminals and pipelines. We expect this trend to continue as volumes from both Shenandoah and Salamanca access our onshore pipeline systems for further distributions to refineries and downstream markets in both Texas and Louisiana, which we serve both directly and indirectly. Our legacy refinery business performed in line with expectations. As we have emphasized over the last several years, 2025 has always been about reaching the inflection point we have all been anticipating. I can confidently say as our financial performance continues to grow and we generate increasing amounts of free cash flow in coming years, we remain firmly focused on creating long-term value for all our stakeholders.

Our approach to capital allocation will be measured and deliberate, with a priority of absolute debt reduction, opportunistic redemption of our high-cost corporate preferred securities, and a thoughtful evaluation of future increases in our quarterly distributions to common unitholders. As we begin returning capital, we will continue to act with patience, discipline, and balance, ensuring we maintain the financial flexibility as well as liquidity needed to evaluate and pursue any accretive opportunities as they may arise. Finally, I'd like to say that the management team and the Board of Directors remain steadfast in our commitment to building long-term value for all our stakeholders. Regardless of where you are in the capital structure, we believe the decisions we are making reflect this commitment and our confidence in Genesis Energy, L.P.

Moving forward, I'd once again like to recognize our entire workforce for their individual efforts and unwavering commitment to safe and responsible operations. I'm extremely proud to be associated with each and every one of you. With that, I'll turn it back to the moderator for questions.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. With that, we will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate that your line is in the question queue. You may press star two to remove yourself from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up the handset before pressing the star keys. One moment while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from the line of Wade Suki with Capital One. Please proceed with your question.

Wade Suki (Analyst)

Great. Good morning everyone. Appreciate you all taking my questions. I know the big project spend has been completed, but can you give us a sense for where future growth capital might be directed, recognizing it's pretty modest at this point, and maybe sort of to dovetail on that, I may have asked you the same question last quarter, do you see any material project potential on the horizon? Something a little chunkier.

Grant Sims (CEO)

We, as a normal course of business, I think we view growth capital to be in the. million, $15 million range, which generally speaking. Might be tanks or pumps at one or more of our offshore facilities and or onshore facilities to support the operations. Of our.

Allow us to increase the throughputs on our existing footprint. We don't have anything on the horizon that we're looking at evaluating. That doesn't mean that ultimately things may opportunistically pop up. We are really focused on being in a position to generate increasing amounts of free cash flow and simplifying. The balance sheet, capital structure, and returning. Capital to our unitholders, that's what our focus is at this point.

Wade Suki (Analyst)

Understood, thank you. I was hoping to revisit, I think you made some comments in your prepared remarks about 11 more wells per year needed, if I heard you correctly. Is that sort of to offset declines, anticipated declines from Shenandoah and Salamanca? Any clarification you could give would be great.

Grant Sims (CEO)

I think that it really is. We view this, the offshore business, as a self-regenerating annuity, and it will regenerate itself every year if. We, quote unquote, if the producers replace the reserves regardless of where they come. From that, they move through our pipeline any one year. That is kind of how we think about it. Wade, is that so? If we move 275 million barrels in 2026, which we would anticipate that we would if the producers across the footprint of existing production facilities, which are. Dedicated and tied into us exclusively, tied. Into our infrastructure, if they drill just 11 additional development wells.

They're adding a year.

They're replacing that throughput and annuitizing our ability without us spending any money, annuitizing the ability for us to.

To repeat year after year after year the financial performance that we expect.

Wade Suki (Analyst)

Fantastic. If I could squeeze one more in, I appreciate y'all bearing with me here, but recognizing how underutilized the assets are, what do you think offshore, and you might have touched on this in previous calls, what do you think offshore segment margin could look like with full utilization?

I guess.

Is that something you're prepared to touch on?

Grant Sims (CEO)

I mean, let's kind of give you a little. Bit of. The financial and leverage is a bad word in. In this context, the operating results that. Are levered to the existing capacity. We have kind of publicly stated, if the producers for Salamanca and Shenandoah kind of come close to hitting their forecast, then we would expect an incremental plus or minus $160 million a year of recognized segment margin. We have, in essence, used half of the capacity that we have installed and paid for. If we filled it up with similarly situated fields, including coming through a lateral and then going downstream on Poseidon, you can appreciate the, the quote, unquote. Upside we have without spending any money. At this point forward.

Wade Suki (Analyst)

Understood.

Very clear.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Grant Sims (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you once again.

If you'd like to ask a question, please press Star One on your telephone keypad. That's Star One. It doesn't look like there are any further questions at this time. With that, I'd like to turn the floor back to Grant Sims for closing remarks.

Grant Sims (CEO)

Thanks everyone for listening in.

We look forward to talking to you in another 90 days, if not sooner. Thanks very much.

Operator (participant)

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. With that, this does conclude today's teleconference. We thank you for your participation, and you may disconnect at this time. Have a wonderful day.