- Company name
- Enterprise Products Partners
- Sector
- Midstream energy partnership
- About
- Enterprise Products Partners (Enterprise) is a publicly traded limited partnership. It gives midstream energy services to producers and users of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. Its assets include more than 50,000 miles of pipelines, more than 300 million barrels of storage for liquids, 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage, natural gas processing plants, the NGL fractionation complex at Mont Belvieu, Texas, and marine export terminals on the Texas Gulf Coast. It has four segments. In the first nine months of 2026, NGL Pipelines & Services gave $4.58 billion of the $8.39 billion of total segment gross operating margin, and the Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Petrochemical & Refined Products segments gave the rest. Investors own common units, not shares, and receive a cash distribution each quarter. EPCO and its affiliates owned about 32.6% of the common units at September 30, 2026. The head office is in Houston, Texas. Randy Fowler becomes the only chief executive officer on January 4, 2027, when co-chief executive officer Jim Teague retires.
- Thesis
- Enterprise trades close to its intrinsic value because investors already pay for its steady fee-based cash flow and its distribution, which grows a little each year. Adjusted EBITDA rose 16% to $2.79 billion in Q3 2026, and operational distributable cash flow covered the distribution 1.9 times. The distribution is $0.56 per unit each quarter, 2.8% more than a year earlier, and Enterprise also bought back $437 million of units in the 12 months to September 30, 2026. Growth comes from $6.3 billion of projects under construction, such as new Permian gas processing plants, the Frac 15 fractionator and the expansion of the LPG export terminal on the Houston Ship Channel. For the units to hold their value, three things must be true. Natural gas and NGL production in the Permian Basin must keep growing, so that the new plants fill. International demand for U.S. ethane, propane and other products must stay strong. Debt must stay near its present level while the partnership spends on growth and pays distributions. The Q4 2026 report, expected in early February 2027, is the next test, and it is the first report after the change of chief executive officer. Lower NGL exports or delays to the new plants can push the units below their intrinsic value.
- Risks
- Volumes depend on production growth in the Permian Basin. If lower oil or gas prices slow drilling, the new processing plants and NGL pipelines can fill more slowly.
Debt principal was $33.74 billion at September 30, 2026, and $2.23 billion was due within one year. Higher interest rates raise the cost of new debt.
Enterprise is a partnership for federal income tax. A change in law, or a failure of the qualifying income test, can make it pay income tax as a corporation and lower the cash for distributions. Unitholders pay tax on their share of income even when they receive no cash, and tax-exempt holders such as retirement accounts can owe tax on unrelated business taxable income.
EPCO and its affiliates owned about 32.6% of the common units at September 30, 2026, and the Duncan family trustees control both EPCO and the general partner, which manages the partnership. Their interests can differ from those of other unitholders.
Some margins move with commodity prices, such as NGL marketing and the partnership's equity NGL production of 242 MBPD in Q3 2026.
- Balance sheet
- Cash: $232M
Debt: $33.7B
Net debt: $33.5B
EBITDA, last 12 months: $11.0B
Net debt / EBITDA: 3.0× (medium)
Interest cover: 5.3×
Undrawn credit line: $4.5B
Debt due within 12 months: $2.2B
Last debt due: 2078
Enterprise funds itself mostly with senior notes and junior subordinated notes of its operating subsidiary, Enterprise Products Operating LLC, commercial paper and retained cash flow. At September 30, 2026, debt principal was $33.74 billion: $30.80 billion of senior notes, $2.28 billion of junior subordinated notes and $660 million of commercial paper. Current maturities were $2.23 billion, including $1.0 billion of 4.60% notes due January 2027 and $575 million of 3.95% notes due February 2027. Cash was $232 million. Total borrowing capacity under the revolving credit facilities was $5.2 billion: $2.7 billion due March 2030, and $1.5 billion and $1.0 billion due March 2027. Consolidated liquidity was $4.8 billion. Net debt divided by Adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months to September 30, 2026 ($11.02 billion) was about 3.0 times. Interest cover is operating income divided by interest expense for the first nine months of 2026 ($6,134 million against $1,154 million). The last junior notes are due in 2078. The distribution is $0.56 per unit each quarter, and there were 2,156,604,858 common units outstanding on October 31, 2026.
As of 2026-09-30.
- Checkpoints
- Oct 29, 2026: Q3 2026 results and distribution coverage. Passed. Watch: Higher distributable cash flow and coverage of 1.7 times or more pass; lower coverage fails. Outcome: Operational distributable cash flow rose 27% to $2.31 billion and covered the distribution 1.9 times.
Feb 2, 2027 (estimate): Q4 2026 results and new projects in service. Pending. Watch: The LPG terminal expansion and the Athena plant in service and a higher distribution pass; delays or lower distributable cash flow fail.
Q4 2027 (estimate): Bahia expansion and Athena 2 in service. Pending. Watch: Bahia at 1 million barrels per day and Athena 2 in service on time pass; delays fail.
- Recent events
- 2026-10-29: Enterprise reported Q3 2026 results. Net income attributable to common unitholders was $1.62 billion, or $0.75 per unit, up 21%. Adjusted EBITDA rose 16% to $2.79 billion, and operational distributable cash flow rose 27% to $2.31 billion, which covered the distribution 1.9 times. Permian natural gas processing inlet volumes were a record 4.6 Bcf/d. Enterprise expects 2026 growth capital spending of $2.9 billion to $3.4 billion, net of $600 million of asset sales. It scheduled the fourth expansion of its LPG terminal on the Houston Ship Channel and the Athena processing plant in the Midland Basin for completion in Q4 2026.
2026-07-30: Enterprise reported Q2 2026 results. Net income attributable to common unitholders was a record $1.8 billion, or $0.84 per unit, up 28%, and Adjusted EBITDA was a record $2.8 billion, up 17%. It announced Frac 15, a 150 MBPD NGL fractionator at Mont Belvieu, and two more 300 MMcf/d gas processing plants in the Delaware and Midland Basins. On July 28, 2026, its operating subsidiary signed a new $1.0 billion revolving credit agreement that matures on March 26, 2027.
2026-07-01: Enterprise announced that co-chief executive officer Jim Teague plans to retire on January 4, 2027. Co-chief executive officer Randy Fowler then becomes the only chief executive officer.
2026-04-28: Enterprise reported Q1 2026 results. Net income attributable to common unitholders was $1.5 billion, or $0.68 per unit, up 6%, and Adjusted EBITDA was $2.7 billion, up 10%. NGL fractionation volumes were a record 1.9 MMBPD. The Mentone West 2 gas processing plant began service, and Enterprise announced two more processing plants in the Permian Basin.
2026-02-03: Enterprise reported 2025 results. Net income attributable to common unitholders was $5.8 billion, or $2.66 per unit, against $2.69 in 2024, and operational distributable cash flow was $7.9 billion in both years. Distributions declared for 2025 rose 3.6% to $2.175 per unit. The Bahia NGL pipeline began service in December 2025, and Enterprise sold a 40% interest in it to ExxonMobil for about $655 million. The two companies plan to expand Bahia to 1 million barrels per day by Q4 2027.