Western Midstream Announces First-Quarter 2022 Results

Announces 2022 Revised Guidance

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  Reported first-quarter 2022 Net income attributable to limited partners of $301.9 million, generating first-quarter record-breaking Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $539.1 million.
  


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  Reported first-quarter 2022 Cash flows provided by operating activities of $276.5 million, generating first-quarter Free cash flow⁽¹⁾ of $200.3 million.
  


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  Increased 2022 Adjusted EBITDA⁽²⁾ guidance range to $2.125 billion to $2.225 billion, total capital expenditures⁽³⁾ range to $550 million to $600 million, and Free cash flow⁽²⁾ range to $1.25 billion to $1.35 billion.
  


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  The distribution guidance of at least $2.00⁽⁴⁾ per unit remains unchanged.
  

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

• Executed long-term amendments to Occidental Petroleum Corporation's ("Occidental") gas-processing agreement in the Delaware Basin to provide up to 250 MMcf/d of additional firm-processing capacity supported by up to 200 MMcf/d of minimum-volume commitments.
• Executed a long-term agreement with ConocoPhillips Company in the Delaware Basin to provide up to 150 MMcf/d of firm capacity to service dedicated volumes.
• Executed a multi-year amendment to DCP Midstream's ("DCP") gas-processing agreement in the DJ Basin to provide DCP with an additional 60 MMcf/d of firm-processing capacity, fully supported by a minimum-volume commitment, with DCP's option to add an incremental 40 MMcf/d of capacity.
• Sanctioned a new 300 MMcf/d cryogenic processing plant at our Mentone Plant in our West Texas complex ("Mentone Train III") with an estimated in-service date of fourth-quarter 2023.
• Repurchased 225,355 common units for aggregate consideration of $5.1 million during the first quarter as part of the previously announced buyback program of up to $1.0 billion of the Partnership's common units through December 31, 2024.
• Retired $502.2 million of Senior notes due 2022 in April of 2022.

On May 13, 2022, WES will pay its first-quarter 2022 per-unit distribution of $0.500, which represents a 52.9-percent increase over the prior quarter's distribution and is consistent with the Partnership's previously disclosed annualized regular quarterly distribution ("Base Distribution") target of $2.00 per unit. First-quarter 2022 Free cash flow after distributions totaled $65.6 million. First-quarter 2022 capital expenditures⁽³⁾ totaled $86.5 million.

First-quarter 2022 total natural-gas throughput⁽⁵⁾ averaged 4.1 Bcf/d, representing a 3-percent sequential-quarter decrease. First-quarter 2022 total throughput for crude-oil and NGLs assets⁽⁵⁾ averaged 675 MBbls/d, representing a 4-percent sequential-quarter decrease. First-quarter 2022 total throughput for produced-water assets⁽⁵⁾ averaged 751 MBbls/d, representing an 5-percent sequential-quarter decrease.

"WES achieved record-breaking Adjusted EBITDA during the first quarter from lower operational costs, strong plant performance, and increased commodity prices," said Michael Ure, President and Chief Executive Officer. "On a sequential-quarter basis, our throughput declined due to producer well completion timing and inclement weather in the Delaware Basin coupled with reduced throughput in the DJ Basin and from equity method investments. Despite these declines, our gross margin benefited from favorable contract structures and the rapid improvement in the commodity-price environment experienced during the quarter."

"Our commercial team created tremendous value for our partnership in the first quarter by executing multiple long-term agreements with new and existing customers and securing additional offload arrangements," said Craig Collins, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "We continue to attract incremental volumes from Occidental and third parties due to our superior position in the Delaware Basin, improved cost structure, and commitment to customer service."

Mr. Collins continued, "Securing these long-term, firm-processing agreements underpins our decision to sanction an additional gas-processing train in the Delaware Basin and enables us to generate significant, sustainable value for our unitholders. Our offload arrangements will provide bridge capacity to service these expected volumes during the construction of Mentone Train III."

REVISED 2022 GUIDANCE

Revised 2022 guidance is based on results achieved to-date and customer-provided production-forecast information obtained by WES. Updated guidance is as follows:

• Adjusted EBITDA⁽²⁾ expected to range between $2.125 billion to $2.225 billion, representing a $200 million increase to the midpoint of guidance previously issued with WES's fourth-quarter 2021 earnings results ("Prior Guidance").
• Total capital expenditures⁽³⁾ expected to range between $550 million to $600 million, representing a $150 million increase to Prior Guidance. Total year capital expenditures include capital attributable to a portion of Mentone Train III and additional well connect and expansion capital to support increased producer activity in the Delaware Basin.
• Free cash flow⁽²⁾ expected to range between $1.25 billion to $1.35 billion, representing a $50 million increase to Prior Guidance.
• The distribution guidance of at least $2.00⁽⁴⁾ per unit remains unchanged.

"Increased producer activity levels, continued commercial success, and strong commodity prices have all contributed to the increase in expected 2022 Adjusted EBITDA," Ure said. "Additionally, we expect continued successes as our engineering and operations teams continue to focus on cost and capital efficiencies during the current inflationary environment."

Mr. Ure continued, "We are pleased to be the midstream-provider-of-choice for a growing portfolio of producers in the Delaware Basin, and we look forward to continuing to provide excellent customer service through our asset base expansion and processing capacity additions. This operational success further enables us to generate strong unitholder returns through efficient capital allocation, continued debt reduction, and the return of excess Free cash flow to unitholders."

CONFERENCE CALL TOMORROW AT 2:00 P.M. CT

WES will host a conference call on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. Central Time (3:00 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss first-quarter 2022 results. To participate, individuals should dial 844-200-6205 (Domestic) or 929-526-1599 (International) fifteen minutes before the scheduled conference call time and enter participant access code 131945. To access the live audio webcast of the conference call, please visit the investor relations section of the Partnership's website at www.westernmidstream.com. A replay of the conference call also will be available on the website following the call.

For additional details on WES's financial and operational performance, please refer to the earnings slides and updated investor presentation available at www.westernmidstream.com.

ABOUT WESTERN MIDSTREAM

Western Midstream Partners, LP ("WES") is a Delaware master limited partnership formed to acquire, own, develop, and operate midstream assets. With midstream assets located in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania, WES is engaged in the business of gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas; gathering, stabilizing, and transporting condensate, natural-gas liquids, and crude oil; and gathering and disposing of produced water for its customers. In its capacity as a natural-gas processor, WES also buys and sells natural gas, natural-gas liquids, and condensate on behalf of itself and as an agent for its customers under certain contracts.

For more information about Western Midstream Partners, LP, please visit www.westernmidstream.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements. WES's management believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions. No assurance, however, can be given that such expectations will prove correct. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results, or other expectations expressed in this news release. These factors include our ability to meet financial guidance or distribution expectations; the ultimate impact of efforts to fight COVID-19 on the global economy and any related impact on commodity demand and prices; our ability to safely and efficiently operate WES's assets; the supply of, demand for, and price of oil, natural gas, NGLs, and related products or services; our ability to meet projected in-service dates for capital-growth projects; construction costs or capital expenditures exceeding estimated or budgeted costs or expenditures; and the other factors described in the "Risk Factors" section of WES's most-recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other public filings and press releases. WES undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Western Midstream Partners, LP
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP MEASURES

WES defines Adjusted gross margin attributable to Western Midstream Partners, LP ("Adjusted gross margin") as total revenues and other (less reimbursements for electricity-related expenses recorded as revenue), less cost of product, plus distributions from equity investments, and excluding the noncontrolling interest owners' proportionate share of revenues and cost of product.

WES defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss), plus (i) distributions from equity investments, (ii) non-cash equity-based compensation expense, (iii) interest expense, (iv) income tax expense, (v) depreciation and amortization, (vi) impairments, and (vii) other expense (including lower of cost or market inventory adjustments recorded in cost of product), less (i) gain (loss) on divestiture and other, net, (ii) gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt, (iii) income from equity investments, (iv) interest income, (v) income tax benefit, (vi) other income, and (vii) the noncontrolling interest owners' proportionate share of revenues and expenses.

WES defines Free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities less total capital expenditures and contributions to equity investments, plus distributions from equity investments in excess of cumulative earnings. Management considers Free cash flow an appropriate metric for assessing capital discipline, cost efficiency, and balance-sheet strength. Although Free cash flow is the metric used to assess WES's ability to make distributions to unitholders, this measure should not be viewed as indicative of the actual amount of cash that is available for distributions or planned for distributions for a given period. Instead, Free cash flow should be considered indicative of the amount of cash that is available for distributions, debt repayments, and other general partnership purposes.

Below are reconciliations of (i) gross margin (GAAP) to Adjusted gross margin (non-GAAP), (ii) net income (loss) (GAAP) and net cash provided by operating activities (GAAP) to Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP), and (iii) net cash provided by operating activities (GAAP) to Free cash flow (non-GAAP), as required under Regulation G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Management believes that Adjusted gross margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Free cash flow are widely accepted financial indicators of WES's financial performance compared to other publicly traded partnerships and are useful in assessing WES's ability to incur and service debt, fund capital expenditures, and make distributions. Adjusted gross margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Free cash flow as defined by WES, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. Therefore, WES's Adjusted gross margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Free cash flow should be considered in conjunction with net income (loss) attributable to Western Midstream Partners, LP and other applicable performance measures, such as gross margin or cash flows provided by operating activities.

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