Plains GP Cuts Leverage to 3.3x After NGL Sale, Lifts Growth Spending
Plains GP Holdings (PAGP) reported second-quarter net income of $1.830 billion, swollen by a roughly $1.6 billion gain on the sale of its Canadian NGL business.
Plains GP Holdings (PAGP) closed the sale of its Canadian NGL Business to Keyera on May 12, 2026, for roughly $3.3 billion in net cash proceeds, and the pipeline and logistics operator used the windfall to cut total debt to $8.441 billion at quarter-end from $11.262 billion at the end of 2025. The transaction reshaped the balance sheet fast enough that the company's pro forma leverage ratio fell to 3.3x, the low end of its 3.25-to-3.75x target range, from 4.1x at the end of the first quarter.
The divestiture also reordered the income statement. Net income attributable to Plains jumped to $1.830 billion from $210 million a year earlier and from $152 million in the first quarter, driven by a roughly $1.6 billion net gain on the sale. Revenue more than doubled to $17.693 billion from $10.642 billion, combining continuing and discontinued operations, while NGL results were reported as discontinued operations for the first time, a treatment not present in the first-quarter filing.
Stripped of the one-time gain, underlying operating performance also improved. Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Plains rose 10% to $738 million from $672 million a year earlier and climbed from $730 million in the first quarter, which management called "a significant improvement from first quarter levels". Net cash from operating activities rose 38% to $956 million from $694 million a year earlier and more than doubled sequentially from $418 million. Diluted adjusted net income per common unit rose 14% to $0.41 from $0.36.
The crude oil segment did the heavy lifting behind that growth. Adjusted EBITDA from Crude Oil rose 19% to $690 million from $580 million, while NGL segment Adjusted EBITDA fell 54% to $40 million from $87 million following the Keyera sale. General and administrative expenses in the quarter included a newly disclosed roughly $34 million one-time charge for accelerated exit costs tied to the divestiture.
With leverage reduced, Plains raised its 2026 organic growth capital guidance to $400 million to $450 million from $350 million, adding a new 75 Mb/d Cactus III pipeline expansion to the plan. That marks a reversal from the first-quarter release, which had held growth capital flat at $350 million. Maintenance capital guidance was cut by $10 million to $175 million, largely reflecting the shortened ownership window for the NGL assets sold in May, itself a reversal of the first quarter's increase to $185 million tied to owning those assets into May.
On full-year Adjusted EBITDA, the company reiterated it remains "on-track" to deliver its guidance without issuing a further numeric raise, a flattening from the first quarter, when it had lifted the full-year midpoint by $130 million to $2.880 billion.
Plains also added Cynthia B. Taylor to its board since the first-quarter release, a governance change disclosed alongside the quarter's financial results.