MPLX — a midstream master limited partnership formed by Marathon Petroleum — has agreed to acquire MarkWest Energy Partners for approximately $20 billion in cash and debt. MarkWest is the nation’s second largest processor of natural gas and the largest processor and fractionator in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. MPLX owns oil and product pipeline and storage assets near Marathon’s refining and marketing networks in the Midwest and Gulf Coast.
With the new deal in the works, MPLX has deferred indefinitely a recent proposal to buy Marathon’s marine transportation assets. The MarkWest acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
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