Summit Midstream Partners (NYSE:SMC) outlined fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results alongside an update on commercial activity at its Double E Pipeline and its 2026 outlook, emphasizing new long-term take-or-pay contracts, a refinancing at the Permian joint venture, and a multi-year organic growth framework.
Fourth-quarter results and 2025 totals
Management said the company generated approximately $58.6 million of adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter, alongside $33.7 million of distributable cash flow and $17 million of free cash flow. For the full year, Summit reported approximately $243 million of adjusted EBITDA.
Balance sheet and liquidity update
Summit ended 2025 with net debt of approximately $930 million, and management discussed a pro forma net debt figure of approximately $890 million after a $40 million repayment of its asset-based lending facility tied to an expected $85 million distribution from a new Permian Transmission term loan. On that pro forma basis, management said leverage would be approximately 3.9x.
Available borrowing capacity at year-end was approximately $387 million, which included about $1 million of undrawn letters of credit.
Segment performance: Rockies, Permian, Piceance, and Mid-Con
In the Rockies segment (DJ and Williston Basin systems), Summit reported adjusted EBITDA of $27.8 million, down $1.2 million from the third quarter. The decline was attributed primarily to lower liquids volumes from natural declines, partially offset by modest natural gas volume growth. Liquids averaged about 66,000 barrels per day, down roughly 6,000 barrels per day sequentially, while natural gas averaged about 160 MMcf/d, up roughly 2 MMcf/d. Summit connected 33 new wells in the DJ Basin during the quarter, which management expects to reach peak production in the second quarter of 2026.
In the Permian Basin segment, which includes Summit’s 70% interest in the Double E Pipeline, the company posted adjusted EBITDA of $8.7 million, up modestly from the third quarter due to higher pipeline throughput. Double E volume throughput averaged 861 MMcf/d in the quarter.
The Piceance segment reported adjusted EBITDA of $10 million, down $2.5 million sequentially, which management attributed to a modest decline in throughput and deferred revenues recognized in the prior quarter.
The Mid-Con segment posted adjusted EBITDA of $21.5 million, down about $2.1 million, driven by lower throughput from natural declines across the Arkoma and Barnett systems. Summit connected six wells in the Arkoma and none in the Barnett during the quarter; after quarter-end, it connected six additional Arkoma wells. Management said there was one rig running behind the Arkoma system and approximately 20 drilled but uncompleted wells.
2026 guidance and well-connection outlook
Summit established 2026 guidance for adjusted EBITDA of $225 million to $265 million and total capital expenditures of $85 million to $105 million. The capex outlook includes:
- $35 million to $50 million of base business growth capital
- $15 million to $20 million of maintenance capital
- ~$35 million of contributions to the Double E joint venture
Mault said the expected Double E joint venture contributions are planned to be fully funded through the new term loan facility discussed on the call.
Operationally, management said it currently sees 7 rigs and approximately 90 DUCs behind its systems, supporting expected 2026 well connections of 116 to 126. Management said approximately 80% of expected well connections are crude oil-oriented, with the remaining 20% natural gas-oriented.
Guidance assumes average commodity prices in the mid-$60s for crude oil and approximately $3.40 per MMBtu for natural gas. Management noted recent upside movement in crude oil prices could accelerate customer activity and potentially improve product margin tied to certain percentage-of-proceeds contracts in the DJ Basin, but said the company used conservative assumptions in its outlook.
By area, Summit said it expects:
- Rockies: 90-100 well connections, roughly split between the DJ and Williston; the company also expects to gather both crude and produced water for nine Williston wells (with an expected ~3:1 produced water-to-crude ratio).
- Mid-Con: 26 well connections (nine Arkoma and 17 Barnett), with volumes expected to be relatively flat year-over-year based on the activity included in guidance.
- Piceance: no new well connections in 2026, with continued declines expected; management also projected Piceance shortfall payments to decline by about $4 million, from $17 million in 2025 to approximately $13 million in 2026, and said MVC-related payments roll off in the third quarter of 2026.
Double E contracts, potential expansion, and refinancing
CEO Heath Deneke and Chief Commercial Officer Chris Tennant highlighted a series of commercial wins at Double E. Deneke said Summit recently signed two 11+ year transportation agreements totaling 440 MMcf/d of firm capacity and also received an affirmative final investment decision notice on a previously announced 200 MMcf/d Producers Midstream agreement. Tennant said Double E has secured over 500 MMcf/d of new long-term take-or-pay commitments over the past six months and, upon full ramp, expects approximately 1.6 Bcf/d of firm take-or-pay contracts.
Management said the new agreements also expand Double E’s downstream connectivity with delivery points into the Transwestern Central Pool, the Hugh Brinson Pipeline, and a planned future connection with the Desert Southwest Pipeline.
With existing mainline capacity described as effectively full, Summit launched a binding open season to solicit commitments for a mainline compression expansion that could raise capacity by about 50% from 1.6 Bcf/d to roughly 2.4 Bcf/d. In response to a question on timing, Tennant described the project as having an estimated sub-3x build multiple and said an FID decision could occur as early as this summer if commitments progress as expected.
Summit said its Permian segment adjusted EBITDA is expected to grow from $34 million in 2025 to roughly $60 million by 2029 based on executed contracts, and Tennant added that if the expansion capacity is fully commercialized, the EBITDA contribution could increase to approximately $90 million or more by 2030.
On the financing side, Summit Permian Transmission entered into a new $440 million senior secured term loan maturing in March 2031, including $340 million funded at closing, a $50 million committed delayed draw facility, and a $50 million accordion feature. Management said proceeds repaid existing Permian Transmission debt and subsidiary preferred equity, and the transaction enabled an $85 million distribution to Summit. Summit plans to use the proceeds to repay approximately $45 million of accrued preferred dividends and reduce ABL borrowings by about $40 million.
Deneke said the preferred dividend repayment is an important step toward enabling a sustainable return of capital program for shareholders. During Q&A, he said that if the company reaches the high end of its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance range, leverage could be roughly 3.6x, and that a dividend policy could be considered over the next 12 months, depending on leverage and sustainability.
Separately, Tennant said Summit executed a new 10-year crude oil gathering agreement with a producer in Divide County, North Dakota. The agreement includes a dedication spanning more than 200,000 acres along Summit’s Polar and Divide systems. The first pad under the agreement—four three-mile laterals—is expected to be turned in line in early 2026.
About Summit Midstream Partners (NYSE:SMC)
Summit Midstream Partners is a publicly traded master limited partnership that provides gathering, compression, processing and transportation services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil in key U.S. onshore basins. The company’s assets include a network of intrastate and interstate pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities designed to serve producers, marketers and end users throughout the Appalachian, Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent and Western Canadian Sedimentary basins.
In the Appalachian region, Summit operates extensive gathering lines and multiple gas-processing complexes connected to the Mountaineer NGL Hub, one of the largest fractionation and storage hubs in the Mid-Atlantic.
