North America Midstream & Energy Infrastructure: Midstream Snapshot: Macro and Momo

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North America Midstream & Energy Infrastructure: Midstream Snapshot: Macro and Momo

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31 Jul 2026 07:00:00 ET │ 12 pages

North America Midstream & Energy Infrastructure

Midstream Snapshot: Macro and Momo

CITI'S TAKE

Frustration was palpable this week due to larger forces disrupting

positioning just as we enter the heart of earnings season. Midstream

underperformed broader markets and Energy on the back of a multi-day

momentum-driven sell-off and crude weakness. Momentum indices slid Spiro DounisAC

double digits before rebounding slightly late in the week. Accordingly, +1-212-816-6926

natgas pipeline names represented the largest underperformers. Liquids spiro.dounis@citi.com

names also lagged broader markets with crude prices falling 7%. In

Douglas IrwinAC contrast to the macro headlines, earnings were largely constructive.

Notably, three of the four gas pipeline companies have now reported with +1-212-816-9525

douglas.irwin@citi.com all pointing to improved outlooks but large project FIDs are expected to

come later in the year. Nonetheless, post-earnings print trading has been Charles Bryant

lackluster short of major project announcements. We expect more of the +1-212-816-3284

same next week; positioning is critical and so far none of the prints have charles.bryant@citi.com

been impressive enough to warrant meaningful incremental flows in the

stock.

What were people asking? 1) Will ET or MPLX acquire the Explorer pipeline interest

reportedly up for sale? With Reuters reporting Shell and PSX are considering selling

their stakes in the pipeline. ET and MPLX both have minority stakes in the pipeline;

however, we suspect the ~13x implied multiple on the reported $3.5bln valuation

may be too steep for either company. The Reuters article also mentioned the two