Plains All American (PAA) will acquire a 55% non-operated interest in EPIC Crude Holdings, LP for $1.57B, the company announced last Tuesday (Sept. 2). The acquisition strengthens Plains’ dominant crude oil position in the Permian Basin and advances its wellhead-to-water strategy.
Plains purchased the EPIC interest from subsidiaries of Diamondback Energy (FANG) and Kinetik (KNTK). The assets include the 600 Mb/d EPIC Crude Pipeline linking the Permian and Eagle Ford basins to Corpus Christi, plus 7 MMbbl of storage and a marine terminal with 200 Mb/d of export capacity. PAA will fund the purchase through its recent $1.25B senior notes offering and cash on hand, and expects the deal to be immediately accretive to distributable cash flow.
The transaction aligns with PAA’s broader Permian strategy. The company owns gathering systems such as Oryx Midstream in the Permian and Ironwood Midstream in the Eagle Ford that feed directly into EPIC. The deal also adds to Plains’ significant long-haul position from the Permian to the Corpus Christi export hub, including its wholly owned Cactus I and 70%-owned Cactus II pipelines. PAA also has a 50% interest in the Eagle Ford JV with Enterprise Products (EPD).
With full ownership or a significant stake in three of the four major Permian-to-Corpus Christi pipelines, Plains can further integrate its gathering and takeaway network. The deal leaves Gray Oak as the only Permian oil pipeline to Corpus Christi in which PAA does not hold an equity interest.
Downstream, EPIC’s Corpus Christi Marine Terminal and PAA’s Eagle Ford JV Terminal will reinforce the long-haul position. Together, these assets provide export redundancy and further optionality at the waterfront. Both the Eagle Ford JV and EPIC terminals offer expansion potential through additional docks and storage, positioning Plains to capture upside from future Corpus Christi export growth.
Plains in June sold its Canadian NGL assets to Keyera for $3.75B. As PAA repositions itself as a crude-focused midstream company, investors should anticipate further bolt-on deals designed to extend integration from the wellhead to demand centers. This activity is likely to accelerate in 2H26, when PAA will be flush with cash from the close of the Keyera deal. – Garrett Streit and Keland Rumsey Tickers: EPD, FANG, KNTK, PAA .
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