Keyera posts strong fee-for-service margins and advances Plains Canadian NGL deal

Keyera delivered a set of 2025 results that underline a pivot toward a more integrated midstream footprint while management accelerates consolidation in the Canadian NGL market. Fee-for-service activities—principally gas gathering/processing and liquids infrastructure—drove record annual realized margins as contracted volumes and throughput increased across key plants and pipelines, offsetting weaker marketing performance. On a headline basis adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow were below the prior-year totals for the full year while the fourth-quarter cash metrics reflected a quarter-on-quarter improvement, signaling a shift from commodity-driven earnings toward steadier fee revenue. The company reported several tactical transactions: a majority interest purchase in Simonette-area plants to secure volumes and immediate returns, and the disposal of a non-core U.S. terminal to streamline the asset base and recycle proceeds into higher-return Canadian projects. The high-profile acquisition of Plains’ Canadian NGL business remains on track for regulatory close around Q1 2026 and is presented as a capability-expanding, national integration that should create scale and execution leverage after integration. Major capital projects under construction—frac capacity expansions and a regional pipeline extension—are reported as on schedule and within previously disclosed cost envelopes, which keeps near-term capital risk contained. Management also disclosed an extended unplanned outage at the Alberta Envirofuels iso-octane facility that requires replacement of long-life components and is expected back in service in May 2026; Keyera will combine that repair with a planned turnaround to avoid a second shutdown later in the year. Guidance for 2026 (stand-alone, pre-Plains close) reflects the outage impact: it reduces expected marketing margin by a material amount and lowers cash tax outlays while raising maintenance capex ranges. Balance-sheet metrics show leverage comfortably inside the company's long-term target band, helped by hybrid issuance proceeds, leaving room to fund integration costs and planned growth capex. Leadership lines were realigned ahead of the Plains close to improve accountability across gathering/processing, NGL pipelines and liquids businesses; one senior executive has chosen to depart. The headline read is pragmatic: Keyera is reshaping its footprint toward fee-based, cross-Canada NGL scale while accepting a short window of margin pressure and integration expense as the price of long-term operational optionality.