Midstream’s Future Is in Your Hands: Floerke Calls for Action at 2025 GPA Midstream Convention

Below is text of remarks made by GPA Midstream Chair Greg Floerke, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, MPLX, at the Center Stage Luncheon during the 2025 GPA Midstream Convention.

Good morning. Thank you for attending this year's GPA Midstream Convention. And thank you for your commitment to this association and to our industry. This gathering is testament to our collective dedication to delivering the reliable, affordable, cleaner energy the world needs.

Over the past several years, midstream has changed in many ways. Mergers and acquisitions have consolidated assets and achieved greater scale and efficiency. We've embraced technologies and innovations that have improved operations, increased safety, and slashed emissions.

While America's policy direction has taken sharp turns from election to election, we have processed and delivered more energy than ever before. Over the past two decades, US greenhouse gas emissions dropped while gross domestic product rose primarily because we're using more natural gas to produce energy. Midstream is an essential part of delivering the record oil and gas production needed to meet rising demand.

One side effect of our operational and business success is that industry consolidation is pressuring the very institutions that empower our collaboration and inspire our push for constant improvement.

Fewer companies holding membership in GPA Midstream is not a reflection of its relevance as an organization. It's a fact. A reality check. The midstream "pie" has gotten larger and consolidation means we're slicing that "pie" into ever larger pieces. Those bigger slices mean fewer members, but it doesn't mean the work of the association has diminished in importance.

Acknowledging this reality lets us assess the situation and develop a solution. It gives us an opportunity to make sure our associations are strategically aligned and properly resourced to represent members today and into the future.

The greatest value of GPA Midstream is this: turning individual expertise into collective advantage. It is through GPA Midstream and GPSA that we translate technical knowledge into safer operations, into standards and best practices that everyone can use, into training that builds the next generation of engineers and operators, and into a unified voice that represents midstream interests when it matters most.

Through our committees and work groups, we set the standard for how to measure our products, what to keep in mind when designing a new facility, and the steps needed to protect our workers, our communities, and our environment.

The GPSA Engineering Data Book - is a great example of that value. In physical form, it is a constant presence in desks, offices, and facilities across this industry. Now in the cloud, it's in the hands of every employee of a GPA Midstream or GPSA member company who has a mobile device.

The Data Book is not just a reference. It's a common language. When we encounter a problem in the field, we don't want ten different answers. We want a vetted, practical solution grounded in experience. That's what the Data Book and our technical work deliver.

Through events like this Convention, GPA Midstream's workforce development offerings, and dozens of committee and work group meetings, GPA Midstream convenes operators, service providers, equipment manufacturers, regulators and customers. These forums are where hard problems become solvable because smart people talk to one another, challenge assumptions, and collaborate on solutions.

GPA Midstream is an amplifier. Our advocacy leverages the technical expertise of midstream professionals with regulators and lawmakers. That expertise is critical to working with policymakers to set reasonable, achievable, workable rules of the road.

We're educating consumers about realities of energy and climate, as well as the value of midstream operations and infrastructure through our Let's Clear the Air campaign.

Advocacy and consumer educations initiatives are complimentary. Keeping our heads down and doing a great job isn't enough anymore. Maintaining our social license to operate requires us to educate consumers and policymakers.

Let's talk about advocacy for a moment. Administrations change. Policies change. What should not change is our push for realistic, reasonable policies that empower us to meet demand for our products. We must offer honest, pragmatic solutions that responsibly weigh tradeoffs along dimensions of affordability, reliability, and sustainability.

Those factors aren't mutually exclusive. We can push for cleaner, smarter, safer operations while assuring reliability and affordability. We've repeatedly shown we can do exactly that.

To be effective in our current political environment, we must be cohesive and credible. Regulators and elected officials rely on experts who can explain not just the risk, but the practical path forward. When it comes to midstream, GPA Midstream and GPSA is home to those experts.

We also must be ethically resilient. Regardless of who's in office, our commitment to doing the right thing can - and must - remain steady. That means transparency, rigor, and putting long-term integrity above short-term advantage. When we do that, the public and policymakers listen. When we do that, our reputation is an asset.

Which brings me to a critical point: being a member of GPA Midstream or GPSA is not a passive subscription. It's an opportunity to be heard and to influence outcomes. Don't wait for "someone else" to raise an issue you think is important. They might be just as busy as you are. They might be waiting for you.

If you want the industry to reflect your priorities then you need to be in the room and at the table. Committee work matters. Attendance matters. Bringing your questions and your real-world problems matters.

Commit to getting…or staying…involved. Join a committee. Raise one issue you want GPA Midstream to tackle. Mentor someone. And recruit - actively. If each of us brings one new member company into the association, or one new person into a committee, we change the trajectory of our industry.

Here's how we work together through GPA Midstream to deliver on our promise for the future:

• First, show up. Your presence matters more than your title. Real influence comes from participation.
• Second, recruit with purpose. Reach into your network - operators, vendors, new employees - and invite them to experience what we do. Offer them a specific role: sponsor a young engineer to attend a course, bring someone to a committee meeting, or recommend a peer for volunteer service. Connect with colleagues at companies that should be members but are not, and share the value of GPA Midstream and GPSA.
• Third, raise real challenges and help develop solutions. GPA Midstream exists to turn those real problems into shared standards.
• Fourth, invest in mentorship. We need to grow the bench - people who can carry technical competence and institutional memory into the next decade.

Change can be uncomfortable. Policy swings create uncertainty. But uncertainty pushes us to improve. It forces us to examine what works and what doesn't. It inspires us to identify foundational principles that endure. It shows us where we must be more persuasive, more relevant, and more engaged.

If each of us does our part, GPA Midstream and GPSA will continue to be home for technical excellence and a credible voice for midstream. The associations will be the place where problems are solved - together.

Let's meet this moment with ambition and humility. Let's be relentless about recruiting and engaging. Let's build an association that's stronger, smarter, and more influential ten years from now than it is today.