Equity

The changes in the number of units outstanding during the three months ended March 31, 2018 are summarized below:



(In units)	Common	General Partner		Total
Balance at December 31, 2017	407,130,020	8,308,773		415,438,793
Unit-based compensation awards⁽¹⁾	150,257	140		150,397
Contribution of refining logistics and fuels distribution assets⁽²⁾	111,611,111	2,277,778		113,888,889
Conversion of GP economic interests	275,000,000	(10,586,691	)	264,413,309
Balance at March 31, 2018	793,891,388	—		793,891,388


(1)	As a result of the unit-based compensation awards issued during the period, MPLX GP contributed less than $1 million in exchange for 140 general partner units to maintain its two percent GP Interest.


(2)	MPC agreed to waive approximately one-third of the first quarter 2018 distributions on the common units issued in connection with this transaction. As a result of this waiver, MPC will not receive $23.7 million of the distributions that would have otherwise accrued on such common units with respect to the first quarter 2018. See Note 4 for information regarding this acquisition.

GP/IDR Exchange – On February 1, 2018, MPC cancelled its IDRs and converted its economic GP Interest in MPLX LP to a non-economic general partner interest, in exchange for 275 million newly issued MPLX LP common units. These units had a fair value of $10.4 billion as of the transaction date as recorded on the Consolidated Statements of Equity. As a result of this transaction, the general partner units and IDRs were eliminated, are no longer outstanding and no longer participate in distributions of cash from the Partnership. MPC continues to own the non-economic GP Interest in MPLX LP. See Note 7 for more information on the net income per unit calculation.

Net Income Allocation – In preparing the Consolidated Statements of Equity, net income (loss) attributable to MPLX LP is allocated to preferred unitholders based on a fixed distribution schedule, as discussed in Note 9, and subsequently allocated to the limited partner unitholders in accordance with their respective ownership percentages. Prior to 2018, when distributions related to the IDRs were made, earnings equal to the amount of those distributions were first allocated to the general partner before the remaining earnings were allocated to the unitholders, based on their respective ownership percentages. The following table presents the allocation of the general partner’s GP Interest in net income attributable to MPLX LP, for income statement periods occurring prior to the exchange of the GP economic interests:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
(In millions)	2017
Net income attributable to MPLX LP	$	150
Less: Preferred unit distributions	16
General partner's IDRs and other	61
Net income attributable to MPLX LP available to general and limited partners	$	73

General partner's two percent GP Interest in net income attributable to MPLX LP	$	1
General partner's IDRs and other	61
General partner's GP Interest in net income attributable to MPLX LP	$	62

Cash distributions – The Partnership Agreement sets forth the calculation to be used to determine the amount and priority of cash distributions that the common unitholders and preferred unitholders will receive. In accordance with the Partnership Agreement, on April 25, 2018, the Partnership declared a quarterly cash distribution, based on the results of the first quarter of 2018, totaling $467 million, or $0.6175 per common unit. These distributions will be paid on May 15, 2018 to common unitholders of record on May 7, 2018.

The allocation of total quarterly cash distributions to general, limited and preferred unitholders is as follows for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017. The Partnership’s distributions are declared subsequent to quarter end; therefore, the following table represents total cash distributions applicable to the period in which the distributions were earned.



	Three Months Ended March 31,
(In millions)	2018		2017
General partner's distributions:
General partner's distributions on general partner units	$	—	$	5
General partner's distributions on IDRs	—		60
Total distribution on general partner units and IDRs	$	—	$	65
Common and preferred unit distributions:
Common unitholders, includes common units of general partner	$	467	$	198
Preferred unit distributions	16		16
Total cash distributions declared	$	483	$	279