Commitments and Contingencies

MPLX is the subject of, or a party to, a number of pending or threatened legal actions, contingencies and commitments involving a variety of matters, including laws and regulations relating to the environment. Some of these matters are discussed below. For matters for which MPLX has not recorded an accrued liability, MPLX is unable to estimate a range of possible losses for the reasons discussed in more detail below. However, the ultimate resolution of some of these contingencies could, individually or in the aggregate, be material.

Environmental Matters – MPLX is subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the environment. These laws generally provide for control of pollutants released into the environment and require responsible parties to undertake remediation of hazardous waste disposal sites. Penalties may be imposed for non-compliance.

At December 31, 2018 and 2017, accrued liabilities for remediation totaled $14 million and $13 million, respectively. However, it is not presently possible to estimate the ultimate amount of all remediation costs that might be incurred or the penalties, if any, which may be imposed. At December 31, 2017, there was less than $1 million in payables to MPC for indemnification of environmental costs related to incidents occurring prior to the asset drops. At December 31, 2018, there was no balance with MPC for these costs.

MarkWest Liberty Midstream and its affiliates agreed to pay a cash penalty of approximately $0.6 million and to undertake certain supplemental environmental projects with an estimated cost of approximately $2.4 million, related to civil enforcement allegations associated with permitting and other regulatory obligations for launcher/receiver and compressor station facilities in southeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. On April 24, 2018, MarkWest Liberty Midstream and its affiliates entered into a Consent Decree with the EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection resolving these issues. The Consent Decree was approved by the court on July 9, 2018 and the penalty has been paid.

MarkWest Liberty Midstream, Ohio Fractionation and MarkWest Utica EMG, together with other MarkWest affiliates, agreed to pay a penalty of approximately $0.9 million, undertake certain monitoring and emission reduction projects at certain facilities with an estimated cost of approximately $3.3 million, and implement certain process enhancements for its and its affiliates’ leak detection and repair programs at its gas processing and fractionation sites. On November 1, 2018, MPLX and 11 of its subsidiaries entered into a Consent Decree with the EPA, the State of Oklahoma, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the State of West Virginia resolving these issues. The Consent Decree was approved by the court on January 8, 2019 and the penalty has been paid.

MPLX is involved in a number of other environmental enforcement matters arising in the ordinary course of business. While the outcome and impact on MPLX LP cannot be predicted with certainty, management believes the resolution of these environmental matters will not, individually or collectively, have a material adverse effect on its consolidated results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

Other Lawsuits – MPLX, MarkWest, MarkWest Liberty Midstream, MarkWest Liberty Bluestone, L.L.C., Ohio Fractionation and MarkWest Utica EMG (collectively, the “MPLX Parties”) are parties to various lawsuits with Bilfinger Westcon, Inc. (“Westcon”) that were instituted in 2016 and 2017 in the Court of Common Pleas in Butler County, Pennsylvania, the Circuit Court in Wetzel County, West Virginia, and the Court of Common Pleas in Harrison County, Ohio. The lawsuits relate to disputes regarding construction work performed by Westcon at the Bluestone, Mobley and Cadiz processing complexes in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, respectively, and the Hopedale fractionation complex in Ohio. With respect to work performed by Westcon at the Mobley and Bluestone processing complexes, one or more of the MPLX Parties have asserted breach of contract, fraud, and with respect to work performed at the Mobley processing complex, MarkWest Liberty Midstream has also asserted negligent misrepresentation claims against Westcon. Westcon has also asserted claims against one or more of the MPLX Parties regarding these construction projects for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, promissory estoppel, fraud and constructive fraud, tortious interference with contractual relations, and civil conspiracy. Collectively, in the several cases, the MPLX Parties seek in excess of $10 million, plus an unspecified amount of punitive damages. Collectively, in the several cases, Westcon seeks in excess of $40 million, plus an unspecified amount of punitive damages. It is possible that, in connection with these lawsuits, the MPLX Parties will incur material amounts of damages. While the ultimate outcome and impact to MPLX cannot be predicted with certainty, MPLX does not consider it reasonably possible that a loss resulting from such lawsuits or other proceedings in excess of any amounts accrued has been incurred that is expected to have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

In 2003, the State of Illinois brought an action against the Premcor Refining Group, Inc. (“Premcor”) and Apex Refining Company (“Apex”) asserting claims for environmental cleanup related to the refinery owned by these entities in the Hartford/Wood River, Illinois area. In 2006, Premcor and Apex filed third-party complaints against numerous owners and operators of petroleum products facilities in the Hartford/Wood River, Illinois area, including Marathon Pipe Line LLC (“MPL”). These complaints, which have been amended since filing, assert claims of common law nuisance and contribution under the Illinois Contribution Act and other laws for environmental cleanup costs that may be imposed on Premcor and Apex by the State of Illinois. On September 6, 2016, the trial court approved a settlement between Apex and the State of Illinois whereby Apex agreed to settle all claims against it for a $10 million payment. Premcor filed a motion for permissive appeal and requested a stay to the proceeding until the motion is ruled upon. Premcor reached a settlement with the State of Illinois in the second quarter of 2018, which has been objected to by certain third-party defendants, including MPL, and is subject to court approval. Several third-party defendants in the litigation including MPL have asserted cross-claims in contribution against the various third-party defendants. This litigation is currently pending in the Third Judicial Circuit Court, Madison County, Illinois. The trial concerning Premcor’s claims against third-party defendants, including MPL, previously scheduled to commence September 10, 2018, has been postponed and a new trial date has not been set. While the ultimate outcome and impact to MPLX cannot be predicted with certainty, MPLX does not consider it reasonably possible that a loss resulting from such lawsuits or other proceedings in excess of any amounts accrued has been incurred that is expected to have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Under the omnibus agreement, MPC will indemnify MPLX for the full cost of any losses should MPL be deemed responsible for any damages in this lawsuit.

MPLX is also a party to a number of other lawsuits and other proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. While the ultimate outcome and impact to MPLX cannot be predicted with certainty, MPLX believes the resolution of these other lawsuits and proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Guarantees – Over the years, MPLX has sold various assets in the normal course of its business. Certain of the related agreements contain performance and general guarantees, including guarantees regarding inaccuracies in representations, warranties, covenants and agreements, and environmental and general indemnifications that require MPLX to perform upon the occurrence of a triggering event or condition. These guarantees and indemnifications are part of the normal course of selling assets. MPLX is typically not able to calculate the maximum potential amount of future payments that could be made under such contractual provisions because of the variability inherent in the guarantees and indemnities. Most often, the nature of the guarantees and indemnities is such that there is no appropriate method for quantifying the exposure because the underlying triggering event has little or no past experience upon which a reasonable prediction of the outcome can be based.

Contractual Commitments and Contingencies – At December 31, 2018, MPLX’s contractual commitments to acquire property, plant and equipment totaled $746 million. These commitments were primarily related to plant expansion projects for the Marcellus and Southwest Operations. In addition, from time to time and in the ordinary course of business, MPLX and its affiliates provide guarantees of MPLX’s subsidiaries payment and performance obligations in the G&P segment. Certain natural gas processing and gathering arrangements require MPLX to construct new natural gas processing plants, natural gas gathering pipelines and NGL pipelines and contain certain fees and charges if specified construction milestones are not achieved for reasons other than force majeure. In certain cases, certain producers may have the right to cancel the processing arrangements if there are significant delays that are not due to force majeure. As of December 31, 2018, management does not believe there are any indications that MPLX will not be able to meet the construction milestones, that force majeure does not apply or that such fees and charges will otherwise be triggered.

Lease and Other Contractual Obligations – MPLX executed transportation and terminalling agreements that obligate us to minimum volume, throughput or payment commitments over the terms of the agreements, which range from 9 to 11 years. After the minimum volume commitments are met in the transportation and terminalling agreements, MPLX pays additional amounts based on throughput. There are escalation clauses in the transportation and terminalling agreements, which are based on Consumer Price Index adjustments. The minimum future payments under these agreements as of December 31, 2018 are as follows:



(In millions)
2019	$	52
2020	52
2021	48
2022	46
2023	46
2024 and thereafter	180
Total	$	424

MPLX has various non-cancellable operating lease agreements, most of these leases include renewal options. MPLX also leases certain pipelines under a capital lease that has a fixed price purchase option in 2020. Future minimum commitments as of December 31, 2018, for capital lease obligations and for operating lease obligations having initial or remaining non-cancellable lease terms in excess of one year are as follows:



(In millions)	Capital Lease Obligations		Operating Lease Obligations
2019	$	2	$	73
2020	5		70
2021	—		67
2022	—		64
2023	—		58
2024 and thereafter	—		719
Total minimum lease payments	7		$	1,051
Less: imputed interest costs	1
Present value of net minimum lease payments	$	6

Operating lease rental expense was:



(In millions)	2018		2017		2016
Minimum rental expense	$	85	$	64	$	57

SMR Transaction – On September 1, 2009, MarkWest entered into a product supply agreement creating a long-term contractual obligation for the payment of processing fees in exchange for the entire product processed by the SMR. See Note 18 for additional discussion. The product received under this agreement is sold to a refinery customer pursuant to a corresponding long-term agreement. The minimum amounts payable annually under the product supply agreement, excluding the potential impact of inflation adjustments per the agreement, are as follows:



(In millions)
2019	$	17
2020	17
2021	17
2022	17
2023	17
2024 and thereafter	110
Total minimum payments	195
Less: Services element	75
Less: Interest	34
Total SMR liability	86
Less: Current portion of SMR liability	5
Long-term portion of SMR liability	$	81