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Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

General. Western Midstream Partners, LP (the “Partnership”) is a Delaware master limited partnership formed in September 2012. Western Midstream Operating, LP (together with its subsidiaries, “WES Operating”) is a Delaware limited partnership formed in 2007 to acquire, own, develop, and operate midstream assets. As of March 31, 2026, the Partnership owns, directly and indirectly, a 98.1% limited partner interest in WES Operating, and directly owns all of the outstanding equity interests of Western Midstream Operating GP, LLC, which holds the entire non-economic general partner interest in WES Operating. In addition, Occidental owns the Partnership’s general partner and, as of March 31, 2026, a 1.9% limited partner interest in WES Operating through its ownership of WGR Asset Holding Company LLC (“WGRAH”). See Noncontrolling interests below.
For purposes of these consolidated financial statements, the Partnership refers to Western Midstream Partners, LP in its individual capacity or to Western Midstream Partners, LP and its subsidiaries, including Western Midstream Operating GP, LLC and WES Operating, as the context requires. “WES Operating GP” refers to Western Midstream Operating GP, LLC, individually as the general partner of WES Operating. The Partnership’s general partner, Western Midstream Holdings, LLC (the “general partner”), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation. “Occidental” refers to Occidental Petroleum Corporation, as the context requires, and its subsidiaries, excluding the general partner. “Anadarko” refers to Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental as a result of Occidental’s acquisition by merger of Anadarko in 2019. “Related parties” refers to Occidental (see Note 6), the Partnership’s investments accounted for under the equity method of accounting (see Note 7), and WES Operating for transactions with the Partnership that eliminate upon consolidation (see Note 6).
On October 15, 2025, the Partnership completed its previously announced acquisition of Aris Water Solutions, Inc. (“Aris”), pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of August 6, 2025 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Partnership, Aris, and certain Partnership and Aris subsidiaries. Also, immediately following the closing of the Aris acquisition, WES Operating and Aris entered into certain post-closing restructuring transactions through which WES Operating issued preferred units to Aris in exchange for Aris’s operating subsidiaries, and WES Operating was the surviving entity in a merger with Aris Water Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Aris that was the issuer of its acquired outstanding senior notes (see Note 3).
The Partnership is engaged in the business of gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas; gathering, stabilizing, and transporting condensate, natural-gas liquids (“NGLs”), and crude oil; and gathering, transporting, recycling, treating, supplying, and disposing of produced water. In its capacity as a natural-gas processor, the Partnership also buys and sells residue, NGLs, and condensate on behalf of itself and its customers under certain contracts. As of March 31, 2026, the Partnership’s assets and investments consisted of the following:
Wholly
Owned and
Operated
Operated
Interests
Non-Operated InterestsEquity
Interests
Gathering systems
13 — 
Treating facilities43 — — 
Processing plants/trains
27 — 
Produced-water gathering, treating, recycling, and disposal systems— — — 
NGLs pipelines— — 
Natural-gas pipelines
— — 
Crude-oil pipelines
— 

These assets and investments are located in Texas, New Mexico, and the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming).
1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Basis of presentation. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and include the accounts of the Partnership and entities in which it holds a controlling or other financial interest, including WES Operating, WES Operating GP, proportionately consolidated interests, and equity investments. All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated.
Certain information and note disclosures commonly included in annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the Partnership’s 2025 Form 10-K, as filed with the SEC on February 18, 2026. Management believes that the disclosures made are adequate to make the information not misleading.
The consolidated financial results of WES Operating are included in the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements. Throughout these notes to consolidated financial statements, and to the extent material, any differences between the consolidated financial results of the Partnership and WES Operating are discussed separately. The Partnership’s consolidated financial statements differ from those of WES Operating primarily as a result of (i) the presentation of noncontrolling interest ownership (see Noncontrolling interests below), (ii) the elimination of WES Operating GP’s investment in WES Operating with WES Operating GP’s underlying capital account, (iii) the elimination of the preferred unit investment in WES Operating with the Partnership’s underlying preferred capital account (see Note 5), (iv) the general and administrative expenses incurred by the Partnership, which are separate from, and in addition to, those incurred by WES Operating, (v) the inclusion of the impact of Partnership equity balances and Partnership distributions, and (vi) transactions between the Partnership and WES Operating that eliminate upon consolidation.

Use of estimates. In preparing financial statements in accordance with GAAP, management makes informed judgments and estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses. Management evaluates its estimates and related assumptions regularly, using historical experience and other reasonable methods. Changes in facts and circumstances or additional information may result in revised estimates, and actual results may differ from these estimates. Effects on the business, financial condition, and results of operations resulting from revisions to estimates are recognized when the facts that give rise to the revisions become known. The information included herein reflects all normal recurring adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements.

Noncontrolling interests. The Partnership’s noncontrolling interests in the consolidated financial statements consist of (i) the 25% third-party interest in Chipeta for all periods presented and (ii) the 1.9%, 1.9%, and 2.0% limited partner interest in WES Operating as of March 31, 2026, December 31, 2025, and March 31, 2025, respectively, owned by an Occidental subsidiary. WES Operating’s noncontrolling interest in the consolidated financial statements consists of the 25% third-party interest in Chipeta.

Inventory. As of March 31, 2026, and December 31, 2025, other current assets includes (i) $0.8 million and $2.7 million, respectively, of NGLs inventory and (ii) $14.0 million and $10.1 million, respectively, of materials and supplies inventory that are classified as short term on the consolidated balance sheets. As of March 31, 2026, and December 31, 2025, other assets includes (i) $4.5 million and $3.2 million, respectively, of NGLs line-fill inventory and (ii) $141.9 million and $131.6 million, respectively, of materials and supplies inventory that are classified as long term on the consolidated balance sheets.
1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Segments. The Partnership’s operations continue to be organized into a single operating segment, the assets of which gather, compress, treat, process, and transport natural gas; gather, stabilize, and transport condensate, NGLs, and crude oil; and gather, transport, recycle, treat, supply and dispose of produced water in the United States. See Note 11.

Equity-based compensation. During the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, the Partnership issued 941,869 and 770,505 common units, respectively, under its long-term incentive plans. Compensation expense was $11.0 million and $8.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

New accounting pronouncements not yet adopted. In November 2024, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update 2024-03, “Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses.” The standard requires additional disclosure and disaggregation of certain income statement expense line items and may be applied prospectively or retrospectively. The Partnership plans to adopt the standard when it becomes effective beginning with the fiscal-year 2027 annual financial statements. The Partnership is assessing the impact of this guidance on its disclosures in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.