Not every major decision at Energy Transfer came from opportunity. Some, according to Kelcy Warren, came from necessity. When natural gas prices fell after years of expansion built largely on gas pipeline acquisitions, Warren recognized the company needed to diversify rather than stay overly dependent on a single commodity market that was prone to sharp price swings and unpredictable cycles.

A Move Into Natural Gas Liquids

That recognition led Energy Transfer into the natural gas liquids business through the acquisition of Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy, a deal that came together after an earlier bid for a different target had fallen through. The move gave Kelcy Warren and his company a foothold in a sector that would prove important as the business kept growing, supplying feedstock for the petrochemical customers Energy Transfer would later court.

The diversification did not stop there. Warren next set his sights on crude oil, a shift that eventually produced the $5.3 billion acquisition of Sunoco in 2012, a deal that carried extra weight given his father’s decades working as a pipeline field hand for the very same company before his death in 1992. Warren has said that closing that deal remains one of the most rewarding moments of his career, separate from anything on a balance sheet.

Diversify, Then Consolidate

Once Energy Transfer had established itself across natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil, Kelcy Warren shifted focus toward consolidating the broader midstream sector through a long run of acquisitions that included Susser Holdings, Regency Energy Partners and, much more recently, Crestwood Equity Partners. Each step traced back to the same instinct for recognizing when the business needed to change direction, whether that meant entering a new commodity or simply buying up more of the ones it already knew well. Refer to this article for related information.

More about Kelcy Warren on https://texasbusiness.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Kelcy-Warren-Bio.pdf