Midstream is unique from the rest of energy in being able to provide EBITDA guidance for the year ahead or multi-year periods without depending on specific commodity prices. Companies provide services for fees under long-term contracts, which results in stable and predictable cash flows.

For the third quarter of 2025, most energy infrastructure companies maintained their payouts, with MLPs largely providing sequential growth. Still, the vast majority of midstream companies have increased their dividends within the last year.

Strong credit ratings remain a key feature for midstream companies, providing significant cost savings on debt. The subsector is largely dominated by investment-grade players, which also offer attractive dividend yields. Learn more below about the importance of an investment-grade rating and why midstream indexes are skewed towards these creditworthy names.

The U.S. has become the world’s top producer of natural gas liquids (NGLs) thanks to abundant supplies. Rising worldwide demand for plastics and clean fuels has sent U.S. NGL exports soaring, establishing a compelling long-term growth story for midstream players.

Venture Global (VG), which went public earlier this year, is a rapidly expanding, low-cost producer of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG). Its business centers around liquefaction, which is the process of cooling natural gas into LNG, making it possible to ship overseas.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) is fueling a massive buildout of power-intensive data centers, creating a significant new source of domestic energy demand.

For years, midstream companies have generated significant free cash flow (FCF), which has differentiated them from the broader market. With balance sheets in good shape, excess cash has been used to reward shareholders with dividend growth and opportunistic equity repurchases