Water Handling
| ● | Fresh water delivery revenue decreased $2 million period over period primarily due to decreased fresh water delivery volumes of 1 MMBbl, or 10 MBbl/d, partially offset by a 2% increase to the fresh water delivery rate for our long-term contract with Antero Resources as a result of the annual CPI-based adjustment. Fresh water delivery volumes decreased between periods primarily due to fewer wells serviced by our fresh water delivery system as a result of decreased completions activity from Antero Resources. |
| ● | Other fluid handling services revenue decreased $6 million period over period primarily due to higher water blending volumes resulting in lower water trucking volumes, which are billed at cost plus 3%, during the three months ended March 31, 2024. |
Direct operating expenses. Direct operating expenses decreased by 7%, from $58 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $54 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. Gathering and processing direct operating expenses increased by 8%, from $24 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $26 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to increased low pressure, compression and high pressure volumes between periods. Water handling direct operating expenses decreased by 18%, from $34 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $28 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to lower water trucking and fresh water volumes between periods.
General and administrative (excluding equity-based compensation) expenses. General and administrative expenses (excluding equity-based compensation expense) remained relatively consistent at $11 million and $12 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Equity-based compensation expenses. Equity-based compensation expenses increased from $6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to annual awards granted during the first quarter of 2024. Our equity awards vest over three or four year service periods. See Note 9—Equity-Based Compensation to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information.
Depreciation expense. Depreciation expense increased by 5%, from $35 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $37 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. This increase was primarily due to $1 million related to assets placed in service between periods and $1 million of higher expense related to our program to repurpose underutilized compressor units to expand existing or construct new compressor stations between periods.
Interest expense. Interest expense decreased by 2%, from $55 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $53 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to the payoff of our Credit Facility between periods, partially offset by the issuance of $600 million principal amount of 2032 Notes and increased interest rates on our Credit Facility borrowings during the three months ended March 31, 2024 due to higher benchmark rates.
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates. Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates increased by 13%, from $24 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $28 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to increased processing and fractionation volumes and higher processing and fractionation fees as a result of annual CPI-based adjustments between periods.
Income tax expense. Income tax expense increased by 15%, from $32 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $36 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, which reflects effective tax rates of 26.8% and 26.0%, respectively. This income tax expense increase was primarily due to higher pre-tax income between periods.
Capital Resources and Liquidity
Sources and Uses of Cash
Capital resources and liquidity are provided by operating cash flows and available borrowings under our Credit Facility and capital market transactions. See Note 7—Long-Term Debt to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. We expect that the combination of these capital resources will be adequate to meet our working capital requirements, capital expenditures program and expected quarterly cash dividends for at least the next 12 months.