Company Description
USA Compression Partners, LP (NYSE: USAC) is a publicly traded limited partnership that focuses on providing natural gas compression services in the United States. According to company disclosures and recent news releases, USA Compression is described as one of the nation’s largest independent providers of natural gas compression services when measured by total compression fleet horsepower. Its units trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol USAC.
USA Compression’s business centers on midstream natural gas compression services that support infrastructure applications. The Partnership states that it focuses on high‑volume gathering systems, processing facilities, and transportation applications. These compression services help enable the movement and handling of natural gas within the domestic energy infrastructure. USA Compression partners with a broad customer base that includes producers, processors, gatherers, and transporters of natural gas and crude oil, reflecting its role across multiple stages of the energy value chain.
In addition to the Polygon description that classifies the company in pipeline transportation of natural gas, USA Compression’s own news releases emphasize its scale in terms of fleet horsepower and its concentration on mid‑to‑large horsepower compression. The Partnership’s operations are tied to natural gas infrastructure across multiple U.S. production basins, and it provides services that support both processing and transportation of natural gas through the domestic pipeline system.
Business model and operations
USA Compression generates its business by providing compression services rather than selling compression equipment outright. The Partnership’s disclosures explain that it engineers, designs, operates, services, and repairs its compression units and maintains related support inventory and equipment. This indicates that USA Compression maintains operational responsibility for its compression fleet, including ongoing service and repair activities that keep units available for customer use.
The company’s fleet is measured in terms of total horsepower and revenue‑generating horsepower, and its reported operating statistics include fleet horsepower, revenue‑generating horsepower, horsepower utilization, and average revenue per revenue‑generating horsepower per month. These metrics, disclosed in its results releases, highlight how management and investors track the utilization and pricing of the compression fleet over time.
USA Compression’s 8‑K filings also describe a significant asset‑based revolving credit facility that is secured by substantially all of the Partnership’s assets and those of certain guarantor subsidiaries, including compression units and treating assets. The borrowing base under this facility is tied to eligible accounts, compression units, treating assets, and inventory, reflecting the asset‑intensive nature of the compression services business.
Industry context and customer base
Within the broader pipeline transportation of natural gas and midstream energy sector, compression services are critical to moving natural gas from production areas to processing plants and end‑markets. USA Compression’s own descriptions emphasize that it serves infrastructure applications in high‑volume gathering systems, processing facilities, and transportation applications. Its customer base is described as broad and diversified, including producers, processors, gatherers, and transporters of natural gas and crude oil.
Recent transaction disclosures further underscore this positioning. In a definitive agreement announced in late 2025 and closed in January 2026, USA Compression agreed to acquire J‑W Power Company, described as a large privately held compression platform in the U.S. with a diverse fleet specializing in mid‑ to large‑horsepower units. The transaction materials highlight that J‑W Power Company provides rental, manufacturing, and aftermarket parts and services to hundreds of customers across major U.S. basins. Upon closing, J‑W Energy Company and J‑W Power Company became wholly owned subsidiaries of USA Compression, expanding the Partnership’s compression fleet and customer relationships.
Scale and capital structure
USA Compression’s scale is reflected in its reported fleet horsepower and its access to capital markets. The Partnership has issued senior notes, including 6.250% senior notes due 2033, and maintains a revolving credit facility with a stated maximum commitment amount. Its 8‑K filings describe the use of note proceeds and credit facility borrowings to refinance existing senior notes and support general partnership purposes. The Partnership’s credit agreement includes financial covenants such as total leverage, interest coverage, and secured leverage ratios, which are used to monitor its capital structure and borrowing capacity.
Energy Transfer LP, a large U.S. energy infrastructure partnership, discloses that it owns the general partner interests and a significant common unit stake in USA Compression Partners, LP. Energy Transfer’s descriptions identify USA Compression as one of the nation’s largest independent providers of natural gas compression services in terms of total compression fleet horsepower, reinforcing USA Compression’s role in the midstream natural gas sector.
Recent strategic developments
USA Compression’s recent strategic activity has included both growth through acquisition and balance sheet management. The Partnership entered into and then closed the stock purchase agreement to acquire J‑W Energy Company and J‑W Power Company for aggregate consideration of approximately $860 million, funded through a mix of cash and newly issued common units. The cash portion was funded using available capacity under its revolving credit facility, while the equity portion was delivered in the form of common units representing limited partner interests.
In connection with this acquisition, USA Compression entered into a registration rights agreement with the seller regarding the resale of the common units issued as consideration, and a board observer rights agreement allowing the seller to designate a non‑voting observer to the board of the general partner for a specified period. The acquired entities were also joined as guarantors under USA Compression’s credit agreement and certain senior note indentures, integrating them into the Partnership’s financing structure.
On the financing side, the Partnership has amended and restated its credit agreement, extended its maturity (subject to conditions related to outstanding senior notes), and issued additional senior notes due 2033. Proceeds from these notes, together with borrowings under the credit agreement, are earmarked to redeem existing senior notes due 2027 and to pay related fees and expenses. These steps, as described in the 8‑K filings, illustrate how USA Compression manages its debt profile and liquidity.
Financial and operating reporting
USA Compression regularly reports financial and operating results, including metrics such as total revenues, net income, net cash provided by operating activities, Adjusted EBITDA, Distributable Cash Flow, and Distributable Cash Flow Coverage Ratio. The Partnership defines and reconciles several non‑GAAP measures, including Adjusted gross margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Distributable Cash Flow, and explains how management uses these measures to assess operating performance, evaluate capital projects, and consider distribution capacity.
Operationally, the Partnership discloses detailed fleet and utilization data, such as fleet horsepower, revenue‑generating horsepower, revenue‑generating compression units, horsepower utilization, and average revenue per revenue‑generating horsepower per month. These disclosures provide insight into how intensively the compression fleet is deployed and how pricing trends evolve over time.
Relationship with Energy Transfer and Sunoco
Energy Transfer LP reports that it owns the general partner interests and a substantial portion of the outstanding common units of USA Compression Partners, LP. Energy Transfer’s descriptions also reference USA Compression alongside Sunoco LP as part of its broader portfolio of energy infrastructure and related businesses. While USA Compression operates as an independent compression services provider, this ownership link situates the Partnership within a larger family of midstream and energy infrastructure entities.
Geographic footprint
USA Compression’s operations are U.S.‑focused. Polygon’s description notes that the company provides compression services in several shale plays throughout the United States, and USA Compression’s own acquisition materials for J‑W Power Company reference key regions including the Northeast, Mid‑Continent, Rockies, Gulf Coast, Bakken, and Permian Basin. These references indicate that the Partnership’s compression fleet is deployed across multiple major producing regions and infrastructure corridors within the country.
Regulatory filings and governance
As a registrant with securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange, USA Compression files periodic and current reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Form 8‑K filings describing material events such as acquisitions, financings, and amendments to credit agreements. These filings also document the Partnership’s use of non‑GAAP financial measures, its entry into material definitive agreements, and its unregistered sales of equity securities in connection with transactions.
The Partnership’s governance structure includes a general partner, USA Compression GP, LLC, which manages the business and affairs of the limited partnership. Certain transactions, such as the J‑W acquisition, involve agreements that grant board observer rights to transaction counterparties for defined periods, as disclosed in the relevant 8‑K filings.
Summary
In summary, USA Compression Partners, LP is a U.S.‑based, NYSE‑listed limited partnership that concentrates on providing natural gas compression services for midstream infrastructure applications. It operates a large compression fleet measured by total horsepower, serves a broad customer base of producers, processors, gatherers, and transporters of natural gas and crude oil, and maintains an asset‑intensive business supported by revolving credit facilities and senior notes. Recent acquisitions and financing activities, as detailed in its SEC filings and press releases, illustrate an ongoing focus on expanding compression capacity, diversifying its customer base, and managing its capital structure within the midstream natural gas sector.