Aug 27 (Reuters) - Harvest Midstream, owned by the

founder of privately-held Hilcorp Energy, has agreed a deal to

acquire around $1 billion of natural gas gathering and

processing assets from MPLX ( MPLX ), people familiar with the

matter said.

Houston-based Harvest holds midstream assets in multiple oil

and gas plays, most notably in Alaska and the Bakken shale of

North Dakota. It was founded by billionaire businessman Jeff

Hildebrand, who also owns Hilcorp, one of the largest private

oil and gas companies in the United States.

The agreed deal with MPLX ( MPLX ) will allow Harvest to expand its

operations into both the Uinta and Green River shale basins,

which collectively stretch across Utah, Colorado and Wyoming,

said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss

private information.

Harvest is set to buy more than 1,500 miles (2,414 km) of

pipelines that transport natural gas from the wellhead to larger

lines that link with consumers, as well as associated processing

capacity, added the sources.

MPLX ( MPLX ) and Harvest could not be reached for comment outside of

normal business hours.

For MPLX ( MPLX ), the deal comes at a time when the company

is focusing more investment on the Permian Basin of Texas and

New Mexico.

MPLX ( MPLX ) has struck around $3.5 billion of acquisitions so far

in 2025, according to an August 5 analyst call. The activity has

been centered on the Permian, most recently announcing at the

end of July an agreement to buy Northwind Midstream for nearly

$2.4 billion.

The company, alongside WhiteWater and other partners, on

Monday announced the final investment decision on the Eiger

Express Pipeline, a new natural gas pipeline linking the Permian

with export facilities on the U.S. Gulf coast.