July 31 (Reuters) - MPLX LP ( MPLX ) said on Thursday it

will acquire Northwind Midstream for $2.38 billion in cash to

expand its sour gas gathering and processing footprint in the

Permian Basin, as producers ramp up drilling in New Mexico.

Northwind, backed by Five Point Infrastructure, operates

in Lea County, New Mexico, and has more than 200,000 dedicated

acres and over 200 miles of gathering pipelines.

"The addition of 200,000 dedicated acres will increase

MPLX's ( MPLX ) access to natural gas and NGL volumes," MPLX ( MPLX ) CEO Maryann

Mannen said in a statement.

The deal, financed with debt and expected to close in

the third quarter, is expected to be immediately accretive to

MPLX's ( MPLX ) distributable cash flow.