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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Note 2.  Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Apart from those matters noted below, there have been no changes in our significant accounting policies since those reported under Note 2 of the 2017 Form 10-K.

Adoption of New Revenue Recognition Policies on January 1, 2018
For periods through December 31, 2017, we accounted for our revenue streams using Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605, Revenue Recognition.  Under ASC 605, we recognized revenue when all of the following criteria were met: (i) persuasive evidence of an exchange arrangement existed between us and the counterparty (e.g., published tariffs), (ii) delivery of products or the rendering of services had occurred, (iii) the price of the products or the fee for services was fixed or determinable and (iv) collectibility of the amount owed by the counterparty was reasonably assured.

Effective January 1, 2018, we adopted FASB ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, using a modified retrospective approach that applied the new revenue recognition standard to existing contracts at the implementation date and any future revenue contracts.   As such, our consolidated revenues and related financial information for periods prior to January 1, 2018 were not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with ASC 605.   We did not record a cumulative effect adjustment upon initially applying ASC 606 since there was no impact on partners’ equity upon adoption; however, the extent of our revenue-related disclosures has increased under the new standard.

Due to the large number of individual contracts that were in effect at the implementation date of ASC 606, we evaluated our contracts using a portfolio approach based on the types of products sold or services rendered within our business segments.  There are no material differences in the amount or timing of revenues recognized under ASC 606 when compared to ASC 605.

The core principle of ASC 606 is that a company should recognize revenue in a manner that fairly depicts the transfer of goods or services to customers in amounts that reflect the consideration the company expects to receive for those goods or services.  We apply this core principle by following five key steps outlined in ASC 606: (i) identify the contract; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the performance obligation is satisfied. Each of these steps involves management judgment and an analysis of the contract’s material terms and conditions.

Substantially all of our revenues are accounted for under ASC 606; however, to a limited extent, some revenues are accounted for under other guidance such as ASC 840, Leases, ASC 845, Nonmonetary Transactions or ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging Activities.

Under ASC 606, we recognize revenue when or as we satisfy our performance obligation to the customer.  In situations where we have recognized revenue, but have a conditional right to consideration (based on something other than the passage of time) from the customer, we recognize unbilled revenue (a contract asset) on our consolidated balance sheet.  Unbilled revenue is reclassified to accounts receivable when we have an unconditional right of payment from the customer. Payments received from customers in advance of the period in which we satisfy a performance obligation are recorded as deferred revenue (a contract liability) on our consolidated balance sheet.

Our revenue streams are derived from the sale of products and providing midstream services.  Revenues from the sale of products are recognized at a point in time, which represents the transfer of control (and the satisfaction of our performance obligation under the contract) to the customer.  From that point forward, the customer is able to direct the use of, and obtain substantially all the benefits from, its use of the products.  With respect to midstream services (e.g., interruptible transportation), we satisfy our performance obligations over time and recognize revenues when the services are provided and the customer receives the benefits based on an output measure of volumes redelivered.  We believe this measure is a faithful depiction of the transfer of control for midstream services since there is (i) an insignificant period of time between the receipt of customers’ volumes and their subsequent redelivery, and (ii) it is not possible to individually track and differentiate customers’ inventories as they traverse our facilities.  For stand-ready performance obligations (e.g., a storage capacity reservation contract), we recognize revenues over time on a straight-line basis as time elapses over the term of the contract. We believe that these approaches accurately depict the transfer of benefits to the customer.

Customers are invoiced for product purchases or services rendered when we have an unconditional right to consideration under the associated contract. The consideration we are entitled to invoice may be either fixed, variable or a combination of both.  Examples of fixed consideration would be fixed payments from customers under take-or-pay arrangements, storage capacity reservation agreements and firm transportation contracts. Variable consideration represents payments from customers that are based on factors that fluctuate (or vary) based on volumes, prices or both. Examples of variable consideration include interruptible transportation agreements, market-indexed product sales contracts and the value of NGLs we retain under natural gas processing agreements.  The terms of our billings are typical of the industry for the products we sell.

Under certain midstream service agreements, customers are required to provide a minimum volume over an agreed-upon period with a provision that allows the customer to make-up any volume shortfalls over an agreed-upon period (referred to as “make-up rights”).  Revenue pursuant to such agreements is initially deferred and subsequently recognized when either the make-up rights are exercised, the likelihood of the customer exercising the rights becomes remote, or we are otherwise released from the performance obligation.

Customers may contribute funds to us to help offset the construction costs related to pipeline construction activities and production well tie-ins.   Under ASC 605, these amounts were accounted for as contributions in aid of construction costs (“CIACs”) and netted against property, plant and equipment.   Under ASC 606, these receipts are recognized as additional service revenues over the term of the associated midstream services provided to the customer.

As a practical expedient, for those contracts under which we have the ability to invoice the customer in an amount that corresponds directly with the value of the performance obligation completed to date, we recognize revenue as we have the right to invoice.

See Note 9 regarding our new revenue disclosures.

Impact of ASU 2016-18 on Restricted Cash Disclosures
We adopted Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash, in the fourth quarter of 2017 and applied this ASU retrospectively to the periods presented in our Unaudited Condensed Statements of Consolidated Cash Flows.  As a result, the decrease in restricted cash of $287.7 million was excluded from net cash used in investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets that sum to the total of the amounts shown in the Unaudited Condensed Statements of Consolidated Cash Flows.

 
 
September 30,
2018
  
December 31,
2017
 
Cash and cash equivalents
 
$
30.2
  
$
5.1
 
Restricted cash
  
248.9
   
65.2
 
Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash shown in the
  Unaudited Condensed Statements of Consolidated Cash Flows
 
$
279.1
  
$
70.3
 

Restricted cash represents amounts held in segregated bank accounts by our clearing brokers as margin in support of our commodity derivative instruments portfolio and related physical purchases and sales of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil and refined products.  Additional cash may be restricted to maintain our commodity derivative instruments portfolio as prices fluctuate or margin requirements change.  The balance of restricted cash at September 30, 2018 consisted of initial margin requirements of $58.9 million and variation margin requirements of $190.0 million. The initial margin requirements will be returned to us as the related derivative instruments are settled.  See Note 14 for information regarding our derivative instruments and hedging activities.

Other Recent Accounting Developments
Lease accounting standard.  In February 2016, the FASB issued ASC 842, Leases (“ASC 842”), which requires substantially all leases to be recorded on the balance sheet. We will adopt the new standard on January 1, 2019 and apply it to (i) all new leases entered into after January 1, 2019 and (ii) all existing lease contracts as of January 1, 2019.  ASC 842 will supersede existing lease accounting guidance found under ASC 840, Leases (“ASC 840”).

The new standard introduces two lease accounting models, which result in a lease being classified as either a “finance” or “operating” lease on the basis of whether the lessee effectively obtains control of the underlying asset during the lease term.  A lease would be classified as a finance lease if it meets one of five classification criteria, four of which are generally consistent with current lease accounting guidance.  By default, a lease that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a finance lease will be deemed an operating lease.  Regardless of classification, the initial measurement of both lease types will result in the balance sheet recognition of a right-of-use (“ROU”) asset (representing a company’s right to use the underlying asset for a specified period of time) and a corresponding lease liability.  The lease liability will be recognized at the present value of the future lease payments, and the ROU asset will equal the lease liability adjusted for any prepaid rent, lease incentives provided by the lessor, and any indirect costs.

The subsequent measurement of each type of lease varies. Finance leases will be accounted for using the effective interest method.  Under this approach, a lessee will amortize the ROU asset (generally on a straight-line basis in a manner similar to depreciation) and the discount on the lease liability (as a component of interest expense).  Operating leases will result in the recognition of a single lease expense amount that is recorded on a straight-line basis (or another systematic basis, as appropriate).

ASC 842 will result in changes to the way our operating leases are recorded, presented and disclosed in our consolidated financial statements. Upon adoption of ASC 842 on January 1, 2019, we expect to recognize a ROU asset and a corresponding lease liability based on the present value of then existing operating lease obligations. In addition, there are several key accounting policy elections that we will make upon adoption of ASC 842 including:

We will not recognize ROU assets and lease liabilities for short-term leases and instead record them in a manner similar to operating leases under legacy lease accounting guidelines.  A short term lease is one with a maximum lease term of 12 months or less and does not include a purchase option the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise.

We will not assess whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases or the lease classification for any existing or expired leases.

The impact of adopting ASC 842 will be prospective beginning January 1, 2019.  We will not recast prior periods presented in our consolidated financial statements to reflect the new lease accounting guidance.

Based on current information, we forecast that our total remaining payment obligations under then existing operating leases will approximate $310 million (undiscounted) at January 1, 2019.   As a result, we expect to recognize an estimated $250 million ROU asset and a $250 million lease liability on our consolidated balance sheet based on discounted amounts.  These amounts would represent less than 1% of our total consolidated assets and liabilities, respectively.

Fair value measurements.  In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurements (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which amends certain disclosure requirements related to fair value measurements.   The amendments will require incremental disclosures regarding uncertainties surrounding fair value measurements, including discussions of any interrelationships between significant unobservable inputs used to estimate Level 3 fair value measurements, and changes in unrealized gains and losses.  The amendments in this ASU are effective January 1, 2020, which is when we expect to apply the new requirements.  We are currently reviewing the effect of this ASU on our consolidated financial statements.

Credit losses.  In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.”  This ASU modifies the impairment model to utilize an expected loss methodology in place of the currently used incurred loss methodology.   These changes are expected to result in the more timely recognition of losses.  The amendments in this ASU are effective January 1, 2020, which is when we expect to apply the new requirements to how the allowance for doubtful accounts is determined.  We are currently reviewing the effect of this ASU on our consolidated financial statements.