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Impairments and Losses and Gains on Divestitures (Notes)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Impairments [Abstract]  
Impairment of Goodwill, Long-lived assets and equity investments [Text Block]
3.  Impairments and Losses and Gains on Divestitures

During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, we recorded net pre-tax losses of $1,922 million, gains of $285 million and losses of $437 million, respectively, reflecting net losses on impairments of goodwill, long-lived assets, intangible and other assets and certain equity investments, and net losses and gains on divestitures of assets and equity investments. The year ended December 31, 2020 amount primarily includes pre-tax goodwill and long-lived and intangible asset impairment losses of $1,600 million and $376 million, respectively, and the year ended December 31, 2019 amount primarily includes a net pre-tax gain of $1,296 million related to the KML and U.S. Cochin Sale (see Note 4) and impairment losses of $1,014 million as further described below.

During the first quarter of 2020, the energy production and demand factors related to COVID-19 and the sharp decline in commodity prices represented a triggering event that required us to perform impairment testing on certain businesses that are sensitive to commodity prices. As a result, we performed an impairment analysis of long-lived assets within our CO2 business segment and conducted interim tests of the recoverability of goodwill for our CO2 and Natural Gas Pipelines Non-Regulated
reporting units as of March 31, 2020, which resulted in impairments of $350 million on long-lived assets and $600 million on goodwill within our CO2 business segment during the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Additionally, we performed our annual goodwill impairment testing as of May 31, 2020. For our Natural Gas Pipelines Non-Regulated reporting unit, while no goodwill impairment was required as of March 31, 2020, the additional market and economic indicators existing at May 31, 2020, as further described below, resulted in the recognition of a goodwill impairment for that reporting unit during the three months ended June 30, 2020.

We recognized the following non-cash pre-tax losses (gains) on impairments and divestitures on assets and equity investments during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:
Year Ended December 31,
202020192018
(In millions)
Natural Gas Pipelines
Impairment of goodwill(a)$1,000 $— $— 
Impairments of long-lived assets(b)— 290 636 
Gains on divestitures of long-lived assets(c)(1)(967)(6)
Impairments of equity investments(d)— 650 270 
Impairments of inventory11 — — 
Products Pipelines
Impairments of long-lived and intangible assets21 — — 
Terminals
Impairments of long-lived and intangible assets(e)— 59 
Gains on divestitures of long-lived assets(f)(54)(335)(6)
Gain on sale of equity investment interests(10)— — 
CO2
Impairment of goodwill(a)600 — — 
Impairments of long-lived assets(g)350 74 79 
Losses on divestitures of long-lived assets— — 
Kinder Morgan Canada
Loss (gain) on divestiture of long-lived assets(h)— (595)
Other losses (gains) on divestitures of long-lived assets— (1)— 
Pre-tax losses (gains) on divestitures and impairments, net$1,922 $(285)$437 
(a)2020 amounts represent non-cash goodwill impairments associated with our Natural Gas Pipelines Non-Regulated and CO2 reporting units (see “—Goodwill Impairments” below).
(b)2019 amount represents non-cash impairments associated with certain gathering and processing assets in Oklahoma and northern Texas. 2018 amount represents non-cash impairment associated with certain gathering and processing assets in Oklahoma and a project write-off associated with the Utica Marcellus Texas pipeline.
(c)2019 amount includes a $957 million gain related to the sale of the Cochin Pipeline system.
(d)Non-cash impairments of equity investments are included in “Earnings from equity investments” on our accompanying consolidated statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018. 2019 amount represents the non-cash impairment of our investment in Ruby. 2018 amount represents the non-cash impairment of our investment in Gulf LNG Holdings Group, LLC (Gulf LNG) which was driven by a ruling by an arbitration panel affecting a customer contract. Our share of earnings recognized by Gulf LNG on the respective customer contract is included in “Earnings from equity investments” on our accompanying consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2018.
(e)2018 amount primarily relates to non-cash impairments of certain northeast terminal assets.
(f)2020 amount includes a $55 million gain related to the sale of our Staten Island terminal. 2019 amount includes a $339 million gain related to the sale of KML.
(g)2020, 2019 and 2018 amounts represent impairments of oil and gas properties.
(h)2019 and 2018 amounts represent a working capital adjustment and gain on sale, respectively, associated with the TMPL Sale.
Long-lived Assets

As of March 31, 2020, for our CO2 assets, the long-lived asset impairment test involved an assessment as to whether each asset’s net book value is expected to be recovered from the estimated undiscounted future cash flows.

To compute estimated future cash flows for our oil and gas producing properties, we used our reserve engineer specialists to estimate future oil and gas production volumes. These estimates of future oil and gas production volumes are based upon historical performance along with adjustments for expected crude oil and natural gas field development. In calculating future cash flows, management utilized estimates of commodity prices based on a March 31, 2020 NYMEX forward curve adjusted for the impact of our existing sales contracts to determine the applicable net crude oil and NGL pricing for each property. Operating expenses were determined based on estimated fixed and variable field production requirements, and capital expenditures were based on economically viable development projects.

To compute estimated future cash flows for our CO2 source and transportation assets, throughput and production volume forecasts were developed based on projected demand for our CO2 services based upon management’s projections of the availability of CO2 supply and the future demand for CO2 for use in enhanced oil recovery projects. The CO2 pricing assumption was a function of the March 31, 2020 NYMEX forward curve adjusted for the impact of existing sales contracts to determine the applicable net CO2 pricing. Operating expenses were determined based on estimated fixed and variable field production requirements, and capital expenditures were based on economically viable development projects.

Certain oil and gas properties failed the first step. For these assets, we used a discounted cash flow analysis to estimate fair value. We applied a 10.5% discount rate, which we believe represented the estimated weighted average cost of capital of a theoretical market participant. Based on step two of our long-lived assets impairment test, we recognized $350 million of impairments on those oil and gas producing properties where the total carrying value exceeded its total estimated fair market value as of March 31, 2020.

Our largest impairment for the year ended December 31, 2019 was a $650 million non-cash impairment to our investment in Ruby in our Natural Gas Pipelines business segment. The impairment of our investment was considered from our subordinated ownership position and driven by reduced cash flow estimates identified during the period which resulted from (i) increased Canadian gas supplies and competition from other natural gas pipelines and (ii) upcoming contract expirations. These conditions were determined to be other than temporary. We utilized a discounted cash flow analysis.

Additional impairments totaling $290 million were recognized during the year ended December 31, 2019 on long-lived assets within our Natural Gas Pipelines business segment and were driven by continued reduced drilling activity in Oklahoma and northern Texas demonstrated in the fourth quarter. Our largest impairment for the year ended December 31, 2018 was a $600 million non-cash impairment in our Natural Gas Pipelines business segment driven by reduced cash flow estimates for some of our gathering and processing assets in Oklahoma identified during the period as a result of our decision to redirect our focus to other areas of our portfolio.

Regarding our 2019 and 2018 impairments, for our long-lived assets, the reduced estimates triggered an impairment analysis, in each case, as we determined that our carrying value may no longer be recoverable. The impairment analysis for long-lived assets was based upon a two-step process as prescribed in the accounting standards. Step 1 involved comparing the undiscounted future cash flows to be derived from the asset group to the carrying value of the asset group. Based on the results of our step 1 test, we determined that the undiscounted future cash flows were less than the carrying value of the asset group. Step 2 involved using the income approach to calculate the fair value of the asset group and comparing it to the carrying value. The impairment that we recorded represented the difference between the fair and carrying values.
Goodwill Impairments

Following are the considerations made in our goodwill analysis and testing.

Our May 31, 2020 goodwill impairment tests of the Products Pipelines, Products Pipelines Terminals, Natural Gas Pipelines Regulated and CO2 reporting units indicated that their fair values exceeded their carrying values. The results of our impairment analyses for our Products Pipelines, Terminals and CO2 reporting units, determined that each of the three reporting unit’s fair value was in excess of carrying value by less than 10%. For the Products Pipelines and Terminals reporting units, we used the market approach with assumptions similar to those described below for the Natural Gas Pipelines Non-Regulated reporting unit. For our May 31, 2020 goodwill impairment test of the CO2 reporting unit we used the income approach with assumptions similar to those used for its March 31, 2020 goodwill impairment test.

In regards to our Natural Gas Pipelines Non-Regulated reporting unit, it experienced a sharp decline in customer demand for its services during the second quarter of 2020. This represented a timing lag from the initial economic decline impacts resulting from the severe downturn in the upstream energy industry, including our CO2 business, whereby oil and gas producing companies accelerated their shut down of wells and reduced production during the second quarter which consequently adversely impacted the demand for our midstream services. In addition, continued diminished (i) current and expected future commodity pricing and (ii) peer group market capitalization values provided further indicators that an impairment of goodwill had occurred for this reporting unit during the second quarter.

Our May 31, 2020 goodwill impairment test for the Natural Gas Pipelines Non-Regulated reporting unit utilized a weighted average of a market approach (25%) and income approach (75%) to estimate its fair value. We gave higher weighting to the income approach as we believe it was more representative of the value that would be received from a market participant.

The market approach was based on enterprise value (EV) to estimated 2020 EBITDA multiples for a selected number of peer group midstream companies with comparable operations and economic characteristics. We estimated the median EV to EBITDA multiple to be approximately 10x without consideration of any control premium. The income approach we used to determine fair value included an analysis of estimated discounted cash flows based on 6.5 years of projections and application of an exit multiple based on management’s expectations of a discount rate and exit multiple that would be applied by a theoretical market participant and for market transactions of comparable assets. We applied an approximate 8% discount rate to the undiscounted cash flow amounts which represents our estimate of the weighted average cost of capital of a theoretical market participant. The discounted cash flows included various assumptions on forecasted commodity throughput volumes and contract prices for each underlying asset within the reporting unit. The fair value based on a weighting of the market and income approaches resulted in an implied EV to 2020 EBITDA multiple valuation of approximately 11x. Management believes this is a reasonable estimate of fair value based on comparable sales transactions and the fact that it implies a reasonable control premium.

The results of the Natural Gas Pipelines Non-Regulated reporting unit goodwill impairment analysis was a partial impairment of goodwill of approximately $1,000 million as of May 31, 2020.

For our March 31, 2020 interim goodwill impairment test of the CO2 reporting unit, we applied an income approach to evaluate its fair value based on the present value of its cash flows that it is expected to generate in the future. Due to the uncertainty and volatility in market conditions within its peer group as of the test date, we did not incorporate the market approach to estimate fair value as of March 31, 2020.

In determining the fair value for our CO2 reporting unit, we applied a 9.25% discount rate to the undiscounted cash flow amounts computed in the long-lived asset impairment analyses described above. The discount rate we used represents our estimate of the weighted average cost of capital of a theoretical market participant. The result of our goodwill analysis was a partial impairment of goodwill in our CO2 reporting unit of approximately $600 million as of March 31, 2020.

The fair value estimates used in the long-lived asset and goodwill test were primarily based on Level 3 inputs of the fair value hierarchy.
Economic disruptions resulting from events such as COVID-19, conditions in the business environment generally, such as sustained low crude oil demand and continued low commodity prices, supply disruptions, or higher development or production costs, could result in a slowing of supply to our pipelines, terminals and other assets, which will have an adverse effect on the
demand for services provided by our four business segments. Financial distress experienced by our customers or other counterparties could have an adverse impact on us in the event they are unable to pay us for the products or services we provide or otherwise fulfill their obligations to us.

As conditions warrant, we routinely evaluate our assets for potential triggering events such as those described above that could impact the fair value of certain assets or our ability to recover the carrying value of long-lived assets. Such assets include accounts receivable, equity investments, goodwill, other intangibles and property plant and equipment, including oil and gas properties and in-process construction. Depending on the nature of the asset, these evaluations require the use of significant judgments including but not limited to judgments related to customer credit worthiness, future volume expectations, current and future commodity prices, discount rates, regulatory environment, as well as general economic conditions and the related demand for products handled or transported by our assets. Although we did not identify additional triggering events during the third or fourth quarters of 2020, in the current worldwide economic and commodity price environment and to the extent conditions further deteriorate, we may identify additional triggering events that may require future evaluations of the recoverability of the carrying value of our long-lived assets, investments and goodwill which could result in further impairment charges. Because certain of our assets have been written down to fair value, or its fair value is close to carrying value, any deterioration in fair value could result in further impairments. Such non-cash impairments could have a significant effect on our results of operations, which would be recognized in the period in which the carrying value is determined to not be recoverable.

For additional information regarding changes in our goodwill, see Note 8.