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Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2024
Loss Contingency [Abstract]  
Contingencies

 

Legal Proceedings

 

We and the Partnership are parties to various legal, administrative and regulatory proceedings that have arisen in the ordinary course of our business. We and the Partnership are also parties to various proceedings with governmental environmental agencies, including, but not limited to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”), Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, New Mexico Environment Department, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, which assert monetary sanctions for alleged violations of environmental regulations, including air emissions, discharges into the environment and reporting deficiencies, related to events that have arisen at certain of our facilities in the ordinary course of our business.

 

On December 26, 2018, Vitol filed a lawsuit in the 80th District Court of Harris County (the “District Court”), Texas against Targa Channelview LLC, then a subsidiary of the Company (“Targa Channelview”), seeking recovery of $129.0 million in payments made to Targa Channelview, additional monetary damages, attorneys’ fees and costs. Vitol alleged that Targa Channelview breached the Splitter Agreement, which provided for Targa Channelview to construct a crude oil and condensate splitter (the “Splitter”) adjacent to a barge dock owned by Targa Channelview to provide services contemplated by the Splitter Agreement. In January 2018, Vitol acquired Noble Americas Corp. and on December 23, 2018, Vitol voluntarily elected to terminate the Splitter Agreement claiming that Targa Channelview failed to timely achieve start-up of the Splitter. Vitol’s lawsuit also alleged Targa Channelview made a series of misrepresentations about the capability of the barge dock that would service crude oil and condensate volumes to be processed by the Splitter and Splitter products. Vitol sought return of $129.0 million in payments made to Targa Channelview prior to the start-up of the Splitter, as well as additional damages. On the same date that Vitol filed its lawsuit, Targa Channelview filed a lawsuit against Vitol seeking a judicial determination that Vitol’s sole and exclusive remedy was Vitol’s voluntarily termination of the Splitter Agreement and, as a result, Vitol was not entitled to the return of any prior payments under the Splitter Agreement or other damages as alleged. Targa also sought recovery of its attorneys’ fees and costs in the lawsuit.

 

On October 15, 2020, the District Court awarded Vitol $129.0 million (plus interest) following a bench trial. In addition, the District Court awarded Vitol $10.5 million in damages for losses and demurrage on crude oil that Vitol purchased for start-up efforts. The Company appealed the award in the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston, Texas. In October 2020, we sold Targa Channelview but, under the agreements governing the sale, we retained the liabilities associated with the Vitol proceedings. On September 13, 2022, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s judgment in part with regard to the return of Vitol’s prior payments, but modified the judgment to delete Vitol’s ability to recover any damages related to losses or demurrage on crude oil. We filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court of Texas, which was denied on October 20, 2023. We then filed a petition for rehearing with the Supreme Court of Texas, which was denied on April 19, 2024. As a result of the April 2024 ruling, the $129.0 million payments from Vitol were reclassified from Other long-term liabilities to Accrued liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets during the first quarter of 2024.

 

The cumulative interest on the award of $55.8 million was recorded in Interest expense, net on our Consolidated Statements of Operations for the six months ended June 30, 2024. On April 26, 2024 as a result of the final determination of Targa’s appeal to the Texas Supreme Court related to the Splitter Agreement, we made a cash payment of $184.8 million to Vitol in satisfaction of the Texas state court judgment. See Note 7 – Other Long-term Liabilities.

 

On July 24, 2023, we received a Notice of Violation (“NOV”) from the New Mexico Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, relating to alleged air permit violations between August 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022 by Lucid Energy Delaware, LLC, an entity we subsequently acquired in July 2022 in the Delaware Basin Acquisition and whose assets are now integrated into Targa Northern Delaware LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. We have been engaging with the New Mexico Environment Department to resolve this matter. Although this matter is ongoing and management cannot predict its ultimate outcome, we do not expect that any expenditures related to this matter will be material to our consolidated financial statements.

 

On October 26, 2023, we received a final judgment in a lawsuit alleging a breach of contract related to the major winter storm in February 2021. The damages awarded against us are approximately $6.9 million, not including pre-judgment interest. Both parties are appealing the judgment.

 

On April 3, 2024, the EPA issued an NOV for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at certain Targa Badlands LLC compressor stations. The NOV stems from inspections the EPA conducted on June 15, 2023, and from subsequent records reviews. We have engaged with the EPA to resolve this matter. Although the matter is on-going and we cannot predict its ultimate outcome, we do not expect that any expenditures related to this matter will be material to our consolidated financial statements.

 

We are also a defendant in two other breach of contract cases related to force majeure events arising during the major winter storm in February 2021. We believe that the likelihood of a partial loss could be reasonably possible, and, while it is not possible to predict the ultimate outcome of these cases on an individual or consolidated basis, we estimate that the total range of potential loss resulting from all of these cases could be between $0 and $10.0 million in the aggregate. We intend to continue to vigorously defend these cases.