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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2013
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. We make significant estimates with respect to (i) purchases and sales accruals, (ii) estimated fair value of assets and liabilities acquired and identification of associated goodwill and intangible assets, (iii) mark-to-market gains and losses on derivative instruments (pursuant to guidance issued by the FASB regarding fair value measurements), (iv) accruals and contingent liabilities, (v) equity-indexed compensation plan accruals, (vi) property and equipment and depreciation expense and (vii) allowance for doubtful accounts. Although we believe these estimates are reasonable, actual results could differ from these estimates. Revenue Recognition Supply and Logistics Segment Revenues. Revenues from sales of crude oil and NGL are recognized at the time title to the product sold transfers to the purchaser, which occurs upon delivery of the product to the purchaser or its designee. Sales of crude oil and NGL consist of outright sales contracts. Inventory purchases and sales under buy/sell transactions are treated as inventory exchanges. The sales under these exchanges are netted to zero in Supply and Logistics segment revenues in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Additionally, we may utilize derivatives in connection with the transactions described above. For commodity derivatives that are designated as cash flow hedges, derivative gains and losses are deferred in AOCI and recognized in revenues in the periods during which the underlying physical hedged transaction impacts earnings. Also, the ineffective portion of the change in fair value of cash flow hedges is recognized in revenues each period along with the change in fair value of derivatives that do not qualify for or are not designated for hedge accounting. Transportation Segment Revenues. Revenues from pipeline tariffs and fees are associated with the transportation of crude oil and NGL at a published tariff, as well as revenues associated with leases and other agreements for committed space on various assets. Tariff revenues are recognized either at the point of delivery or at the point of receipt pursuant to specifications outlined in the regulated and non-regulated tariffs. Revenues associated with lease fees are recognized in the month to which the lease applies. The majority of our pipeline tariff and fee revenues are based on actual volumes and rates. As is common in the industry, our tariffs incorporate a loss allowance factor that is intended to offset losses due to evaporation, measurement and other losses in transit. We value the variance of allowance volumes to actual losses at the estimated net realizable value (including the impact of gains and losses from derivative related activities) at the time the variance occurred and the result is recorded as either an increase or decrease to tariff revenues. In addition, we have certain agreements that require counterparties to ship a minimum volume over an agreed upon period. Revenue is recognized at the latter of when the volume is shipped (pursuant to specifications outlined in the tariffs) or when the counterparty’s ability to make up the minimum volume has expired. Facilities Segment Revenues. Our Facilities segment operations generally consist of fee-based activities associated with providing storage, terminalling and throughput services for crude oil, refined products, NGL and natural gas, NGL fractionation and isomerization services and natural gas and condensate processing services. Revenues generated in this segment include (i) storage fees that are generated when we lease storage capacity, (ii) terminal throughput fees that are generated when we receive crude oil, refined products or NGL from one connecting source and redeliver the applicable product to another connecting carrier, (iii) rail terminal loading and unloading fees, (iv) hub service fees associated with natural gas park and loan activities, interruptible storage services and wheeling and balancing services, (v) revenues from the sale of natural gas, (vi) fees from NGL fractionation and isomerization and (vii) fees from gas processing services. We generate revenue through a combination of month-to-month and multi-year leases and processing arrangements. Storage fees resulting from short-term and long-term contracts are typically recognized in revenue ratably over the term of the contract regardless of the actual storage capacity utilized. Terminal fees (including throughput and rail fees) are recognized as the crude oil, NGL or refined product enters or exits the terminal and is received from or delivered to the connecting carrier or third-party terminal, as applicable. Hub service fees are recognized in the period the natural gas moves across our header system. Fees from NGL fractionation, isomerization services and gas processing services are recognized in the period when the services are performed. Revenues associated with the sale of natural gas are recognized at the time title to the product sold transfers to the purchaser or its designee. In addition, we have certain agreements that require counterparties to throughput a minimum volume over an agreed upon period. Revenue is recognized at the latter of when the volume exits the terminal or when the counterparty’s ability to make up the minimum volume has expired. Purchases and Related Costs Purchases and related costs include (i) the cost of crude oil, NGL, natural gas and refined products obtained in outright purchases, (ii) fees incurred for third-party transportation and storage, whether by pipeline, truck, rail, ship or barge, (iii) interest cost attributable to borrowings for inventory stored in a contango market and (iv) performance-related bonus costs. These costs are recognized when incurred except in the case of products purchased, which are recognized at the time title transfers to us. Purchases that are part of exchanges under buy/sell transactions are netted with the related sales, with any margin presented in “Purchases and related costs” in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Field Operating Costs and General and Administrative Expenses Field operating costs consist of various field operating expenses, including fuel and power costs, telecommunications, payroll and benefit costs (including equity-indexed compensation expense) for truck drivers and field personnel, third-party trucking transportation costs for our U.S. crude oil operations, maintenance and integrity management costs, regulatory compliance, environmental remediation, insurance, vehicle leases, and property taxes. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of payroll and benefit costs (including equity-indexed compensation expense), certain information systems and legal costs, office rent, contract and consultant costs and audit and tax fees. Foreign Currency Transactions Certain of our subsidiaries use the Canadian dollar as their functional currency. Assets and liabilities of subsidiaries with a Canadian dollar functional currency are translated at period-end rates of exchange, and revenues and expenses are translated at average exchange rates prevailing for each month. The resulting translation adjustments are made directly to a separate component of other comprehensive income, which is reflected in Partners’ Capital on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. Certain of our subsidiaries also enter into transactions and have monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in a currency other than the entities’ respective functional currencies. Gains and losses from the revaluation of foreign currency transactions and monetary assets and liabilities are included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The revaluation of foreign currency transactions and monetary assets and liabilities resulted in a gain of approximately $1 million for the year ended December 31, 2013 and losses of approximately $2 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011. Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash and cash equivalents consist of all unrestricted demand deposits and funds invested in highly liquid instruments with original maturities of three months or less and typically exceed federally insured limits. We periodically assess the financial condition of the institutions where these funds are held and believe that our credit risk is minimal. In accordance with our policy, outstanding checks are classified as accounts payable rather than negative cash. As of December 31, 2013 and 2012, accounts payable included approximately $70 million and $72 million, respectively, of outstanding checks that were reclassified from cash and cash equivalents. Accounts Receivable Our accounts receivable are primarily from purchasers and shippers of crude oil and, to a lesser extent, purchasers of NGL and natural gas storage. These purchasers include, but are not limited to refiners, producers, marketing and trading companies and financial institutions that are active in the physical and financial commodity markets. The majority of our accounts receivable relate to our crude oil supply and logistics activities that can generally be described as high volume and low margin activities, in many cases involving exchanges of crude oil volumes. To mitigate credit risk related to our accounts receivable, we have in place a rigorous credit review process. We closely monitor market conditions in order to make a determination with respect to the amount, if any, of credit to be extended to any given customer and the form and amount of financial performance assurances we require. Such financial assurances are commonly provided to us in the form of standby letters of credit, parental guarantees or advance cash payments. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, we had received approximately $117 million and $173 million, respectively, of advance cash payments from third parties to mitigate credit risk. Furthermore, at December 31, 2013 and 2012, we had received approximately $426 million and $343 million, respectively, of standby letters of credit to support obligations due from third parties, a portion of which applies to future business. In addition, in an effort to mitigate credit risk, a significant portion of our transactions with counterparties are settled on a net-cash basis. Further, we enter into netting agreements (contractual agreements that allow us to offset receivables and payables with those counterparties against each other on our balance sheet) for a majority of such arrangements. We review all outstanding accounts receivable balances on a monthly basis and record a reserve for amounts that we expect will not be fully recovered. We do not apply actual balances against the reserve until we have exhausted substantially all collection efforts. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, substantially all of our accounts receivable (net of allowance for doubtful accounts) were less than 30 days past their scheduled invoice date. Our allowance for doubtful accounts receivable totaled approximately $5 million and $4 million at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Although we consider our allowance for doubtful trade accounts receivable to be adequate, actual amounts could vary significantly from estimated amounts. Equity Method of Accounting Our investments in the following entities are accounted for under the equity method of accounting:
Entity |  | Type of Operation |  | Our Ownership Interest |
Settoon Towing, LLC |  | Barge Transportation Services |  | 50 | %
Eagle Ford Pipeline LLC |  | Crude Oil Pipeline |  | 50 | %
White Cliffs Pipeline, LLC |  | Crude Oil Pipeline |  | 36 | %
Frontier Pipeline Company |  | Crude Oil Pipeline |  | 22 | %
Butte Pipe Line Company |  | Crude Oil Pipeline |  | 22 | %
We do not consolidate any part of the assets or liabilities of our equity investees. Our share of net income or loss is reflected as one line item on our Consolidated Statements of Operations entitled “Equity earnings in unconsolidated entities” and will increase or decrease, as applicable, the carrying value of our investments in unconsolidated entities on the balance sheet. In addition, as applicable, we include a proportionate share of our equity method investees’ unrealized gains and losses in other comprehensive income on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. We also adjust our investment balances in these investees by the like amount. Distributions we receive reduce the carrying value of our investments and will be reflected in our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows in operating activities. In turn, contributions will increase the carrying value of our investments and will be reflected in our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows in investing activities. During the year ended December 31, 2013, we contributed approximately $133 million to our equity method investees. Such contributions were primarily to Eagle Ford Pipeline LLC and White Cliffs Pipeline LLC for construction and expansion activities. In August 2012, we formed Eagle Ford Pipeline LLC with Enterprise Products Partners (“Enterprise”) for the purpose of developing a crude oil pipeline system in the Eagle Ford Area of South Texas. In conjunction with the formation, we and Enterprise contributed fixed assets with estimated book values of approximately $134 million and $15 million, respectively. In addition, Enterprise contributed cash of $59 million, which we received from Eagle Ford Pipeline LLC. Subsequent to the formation and through December 31, 2012, we and Enterprise contributed $75 million each to fund continued development of the pipeline system. We received distributions of approximately $55 million, $40 million and $23 million from our equity method investees during the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Noncontrolling Interests We account for noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries in accordance with FASB guidance, which requires all entities to report noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries as a component of equity in the consolidated financial statements. Noncontrolling interest represents the portion of assets and liabilities in a consolidated subsidiary that is owned by a third-party. See Note 10 for additional discussion regarding our noncontrolling interests. Asset Retirement Obligations FASB guidance establishes accounting requirements for retirement obligations associated with tangible long-lived assets, including estimates related to (i) the time of the liability recognition, (ii) initial measurement of the liability, (iii) allocation of asset retirement cost to expense, (iv) subsequent measurement of the liability and (v) financial statement disclosures. FASB guidance also requires that the cost for asset retirement should be capitalized as part of the cost of the related long-lived asset and subsequently allocated to expense using a systematic and rational method. Some of our assets, primarily related to our Transportation and Facilities segments, have contractual or regulatory obligations to perform remediation and, in some instances, dismantlement and removal activities when the assets are abandoned. These obligations include varying levels of activity including disconnecting inactive assets from active assets, cleaning and purging assets, and in some cases, completely removing the assets and returning the land to its original state. These assets have been in existence for many years and with regular maintenance will continue to be in service for many years to come. It is not possible to predict when demand for these transportation or storage services will cease, and we do not believe that such demand will cease for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, we believe the date when these assets will be abandoned is indeterminate. With no reasonably determinable abandonment date, we cannot reasonably estimate the fair value of the associated asset retirement obligations. We will record asset retirement obligations for these assets in the period in which sufficient information becomes available for us to reasonably determine the settlement dates. A small portion of our contractual or regulatory obligations is related to assets that are inactive or that we plan to take out of service and, although the ultimate timing and costs to settle these obligations are not known with certainty, we have recorded a reasonable estimate of these obligations. We have estimated that the fair value of these obligations was approximately $34 million and $31 million, respectively, at December 31, 2013 and 2012. Fair Value Measurements Financial assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Our assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement requires judgment, which affects the placement of assets and liabilities within the fair value hierarchy levels. The determination of the fair values includes not only the credit standing of the counterparties involved and the impact of credit enhancements (such as cash deposits and letters of credit) but also the impact of our nonperformance risk on our liabilities. The fair value of our commodity derivatives, interest rate derivatives and foreign currency derivatives includes adjustments for credit risk. Our credit adjustment methodology uses market observable inputs and requires judgment. There were no changes to any of our valuation techniques during the period. See Notes 9 and 11 for further discussion. Other Significant Accounting Policies See the respective footnotes for our accounting policies regarding (i) net income per limited partner unit, (ii) inventory, linefill and base gas and long-term inventory, (iii) property and equipment, (iv) other assets, (v) goodwill, (vi) derivatives and risk management activities, (vii) income taxes, (viii) equity-indexed compensation and (ix) environmental matters. Recent Accounting Pronouncements In March 2013, the FASB issued guidance regarding the release of cumulative translation adjustments into net income when a parent either sells a part or all of its investment in a foreign entity or no longer holds a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or group of assets that is a business within a foreign entity. This guidance becomes effective beginning after December 15, 2013. We adopted this guidance on January 1, 2014. Our adoption is not expected to have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In February 2013, the FASB issued guidance requiring an entity to present either in a single note or parenthetically on the face of the financial statements (i) the amount of significant items reclassified from each component of AOCI and (ii) the income statement line items affected by the reclassification. This guidance became effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2012. We adopted this guidance during the first quarter of 2013. For the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, all reclassifications out of AOCI were related to derivative instruments. Other than requiring additional disclosure, which is included in Note 11, our adoption did not have an impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In July 2012, the FASB issued guidance intended to simplify the impairment test for indefinite-lived intangible assets other than goodwill by giving entities the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired. The results of the qualitative assessment would be used as a basis in determining whether it is necessary to perform the two-step quantitative impairment testing. An entity can choose to perform the qualitative assessment on none, some or all of its indefinite-lived intangible assets, or may bypass the qualitative assessment and proceed directly to the quantitative impairment test. This guidance is effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012, with early adoption permitted in certain circumstances. We adopted this guidance on January 1, 2013. Our adoption did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In December 2011, the FASB issued guidance requiring disclosures of both gross and net information about recognized financial instruments and derivative instruments that are either (i) offset in accordance with the specified sections of GAAP or (ii) subject to an enforceable master netting arrangement or similar agreement. In January 2013, the FASB amended and clarified the scope of these disclosures to include only (i) derivative instruments, (ii) repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements and (iii) securities lending transactions. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013, and interim periods within those annual periods. We adopted this guidance on January 1, 2013. Other than requiring additional disclosure, which is included in Note 11, our adoption did not have an impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

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