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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 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) estimated fair value of assets and liabilities acquired and identification of associated goodwill and intangible assets, (ii) impairment assessments of goodwill and intangible assets, (iii) fair value of derivatives, (iv) accruals and contingent liabilities, (v) equity-indexed compensation plan accruals, (vi) property and equipment, depreciation and amortization expense, asset retirement obligations and impairments, (vii) allowance for doubtful accounts and (viii) inventory valuations. 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, NGL and natural gas 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. Our Transportation segment operations generally consist of fee-based activities associated with transporting crude oil and NGL on pipelines, gathering systems and trucks. 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 agreements for committed space on various assets. Tariff revenues are recognized when the service is provided pursuant to specifications outlined in the tariffs. Revenues associated with fees are recognized in the month to which the fee applies. As is common in the pipeline transportation 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 allowance volumes and actual losses at the estimated net realizable value (including the impact of gains and losses from derivative related activities) in the month of occurrence. Facilities Segment Revenues. Our Facilities segment operations generally consist of fee-based activities associated with providing storage, terminalling and throughput services primarily for crude oil, NGL and natural gas, as well as NGL fractionation and isomerization services and natural gas and condensate processing services. Revenues generated in this segment include (i) fees that are generated from storage capacity agreements, (ii) terminal throughput fees that are generated when we receive liquids from one connecting source and deliver the applicable product to another connecting carrier, (iii) fees from NGL fractionation and isomerization, (iv) fees from natural gas and condensate processing services, (v) fees associated with natural gas park and loan activities, interruptible storage services and wheeling and balancing services and (vi) loading and unloading fees at our rail terminals. We generate revenue through a combination of month-to-month and multi-year agreements. 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 liquids enter or exit the terminal and are 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. Minimum Volume Commitments. We have certain agreements that require counterparties to deliver, transport or throughput a minimum volume over an agreed upon period. Some of these agreements include make-up rights if the minimum volume is not met. We record a receivable from the counterparty in the period that services are provided or when the transaction occurs, including amounts for deficiency obligations from counterparties associated with minimum volume commitments. If a counterparty has a make-up right associated with a deficiency, we defer the revenue attributable to the counterparty make-up right and subsequently recognize the revenue at the earlier of when the deficiency volume is delivered or shipped, when the make-up right expires or when it is determined that the counterparty’s ability to utilize the make-up right is remote. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, counterparty deficiencies associated with agreements that include minimum volume commitments totaled $57 million and $66 million, respectively, of which $37 million and $54 million, respectively, was recorded as deferred revenue. The remaining balance of $20 million and $12 million at each respective date was related to deficiencies for which the counterparties had not met their contractual minimum commitments and were not reflected in our Consolidated Financial Statements as we had not yet billed or collected such amounts. Purchases and Related Costs Purchases and related costs include (i) the cost of crude oil, NGL and natural gas obtained in outright purchases, (ii) fees incurred for storage and transportation, whether by pipeline, truck, rail, ship or barge and (iii) 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 inventory 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 payroll, compensation and benefits costs for operations personnel; fuel and power costs (including the impact of gains and losses from derivative related activities); third-party trucking transportation costs for our U.S. crude oil operations; maintenance and integrity management costs; regulatory compliance; environmental remediation; insurance; costs for usage of third-party owned pipeline, rail and storage assets; vehicle leases; and property taxes. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of payroll, compensation and benefits costs; certain information systems and legal costs; office rent; contract and consultant costs; and audit and tax fees. Foreign Currency Transactions/Translation 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 Sheets. 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 net gain of $21 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, a net loss of $8 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 and a net gain of $21 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. 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, 2017 and 2016, accounts payable included $60 million and $66 million, respectively, of outstanding checks that were reclassified from cash and cash equivalents. Accounts Receivable, Net Our accounts receivable are primarily from purchasers and shippers of crude oil and, to a lesser extent, purchasers of NGL and natural gas. These purchasers include, but are not limited to, refiners, producers, marketing and trading companies and financial institutions. 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. Prices for crude oil, natural gas and NGLs can fluctuate widely. For example, NYMEX West Texas Intermediate oil prices have been volatile and ranged from a high of $107.26 per barrel in June 2014 to a low of $26.21 per barrel in February 2016. Although prices recovered somewhat in 2017 to close the year at $60.42 per barrel, the sustained decrease in commodity prices since late 2014 has caused liquidity and leverage issues throughout the energy industry, which in turn has increased the potential credit risks associated with certain counterparties with which we do business. To mitigate credit risk related to our accounts receivable, we utilize a rigorous credit review process. We closely monitor market conditions and perform credit reviews of each customer to make a determination with respect to the amount, if any, of open 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 advance cash payments, standby letters of credit, credit insurance or parental guarantees. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, we had received $117 million and $89 million, respectively, of advance cash payments from third parties to mitigate credit risk. We also received $54 million and $66 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, of standby letters of credit to support obligations due from third parties, a portion of which applies to future business. Additionally, in an effort to mitigate credit risk, a significant portion of our transactions with counterparties are settled on a net-cash basis. Furthermore, we also 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 the majority of our net-cash 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, 2017 and 2016, substantially all of our trade 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 $3 million at both December 31, 2017 and 2016. Although we consider our allowance for doubtful accounts receivable to be adequate, actual amounts could vary significantly from estimated amounts. Noncontrolling Interests Noncontrolling interest represents the portion of assets and liabilities in a consolidated subsidiary that is owned by a third party. FASB guidance requires all entities to report noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries as a component of equity in the consolidated financial statements. Following our sale of SLC Pipeline LLC in the fourth quarter of 2017, we no longer have any noncontrolling interests in consolidated subsidiaries. See Note 11 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 $103 million and $44 million, respectively, at December 31, 2017 and 2016 and were primarily reflected in “Other long-term liabilities and deferred credits” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. 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 Note 12 for further discussion. Other Significant Accounting Policies See the respective footnotes for our accounting policies regarding (i) net income per common unit, (ii) inventory, linefill and base gas and long-term inventory, (iii) property and equipment, (iv) acquisitions, (v) goodwill, (vi) investments in unconsolidated entities, (vii) other long-term assets, net, (viii) income allocation for partners’ capital presentation purposes,(ix) derivatives and risk management activities, (x) income taxes, (xi) equity-indexed compensation and (xii) legal and environmental matters. Recent Accounting Pronouncements In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities to better align an entity’s risk management activities and financial reporting for hedging relationships through changes to both the designation and measurement guidance for qualifying hedging relationships and the presentation of hedge results. Under the new guidance, (i) more financial and nonfinancial hedging strategies will be eligible for hedge accounting, (ii) presentation and disclosure requirements are amended and (iii) companies will change the way they assess effectiveness. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. We expect to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2019 and are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting to provide guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting. Under the new guidance, modification accounting is required only if the fair value (or calculated value or intrinsic value, if such alternative method is used), the vesting conditions, or the classification of the award (equity or liability) changes as a result of the change in terms or conditions. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted, and prospective application required. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018. Our adoption did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In February 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-05, Other Income—Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (Subtopic 610-20): Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance and Accounting for Partial Sales of Nonfinancial Assets. The ASU clarifies what type of transactions involving nonfinancial assets are covered by the ASU and provides guidance on how to account for those transactions, including partial sales of real estate. Within this guidance, all sales and partial sales of businesses, which may have previously been accounted for using the in-substance real estate guidance, should follow the consolidation guidance. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and must be adopted at the same time as Topic 606. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective approach. The cumulative effect of our adoption resulted in increases in both the carrying value of investments in unconsolidated entities and retained earnings of approximately $110 million related to the retained non-controlling interest in those entities from partial sales of businesses accounted for under in-substance real estate guidance during 2016 and 2017. See Note 8 for discussion of our investments in unconsolidated entities. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. The amendments within this ASU eliminate Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test, which currently requires an entity to determine goodwill impairment by calculating the implied fair value of goodwill by hypothetically assigning the fair value of a reporting unit to all of its assets and liabilities as if that reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination. Under the amended standard, goodwill impairment will instead be measured using Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test with goodwill impairment being equal to the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying value of goodwill. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. We early adopted this ASU in the first quarter of 2017 and applied the amended standard to our 2017 annual goodwill impairment test. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which improves the guidance for determining whether a transaction involves the purchase or disposal of a business or an asset. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted, and prospective application required. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018 and will apply the new guidance to applicable transactions occurring after that date. In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force), requiring that a statement of cash flows explain the change in total cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents during the period. Therefore, amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 31, 2017. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018. Our adoption did not have a material impact on our statement of cash flows. In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, to improve the accounting for the income tax consequences of intra-entity transfers of assets other than inventory. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted in the first interim period of an annual reporting period. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018. Our adoption did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-17, Consolidation (Topic 810): Interests Held through Related Parties That Are under Common Control, changing how a reporting entity that is the single decision maker of a variable interest entity (“VIE”) should treat indirect interests in the entity held through related parties that are under common control with the reporting entity when determining whether it is the primary beneficiary of that VIE. This guidance was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 31, 2016. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2017. Our adoption did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This guidance will become effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted by one year. We expect to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2020, and we are currently evaluating the effect that adopting this guidance will have on our financial position results of operations and cash flows. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which simplified several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, forfeitures, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities and classification of certain related payments on the statement of cash flows. This ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. We adopted the applicable provisions of the ASU on January 1, 2017 and (i) elected to account for forfeitures as they occur, utilizing the modified retrospective approach of adoption and (ii) classify cash paid for taxes when directly withholding units from an employee’s award for tax-withholding purposes as a financing activity on our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. Our adoption did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations for the periods presented. We reclassified approximately $7 million and $14 million, respectively, of cash outflows from operating activities to financing activities for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 related to cash paid for minimum statutory withholding requirements for which we withheld units from employees’ awards. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), that revises the current accounting model for leases. The most significant changes are the clarification of the definition of a lease and required lessee recognition on the balance sheet of lease assets and liabilities with lease terms of more than 12 months, including extensive quantitative and qualitative disclosures. This ASU will become effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with a modified retrospective application required. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. We expect to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2019. We are currently evaluating the effect that adopting this ASU will have on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Although our evaluation is ongoing, we do expect that the adoption will impact our financial statements as the standard requires the recognition on the balance sheet of a right of use asset and corresponding lease liability. We are currently analyzing our contracts to determine whether they contain a lease under the revised guidance and have not quantified the amount of the asset and liability that will be recognized on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, Inventory (Topic 330): Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory, which requires entities to measure inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value; however, inventory measured using last-in, first-out and the retail inventory method is unchanged by this ASU. This guidance was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with prospective application required. We adopted this ASU on January 1, 2017. Our adoption did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, followed by a series of related accounting standard updates (collectively referred to as “Topic 606”) with the underlying principle that an entity will recognize revenue to reflect amounts expected to be received in exchange for the provision of goods and services to customers upon the transfer of those goods or services. Topic 606 also requires additional disclosures. Topic 606 can be adopted either with a full retrospective approach or a modified retrospective approach with a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the date of adoption and is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. We implemented a process to evaluate the impact of adopting Topic 606 on each type of revenue contract entered into with customers, and our implementation team effected changes to our business processes, systems and controls to support recognition and disclosure under the new standard. We did not identify any material revenue recognition timing differences under Topic 606 as compared to our policies in effect prior to adoption. In addition, we will have an increase in disclosures about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and the related cash flows. We adopted Topic 606 on January 1, 2018, and applied the modified retrospective approach. The cumulative effect of the adoption of Topic 606 was not material.

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