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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies In the ordinary course of business, we are a party to various lawsuits and other contingent matters. Additionally, we assumed certain liabilities associated with the Billings Acquisition. Please read Note 5—Acquisitions for further information. We establish accruals for specific legal matters when we determine that the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome is probable and the loss is reasonably estimable. It is possible that an unfavorable outcome of one or more of these lawsuits or other contingencies could have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Legal Proceedings and Related Matters We are also party to various other legal proceedings, claims, and regulatory, tax or government audits, inquiries, and investigations that arise in the ordinary course of business. For example, during the first quarter of 2022 we received a tax assessment in the amount of $1.4 million from the Washington Department of Revenue related to its audit of certain taxes allegedly payable on certain sales of raw vacuum gas oil that occurred between 2014 and 2016. We believe the Department of Revenue’s interpretation is in conflict with its prior guidance and we appealed in November 2022. By opinion dated September 22, 2021, the Hawaii Attorney General reversed a prior 1964 opinion exempting various business transactions conducted in the Hawaii foreign trade zone from certain state taxes. We and other similarly situated state taxpayers who had previously claimed such exemptions are currently being audited for certain prior tax periods. Similarly, on September 30, 2021, we received notice of a complaint filed on May 17, 2021, on camera and under seal in the first circuit court of the state of Hawaii alleging that Par Hawaii Refining, LLC, Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. and certain unnamed defendants made false claims and statements in connection with various state tax returns related to our business conducted within the Hawaii foreign trade zone, and seeking unspecified damages, penalties, interest and injunctive relief. We dispute the allegations in the complaint and intend to vigorously defend ourselves in such proceeding. We believe the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome in these matters to be neither probable nor reasonably estimable. Environmental Matters Like other petroleum refiners, our operations are subject to extensive and periodically-changing federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations governing air emissions, wastewater discharges, and solid and hazardous waste management activities. Many of these regulations are becoming increasingly stringent and the cost of compliance can be expected to increase over time. Periodically, we receive communications from various federal, state, and local governmental authorities asserting violations of environmental laws and/or regulations. These governmental entities may also propose or assess fines or require corrective actions for these asserted violations. Except as disclosed below, we do not anticipate that any such matters currently asserted will have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Hawaii Consent Decree On July 18, 2016, PHR and subsidiaries of Tesoro entered into a consent decree with the EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice and other state governmental authorities concerning alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act related to the ownership and operation of multiple facilities owned or formerly owned by Tesoro Corporation and its affiliates ("Consent Decree"), including our refinery in Kapolei, Hawaii, that we acquired from Tesoro in 2013. On September 29, 2023, we received a letter from EPA related to the alleged violation of certain nitrogen oxides (“NOx”) and sulfur dioxide (“SO 2”) emission controls and monitoring requirements pursuant to the Consent Decree. We are unable to predict the cost to resolve these alleged violations, but resolution will likely involve financial penalties or impose capital expenditure requirements that could be material. Wyoming Refinery Our Wyoming refinery is subject to a number of consent decrees, orders, and settlement agreements involving the EPA and/or the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, some of which date back to the late 1970s and several of which remain in effect, requiring further actions at the Wyoming refinery. The largest cost component arising from these various decrees relates to the investigation, monitoring, and remediation of soil, groundwater, surface water, and sediment contamination associated with the facility’s historic operations. Investigative work by Hermes Consolidated LLC, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Wyoming Pipeline Company (collectively, “WRC” or “Wyoming Refining”) and negotiations with the relevant agencies as to remedial approaches remain ongoing on a number of aspects of the contamination, meaning that investigation, monitoring, and remediation costs are not reasonably estimable for some elements of these efforts. As of September 30, 2023, we have accrued $14.4 million for the well-understood components of these efforts based on current information, approximately one-third of which we expect to incur in the next five years and the remainder to be incurred over approximately 30 years. Additionally, we believe the Wyoming refinery will need to modify or close a series of wastewater impoundments in the next several years and replace those impoundments with a new wastewater treatment system. Based on current information, reasonable estimates we have received suggest costs of approximately $11.6 million to design and construct a new wastewater treatment system. Finally, among the various historic consent decrees, orders, and settlement agreements into which Wyoming Refining has entered, there are several penalty orders associated with exceedances of permitted limits by the Wyoming refinery’s wastewater discharges. Although the frequency of these exceedances has declined over time, Wyoming Refining may become subject to new penalty enforcement action in the next several years, which could involve penalties that could be material. Washington Climate Commitment Act and Clean Fuel Standard In 2021, the Washington legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act (“Washington CCA”), which established a cap and invest program designed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Rules implementing the Washington CCA by the Washington Department of Ecology set a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, provide mechanisms for the sale and tracking of tradable emissions allowances, and establish additional compliance and accountability measures. The Washington CCA became effective in January 2023 and the first auction for emissions allowances took place in February 2023. Additionally, a low carbon fuel standard (the “Clean Fuel Standard”) that limits carbon in transportation fuels and enables certain producers to buy or sell credits was also signed into law and became effective in 2023. We will be required to purchase compliance credits or allowances if we are unable to reduce emissions at our Tacoma refinery or reduce the amount of carbon in the transportation fuels we sell in Washington, which could have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. During the third quarter of 2023, we received and responded to a civil investigative demand for information related to our compliance with the Washington CCA. Regulation of Greenhouse Gases Under the Energy Independence and Security Act (the “EISA”), the Renewable Fuel Standard (the “RFS”) requires an increasing amount of renewable fuel to be blended into the nation’s transportation fuel supply. Over time, higher annual RFS requirements have the potential to reduce demand for our refined transportation fuel products. In the near term, the RFS will be satisfied primarily with fuel ethanol blended into gasoline or by purchasing renewable credits, referred to as RINs, to maintain compliance. For additional information, please read Item 1. — Business — Environmental Regulations on our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. As of September 30, 2023, our estimate of the renewable volume obligation (“RVO”) liability for the 2022 compliance year is based on the RFS volumetric requirements which the EPA finalized on June 3, 2022. Our RVO liability for the 2023 compliance year is based on the RFS volumetric requirements that were finalized by the EPA on June 21, 2023. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, we settled all of our 2020 and 2021 RVO liabilities, which resulted in a gain of $99.7 million associated with the difference between the carrying value of the RINs retired and the market value of the RVO settled. This gain is included in Cost of revenues (excluding depreciation) on our condensed consolidated statements of operations. The RFS may present production and logistics challenges for both the renewable fuels and petroleum refining and marketing industries in that we may have to enter into arrangements with other parties or purchase D3 waivers from the EPA to meet our obligations to use advanced biofuels, including biomass-based diesel and cellulosic biofuel, with potentially uncertain supplies of these new fuels. There will be compliance costs and uncertainties regarding how we will comply with the various requirements contained in the EISA, RFS, and other fuel-related regulations. We may experience a decrease in demand for refined petroleum products due to an increase in combined fleet mileage or due to refined petroleum products being replaced by renewable fuels. Recovery Trusts We emerged from the reorganization of Delta Petroleum Corporation (“Delta”) on August 31, 2012 (“Emergence Date”), when the plan of reorganization (“Plan”) was consummated. On the Emergence Date, we formed the Delta Petroleum General Recovery Trust (“General Trust”). The General Trust was formed to pursue certain litigation against third parties, including preference actions, fraudulent transfer and conveyance actions, rights of setoff and other claims, or causes of action under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and other claims and potential claims that Delta and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Debtors”) hold against third parties. On February 27, 2018, the Bankruptcy Court entered its final decree closing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases of Delta and the other Debtors, discharging the trustee for the General Trust, and finding that all assets of the General Trust were resolved, abandoned, or liquidated and have been distributed in accordance with the requirements of the Plan. In addition, the final decree required the Company or the General Trust, as applicable, to maintain the current accruals owed on account of the remaining claims of the U.S. Government and Noble Energy, Inc. As of September 30, 2023, two related claims totaling approximately $22.4 million remained to be resolved and we have accrued approximately $0.5 million representing the estimated value of claims remaining to be settled which are deemed probable and estimable at period end. One of the two remaining claims was filed by the U.S. Government for approximately $22.4 million relating to ongoing litigation concerning a plugging and abandonment obligation in Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Lease OCS-P 0320, comprising part of the Sword Unit in the Santa Barbara Channel, California. The second unliquidated claim, which is related to the same plugging and abandonment obligation, was filed by Noble Energy Inc., the operator and majority interest owner of the Sword Unit. We believe the probability of issuing stock to satisfy the full claim amount is remote, as the obligations upon which such proof of claim is asserted are joint and several among all working interest owners and Delta, our predecessor, only owned an approximate 3.4% aggregate working interest in the unit. The settlement of claims is subject to ongoing litigation and we are unable to predict with certainty how many shares will be required to satisfy all claims. Pursuant to the Plan, allowed claims are settled at a ratio of 54.4 shares per $1,000 of claim.

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