Organization, Description of Business And Basis Of Presentation

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization, Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Organization

Unless indicated otherwise, the terms “our,” “we,” “us” and similar language refer to Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. together with its subsidiaries. Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. is a Delaware limited partnership, and its limited partner units are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MMP.” Magellan GP, LLC, a wholly-owned Delaware limited liability company, serves as its general partner.

Description of Business

We are principally engaged in the transportation, storage and distribution of refined petroleum products and crude oil. As of June 30, 2019, our asset portfolio consisted of:


•	our refined products segment, comprised of our approximately 9,700-mile refined products pipeline system with 53 terminals as well as 25 independent terminals not connected to our pipeline system and our 1,100-mile ammonia pipeline system;

•

our crude oil segment, comprised of approximately 2,200 miles of crude oil pipelines, a condensate splitter and 33 million barrels of aggregate storage capacity, of which approximately 21 million barrels are used for contract storage. Approximately 1,000 miles of these pipelines, the condensate splitter and 28 million barrels of this storage capacity (including 19 million barrels used for contract storage) are wholly-owned, with the remainder owned through joint ventures; and


•	our marine storage segment, consisting of six marine terminals located along coastal waterways with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 27 million barrels. Five of these terminals and approximately 25 million barrels of this storage capacity are wholly-owned, with the remainder owned through joint ventures.

Terminology common in our industry includes the following terms, which describe products that we transport, store and distribute through our pipelines and terminals:


•	refined products are the output from refineries and are primarily used as fuels by consumers. Refined products include gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, kerosene and heating oil. Collectively, diesel fuel, kerosene and heating oil are referred to as distillates;


•	liquefied petroleum gases, or LPGs, are produced as by-products of the crude oil refining process and in connection with natural gas production. LPGs include butane and propane;


•	blendstocks are blended with refined products to change or enhance their characteristics such as increasing a gasoline’s octane or oxygen content. Blendstocks include alkylates, oxygenates and natural gasoline;


•	heavy oils and feedstocks are used as burner fuels or feedstocks for further processing by refineries and petrochemical facilities. Heavy oils and feedstocks include No. 6 fuel oil and vacuum gas oil;


•	crude oil, which includes condensate, is used as feedstock by refineries, splitters and petrochemical facilities; and


•	biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are typically blended with other refined products as required by government mandates.

We use the term petroleum products to describe any, or a combination, of the above-noted products.

Basis of Presentation

In the opinion of management, our accompanying consolidated financial statements which are unaudited, except for the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018, which is derived from our audited financial statements, include all normal and recurring adjustments necessary to present fairly our financial position as of June 30, 2019, the results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019 and cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019. The results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year ending December 31, 2019 for several reasons. Profits from our butane blending activities are realized largely during the first and fourth quarters of each year. Additionally, gasoline demand, which drives transportation volumes and revenues on our refined products pipeline system, generally trends higher during the summer driving months. Further, the volatility of commodity prices impacts the profits from our commodity activities and the volume of petroleum products we transport on our pipelines.

Pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the financial statements in this report do not include all of the information and notes normally included with financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities that exist at the date of our consolidated financial statements, as well as their impact on the reported amounts of revenue and expense during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

New Accounting Pronouncements - Adopted by us on January 1, 2019

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). This ASU requires lessees to recognize a right of use asset and lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases, with the exception of short-term leases. The new accounting model for lessors remains largely the same, although some changes have been made to align it with the new lessee model and the new revenue recognition guidance. This update also requires companies to include additional disclosures regarding their lessee and lessor agreements. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2019, and it did not have a material impact on our consolidated statements of income or our leverage ratio as defined in our credit agreement. Adoption of this ASU resulted in an initial increase in our assets and liabilities by approximately $172 million due to the recognition of right of use assets and lease liabilities. See Note 7 – Leases for our lease disclosures.