ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS	ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS Organization NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) is engaged in the transportation of petroleum products and anhydrous ammonia, and the terminalling, storage and marketing of petroleum products. Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “NuStar Energy,” “NS,” “the Partnership,” “we,” “our” and “us” are used in this report to refer to NuStar Energy L.P., to one or more of our consolidated subsidiaries or to all of them taken as a whole. NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (NuStar GP Holdings or NSH) (NYSE: NSH) owns our general partner, Riverwalk Logistics, L.P., and owns an approximate 11% common limited partner interest in us as of December 31, 2017. Employee Transfer from NuStar GP, LLC. On March 1, 2016, NuStar GP, LLC, the general partner of our general partner and a wholly owned subsidiary of NuStar GP Holdings, transferred and assigned to NuStar Services Company LLC (NuStar Services Co), a wholly owned subsidiary of NuStar Energy, all of NuStar GP, LLC’s employees and related benefit plans, programs, contracts and policies (the Employee Transfer). As a result of the Employee Transfer, we pay employee costs directly and sponsor the long-term incentive plan and other employee benefit plans. Please refer to Note 17 for further discussion of the Employee Transfer and our related party agreements, Note 22 for a discussion of our employee benefit plans and Note 23 for a discussion of our long-term incentive plan. Recent Developments Merger. On February 7, 2018, NuStar Energy, Riverwalk Logistics, L.P., NuStar GP, LLC, Marshall Merger Sub LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of NuStar Energy (Merger Sub), Riverwalk Holdings, LLC and NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (NuStar GP Holdings) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the Merger Agreement) pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into NuStar GP Holdings with NuStar GP Holdings being the surviving entity (the Merger), such that NuStar Energy will be the sole member of NuStar GP Holdings following the Merger. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement and at the effective time of the Merger, our partnership agreement will be amended and restated to, among other things, (i) cancel the incentive distribution rights held by our general partner, (ii) convert the 2% general partner interest in NuStar Energy held by our general partner into a non-economic management interest and (iii) provide the holders of our common units with voting rights in the election of the members of the board of directors of NuStar GP, LLC at an annual meeting, beginning in 2019. The Merger is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions, including approval of the Merger Agreement by NuStar GP Holdings unitholders. Please refer to Note 28 for further discussion of the Merger. Hurricane Activity. In the third quarter of 2017, parts of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico experienced three major hurricanes. Several of our facilities were affected by the hurricanes, but our St. Eustatius terminal experienced the most damage and was temporarily shut down. We incurred approximately $2.6 million of operating expenses to repair minor property damage at several of our domestic terminals. Additionally, we recorded a $5.0 million loss in “Other (expense) income, net” in the consolidated statements of income in the third quarter of 2017 for property damage at our St. Eustatius terminal, which represents the amount of our property deductible under our insurance policy. The hurricane impacts lowered revenues for our bunker fuel operations in our fuels marketing segment and lowered throughput and associated handling fees in our storage segment in the third and fourth quarters of 2017. We received insurance proceeds of $12.5 million in 2017 for damages at our St. Eustatius terminal, of which $3.8 million was for business interruption and the remainder was used for repairs and cleanup. Proceeds from business interruption insurance are included in “Operating expenses” in the consolidated statements of income and in “Cash flows from operating activities” in the consolidated statements of cash flows. In January 2018, we received $87.5 million of insurance proceeds in settlement of our property damage claim for our St. Eustatius terminal. We expect that the costs to repair the property damage at the terminal will not exceed the value of insurance proceeds received. Navigator Acquisition and Financing Transactions. On May 4, 2017, we completed the acquisition of Navigator Energy Services, LLC for approximately $1.5 billion (the Navigator Acquisition). In order to fund the purchase price, we issued 14,375,000 common units for net proceeds of $657.5 million, issued $550.0 million of 5.625% senior notes for net proceeds of $543.3 million and issued 15,400,000 of our 7.625% Series B Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units (Series B Preferred Units) for net proceeds of $371.8 million. Please refer to Notes 4, 12 and 19 for further discussion. Axeon Term Loan. On February 22, 2017, we settled and terminated the $190.0 million term loan to Axeon Specialty Products, LLC (the Axeon Term Loan), pursuant to which we also provided credit support, such as guarantees, letters of credit and cash collateral, as applicable, of up to $125.0 million to Axeon Specialty Products, LLC (Axeon). We received $110.0 million in settlement of the Axeon Term Loan, and our obligation to provide ongoing credit support to Axeon ceased. Please refer to Notes 7 and 15 for further discussion of the Axeon Term Loan and related credit support. Operations We conduct our operations through our subsidiaries, primarily NuStar Logistics, L.P. (NuStar Logistics) and NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. (NuPOP). We have three business segments: pipeline, storage and fuels marketing. Pipeline. We own 3,130 miles of refined product pipelines and 1,930 miles of crude oil pipelines, as well as approximately 5.0 million barrels of storage capacity, which comprise our Central West System. In addition, we own 2,370 miles of refined product pipelines, consisting of the East and North Pipelines, and a 2,000-mile ammonia pipeline, which comprise our Central East System. The East and North Pipelines have storage capacity of approximately 6.8 million barrels. We charge tariffs on a per barrel basis for transporting refined products, crude oil and other feedstocks in our refined product and crude oil pipelines and on a per ton basis for transporting anhydrous ammonia in the Ammonia Pipeline. Storage. We own terminal and storage facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, including St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom, with approximately 84.8 million barrels of storage capacity. Our terminal and storage facilities provide storage, handling and other services on a fee basis for petroleum products, crude oil, specialty chemicals and other liquids. Fuels Marketing. Within our fuels marketing operations, we purchase petroleum products for resale. The activities of the fuels marketing segment expose us to the risk of fluctuations in commodity prices, which has a direct impact on the segment’s results of operations. We enter into derivative contracts to attempt to mitigate the effect of commodity price fluctuations. We ceased marketing crude oil in the second quarter of 2017 and exited our heavy fuels trading operations in the third quarter of 2017. These actions are in line with our goal of reducing our exposure to commodity margins, and instead focusing on our core, fee-based pipeline and storage segments. The only operations remaining in our fuels marketing segment are our bunkering operations at our St. Eustatius and Texas City terminals, as well as certain of our blending operations.

ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS

Organization

NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) is engaged in the transportation of petroleum products and anhydrous ammonia, and the terminalling, storage and marketing of petroleum products. Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “NuStar Energy,” “NS,” “the Partnership,” “we,” “our” and “us” are used in this report to refer to NuStar Energy L.P., to one or more of our consolidated subsidiaries or to all of them taken as a whole. NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (NuStar GP Holdings or NSH) (NYSE: NSH) owns our general partner, Riverwalk Logistics, L.P., and owns an approximate 11% common limited partner interest in us as of December 31, 2017.

Employee Transfer from NuStar GP, LLC. On March 1, 2016, NuStar GP, LLC, the general partner of our general partner and a wholly owned subsidiary of NuStar GP Holdings, transferred and assigned to NuStar Services Company LLC (NuStar Services Co), a wholly owned subsidiary of NuStar Energy, all of NuStar GP, LLC’s employees and related benefit plans, programs, contracts and policies (the Employee Transfer). As a result of the Employee Transfer, we pay employee costs directly and sponsor the long-term incentive plan and other employee benefit plans. Please refer to Note 17 for further discussion of the Employee Transfer and our related party agreements, Note 22 for a discussion of our employee benefit plans and Note 23 for a discussion of our long-term incentive plan.

Recent Developments

Merger. On February 7, 2018, NuStar Energy, Riverwalk Logistics, L.P., NuStar GP, LLC, Marshall Merger Sub LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of NuStar Energy (Merger Sub), Riverwalk Holdings, LLC and NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (NuStar GP Holdings) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the Merger Agreement) pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into NuStar GP Holdings with NuStar GP Holdings being the surviving entity (the Merger), such that NuStar Energy will be the sole member of NuStar GP Holdings following the Merger. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement and at the effective time of the Merger, our partnership agreement will be amended and restated to, among other things, (i) cancel the incentive distribution rights held by our general partner, (ii) convert the 2% general partner interest in NuStar Energy held by our general partner into a non-economic management interest and (iii) provide the holders of our common units with voting rights in the election of the members of the board of directors of NuStar GP, LLC at an annual meeting, beginning in 2019. The Merger is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions, including approval of the Merger Agreement by NuStar GP Holdings unitholders. Please refer to Note 28 for further discussion of the Merger.

Hurricane Activity. In the third quarter of 2017, parts of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico experienced three major hurricanes. Several of our facilities were affected by the hurricanes, but our St. Eustatius terminal experienced the most damage and was temporarily shut down. We incurred approximately $2.6 million of operating expenses to repair minor property damage at several of our domestic terminals. Additionally, we recorded a $5.0 million loss in “Other (expense) income, net” in the consolidated statements of income in the third quarter of 2017 for property damage at our St. Eustatius terminal, which represents the amount of our property deductible under our insurance policy. The hurricane impacts lowered revenues for our bunker fuel operations in our fuels marketing segment and lowered throughput and associated handling fees in our storage segment in the third and fourth quarters of 2017. We received insurance proceeds of $12.5 million in 2017 for damages at our St. Eustatius terminal, of which $3.8 million was for business interruption and the remainder was used for repairs and cleanup. Proceeds from business interruption insurance are included in “Operating expenses” in the consolidated statements of income and in “Cash flows from operating activities” in the consolidated statements of cash flows. In January 2018, we received $87.5 million of insurance proceeds in settlement of our property damage claim for our St. Eustatius terminal. We expect that the costs to repair the property damage at the terminal will not exceed the value of insurance proceeds received.

Navigator Acquisition and Financing Transactions. On May 4, 2017, we completed the acquisition of Navigator Energy Services, LLC for approximately $1.5 billion (the Navigator Acquisition). In order to fund the purchase price, we issued 14,375,000 common units for net proceeds of $657.5 million, issued $550.0 million of 5.625% senior notes for net proceeds of $543.3 million and issued 15,400,000 of our 7.625% Series B Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units (Series B Preferred Units) for net proceeds of $371.8 million. Please refer to Notes 4, 12 and 19 for further discussion.

Axeon Term Loan. On February 22, 2017, we settled and terminated the $190.0 million term loan to Axeon Specialty Products, LLC (the Axeon Term Loan), pursuant to which we also provided credit support, such as guarantees, letters of credit and cash collateral, as applicable, of up to $125.0 million to Axeon Specialty Products, LLC (Axeon). We received $110.0 million in settlement of the Axeon Term Loan, and our obligation to provide ongoing credit support to Axeon ceased. Please refer to Notes 7 and 15 for further discussion of the Axeon Term Loan and related credit support.

Operations

We conduct our operations through our subsidiaries, primarily NuStar Logistics, L.P. (NuStar Logistics) and NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. (NuPOP). We have three business segments: pipeline, storage and fuels marketing.

Pipeline. We own 3,130 miles of refined product pipelines and 1,930 miles of crude oil pipelines, as well as approximately 5.0 million barrels of storage capacity, which comprise our Central West System. In addition, we own 2,370 miles of refined product pipelines, consisting of the East and North Pipelines, and a 2,000-mile ammonia pipeline, which comprise our Central East System. The East and North Pipelines have storage capacity of approximately 6.8 million barrels. We charge tariffs on a per barrel basis for transporting refined products, crude oil and other feedstocks in our refined product and crude oil pipelines and on a per ton basis for transporting anhydrous ammonia in the Ammonia Pipeline.

Storage. We own terminal and storage facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, including St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom, with approximately 84.8 million barrels of storage capacity. Our terminal and storage facilities provide storage, handling and other services on a fee basis for petroleum products, crude oil, specialty chemicals and other liquids.

Fuels Marketing. Within our fuels marketing operations, we purchase petroleum products for resale. The activities of the fuels marketing segment expose us to the risk of fluctuations in commodity prices, which has a direct impact on the segment’s results of operations. We enter into derivative contracts to attempt to mitigate the effect of commodity price fluctuations.

We ceased marketing crude oil in the second quarter of 2017 and exited our heavy fuels trading operations in the third quarter of 2017. These actions are in line with our goal of reducing our exposure to commodity margins, and instead focusing on our core, fee-based pipeline and storage segments. The only operations remaining in our fuels marketing segment are our bunkering operations at our St. Eustatius and Texas City terminals, as well as certain of our blending operations.