v3.20.2
DEBT
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
DEBT DEBT
NuStar Logistics Senior Notes
Issuance of 5.75% and 6.375% Senior Notes. On September 14, 2020, NuStar Logistics issued $600.0 million of 5.75% senior notes due October 1, 2025 and $600.0 million of 6.375% senior notes due October 1, 2030. We received proceeds of $1,183.9 million, net of issuance costs of $16.1 million, which we used to repay outstanding borrowings under the Term Loan, along with early repayment premiums (discussed further below), as well as borrowings under our Revolving Credit Agreement, as defined below. The issuance of the 5.75% and 6.375% senior notes bolsters our liquidity to address our senior note maturities in early 2021 and 2022. The interest on the 5.75% and 6.375% senior notes is payable semi-annually in arrears on April 1 and October 1 of each year, beginning on April 1, 2021.

The 5.75% and 6.375% senior notes do not have sinking fund requirements. These notes rank equally with existing senior unsecured indebtedness and senior to existing subordinated indebtedness of NuStar Logistics. The 5.75% and 6.375% senior notes contain restrictions on NuStar Logistics’ ability to incur secured indebtedness unless the same security is also provided for the benefit of holders of the senior notes. In addition, the senior notes limit the ability of NuStar Logistics and its subsidiaries to, among other things, incur indebtedness secured by certain liens, engage in certain sale-leaseback transactions and engage in certain consolidations, mergers or asset sales. The 5.75% and 6.375% senior notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by NuStar Energy and NuPOP.

At the option of NuStar Logistics, the 5.75% and 6.375% senior notes may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time at a redemption price, plus accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date. If we undergo a change of control, as defined in the supplemental indenture for the 5.75% and 6.375% senior notes, each holder of the notes may require us to repurchase all or a
portion of its notes at a price equal to 101% of the principal amount of the notes repurchased, plus any accrued and unpaid interest to the date of repurchase.

Senior Note Repayment. We repaid our $450.0 million of 4.8% senior notes due September 1, 2020 with borrowings under our Revolving Credit Agreement.

Current Maturities. We expect to fund senior note maturities in 2021 by utilizing borrowings under our Revolving Credit Agreement. Therefore, the senior note maturities in 2021 are classified as long-term debt.

Term Loan Credit Agreement
On April 19, 2020, NuStar Energy and NuStar Logistics entered into an unsecured term loan credit agreement with certain lenders and Oaktree Fund Administration, LLC, as administrative agent for the lenders. The Term Loan provided for an aggregate commitment of up to $750.0 million pursuant to a three-year unsecured term loan credit facility. NuStar Logistics drew $500.0 million (the Initial Loan) on April 21, 2020 (the Initial Loan Funding Date). We utilized the proceeds from the Initial Loan, net of the original issue discount of $22.5 million (3.0% of the total commitment) and issuance costs of $14.4 million, to repay outstanding borrowings under our Revolving Credit Agreement. The Term Loan bolstered our liquidity to address near-term senior note maturities.

On September 16, 2020, we used a portion of the net proceeds from the issuance of the 5.75% and 6.375% senior notes to repay the $500.0 million of outstanding borrowings under the Term Loan and pay related early repayment premiums totaling $97.6 million. We also recognized costs of $40.3 million related to unamortized debt issuance costs, unamortized discount and a commitment fee, which resulted in a loss from extinguishment of debt of $137.9 million in the third quarter of 2020. An aggregate principal amount of $250.0 million remains available to be drawn on or prior to April 19, 2021.

Outstanding borrowings bear interest at an aggregate rate of 12.0% per annum, and the Term Loan is subject to a commitment fee in the amount of 5.0% per annum on the average daily undrawn amount of $250.0 million until April 19, 2021. The obligations under the Term Loan are guaranteed by NuStar Energy and NuPOP. The Term Loan contains customary covenants (including ratio requirements) regarding NuStar Energy and its subsidiaries that are generally based upon and are comparable to those contained in the Revolving Credit Agreement and also contains customary events of default.

If there are outstanding borrowings under the Term Loan, NuStar Logistics is required to make mandatory prepayment in an amount equal to 100.0% of the proceeds received as a result of certain events, subject to certain exclusions and adjustments, such as the incurrence of additional indebtedness (excluding additional borrowings under the Revolving Credit Agreement) and the issuance of equity securities, and is required to offer to make such a prepayment with respect to the sale of property or assets. Depending on the amount of time that has passed since the Initial Loan Funding Date, if there is a payment or prepayment (subject to certain exceptions), NuStar Logistics is required to pay, as liquidated damages and compensation for the costs of making funds available, a make-whole premium or similar amount. From the Initial Loan Funding Date through the 18-month anniversary of the Initial Loan Funding Date, such premium will be the sum of (i) the make-whole amount and (ii) 6.25% of the aggregate principal amount of borrowings then paid, prepaid or accelerated. After the 18-month anniversary of the Initial Loan Funding Date through the 30-month anniversary of the Initial Loan Funding Date, such premium will be 6.25% of the aggregate principal amount of borrowings then paid, prepaid or accelerated. Prepayments accepted in connection with one or more asset sales of up to an aggregate amount of $250.0 million will be subject to a lower prepayment premium. There will be no premium for any prepayments of borrowings after the 30-month anniversary of the Initial Loan Funding Date.

Gulf Opportunity Zone Revenue Bonds
In 2008, 2010 and 2011, the Parish of St. James, Louisiana issued Revenue Bonds Series 2008, Series 2010, Series 2010A, Series 2010B and Series 2011 associated with our St. James terminal expansions pursuant to the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005 (collectively, GoZone Bonds) for an aggregate $365.4 million. Following the issuances, the proceeds were deposited with a trustee and were disbursed to us upon our request for reimbursement of expenditures related to our St. James terminal expansions. On March 4, 2020, NuStar Logistics repaid $43.3 million of GoZone Bonds with unused funds, which had been held in trust. NuStar Logistics is obligated to make payments in amounts sufficient to pay the principal of, premium, if any, interest and certain other payments on, the GoZone Bonds.

On June 3, 2020, NuStar Logistics completed the reoffering and conversion of the GoZone Bonds through supplements to the original indentures governing the GoZone Bonds and supplements to the original agreements between NuStar Logistics and the Parish of St. James, which, among other things, converted the interest rate from a weekly rate to a long-term rate. In connection with the reoffering and conversion, we terminated the letters of credit previously issued by various individual banks on our
behalf to support the payments required in connection with the GoZone Bonds, and NuStar Energy and NuPOP guaranteed NuStar Logistics’ obligations with respect to the GoZone Bonds. We did not receive any proceeds from the reoffering, and the reoffering did not increase our outstanding debt.
The following table summarizes the GoZone Bonds outstanding after the reoffering and conversion:
SeriesDate IssuedAmount
Outstanding

Interest Rate
Mandatory
Purchase Date
Maturity Date
 (Thousands of 
Dollars)
 
Series 2008June 26, 2008$55,440 6.10 %June 1, 2030June 1, 2038
Series 2010July 15, 2010100,000 6.35 %n/aJuly 1, 2040
Series 2010AOctober 7, 201043,300 6.35 %n/aOctober 1, 2040
Series 2010BDecember 29, 201048,400 6.10 %June 1, 2030December 1, 2040
Series 2011August 9, 201175,000 5.85 %June 1, 2025August 1, 2041
Total$322,140 

Interest on the GoZone Bonds accrues from June 3, 2020 and is payable semi-annually on June 1 and December 1 of each year, beginning December 1, 2020. The holders of the Series 2008, Series 2010B and Series 2011 GoZone Bonds are required to tender their bonds at the applicable mandatory purchase date in exchange for 100% of the principal plus accrued and unpaid interest, after which these bonds will potentially be remarketed with a new interest rate established. Each of the Series 2010 and Series 2010A GoZone Bonds is subject to redemption on or after June 1, 2030 by the Parish of St. James, at our option, in whole or in part, at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount to be redeemed plus accrued interest. The Series 2008, Series 2010B and Series 2011 GoZone Bonds are not subject to optional redemption.

NuStar Logistics’ agreements with the Parish of St. James related to the GoZone Bonds contain (i) customary restrictive covenants that limit the ability of NuStar Logistics and its subsidiaries, to, among other things, create liens or enter into sale-leaseback transactions, consolidations, mergers or asset sales and (ii) a change of control provision that provides each holder the right to require the trustee, with funds provided by NuStar Logistics, to repurchase all or a portion of that holder’s GoZone Bonds upon a change of control at a price equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount repurchased, plus any accrued and unpaid interest.

Revolving Credit Agreement
On March 6, 2020, NuStar Logistics amended its revolving credit agreement (the Revolving Credit Agreement) to, among other things, extend the maturity date from October 29, 2021 to October 27, 2023, reduce the total amount available for borrowing from $1.2 billion to $1.0 billion and increase the rates included in the definition of Applicable Rate contained in the Revolving Credit Agreement. On April 6, 2020, NuStar Logistics amended the Revolving Credit Agreement to allow for certain transactions related to the GoZone Bonds.

As of September 30, 2020, we had $4.1 million of letters of credit and no borrowings outstanding under the Revolving Credit Agreement. Obligations under the Revolving Credit Agreement are guaranteed by NuStar Energy and NuPOP. The Revolving Credit Agreement provides for U.S. dollar borrowings, which bear interest, at our option, based on an alternative base rate or a LIBOR-based rate. The interest rate on the Revolving Credit Agreement is subject to adjustment if our debt rating is downgraded (or upgraded) by certain credit rating agencies. In August of 2020, Moody’s Investor Service Inc. downgraded our credit rating from Ba2 to Ba3. This rating downgrade caused the interest rate on our Revolving Credit Agreement to increase by 0.25% effective August 2020. The Revolving Credit Agreement is the only debt arrangement with an interest rate that is subject to adjustment if our debt rating is downgraded (or upgraded) by certain credit rating agencies.

For the rolling period of four quarters ending September 30, 2020, the consolidated debt coverage ratio (as defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement) could not exceed 5.00-to-1.00 and the consolidated interest coverage ratio (as defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement) must not be less than 1.75-to-1.00. The maximum consolidated debt coverage ratio and minimum consolidated interest coverage ratio requirements may limit the amount we can borrow under the Revolving Credit Agreement to an amount less than the total amount available for borrowing. As of September 30, 2020, we had $995.9 million available for borrowing, and we believe that we are in compliance with the covenants in the Revolving Credit Agreement.
Receivables Financing Agreement
NuStar Energy and NuStar Finance LLC (NuStar Finance), a special purpose entity and wholly owned subsidiary of NuStar Energy, are parties to a receivables financing agreement with third-party lenders (the Receivables Financing Agreement) and agreements with certain of NuStar Energy’s wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively with the Receivables Financing Agreement, the Securitization Program). On September 3, 2020, they amended the Receivables Financing Agreement to, among other things: (i) extend the maturity date from September 20, 2021 to September 20, 2023, (ii) reduce the amount available for borrowing from $125.0 million to $100.0 million, (iii) provide that the failure to satisfy the consolidated debt coverage ratio, as defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement, would constitute an Event of Default as defined in the Receivables Financing Agreement, and (iv) increase the interest rate. NuStar Finance’s sole activity consists of purchasing receivables from NuStar Energy’s wholly owned subsidiaries that participate in the Securitization Program and providing these receivables as collateral for NuStar Finance’s revolving borrowings under the Securitization Program. NuStar Energy provides a performance guarantee in connection with the Securitization Program. NuStar Finance is a separate legal entity and the assets of NuStar Finance, including these accounts receivable, are not available to satisfy the claims of creditors of NuStar Energy, its subsidiaries selling receivables under the Securitization Program or their affiliates. The amount available for borrowing is based on the availability of eligible receivables and other customary factors and conditions.

Borrowings by NuStar Finance under the Receivables Financing Agreement bear interest at the applicable bank rate, as defined under the Receivables Financing Agreement. The weighted average interest rate related to outstanding borrowings under the Securitization Program as of September 30, 2020 was 2.3%. As of September 30, 2020, $94.5 million of our accounts receivable is included in the Securitization Program. The amount of borrowings outstanding under the Receivables Financing Agreement totaled $60.5 million as of September 30, 2020, which is included in “Long-term debt, less current portion” on the consolidated balance sheet.