ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
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. Our business is managed under the direction of the board of directors of NuStar GP, LLC, the general partner of our general partner, Riverwalk Logistics, L.P., both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (Holdings), which became a wholly owned subsidiary of ours on July 20, 2018. Recent Developments COVID-19 and OPEC+ Actions. The coronavirus, or COVID-19, has had a severe negative impact on global economic activity, as government authorities instituted stay-home orders, business closures and other measures to reduce the spread of the virus, and people around the world ceased or altered their usual day-to-day activities. The scale of this decrease in economic activity has significantly reduced demand for petroleum products. In March 2020, the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and demand deterioration was exacerbated by disputes among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil-producing nations (OPEC+) regarding their agreed production rates that contributed to a significant over-supply in crude oil, resulting in a sharp decline in, and increase in the volatility of, crude oil prices. Beginning with the second quarter of 2020, crude oil prices stabilized somewhat, and although lower compared to recent years, crude oil prices began to increase in the fourth quarter of 2020. In March 2020, the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with actions by OPEC+, also drove significant declines in stock prices and market capitalization of companies across the energy industry, including NuStar’s. As a result, we recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $225.0 million associated with our crude oil pipelines in the first quarter of 2020. Please refer to Note 11 for additional information. Although the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions by OPEC+ have depressed global economic activity, which has had a negative impact on our results of operations, particularly during the second quarter of 2020, we began to see some initial signs of recovery and rebound in June, which improved our results of operations for the remainder of 2020. Ongoing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including its duration and lingering impacts to the economy, as well as uncertainty surrounding future production decisions by OPEC+, continue to cause volatility and could have a significant impact on management’s estimates and assumptions in 2021 and beyond. Sale of Texas City Terminals. On December 7, 2020, we sold the equity interests in our wholly owned subsidiaries that owned two terminals in Texas City, Texas for $106.0 million, subject to adjustment. We recorded a non-cash loss of $34.7 million and utilized the sales proceeds to improve our debt metrics. Please refer to Note 4 for further discussion. 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 $1,182.0 million, net of issuance costs of $18.0 million, which we used to repay outstanding borrowings under the Term Loan, as defined below, as well as outstanding borrowings under our revolving credit agreement. On September 1, 2020, we repaid our $450.0 million of 4.80% senior notes at maturity with borrowings under our revolving credit agreement. Please refer to Note 13 for further discussion. 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). The Term Loan provided for an aggregate commitment of up to $750.0 million pursuant to a three-year unsecured term loan credit facility. On April 21, 2020 we drew $500.0 million, which we repaid on September 16, 2020. The repayment required certain contractual premiums, and we recognized a loss of $137.9 million in the third quarter of 2020. On February 16, 2021, we terminated the Term Loan. Please refer to Note 13 for further discussion about the Term Loan. Other Events Selby Terminal Fire. On October 15, 2019, our terminal facility in Selby, California experienced a fire that destroyed two storage tanks and temporarily shut down the terminal. The property damage was isolated, and in the fourth quarter of 2019, we incurred losses of $5.4 million, which represent the aggregate amount of our deductibles under various insurance policies. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we received insurance proceeds of $35.0 million, of which $6.7 million was for business interruption and is included in “Operating expenses” in the consolidated statement of loss. Insurance proceeds relate to cleanup costs and business interruption and are therefore included in “Cash flows from operating activities” in the consolidated statement of cash flows. In addition, we received $20.5 million of insurance proceeds in January and February of 2021. We believe we have adequate insurance to offset additional costs. Sale of St. Eustatius and European Operations. On July 29, 2019, we sold our St. Eustatius terminal and bunkering operations (the St. Eustatius Operations) for net proceeds of approximately $230.0 million (the St. Eustatius Disposition). In 2019, we recorded long-lived asset and goodwill impairment charges totaling $336.8 million related to the St. Eustatius Operations in “(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax” on our consolidated statement of loss. In the second quarter of 2019, we determined the St. Eustatius Operations and the European operations, as discussed below, met the requirements to be reported as discontinued operations, and as a result, we reclassified certain balances to assets and liabilities held for sale and certain revenues and expenses to discontinued operations for all applicable periods presented. On November 30, 2018, we sold our European operations for approximately $270.0 million (the European Disposition). The operations sold included six liquids storage terminals in the United Kingdom and one facility in Amsterdam with total storage capacity of approximately 9.5 million barrels (the European Operations). We recognized a non-cash loss of $43.4 million related to the sale in “(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax” on our consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2018. Please refer to Note 4 for further discussion. Merger. On July 20, 2018, we completed the merger of Holdings with a subsidiary of NS. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Holdings unitholders received 0.55 of a common unit representing a limited partner interest in NS in exchange for each Holdings unit owned at the effective time of the merger. Please refer to Note 5 for further discussion of the merger. Hurricane Activity. In the third quarter of 2017, several of our facilities were affected by the hurricanes in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, including the St. Eustatius terminal, which experienced the most damage and was temporarily shut down. In 2018, we received the remaining insurance proceeds of $87.5 million in settlement of our property damage claim for the St. Eustatius terminal, of which $9.1 million related to business interruption. Proceeds from business interruption insurance are included in “Cash flows from operating activities” in the consolidated statements of cash flows. We recorded a $78.8 million gain in the consolidated statement of income in 2018 for the amount by which the insurance proceeds exceeded our expenses incurred during the period. The insurance proceeds related to business interruption and the gain are included in “(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax” in the consolidated statements of (loss) income. 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 3,205 miles of refined product pipelines and 2,205 miles of crude oil pipelines, as well as 5.6 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity, which comprise our Central West System. In addition, we own 2,500 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 7.4 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 and Mexico, with 59.0 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. The fuels marketing segment includes our bunkering operations in the Gulf Coast, as well as certain of our blending operations associated with our Central East System.

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. Our business is managed under the direction of the board of directors of NuStar GP, LLC, the general partner of our general partner, Riverwalk Logistics, L.P., both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (Holdings), which became a wholly owned subsidiary of ours on July 20, 2018.

COVID-19 and OPEC+ Actions. The coronavirus, or COVID-19, has had a severe negative impact on global economic activity, as government authorities instituted stay-home orders, business closures and other measures to reduce the spread of the virus, and people around the world ceased or altered their usual day-to-day activities. The scale of this decrease in economic activity has significantly reduced demand for petroleum products. In March 2020, the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and demand deterioration was exacerbated by disputes among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil-producing nations (OPEC+) regarding their agreed production rates that contributed to a significant over-supply in crude oil, resulting in a sharp decline in, and increase in the volatility of, crude oil prices. Beginning with the second quarter of 2020, crude oil prices stabilized somewhat, and although lower compared to recent years, crude oil prices began to increase in the fourth quarter of 2020.

In March 2020, the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with actions by OPEC+, also drove significant declines in stock prices and market capitalization of companies across the energy industry, including NuStar’s. As a result, we recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $225.0 million associated with our crude oil pipelines in the first quarter of 2020. Please refer to Note 11 for additional information.

Although the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions by OPEC+ have depressed global economic activity, which has had a negative impact on our results of operations, particularly during the second quarter of 2020, we began to see some initial signs of recovery and rebound in June, which improved our results of operations for the remainder of 2020. Ongoing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including its duration and lingering impacts to the economy, as well as uncertainty surrounding future production decisions by OPEC+, continue to cause volatility and could have a significant impact on management’s estimates and assumptions in 2021 and beyond.

Sale of Texas City Terminals. On December 7, 2020, we sold the equity interests in our wholly owned subsidiaries that owned two terminals in Texas City, Texas for $106.0 million, subject to adjustment. We recorded a non-cash loss of $34.7 million and utilized the sales proceeds to improve our debt metrics. Please refer to Note 4 for further discussion.

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 $1,182.0 million, net of issuance costs of $18.0 million, which we used to repay outstanding borrowings under the Term Loan, as defined below, as well as outstanding borrowings under our revolving credit agreement. On September 1, 2020, we repaid our $450.0 million of 4.80% senior notes at maturity with borrowings under our revolving credit agreement. Please refer to Note 13 for further discussion.

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). The Term Loan provided for an aggregate commitment of up to $750.0 million pursuant to a three-year unsecured term loan credit facility. On April 21, 2020 we drew $500.0 million, which we repaid on September 16, 2020. The repayment required certain contractual premiums, and we recognized a loss of $137.9 million in the third quarter of 2020. On February 16, 2021, we terminated the Term Loan. Please refer to Note 13 for further discussion about the Term Loan.

Selby Terminal Fire. On October 15, 2019, our terminal facility in Selby, California experienced a fire that destroyed two storage tanks and temporarily shut down the terminal. The property damage was isolated, and in the fourth quarter of 2019, we incurred losses of $5.4 million, which represent the aggregate amount of our deductibles under various insurance policies. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we received insurance proceeds of $35.0 million, of which $6.7 million was for business interruption and is included in “Operating expenses” in the consolidated statement of loss. Insurance proceeds relate to cleanup costs and business interruption and are therefore included in “Cash flows from operating activities” in the consolidated statement of cash flows. In addition, we received $20.5 million of insurance proceeds in January and February of 2021. We believe we have adequate insurance to offset additional costs.

Sale of St. Eustatius and European Operations. On July 29, 2019, we sold our St. Eustatius terminal and bunkering operations (the St. Eustatius Operations) for net proceeds of approximately $230.0 million (the St. Eustatius Disposition). In 2019, we recorded long-lived asset and goodwill impairment charges totaling $336.8 million related to the St. Eustatius Operations in “(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax” on our consolidated statement of loss. In the second quarter of 2019, we determined the St. Eustatius Operations and the European operations, as discussed below, met the requirements to be reported as discontinued operations, and as a result, we reclassified certain balances to assets and liabilities held for sale and certain revenues and expenses to discontinued operations for all applicable periods presented.

On November 30, 2018, we sold our European operations for approximately $270.0 million (the European Disposition). The operations sold included six liquids storage terminals in the United Kingdom and one facility in Amsterdam with total storage capacity of approximately 9.5 million barrels (the European Operations). We recognized a non-cash loss of $43.4 million related to the sale in “(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax” on our consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2018. Please refer to Note 4 for further discussion.

Merger. On July 20, 2018, we completed the merger of Holdings with a subsidiary of NS. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Holdings unitholders received 0.55 of a common unit representing a limited partner interest in NS in exchange for each Holdings unit owned at the effective time of the merger. Please refer to Note 5 for further discussion of the merger.

Hurricane Activity. In the third quarter of 2017, several of our facilities were affected by the hurricanes in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, including the St. Eustatius terminal, which experienced the most damage and was temporarily shut down. In 2018, we received the remaining insurance proceeds of $87.5 million in settlement of our property damage claim for the St. Eustatius terminal, of which $9.1 million related to business interruption. Proceeds from business interruption insurance are included in “Cash flows from operating activities” in the consolidated statements of cash flows. We recorded a $78.8 million gain in the consolidated statement of income in 2018 for the amount by which the insurance proceeds exceeded our expenses incurred during the period. The insurance proceeds related to business interruption and the gain are included in “(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax” in the consolidated statements of (loss) income.

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 3,205 miles of refined product pipelines and 2,205 miles of crude oil pipelines, as well as 5.6 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity, which comprise our Central West System. In addition, we own 2,500 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 7.4 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 and Mexico, with 59.0 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.