Property, Plant and Equipment

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment

Note 4.  Property, Plant and Equipment

The historical costs of our property, plant and equipment and related balances were as follows at the dates indicated:

	Estimated Useful Life in Years		March 31, 2024		December 31, 2023
Plants, pipelines and facilities (1)(5)		3-45	$	58,900	$	57,983
Underground and other storage facilities (2)(6)		5-40		4,532		4,401
Transportation equipment (3)		3-10		250		242
Marine vessels (4)		15-30		932		935
Land				412		411
Construction in progress				2,228		2,245
Subtotal				67,254		66,217
Less accumulated depreciation				20,931		20,462
Subtotal property, plant and equipment, net				46,323		45,755
Capitalized major maintenance costs for reaction-based    plants, net of accumulated amortization (7)				108		49
Property, plant and equipment, net			$	46,431	$	45,804

(1)	Plants, pipelines and facilities include distillation-based and reaction-based plants; NGL, natural gas, crude oil and petrochemical and refined products pipelines; terminal loading and unloading facilities; buildings; office furniture and equipment; laboratory and shop equipment and related assets.
(2)	Underground and other storage facilities include underground product storage caverns; above ground storage tanks; water wells and related assets.
(3)	Transportation equipment includes tractor-trailer tank trucks and other vehicles and similar assets used in our operations.
(4)	Marine vessels include tow boats, barges and related equipment used in our marine transportation business.
(5)	In general, the estimated useful lives of major assets within this category are: distillation-based and reaction-based plants, 20-35 years; pipelines and related equipment, 5-45 years; terminal facilities, 10-35 years; buildings, 20-40 years; office furniture and equipment, 3-20 years; and laboratory and shop equipment, 5-35 years.
(6)	In general, the estimated useful lives of assets within this category are: underground storage facilities, 5-35 years; storage tanks, 10-40 years; and water wells, 5-35 years.
(7)	For reaction-based plants, we use the deferral method when accounting for major maintenance activities.  Under the deferral method, major maintenance costs are capitalized and amortized over the period until the next major overhaul project.  On a weighted-average basis, the expected remaining amortization period for these costs is 3.0 years.

Property, plant and equipment at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 includes $108 million and $109 million, respectively, of asset retirement costs capitalized as an increase in the associated long-lived asset.

The following table presents information regarding our asset retirement obligations, or AROs, since December 31, 2023:

ARO liability balance, December 31, 2023	$	225
Liabilities incurred (1)		–
Revisions in estimated cash flows (2)		–
Liabilities settled (3)		–
Accretion expense (4)		3
ARO liability balance, March 31, 2024	$	228

(1)	Represents the initial recognition of estimated ARO liabilities during period.
(2)	Represents subsequent adjustments to estimated ARO liabilities during period.
(3)	Represents cash payments to settle ARO liabilities during period.
(4)	Represents net change in ARO liability balance attributable to the passage of time and other adjustments, including true-up amounts associated with revised closure estimates.

Of the $228 million total ARO liability recorded at March 31, 2024, $4 million was reflected as a current liability and $224 million as a long-term liability.

The following table summarizes our depreciation expense and capitalized interest amounts for the periods indicated:

	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024			2023
Depreciation expense (1)		$	485		$	450
Capitalized interest (2)			25			32

(1)

Depreciation expense is a component of “Costs and expenses” as presented on our Unaudited Condensed Statements of Consolidated Operations.

(2)

We capitalize interest costs incurred on funds used to construct property, plant and equipment while the asset is in its construction phase.  The capitalized interest is recorded as part of the asset to which it relates and is amortized over the asset’s estimated useful life as a component of depreciation expense.  When capitalized interest is recorded, it reduces interest expense from what it would be otherwise.