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 March 31, 2018, our asset portfolio, including the assets of our joint ventures, consisted of:


•	our refined products segment, comprised of our 9,700-mile refined products pipeline system with 53 terminals as well as 26 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, our condensate splitter and storage facilities with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 28 million barrels, of which approximately 17 million barrels are used for contract storage; and


•	our marine storage segment, consisting of five marine terminals located along coastal waterways with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 26 million barrels.

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, aviation 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 and condensate are used as feedstocks by refineries and petrochemical facilities;


•	biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are increasingly required by government mandates; and


•	ammonia is primarily used as a nitrogen fertilizer.

Except for ammonia, 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, 2017, which is derived from our audited financial statements, include all normal and recurring adjustments necessary to present fairly our financial position as of March 31, 2018, the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2018 and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2018. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year ending December 31, 2018 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 pipeline systems, generally trends higher during the summer driving months. Further, the volatility of commodity prices impacts the profits from our commodity activities and, to a lesser extent, 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, 2017.

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.

Correction of Actuarial Valuation Error

In first quarter 2018, an error was discovered in our third-party actuary’s valuation of our pension liabilities and net periodic pension expenses dating back to 2010. The impacts of the error were not material to any of our prior period financial statements and the cumulative impact was corrected with a one-time adjustment in the current period. As a result, during the first quarter of 2018, net periodic pension expenses were increased by $16.0 million ($5.7 million operating expense, $3.4 million general and administrative (“G&A”) costs and $6.9 million other expense below operating profit on our consolidated statements of income). In addition, long-term pension and benefits was increased $18.8 million and accumulated other comprehensive loss was increased by $2.8 million on our consolidated balance sheets.

New Accounting Pronouncements

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. For public companies, this ASU is effective for fiscal years that start after December 15, 2018, and early adoption is permitted. We are currently in the process of evaluating the impact this new standard will have on our financial statements.

New Accounting Pronouncements - Adopted January 1, 2018

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities. This update changes GAAP’s hedge accounting requirements to simplify some of the specialized treatment’s most complex areas. These simplifications are intended to expand opportunities to use hedge accounting and better align the accounting treatment with existing risk management activities. The ASU is effective for public companies starting after December 15, 2018, and we early-adopted the new standard on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments: A Consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. This ASU includes a requirement to make an accounting policy election to classify distributions received from equity method investees under either (1) the cumulative earnings approach, where distributions in excess of equity earnings are considered a return of capital and classified as cash inflows from investing activities, or (2) the nature of the distribution approach, where each distribution is evaluated on the basis of the source of the payment and classified as either operating or investing cash inflows. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2018 using the retrospective transition method and made an accounting policy election to use the nature of the distribution approach, which resulted in the following adjustments to our first quarter 2017 comparative statement of cash flows (in thousands):



	March 31, 2017, as Reported			ASU 2016-15 Adjustment			March 31, 2017, as Adjusted
Operating activities:
Distributions of earnings from investments in non-controlled entities	$	20,050		$	1,555		$	21,605
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	265,328		$	1,555		$	266,883

Investing activities:
Distributions in excess of earnings of non-controlled entities	$	1,555		$	(1,555	)	$	—
Net cash used by investing activities	$	(181,103	)	$	(1,555	)	$	(182,658	)

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). This ASU amends the existing accounting standards for revenue recognition and is based on the principle that revenue should be recognized to depict the transfer of goods or services to a customer at an amount that reflects the consideration a company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. On January 1, 2018, we adopted the new Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers and all the related amendments using the modified retrospective method. We recognized the cumulative effect of initially applying the new revenue standard as an adjustment to the opening balance of partners’ capital. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods.

The cumulative effect of the changes made to our consolidated January 1, 2018 balance sheet resulting from the adoption of the new revenue standard was as follows (in thousands):



	Balance at December 31, 2017			Adjustments Due to ASU 2014-09			Balance at January 1, 2018
Assets:
Property, plant and equipment	$	7,235,468		$	8,516		$	7,243,984
Accumulated depreciation	(1,682,633		)	(325		)	(1,682,958		)
Net property, plant and equipment	$	5,552,835		$	8,191		$	5,561,026
Investments in non-controlled entities	$	1,082,511		$	502		$	1,083,013

Liabilities:
Deferred revenue	$	117,795		$	(1,901	)	$	115,894
Other noncurrent liabilities	$	30,350		$	4,619		$	34,969

Partners’ capital:
Limited partner unitholders	$	2,267,231		$	5,975		$	2,273,206

The primary changes impacting our financial statements under the new revenue standard include the requirement for us to estimate deficiencies in our customers’ use of our services contracted as minimum commitments and adjust the amount of revenue recognized in proportion to our customers’ pattern of exercised rights. This change results in accelerating the timing of revenue recognized for specific contracts for which we estimate our customers will not ship their minimum commitments. In addition, we periodically receive payments from customers seeking to expand their access to our pipeline systems and terminals. Prior to the adoption of the new revenue standard, these payments were recorded as reductions to our property, plant and equipment (“PP&E”) expenditures. Under the new revenue standard, these payments are recorded to deferred revenue and other noncurrent liabilities and are recognized as revenue in proportion to the related services provided. The impact of this change increases our revenues, contract liabilities, PP&E and depreciation expenses. We expect the impact of the adoption of the new revenue standard, including these changes, to be immaterial to our net income on an ongoing basis.