Organization, Description of Business And Basis Of Presentation (Accounting Policies) (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

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 September 30, 2018, the results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2018 and cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2018. The results of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 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 refined products pipeline system, 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.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications. Prior year amounts related to restricted cash have been reclassified to conform with the current period’s presentation.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash includes cash held by us, which is contractually required to be used for the construction of fixed assets, and is unavailable for general use. It is classified as noncurrent due to its designation to be used for the construction of noncurrent assets.

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. This standard will not have a material impact on our consolidated statements of income. Based on our current population of leases, we expect the impact of this ASU to increase our assets and liabilities by approximately $80.0 million due to the recognition of right of use assets and lease liabilities.

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 September 30, 2017 comparative statement of cash flows (in thousands):



	Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017, as Reported			ASU 2016-15 Adjustment			Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017, as Adjusted
Operating activities:
Distributions from operations of non-controlled entities	$	78,562		$	19,129		$	97,691
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	794,572		$	19,129		$	813,701

Investing activities:
Distributions from returns of investments in non-controlled entities	$	71,867		$	(19,129	)	$	52,738
Net cash used by investing activities	$	(416,147	)	$	(19,129	)	$	(435,276	)

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 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 expense. 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.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue recognition policies

Revenue is recognized upon the satisfaction of each performance obligation required by our customer contracts. Transportation and terminals revenue is recognized over time as our customers receive the benefits of our service as it is performed on their behalf using an output method based on actual deliveries. Revenue for our storage services is recognized over time using an output method based on the capacity of storage under contract with our customers. Product sales revenue is recognized at a point in time when our customers take control of the commodities purchased. We record back-to-back purchases and sales of petroleum products where we are acting as an agent on a net basis.

We recognize pipeline transportation revenue for crude oil and ammonia shipments when our customers’ product arrives at the customer-designated destination. For shipments of refined products under published tariffs that combine transportation and terminalling services, we recognize revenue when our customers take delivery of their product from our system. For shipments where terminalling services are not included in the tariff, we recognize revenue when our customers’ product arrives at the customer-designated destination. We have certain contracts that require counterparties to ship a minimum volume over an agreed-upon time period, which are contracted as minimum dollar or volume commitments. Revenue pursuant to these take-or-pay contracts is recognized when the customers utilize their committed volumes. Additionally, when we estimate that the customers will not utilize all or a portion of their committed volumes, we recognize revenue in proportion to the pattern of exercised rights for the respective commitment period.

Our interstate common carrier petroleum products pipeline operations are subject to rate regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) under the Interstate Commerce Act, the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and rules and orders promulgated pursuant thereto. FERC regulation requires that interstate pipeline rates be filed with the FERC, be posted publicly and be nondiscriminatory and “just and reasonable.” The rates on approximately 40% of the shipments on our refined products pipeline system are regulated by the FERC primarily through an index methodology. As an alternative to cost-of-service or index-based rates, interstate pipeline companies may establish rates by obtaining authority to charge market-based rates in competitive markets or by negotiation with unaffiliated shippers. Approximately 60% of our refined products pipeline system’s markets are either subject to regulations by the states in which we operate or are approved for market-based rates by the FERC, and in both cases these rates can generally be adjusted at our discretion based on market factors. Most of the tariffs on our crude oil pipelines are established by negotiated rates that generally provide for annual adjustments in line with changes in the FERC index, subject to certain modifications.

For both our index-based rates and our market-based rates, our published tariffs serve as contracts, and shippers nominate the volume to be shipped up to a month in advance. These tariffs include provisions which allow us to deduct from our customer’s inventory a small percentage of the products our customers transport on our pipeline systems. We refer to this non-monetary consideration as tender deduction revenue. We receive tender deductions from our customers as consideration for product losses during the transportation of petroleum products within our pipeline systems. Tender deduction revenue is generally recognized as transportation revenue when the customer's transported commodities reach their destination and is recorded at the fair value of the product received on the date received or the contract date, as applicable.

Product sales revenue pricing is contractually specified, and we have determined that each barrel sold represents a separate performance obligation. Transaction prices for our other services including terminalling, storage and ancillary services are typically contracted as a single performance obligation with our customers. In circumstances where multiple performance obligations are contractually required, we allocate the transaction price to the various performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling price.

Revenue Recognition, Deferred Revenue

Balance Sheet Disclosures

We invoice customers on our refined products pipelines for transportation services when their product enters our system. At each period end, we record all invoiced amounts associated with products that have not yet been delivered (in-transit products) as a contract liability. This liability is presented as deferred revenue on our consolidated balance sheets. Deferred revenue is also recorded for pre-payments received in conjunction with take-or-pay contracts, storage contracts and other service offerings in which the service to our customers remains unfulfilled. Additionally, at each period end, we defer the direct costs we have incurred associated with our customers’ in-transit products as contract assets. Contract assets are presented on our consolidated balance sheets as other current assets. These direct costs are estimated based on our per-barrel direct delivery cost for the current period multiplied by the total in-transit barrels in our system at the end of the period multiplied by 50% to reflect the average transportation costs incurred for all products across all of our pipeline systems. We use 50% of the in-transit barrels because that best represents the average delivery point of all barrels in our pipeline system. These contract assets and contract liabilities are determined using judgments and assumptions that management considers reasonable.