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. We are a Delaware limited partnership and our 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 our 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, 2016, 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 54 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 1,600 miles of crude oil pipelines and storage facilities with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 22 million barrels, of which 14 million barrels are used for leased 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 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, 2015 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, 2016, the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2016 and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2016. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year ending December 31, 2016 as profits from our 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 impact the profits from our commodity activities and, to a lesser extent, the volume of petroleum products we ship 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, 2015.

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.

New Accounting Pronouncements

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which is part of the FASB’s initiative to simplify accounting standards. The guidance requires an entity to make an entity-wide accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest or account for forfeitures when they occur, and allows equity classification for awards where employees elect to withhold the maximum statutory tax rates in the applicable jurisdictions. The new standard also requires cash paid by employers when directly withholding shares for tax withholding purposes to be classified as a financing activity in the statement of cash flows.

We elected to early adopt ASU 2016-09 during the first quarter of 2016, and this adoption did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. In conjunction with our adoption of this new accounting standard, we have elected to account for stock based compensation forfeitures as they occur. Additionally, and consistent with our prior accounting policy, we continue to show cash paid when directly withholding shares for tax withholding purposes as a financing activity in our statements of cash flows.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). This standard requires companies that lease valuable assets like aircraft, real estate, and heavy equipment to recognize on their balance sheets the assets and liabilities generated by contracts longer than a year. The new accounting model for lessors remains largely the same, although some changes have been made to align the lessor accounting model with the new lessee model and to align it with the new revenue recognition guidance. This update also requires companies to disclose in the footnotes to their financial statements information about the amount, timing and uncertainty for the payments they make for the lease arrangements. Public companies will have to begin applying the standard for fiscal years and quarters that start after December 15, 2018, although early adoption is permitted. We are currently in the process of evaluating the impact this new standard will have on our financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which eliminates the industry-specific guidance in U.S. GAAP and produces a single, principles-based method for companies to report revenue in their financial statements. This standard requires companies to make more estimates and use more judgment than under current guidance. In addition, all companies must compile more extensive footnote disclosures about how the revenue numbers were derived. This ASU requires full retrospective, modified retrospective, or use of the cumulative effect method during the period of adoption. We have not yet determined which adoption method we will employ. In July 2015, the FASB extended the effective date of this standard from January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2018. We are currently in the process of evaluating the impact this new standard will have on our financial statements.