Description of Business and Presentation of Financial Statements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Description of Business and Presentation of Financial Statements

Description of Business and Presentation of Financial Statements

Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (“HEP”), together with its consolidated subsidiaries, is a publicly held master limited partnership. As of March 31, 2020, HollyFrontier Corporation (“HFC”) and its subsidiaries own a 57% limited partner interest and the non-economic general partner interest in HEP. We commenced operations on July 13, 2004, upon the completion of our initial public offering. In these consolidated financial statements, the words “we,” “our,” “ours” and “us” refer to HEP unless the context otherwise indicates.

On October 31, 2017, we closed on an equity restructuring transaction with HEP Logistics Holdings, L.P. (“HEP Logistics”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of HFC and the general partner of HEP, pursuant to which the incentive distribution rights ("IDRs") held by HEP Logistics were canceled, and HEP Logistics' 2% general partner interest in HEP was converted into a non-economic general partner interest in HEP. In consideration, we issued 37,250,000 of our common units to HEP Logistics. In addition, HEP Logistics agreed to waive $2.5 million of limited partner cash distributions for each of twelve consecutive quarters beginning with the first quarter the units issued as consideration were eligible to receive distributions. This waiver of limited partner cash distributions will expire after the cash distribution for the second quarter of 2020, which will be made during the third quarter of 2020. As a result of this transaction, no distributions were made on the general partner interest after October 31, 2017.

We own and operate petroleum product and crude oil pipelines, terminal, tankage and loading rack facilities and refinery processing units that support refining and marketing operations of HFC and other refineries in the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Northwest regions of the United States and Delek US Holdings, Inc.’s (“Delek”) refinery in Big Spring, Texas. Additionally, we own a 75% interest in UNEV Pipeline, LLC (“UNEV”), a 50% interest in Osage Pipe Line Company, LLC (“Osage”), a 50% interest in Cheyenne Pipeline LLC, and a 50% interest in Cushing Connect Pipeline & Terminal LLC.

We operate in two reportable segments, a Pipelines and Terminals segment and a Refinery Processing Unit segment. Disclosures around these segments are discussed in Note 15.

We generate revenues by charging tariffs for transporting petroleum products and crude oil through our pipelines, by charging fees for terminalling and storing refined products and other hydrocarbons, providing other services at our storage tanks and terminals and by charging fees for processing hydrocarbon feedstocks through our refinery processing units. We do not take ownership of products that we transport, terminal, store or process, and therefore, we are not exposed directly to changes in commodity prices.

The consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The interim financial statements reflect all adjustments, which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair presentation of our results for the interim periods. Such adjustments are considered to be of a normal recurring nature. Although certain notes and other information required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted, we believe that the disclosures in these consolidated financial statements are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. Results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations that will be realized for the year ending December 31, 2020.

Principles of Consolidation and Common Control Transactions

The consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of subsidiaries and joint ventures that we control. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

Most of our acquisitions from HFC occurred while we were a consolidated variable interest entity (“VIE”) of HFC. Therefore, as an entity under common control with HFC, we recorded these acquisitions on our balance sheets at HFC's historical basis instead of our purchase price or fair value.

Accounting Pronouncements Adopted During the Periods Presented

Goodwill Impairment Testing

In January 2017, Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2017-04, “Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment,” was issued amending the testing for goodwill impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Step 2 measures a goodwill impairment loss by comparing the implied fair value of a reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill. Under this standard, goodwill impairment is measured as the excess of the carrying amount of the reporting unit over the related fair value. We adopted this standard effective in the second quarter of 2019, and the adoption of this standard had no effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Leases

In February 2016, ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases” (“ASC 842”) was issued requiring leases to be measured and recognized as a lease liability, with a corresponding right-of-use asset on the balance sheet. We adopted this standard effective January 1, 2019, and we elected to adopt using the modified retrospective transition method, whereby comparative prior period financial information will not be restated and will continue to be reported under the lease accounting standard in effect during those periods. We also elected practical expedients provided by the new standard, including the package of practical expedients and the short-term lease recognition practical expedient, which allow an entity to not recognize on the balance sheet leases with a term of 12 months or less. Upon adoption of this standard, we recognized $78.4 million of lease liabilities and corresponding right-of-use assets on our consolidated balance sheet. Adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our results of operations or cash flows. See Notes 3 and 4 for additional information on our lease policies.

Credit Losses Measurement

In June 2016, ASU 2016-13, “Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments,” was issued requiring measurement of all expected credit losses for certain types of financial instruments, including trade receivables, held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. We adopted this standard effective January 1, 2020, and adoption of the standard did not have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.