Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (“HEP”), together with its consolidated subsidiaries, is a publicly held master limited partnership. We commenced operations on July 13, 2004, upon the completion of our initial public offering. On March 14, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), HollyFrontier Corporation (“HFC”) and HEP announced the establishment of HF Sinclair Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“HF Sinclair”), as the new parent holding company of HFC and HEP and their subsidiaries, and the completion of their respective acquisitions of Sinclair Oil Corporation (now known as Sinclair Oil LLC (“Sinclair Oil”)) and Sinclair Transportation Company LLC (“Sinclair Transportation”) from REH Company (formerly known as The Sinclair Companies, and referred to herein as “REH Company”). On the Closing Date, pursuant to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated as of August 2, 2021 (as amended on March 14, 2022, the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among HFC, HF Sinclair, Hippo Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair (“Parent Merger Sub”), REH Company, and Hippo Holding LLC (now known as Sinclair Holding LLC), a wholly owned subsidiary of REH Company (the “Target Company”), HF Sinclair completed its acquisition of the Target Company by effecting (a) a holding company merger in accordance with Section 251(g) of the Delaware General Corporation Law whereby HFC merged with and into Parent Merger Sub, with HFC surviving such merger as a direct wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair (the “HFC Merger”), and (b) immediately following the HFC Merger, a contribution whereby REH Company contributed all of the equity interests of the Target Company to HF Sinclair in exchange for shares of HF Sinclair, resulting in the Target Company becoming a direct wholly owned subsidiary of HF Sinclair (together with the HFC Merger, the “HFC Transactions”).

As of December 31, 2022, HF Sinclair and its subsidiaries owned a 47% limited partner interest and the non-economic general partner interest in HEP.

In connection with the closing of the HFC Transactions, HF Sinclair issued 60,230,036 shares of HF Sinclair common stock to REH Company, representing 27% of the pro forma equity of HF Sinclair with a value of approximately $2,149 million based on HFC’s fully diluted shares of common stock outstanding and closing stock price on March 11, 2022. References herein to HF Sinclair with respect to time periods prior to March 14, 2022 refer to HFC and its consolidated subsidiaries and do not include the Target Company, Sinclair Transportation or their respective consolidated subsidiaries. References herein to HF Sinclair with respect to time periods from and after March 14, 2022 refer to HF Sinclair and its consolidated subsidiaries, which includes the combined business operations of HFC, the Target Company, Sinclair Transportation and their respective consolidated subsidiaries.

Additionally, on the Closing Date, pursuant to that certain Contribution Agreement, dated August 2, 2021 (as amended on March 14, 2022, the “Contribution Agreement”) by and among REH Company, Sinclair Transportation and HEP, HEP acquired all of the outstanding equity interests of Sinclair Transportation from REH Company in exchange for 21 million newly issued common limited partner units of HEP (the “HEP Units”), representing 16.6% of the pro forma outstanding HEP Units with a value of approximately $349 million based on HEP’s fully diluted common limited partner units outstanding and closing unit price on March 11, 2022, and cash consideration equal to $329.0 million, inclusive of final working capital adjustments pursuant to the Contribution Agreement for an aggregate transaction value of $678.0 million (the “HEP Transaction” and together with the HFC Transactions, the “Sinclair Transactions”). Of the 21 million HEP Units, 5.29 million units are currently held in escrow to secure REH Company’s renewable identification numbers (“RINs”) credit obligations to HF Sinclair under Section 6.22 of the Business Combination Agreement. HF Sinclair, and not HEP, would be entitled to the HEP common units held in escrow in the event of REH Company’s breach of its RINs credit obligations under the Business Combination Agreement. The cash consideration was funded through a draw under HEP’s senior secured revolving credit facility. The HEP Transaction was conditioned on the closing of the HFC Transactions, which occurred immediately following the HEP Transaction.

References herein to HEP with respect to time periods prior to March 14, 2022, include HEP and its consolidated subsidiaries and do not include Sinclair Transportation and its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, the “Acquired Sinclair Businesses”). References herein to HEP with respect to time periods from and after March 14, 2022 include the operations of the Acquired Sinclair Businesses.

In these consolidated financial statements, the words “we”, “our”, “ours” and “us” refer to HEP unless the context indicates otherwise.

Through our subsidiaries and joint ventures, we own and/or operate petroleum product and crude oil pipelines, terminal, tankage and loading rack facilities and refinery processing units that support the refining and marketing operations of HF Sinclair and other refineries in the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Northwest regions of the United States. Additionally, we own (a) a 50% interest in Osage Pipe Line Company, LLC (“Osage”), (b) a 50% interest in Cheyenne Pipeline LLC, (c) a 50% interest in Cushing Connect Pipeline & Terminal LLC, (d) a 25.06% interest in Saddle Butte Pipeline III, LLC and (e) a 49.995% interest in Pioneer Investments Corp. Following the HEP Transaction (see Note 2), we now own the remaining 25% interest in UNEV Pipeline, LLC and as a result, UNEV Pipeline, LLC is our wholly owned subsidiary.

On June 1, 2020, HFC announced plans to permanently cease petroleum refining operations at its Cheyenne refinery (the “Cheyenne Refinery”) and to convert certain assets at that refinery to renewable diesel production. HFC subsequently began winding down petroleum refining operations at the Cheyenne Refinery on August 3, 2020.

On February 8, 2021, HEP and HFC finalized and executed new agreements for HEP’s Cheyenne assets with the following terms, in each case effective January 1, 2021: (1) a ten-year lease with two five-year renewal option periods for HFC’s (and now HF Sinclair's) use of certain HEP tank and rack assets in the Cheyenne Refinery to facilitate renewable diesel production with an annual lease payment of approximately $5 million, (2) a five-year contango service fee arrangement that will utilize HEP tank assets inside the Cheyenne Refinery where HFC (and now HF Sinclair) will pay a base tariff to HEP for available crude oil storage and HFC (and now HF Sinclair) and HEP will split any profits generated on crude oil contango opportunities and (3) HFC paid a $10 million one-time cash payment from HFC to HEP for the termination of the existing minimum volume commitment.

On April 1, 2021, we sold our 156-mile, 6-inch refined product pipeline that connected HF Sinclair’s Navajo refinery to terminals in El Paso for gross proceeds of $7.0 million and recognized a gain on sale of $5.3 million.

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 16.

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.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of subsidiaries and joint ventures that we control through an ownership interest greater than 50% or through a controlling financial interest with respect to variable interest entities. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. Certain prior period balances have been reclassified for consistency with current year presentation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the statements of cash flows, we consider all highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less at the time of purchase to be cash equivalents. The carrying amounts reported on the balance sheets approximate fair value due to the short-term maturity of these instruments.

Accounts Receivable

The majority of the accounts receivable are due from affiliates of HF Sinclair or independent companies in the petroleum industry. Credit is extended based on evaluation of the customer's financial condition, and in certain circumstances, collateral such as letters of credit or guarantees, may be required. We reserve for doubtful accounts based on our historical loss experience as well as expected credit losses from current economic conditions and management’s expectations of future economic conditions. Credit losses are charged to the allowance for doubtful accounts when an account is deemed uncollectible and historically have been minimal.

Properties and Equipment

Properties and equipment are stated at cost. Properties and equipment acquired from HFC while under common control of HFC are stated at HFC's historical basis. Depreciation is provided by the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, primarily 15 to 25 years for terminal facilities and tankage, 25 to 30 years for pipelines, 25 years for refinery processing units and 3 to 10 years for corporate and other assets. We depreciate assets acquired under capital leases over the lesser of the lease term or the economic life of the assets. Maintenance, repairs and minor replacements are expensed as incurred. Costs of replacements constituting improvements are capitalized.

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets include transportation agreements and acquired customer relationship intangible assets. Intangible assets are stated at acquisition date fair value and are being amortized over their useful lives using the straight-line method.

Goodwill and Long-Lived Assets

Goodwill represents the excess of our cost of an acquired business over the fair value of the assets acquired, less liabilities assumed. Goodwill is not subject to amortization and is tested annually or more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount. Our goodwill impairment testing first entails either a quantitative assessment or an optional qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If we determine that based on the qualitative factors that it is more likely than not that the carrying amount of the reporting unit is greater than its fair value, a quantitative test is performed in which we estimate the fair value of the related reporting unit. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the goodwill of that reporting unit is impaired, and we measure goodwill impairment as the excess of the carrying amount of the reporting unit over the related fair value.

Indicators of Goodwill and Long-Lived Asset Impairment

Our annual goodwill impairment testing for 2022 and 2021 was performed on a qualitative basis during the third quarters of 2022 and 2021. We assessed qualitative factors such as macroeconomic conditions, industry considerations, cost factors and reporting unit financial performance and determined it was not more likely than not that the fair value of our reporting units were less than the respective carrying value. Therefore, in accordance with GAAP, further testing was not required.

During the first quarter of 2021, changes in our agreements with HFC related to our Cheyenne assets resulted in an increase in the carrying amount of our Cheyenne reporting unit due to sales-type lease accounting, which led us to determine indicators of potential goodwill impairment for our Cheyenne reporting unit were present.

The estimated fair value of our Cheyenne reporting unit was derived using a combination of income and market approaches. The income approach reflects expected future cash flows based on anticipated gross margins, operating costs, and capital expenditures. The market approaches include both the guideline public company and guideline transaction methods. Both methods utilize pricing multiples derived from historical market transactions of other like-kind assets. These fair value measurements involve significant unobservable inputs (Level 3 inputs). See Note 6 for further discussion of Level 3 inputs.

Our interim impairment testing of our Cheyenne reporting unit goodwill identified an impairment charge of $11.0 million, which was recorded in the three months ended March 31, 2021.

Our annual impairment testing for 2020 was performed on a quantitative basis during the third quarter of 2020. The estimated fair value of our reporting units were derived using a combination of both income and market approaches as described above. Our annual testing of goodwill in 2020 identified an impairment charge of $35.7 million, which was recorded in the third quarter of 2020, related to our Cheyenne reporting unit.

The following is a summary of our goodwill balances:

	December 31, 2022		December 31, 2021
	(In thousands)
Goodwill	$	389,448	$	270,336
Accumulated impairment losses	(46,686)		(46,686)
	$	342,762	$	223,650

We evaluate long-lived assets, including finite-lived intangible assets, for potential impairment by identifying whether indicators of impairment exist and, if so, assessing whether the long-lived assets are recoverable from estimated future undiscounted cash flows. The actual amount of impairment loss, if any, to be recorded is equal to the amount by which a long-lived asset’s carrying value exceeds its fair value.

Investment in Equity Method Investments

We account for our interests in noncontrolling joint venture interests using the equity method of accounting, whereby we record our pro-rata share of earnings of these companies, and contributions to and distributions from the joint ventures as adjustments to our investment balances. The difference between the cost of an investment and our proportionate share of the underlying equity in net assets recorded on the investee's books is allocated to the various assets and liabilities of the equity method investment.

The following table summarizes our recorded investments compared to our share of underlying equity for each investee. We are amortizing the differences as adjustments to our pro-rata share of earnings over the useful lives of the underlying assets of these joint ventures.

	Balance at December 31, 2022
	Underlying Equity		Recorded Investment Balance		Difference
	(In thousands)
Equity Method Investments
Osage Pipe Line Company, LLC	$	2,901	$	29,773	$	(26,872)
Cheyenne Pipeline LLC	27,655		40,019		(12,364)
Cushing Connect Terminal Holdings LLC	49,915		34,746		15,169
Pioneer Investments Corp.	23,835		133,182		(109,347)
Saddle Butte Pipeline III, LLC	67,349		32,884		34,465
Total	$	171,655	$	270,604	$	(98,949)

	Balance at December 31, 2021
	Underlying Equity		Recorded Investment Balance		Difference
	(In thousands)
Equity Method Investments
Osage Pipe Line Company, LLC	$	9,996	$	37,782	$	(27,786)
Cheyenne Pipeline LLC	28,557		41,091		(12,534)
Cushing Connect Terminal Holdings LLC	52,203		37,505		14,698
Total	$	90,756	$	116,378	$	(25,622)

Asset Retirement Obligations

We record legal obligations associated with the retirement of certain of our long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or the normal operation of our long-lived assets. The fair value of the estimated cost to retire a tangible long-lived asset is recorded in the period in which the liability is incurred and when a reasonable estimate of the fair value of the liability can be made. For our pipeline assets, the right-of-way agreements typically do not require the dismantling, removal and reclamation of the right-of-way upon cessation of the pipeline service. Additionally, management is unable to predict when, or if, our pipelines and related facilities would become obsolete and require decommissioning. Accordingly, we have recorded no liability or corresponding asset related to an asset retirement obligation for the majority of our pipelines as both the amounts and timing of such potential future costs are indeterminable. For our remaining assets, at December 31, 2022 and 2021, we have asset retirement obligations of $10.5 million and $8.7 million, respectively, that are recorded under “Other long-term liabilities” in our consolidated balance sheets.

Class B Unit

Under the terms of the transaction to acquire HFC's 75% interest in UNEV, we issued to a subsidiary of HFC (now HF Sinclair) a Class B unit comprising a noncontrolling equity interest in a wholly owned subsidiary subject to redemption to the extent that HFC (now HF Sinclair) is entitled to a 50% interest in 75% of annual UNEV earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization above $40 million beginning July 1, 2015, and ending in June 2032, subject to certain limitations. However, to the extent earnings thresholds are not achieved, no redemption payments are required. No redemption payments have been required to date.

Pursuant to the terms of the transaction agreements, the Class B unit increases by the amount of each foregone incentive distribution and by a 7% factor compounded annually on the outstanding unredeemed balance through its expiration date. At our option, we may redeem, in whole or in part, the Class B unit at the current unredeemed value based on the calculation described. The Class B unit had a carrying value of $60.5 million at December 31, 2022, and $56.5 million at December 31, 2021.

Revenue Recognition

Revenues are generally recognized as products are shipped through our pipelines and terminals, feedstocks are processed through our refinery processing units or other services are rendered. The majority of our contracts with customers meet the definition of a lease since (1) performance of the contracts is dependent on specified property, plant, or equipment and (2) it is remote that one or more parties other than the customer will take more than a minor amount of the output associated with the specified property, plant, or equipment. Prior to the adoption of the new lease standard (see below), we bifurcated the consideration received between lease and service revenue. The new lease standard allows the election of a practical expedient whereby a lessor does not have to separate non-lease (service) components from lease components under certain conditions. The majority of our contracts meet these conditions, and we have made this election for those contracts. Under this practical expedient, we treat the combined components as a single performance obligation in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, which largely codified ASU 2014-09, if the non-lease (service) component is the dominant component. If the lease component is the dominant component, we treat the combined components as a lease in accordance with ASC 842, which largely codified ASU 2016-02.

Several of our contracts include incentive or reduced tariffs once a certain quarterly volume is met. Revenue from the variable element of these transactions is recognized based on the actual volumes shipped as it relates specifically to rendering the services during the applicable quarter.

The majority of our long-term transportation contracts specify minimum volume requirements, whereby, we bill a customer for a minimum level of shipments in the event a customer ships below their contractual requirements. If there are no future performance obligations, we will recognize these deficiency payments in revenue.

In certain of these throughput agreements, a customer may later utilize such shortfall billings as credit towards future volume shipments in excess of its minimum levels within its respective contractual shortfall make-up period. Such amounts represent an obligation to perform future services, which may be initially deferred and later recognized as revenue based on estimated future shipping levels, including the likelihood of a customer’s ability to utilize such amounts prior to the end of the contractual shortfall make-up period. We recognize these deficiency payments in revenue when we do not expect we will be required to satisfy these performance obligations in the future based on the pattern of rights projected to be exercised by the customer. During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, we recognized $21.1 million, $17.5 million and $20.8 million, respectively, of these deficiency payments in revenue, of which $4.2 million, $0.5 million and $0.7 million, respectively,

related to deficiency payments billed in prior periods. There was no deferred revenue reflected in our consolidated balance sheet related to shortfalls as of December 31, 2022.

We have other cost reimbursement provisions in our throughput/storage agreements providing that customers (including HF Sinclair) reimburse us for certain costs. Such reimbursements are recorded as revenue or deferred revenue depending on the nature of the cost. Deferred revenue is recognized over the remaining contractual term of the related throughput agreement.

Taxes billed and collected from our pipeline and terminal customers are recorded on a net basis with no effect on net income.

Leases

We adopted ASC 842 effective January 1, 2019, and elected to adopt using the modified retrospective transition method and practical expedients, both of which are provided as options by the standard and further defined below.

Lessee Accounting - At inception, we determine if an arrangement is or contains a lease. Right-of-use assets represent our right to use an underlying asset for the lease term, and lease liabilities represent our payment obligation under the leasing arrangement. Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. We use our estimated incremental borrowing rate (“IBR”) to determine the present value of lease payments as most of our leases do not contain an implicit rate. Our IBR represents the interest rate which we would pay to borrow, on a collateralized basis, an amount equal to the lease payments over a similar term in a similar economic environment. We use the implicit rate when readily determinable.

Operating leases are recorded in operating lease right-of-use assets and current and noncurrent operating lease liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet. Finance leases are included in properties and equipment, current finance lease liabilities and noncurrent finance lease liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet.

When renewal options are defined in a lease, our lease term includes an option to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain we will exercise that option. Leases with a term of 12 months or less are not recorded on our balance sheet, and lease expense is accounted for on a straight-line basis. In addition, as a lessee, we separate non-lease components that are identifiable and exclude them from the determination of net present value of lease payment obligations.

Lessor Accounting - Customer contracts that contain leases are generally classified as either operating leases, direct finance leases or sales-type leases. We consider inputs such as the lease term, fair value of the underlying asset and residual value of the underlying assets when assessing the classification.

Environmental Costs

Environmental costs are expensed if they relate to an existing condition caused by past operations and do not contribute to current or future revenue generation. Liabilities are recorded when site restoration and environmental remediation, cleanup and other obligations are either known or considered probable and can be reasonably estimated. Such estimates require judgment with respect to costs, time frame and extent of required remedial and clean-up activities and are subject to periodic adjustments based on currently available information.

Under the Omnibus Agreement and certain transportation agreements and purchase agreements with HF Sinclair, HF Sinclair, has agreed to indemnify us, subject to certain monetary and time limitations, for environmental noncompliance and remediation liabilities associated with certain assets transferred to us from HF Sinclair, occurring or existing prior to the date of such transfers. We have an environmental agreement with Delek with respect to pre-closing environmental costs and liabilities relating to the pipelines and terminals acquired from Delek in 2005, under which Delek will indemnify us subject to certain monetary and time limitations. Environmental costs recoverable through insurance, indemnification agreements or other sources are included in other assets to the extent such recoveries are considered probable.

Income Tax

We are subject to the Texas margin tax that is based on our Texas sourced taxable margin. The tax is calculated by applying a tax rate to a base that considers both revenues and expenses and therefore has the characteristics of an income tax.

We are organized as a pass-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, our partners are responsible for U.S. federal income taxes based on their respective share of taxable income.

Net income for financial statement purposes may differ significantly from taxable income reportable to unitholders as a result of differences between the tax basis and financial reporting basis of assets and liabilities and the taxable income allocation requirements under the partnership agreement.

Accounting Pronouncement Adopted During the Periods Presented

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. This standard was effective January 1, 2020. Adoption of the standard did not have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Accounting Pronouncements - Not Yet Adopted

In October 2021, Accounting Standards Update 2021-08, “Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers” was issued requiring that an acquiring entity recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities acquired in a business combination in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606 – Revenue from Contracts with Customers. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, and early adoption is permitted. We will evaluate the impact of this standard, if applicable.