Related Party Transactions

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011


Note 8 —	Related Party Transactions

Natural Gas and Related Transactions

The following table summarizes transactions between us and affiliated entities:


	Three Months Ended June 30,					Six Months Ended June 30,
	2011			2010		2011			2010
	(In thousands)

Affiliates of Mr. Lawing:⁽¹⁾
Natural gas sales⁽²⁾	$	—		$	1	$	(1	)	$	2
Gathering and compression services⁽³⁾		1			2		3			5
Natural gas purchases⁽⁴⁾		22			108		82			389
Reimbursable costs⁽⁵⁾		57			75		114			150
Webb Duval:
Natural gas sales⁽²⁾		39			12		39			12
Natural gas purchases⁽⁴⁾		(308	)		59		(369	)		112
Transportation costs⁽³⁾		119			61		170			131
Management fees⁽⁶⁾		56			56		112			112
Reimbursable costs⁽⁶⁾		224			72		337			139
Payable to us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁷⁾							275
Payable by us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁸⁾							45
Eagle Ford Gathering:
Management fees⁽⁶⁾		41			—		82			—
Reimbursable costs⁽⁶⁾		3,482			—		13,595			—
Capital project fees⁽⁶⁾		260			—		548
Payable to us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁷⁾							22
Payable by us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁸⁾							57
Liberty Pipeline Group:
Reimbursable costs⁽⁶⁾		12,011			—		15,505			—
Payable to us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁷⁾							30
Southern Dome:
Management fees⁽⁶⁾		62			63		125			125
Reimbursable costs⁽⁶⁾		105			61		201			157
Payable to us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁷⁾							52
Bighorn:
Compressor rental fees⁽⁹⁾		398			417		815			833
Gathering costs⁽³⁾		—			—		—			16
Natural gas purchases⁽⁴⁾		—			—		—			3
Management fees⁽⁶⁾		97			139		193			278
Reimbursable costs⁽⁶⁾		579			563		1,162			1,225
Payable to us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁷⁾							245
Fort Union:
Gathering costs⁽³⁾		1,379			1,267		2,659			2,638
Treating costs⁽⁴⁾		—			—		6			52
Management fees⁽⁶⁾		61			60		123			120
Reimbursable costs⁽⁶⁾		59			50		776			129
Payable to us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁷⁾							16
Other:
Natural gas sales⁽²⁾		—			65		—			125
Payable to us as of June 30, 2011⁽⁷⁾							6


(1)		These entities were controlled by John R. Eckel, Jr., our former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, until his death in November 2009, and since that time have been controlled by Douglas L. Lawing, our Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, in his role as executor of Mr. Eckel’s estate.

(2)		Revenues included in natural gas sales on our consolidated statements of operations.

(3)		Revenues included in transportation, compression and processing fees on our consolidated statements of operations.

(4)		Included in costs of natural gas and natural gas liquids on our consolidated statements of operations.

(5)		Reimbursable costs received from Copano/Operations, Inc. (“Copano Operations”), controlled by Mr. Lawing, for its use of shared personnel, facilities and equipment. This was the only compensation we received from Copano Operations.

(6)		Management fees, reimbursable costs and capital project fees received from our unconsolidated affiliates are included in general and administrative expenses on our consolidated statements of operations.

(7)		Included in accounts receivable on the consolidated balance sheets.

(8)		Included in accounts payable on the consolidated balance sheets.

(9)		Revenues included in condensate and other on our consolidated statements of operations.

Other

Certain of our operating subsidiaries incurred costs payable to an affiliate of TPG for compression services totaling $21,000 and $55,000 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively. Pursuant to a director designation agreement between us and TPG, our Board of Directors nominated Michael G. MacDougall, a partner with TPG, for election to the Board at our 2011 annual meeting. On May 18, 2011, our unitholders elected Mr. MacDougall to serve on our Board until our 2012 annual meeting.

Certain of our operating subsidiaries incurred costs payable to operating subsidiaries of Exterran Holdings, Inc. (“Exterran Holdings”) for the purchase and installation of compressors, compression services and compressor repairs totaling $1,380,000 and $3,132,000, respectively, for the three months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010 and $2,031,000 and $4,120,000, respectively, for the six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010. Ernie L. Danner, a member of our Board of Directors, serves on the Board of Directors of Exterran Holdings and as its President and Chief Executive Officer.

During the second quarter of 2011, we purchased a maintenance vessel, to service our assets in the Copano Bay area, from Copano Operations for $102,000.

Our management believes that the terms of our related party agreements and transactions are no less favorable to us than those we could have obtained from unaffiliated third parties.

- Definition

This element may be used for the entire related party transactions disclosure as a single block of text. Disclosure may include: the nature of the relationship(s), a description of the transactions, the amount of the transactions, the effects of any change in the method of establishing the terms of the transaction from the previous period, stated interest rate, expiration date, terms and manner of settlement per the agreement with the related party, and amounts due to or from related parties. If the entity and one or more other entities are under common ownership or management control and this control affects the operating results or financial position, disclosure includes the nature of the control relationship even if there are no transactions between the entities. Disclosure may also include the aggregate amount of current and deferred tax expense for each statement of earnings presented where the entity is a member of a group that files a consolidated tax return, the amount of any tax related balances due to or from affiliates as of the date of each statement of financial position presented, the principal provisions of the method by which the consolidated amount of current and deferred tax expense is allocated to the members of the group and the nature and effect of any changes in that method. Examples of related party transactions include transactions between (a) a parent company and its subsidiary; (b) subsidiaries of a common parent; (c) and entity and its principal owners; and (d) affiliates.

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