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Transactions With Affiliates
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Related Party Fees and Other Arrangements, Limited Liability Company (LLC) or Limited Partnership (LP) [Abstract]  
Transactions with Affiliates
5.  TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

Affiliate transactions. Revenues from affiliates include amounts earned by WES from services provided to Anadarko as well as from the sale of residue, condensate and NGLs to Anadarko. In addition, WES purchases natural gas from an affiliate of Anadarko pursuant to gas purchase agreements. Operating and maintenance expense includes amounts accrued for or paid to affiliates for the operation of WES assets, whether in providing services to affiliates or to third parties, including field labor, measurement and analysis, and other disbursements. A portion of general and administrative expenses is paid by Anadarko, which results in affiliate transactions pursuant to the reimbursement provisions of the omnibus agreements of WES and WGP. Affiliate expenses do not bear a direct relationship to affiliate revenues, and third-party expenses do not bear a direct relationship to third-party revenues. See Note 2 for further information related to contributions of assets to WES by Anadarko.

Cash management. Anadarko operates a cash management system whereby excess cash from most of its subsidiaries’ separate bank accounts is generally swept to centralized accounts. Prior to the acquisition of WES assets, third-party sales and purchases related to such assets were received or paid in cash by Anadarko within its centralized cash management system. Anadarko charged or credited WES interest at a variable rate on outstanding affiliate balances for the periods these balances remained outstanding. The outstanding affiliate balances were entirely settled through an adjustment to net investment by Anadarko in connection with the acquisition of WES assets. Subsequent to the acquisition of WES assets from Anadarko, transactions related to such assets are cash-settled directly with third parties and with Anadarko affiliates, and affiliate-based interest expense on current intercompany balances is not charged. Chipeta cash settles its transactions directly with third parties and Anadarko, as well as with the other subsidiaries of WES.

WES note receivable from Anadarko. Concurrently with the closing of WES’s May 2008 initial public offering, WES loaned $260.0 million to Anadarko in exchange for a 30-year note bearing interest at a fixed annual rate of 6.50%, payable quarterly. The fair value of the note receivable from Anadarko was $312.3 million and $296.7 million at March 31, 2014, and December 31, 2013, respectively. The fair value of the note reflects consideration of credit risk and any premium or discount for the differential between the stated interest rate and quarter-end market interest rate, based on quoted market prices of similar debt instruments. Accordingly, the fair value of the note receivable from Anadarko is measured using Level 2 inputs.

Commodity price swap agreements. WES has commodity price swap agreements with Anadarko to mitigate exposure to commodity price volatility that would otherwise be present as a result of the purchase and sale of natural gas, condensate or NGLs. Notional volumes for each of the commodity price swap agreements are not specifically defined; instead, the commodity price swap agreements apply to the actual volume of natural gas, condensate and NGLs purchased and sold at the Granger, Hilight, Hugoton, Newcastle and MGR assets, as well as the Wattenberg assets (located in the DJ Basin complex), with various expiration dates through December 2016. In December 2013, WES extended the commodity price swap agreements for the Hilight and Newcastle assets through December 2014. The commodity price swap agreements do not satisfy the definition of a derivative financial instrument and, therefore, are not required to be measured at fair value.
Below is a summary of the fixed price ranges on WES’s outstanding commodity price swap agreements as of March 31, 2014
per barrel except natural gas
 
2014
 
2015
 
2016
Ethane
 
$
18.36

$
30.53

 
$
18.41

$
23.41

 
$
23.11

Propane
 
$
40.38

$
53.78

 
$
47.08

$
52.99

 
$
52.90

Isobutane
 
$
61.24

$
75.13

 
$
62.09

$
74.02

 
$
73.89

Normal butane
 
$
53.89

$
66.83

 
$
54.62

$
65.04

 
$
64.93

Natural gasoline
 
$
71.85

$
90.89

 
$
72.88

$
81.82

 
$
81.68

Condensate
 
$
75.22

$
87.30

 
$
76.47

$
81.82

 
$
81.68

Natural gas (per MMBtu)
 
$
3.45

$
6.20

 
$
4.66

$
5.96

 
$
4.87


5.  TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES (CONTINUED)

The following table summarizes realized gains and losses on commodity price swap agreements:
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
thousands
 
2014
 
2013
Gains (losses) on commodity price swap agreements related to sales: (1)
 
 
 
 
Natural gas sales
 
$
(3,667
)
 
$
5,380

Natural gas liquids sales
 
9,455

 
21,305

Total
 
5,788

 
26,685

Losses on commodity price swap agreements related to purchases (2)
 
(19
)
 
(19,854
)
Net gains (losses) on commodity price swap agreements
 
$
5,769

 
$
6,831

                                                                                                                                                                                    
(1) 
Reported in affiliate natural gas, natural gas liquids and condensate sales in the consolidated statements of income in the period in which the related sale is recorded.
(2) 
Reported in cost of product in the consolidated statements of income in the period in which the related purchase is recorded. 

Gas gathering and processing agreements. WES has significant gas gathering and processing arrangements with affiliates of Anadarko on a majority of its systems. For the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, 48% and 58%, respectively, of WES’s gathering, transportation and treating throughput (excluding equity investment throughput and throughput measured in barrels) was attributable to natural gas production owned or controlled by Anadarko. For the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, 59% and 58%, respectively, of WES’s processing throughput (excluding equity investment throughput and throughput measured in barrels) was attributable to natural gas production owned or controlled by Anadarko.

Equipment purchases. The following table summarizes WES’s purchases from Anadarko of pipe and equipment:
 
 
Three Months Ended March 31,
 
 
2014
 
2013
thousands
 
Purchases
Cash consideration
 
$
4,702

 
$
221

Net carrying value
 
4,745

 
227

Partners’ capital adjustment
 
$
(43
)
 
$
(6
)


WGP LTIP. WGP GP awards phantom units under the Western Gas Equity Partners, LP 2012 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“WGP LTIP”) primarily to its independent directors and its Chief Executive Officer. The phantom units awarded to the independent directors vest one year from the grant date. Compensation expense over the vesting period was $27,000 and $53,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

WES LTIP. WES GP awards phantom units under the Western Gas Partners, LP 2008 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“WES LTIP”) primarily to its independent directors and its Chief Executive Officer. The phantom units awarded to the independent directors vest one year from the grant date, while all other awards are subject to graded vesting over a three-year service period. Compensation expense is recognized over the vesting period and was $0.1 million for each of the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013.

5.  TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES (CONTINUED)

WGP LTIP and Anadarko Incentive Plans. For the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, general and administrative expenses included $0.9 million and $0.7 million, respectively, of equity-based compensation expense, allocated to WES by Anadarko, for awards granted to the executive officers of WES GP and other employees under the WGP LTIP and Anadarko Incentive Plans. Of this amount, $0.9 million is reflected as a contribution to partners’ capital in the consolidated statement of equity and partners’ capital for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Summary of affiliate transactions. The following table summarizes affiliate transactions, which include revenue from affiliates, reimbursement of operating expenses and purchases of natural gas:
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
thousands
 
2014
 
2013
Revenues (1)
 
$
206,290

 
$
177,569

Equity income, net
 
9,251

 
3,968

Cost of product (1)
 
16,634

 
31,929

Operation and maintenance (2)
 
11,099

 
13,366

General and administrative (3)
 
6,993

 
6,088

Operating expenses
 
34,726

 
51,383

Interest income, net (4)
 
4,225

 
4,225

Distributions to WGP unitholders (5)
 
46,051

 
7,143

Distributions to WES unitholders (6)
 
269

 

                                                                                                                                                                                    
(1) 
Represents amounts recognized under gathering, treating or processing agreements, and purchase and sale agreements.
(2) 
Represents expenses incurred on and subsequent to the date of the acquisition of WES assets, as well as expenses incurred by Anadarko on a historical basis related to WES assets prior to the acquisition of such assets by WES.
(3) 
Represents general and administrative expense incurred on and subsequent to the date of WES’s acquisition of WES assets, as well as a management services fee for reimbursement of expenses incurred by Anadarko for periods prior to the acquisition of WES assets by WES. These amounts include equity-based compensation expense allocated to by Anadarko (see WES LTIP and WGP LTIP and Anadarko Incentive Plans within this Note 5) and amounts charged by Anadarko under the WGP omnibus agreement.
(4) 
Represents interest income recognized on the note receivable from Anadarko.
(5) 
Represents distributions paid under WGP’s partnership agreement (see Note 3 and Note 4).
(6) 
Represents distributions paid to other wholly owned subsidiaries of Anadarko under WES’s partnership agreement (see Note 3 and Note 4).

Concentration of credit risk. Anadarko was the only customer from whom revenues exceeded 10% of consolidated revenues for all periods presented in the consolidated statements of income.