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Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
1.  DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

General. Western Gas Equity Partners, LP is a Delaware master limited partnership formed in September 2012 to own three types of partnership interests in Western Gas Partners, LP, a publicly traded partnership. Western Gas Equity Partners, LP was formed by converting WGR Holdings, LLC into a limited partnership and changing its name. Western Gas Partners, LP (together with its subsidiaries, “WES”) is a Delaware master limited partnership formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in 2007 to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets.
For purposes of these consolidated financial statements, “WGP” refers to Western Gas Equity Partners, LP in its individual capacity or to Western Gas Equity Partners, LP and its subsidiaries, including Western Gas Holdings, LLC and WES, as the context requires. “WES GP” refers to Western Gas Holdings, LLC, individually as the general partner of WES, and excludes WES. WGP’s general partner, Western Gas Equity Holdings, LLC (“WGP GP”), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. “Anadarko” refers to Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries, excluding WGP and WGP GP, and “affiliates” refers to subsidiaries of Anadarko, excluding WGP and its subsidiaries, and includes equity interests in Fort Union Gas Gathering, LLC (“Fort Union”), White Cliffs Pipeline, LLC (“White Cliffs”), Rendezvous Gas Services, LLC (“Rendezvous”), Enterprise EF78, LLC (the “Mont Belvieu JV”), Texas Express Pipeline LLC (“TEP”), Texas Express Gathering LLC (“TEG”) and Front Range Pipeline LLC (“FRP”) (see Note 2). The interests in TEP, TEG and FRP are referred to collectively as the “TEFR Interests.” All income earned on, distributions from and contributions to WES’s equity investments are considered to be affiliate transactions. “Equity investment throughput” refers to WES’s 14.81% share of average Fort Union throughput and 22% share of average Rendezvous throughput, but excludes throughput measured in barrels, consisting of WES’s 10% share of average White Cliffs throughput, 25% share of average Mont Belvieu JV throughput, 20% share of average TEP and TEG throughput and 33.33% share of average FRP throughput. The “DJ Basin complex” refers to the Platte Valley system, Wattenberg system, and Lancaster plant, all of which were combined into a single complex in the first quarter of 2014.
The three types of partnership interests in WES owned by WGP are as follows: (i) a 2.0% general partner interest in WES, held through WES GP; (ii) 100% of the incentive distribution rights (“IDRs”) in WES, which entitle WGP to receive increasing percentages, up to the maximum level of 48.0%, of any incremental cash distributed by WES as certain target distribution levels are reached in any quarter; and (iii) a significant limited partner interest in WES. WES GP owns a 2.0% general partner interest in WES, which constitutes substantially all of its business, which primarily is to manage the affairs and operations of WES. Refer to Note 4 for a discussion of WGP’s holdings of WES equity.
WES is engaged in the business of gathering, processing, compressing, treating and transporting natural gas, condensate, NGLs and crude oil for Anadarko, as well as for third-party producers and customers. As of September 30, 2014, WES’s assets and investments accounted for under the equity method consisted of the following:
 
 
Owned and
Operated
 
Operated
Interests
 
Non-Operated
Interests
 
Equity Interests
Natural gas gathering systems
 
13

 
1

 
5

 
2

NGL gathering systems
 

 

 

 
2

Natural gas treating facilities
 
8

 

 

 
1

Natural gas processing facilities
 
9

 
3

 

 
2

NGL pipelines
 
3

 

 

 
2

Natural gas pipelines
 
3

 

 

 

Oil pipeline
 

 

 

 
1



These assets and investments are located in the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Utah and Wyoming), the Mid-Continent (Kansas and Oklahoma), north-central Pennsylvania and Texas. WES completed construction of Train I at the Lancaster processing plant (located in the DJ Basin complex) in Northeast Colorado in April 2014, and is constructing Train II at the same plant with operations expected to commence in the second quarter of 2015.

1.  DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (CONTINUED)

Basis of presentation. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of WGP and entities in which it holds a controlling financial interest, including WES and WES GP. All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated. Investments in non-controlled entities over which WES, or WGP through its investment in WES, exercises significant influence are accounted for under the equity method. WGP proportionately consolidates WES’s 33.75% share of the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses attributable to the Non-Operated Marcellus Interest and Anadarko-Operated Marcellus Interest (see Note 2) and WES’s 50% share of the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses attributable to the Newcastle system in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
The consolidated financial results of WES are included in WGP’s consolidated financial statements due to WGP’s 100% ownership interest in WES GP and WES GP’s control of WES. Throughout these notes to the consolidated financial statements, and to the extent material, any differences between the consolidated financial results of WGP and WES are discussed separately. WGP has no independent operations or material assets other than its partnership interests in WES. WGP’s consolidated financial statements differ from those of WES primarily as a result of (i) the presentation of noncontrolling interest ownership (attributable to the limited partner interests in WES held by the public and other subsidiaries of Anadarko), (ii) the elimination of WES GP’s investment in WES with WES GP’s underlying capital account, and (iii) the general and administrative expenses incurred by WGP, which are separate from, and in addition to, those incurred by WES.
In preparing financial statements in accordance with GAAP, management makes informed judgments and estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. Management evaluates its estimates and related assumptions regularly, using historical experience and other methods considered reasonable under the particular circumstances. Changes in facts and circumstances or additional information may result in revised estimates and actual results may differ from these estimates. Effects on the business, financial condition and results of operations resulting from revisions to estimates are recognized when the facts that give rise to the revisions become known. The information furnished herein reflects all normal recurring adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements, and certain prior-period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current-year presentation.
Certain information and note disclosures commonly included in annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with WGP’s 2013 Form 10-K, as filed with the SEC on February 28, 2014, certain sections of which were recast to reflect the results of the TEFR Interests in WGP’s Current Report on Form 8-K, as filed with the SEC on August 27, 2014. Management believes that the disclosures made are adequate to make the information not misleading.

Noncontrolling interests. The interests in Chipeta Processing LLC (“Chipeta”) held by a third-party member and the limited partner interests in WES held by other subsidiaries of Anadarko and the public are reflected as noncontrolling interests in the consolidated financial statements.
The difference between the carrying value of WGP’s investment in WES and the underlying book value of common units issued by WES is accounted for as an equity transaction. Thus, if WES issues common units at a price different than WGP’s per-unit carrying value, any resulting change in the carrying value of WGP’s investment in WES is reflected as an adjustment to partners’ capital.

1.  DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (CONTINUED)

Presentation of WES assets. The “WES assets” refer collectively to the assets indirectly owned and interests accounted for under the equity method by WGP through its partnership interests in WES as of September 30, 2014. Because WGP owns and controls WES GP, and WGP GP is owned and controlled by Anadarko, each of WES’s acquisitions of WES assets from Anadarko has been considered a transfer of net assets between entities under common control. As such, WES assets acquired from Anadarko were initially recorded at Anadarko’s historic carrying value, which did not correlate to the total acquisition price paid by WES. Further, after an acquisition of WES assets from Anadarko, WES and WGP (by virtue of its consolidation of WES) may be required to recast their financial statements to include the activities of such WES assets as of the date of common control. See Note 2.
For those periods requiring recast, the consolidated financial statements for periods prior to the acquisition of WES assets from Anadarko have been prepared from Anadarko’s historical cost-basis accounts and may not necessarily be indicative of the actual results of operations that would have occurred if WES had owned the WES assets during the periods reported. Net income attributable to the WES assets acquired from Anadarko for periods prior to WES’s acquisition of the WES assets is not allocated to the limited partners for purposes of calculating net income per common unit.

Equity investments. The following table presents the activity of WES’s equity investments for the nine months ended September 30, 2014:
 
Equity Investments
thousands
Fort 
Union
 
White
Cliffs
 
Rendezvous
 
Mont
Belvieu JV
 
TEG
 
TEP
 
FRP
 
Total
Balance at December 31, 2013
$
25,172

 
$
35,039

 
$
60,928

 
$
122,480

 
$
16,649

 
$
197,731

 
$
135,401

 
$
593,400

Investment earnings (loss), net of amortization
4,811

 
8,385

 
1,180

 
22,872

 
466

 
3,488

 
120

 
41,322

Contributions

 
10,456

 

 
3,956

 
352

 
6,263

 
40,033

 
61,060

Capitalized interest

 

 

 

 

 

 
857

 
857

Distributions
(4,619
)
 
(7,949
)
 
(2,636
)
 
(24,423
)
 
(373
)
 
(2,938
)
 
(123
)
 
(43,061
)
Distributions in excess of cumulative earnings (1)

 
(891
)
 
(1,993
)
 

 
(338
)
 
(5,321
)
 
(5,844
)
 
(14,387
)
Balance at September 30, 2014
$
25,364

 
$
45,040

 
$
57,479

 
$
124,885

 
$
16,756

 
$
199,223

 
$
170,444

 
$
639,191

                                                                                                                                                                                   
(1) 
Distributions in excess of cumulative earnings, classified as investing cash flows in the consolidated statements of cash flows, is calculated on an individual investment basis.

Recently issued accounting standards. Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, and industry-specific guidance in Subtopic 932-605, Extractive Activities—Oil and Gas—Revenue Recognition, and requires an entity to recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This ASU is effective for annual and interim periods beginning in 2017 and is required to be adopted using one of two retrospective application methods, with no early adoption permitted. WGP is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements.

1.  DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (CONTINUED)

ASU 2014-08, Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity, changes the criteria for reporting discontinued operations and requires additional disclosures, both for discontinued operations and for individually significant dispositions and assets classified as held for sale not qualifying as discontinued operations. This ASU is effective for annual and interim periods beginning in 2015, with early adoption permitted for disposals or for assets classified as held for sale that have not been reported in previously issued financial statements. WGP early adopted this ASU on a prospective basis beginning with the first quarter of 2014. The adoption did not have a material impact on WGP’s consolidated financial statements.
ASU 2013-11, Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists, requires that an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of an unrecognized tax benefit, be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset, except in certain circumstances. This ASU is effective for annual and interim periods beginning in 2014. WGP adopted this ASU on a prospective basis beginning with the first quarter of 2014. The adoption did not have a material impact on WGP’s consolidated financial statements.