Debt and Interest Expense (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Debt Instruments [Abstract]

Debt Outstanding and Debt Activity Tables

The following table presents WES and WGP’s outstanding debt as of September 30, 2016, and December 31, 2015:

	September 30, 2016						December 31, 2015
thousands	Principal		Carrying Value		Fair Value(1)		Principal		Carrying Value		Fair Value (1)
WGP RCF	$	28,000	$	28,000	$	28,000	$	—	$	—	$	—
2021 Notes	500,000		494,474		545,314		500,000		493,711		513,645
2022 Notes	670,000		668,583		688,425		670,000		668,432		595,744
2018 Notes	350,000		349,066		350,659		350,000		348,706		339,293
2044 Notes	400,000		389,822		405,499		400,000		389,707		321,499
2025 Notes	500,000		490,749		496,563		500,000		490,095		422,285
2026 Notes	500,000		494,701		521,249		—		—		—
WES RCF	20,000		20,000		20,000		300,000		300,000		300,000
Total long-term debt	$	2,968,000	$	2,935,395	$	3,055,709	$	2,720,000	$	2,690,651	$	2,492,466

⁽¹⁾  Fair value is measured using the market approach and Level 2 inputs.

Debt activity. The following table presents WES and WGP’s debt activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2016:

thousands	Carrying Value
Balance at December 31, 2015	$	2,690,651
WES RCF borrowings	600,000
Issuance of 2026 Notes	500,000
Repayments of WES RCF borrowings	(880,000		)
WGP RCF borrowings	28,000
Other	(3,256		)
Balance at September 30, 2016	$	2,935,395

Interest Expense Table

The following table summarizes the amounts included in interest expense:

	Three Months Ended   September 30,						Nine Months Ended   September 30,
thousands	2016			2015			2016			2015
Third parties
Long-term debt	$	31,795		$	26,972		$	88,123		$	75,047
Amortization of debt issuance costs and commitment fees	2,022			1,530			5,517			4,196
Capitalized interest	(1,343		)	(1,039		)	(4,674		)	(6,826		)
Total interest expense – third parties	32,474			27,463			88,966			72,417
Affiliates
WGP WCF	—			—			—			2
Deferred purchase price obligation – Anadarko (1)	(1,173		)	4,310			(12,097		)	9,920
Total interest expense – affiliates	(1,173		)	4,310			(12,097		)	9,922
Interest expense	$	31,301		$	31,773		$	76,869		$	82,339

⁽¹⁾  See Note 2 for a discussion of the accretion and net present value of the Deferred purchase price obligation - Anadarko.