Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

General. Western Midstream Partners, LP (formerly Western Gas Equity Partners, LP) is a Delaware master limited partnership formed in September 2012. Western Midstream Operating, LP (formerly Western Gas Partners, LP, and together with its subsidiaries, “WES Operating”) is a Delaware limited partnership formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in 2007 to acquire, own, develop, and operate midstream assets. Western Midstream Partners, LP owns, directly and indirectly, a 98.0% limited partner interest in WES Operating, and directly owns all of the outstanding equity interests of Western Midstream Operating GP, LLC, which holds the entire non-economic general partner interest in WES Operating. “Anadarko” refers to Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries, excluding Western Midstream Partners, LP and Western Midstream Holdings, LLC. Anadarko became a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation as a result of Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s acquisition by merger of Anadarko on August 8, 2019.

For purposes of these consolidated financial statements, the “Partnership” refers to Western Midstream Partners, LP in its individual capacity or to Western Midstream Partners, LP and its subsidiaries, including Western Midstream Operating GP, LLC and WES Operating, as the context requires. “WES Operating GP” refers to Western Midstream Operating GP, LLC, individually as the general partner of WES Operating. The Partnership’s general partner, Western Midstream Holdings, LLC (the “general partner”), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation. “Occidental” refers to Occidental Petroleum Corporation, as the context requires, and its subsidiaries, excluding the Partnership and the general partner, and “affiliates” refers to subsidiaries of Occidental, excluding the Partnership, but including 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”), Front Range Pipeline LLC (“FRP”), Whitethorn Pipeline Company LLC (“Whitethorn LLC”), Cactus II Pipeline LLC (“Cactus II”), Saddlehorn Pipeline Company, LLC (“Saddlehorn”), Panola Pipeline Company, LLC (“Panola”), Mi Vida JV LLC (“Mi Vida”), Ranch Westex JV LLC (“Ranch Westex”), and Red Bluff Express Pipeline, LLC (“Red Bluff Express”). See Note 3. The interests in TEP, TEG, and FRP are referred to collectively as the “TEFR Interests.” “MGR assets” refers to the Red Desert complex and the Granger straddle plant. The “West Texas complex” refers to the Delaware Basin Midstream, LLC (“DBM”) complex and DBJV and Haley systems.

The Partnership is engaged in the business of gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas; gathering, stabilizing, and transporting condensate, natural gas liquids (“NGLs”), and crude oil; and gathering and disposing of produced water. In addition, in its capacity as a natural gas processor, the Partnership buys and sells natural gas, NGLs, and condensate on behalf of itself and as agent for its customers under certain of its contracts. The Partnership provides the above-described midstream services for Occidental and third-party customers. As of September 30, 2019, the Partnership’s assets and investments consisted of the following:



	Wholly Owned and Operated	Operated Interests	Non-Operated Interests	Equity Interests
Gathering systems ⁽¹⁾	17	2	3	2
Treating facilities	35	3	—	3
Natural gas processing plants/trains	24	3	—	5
NGLs pipelines	2	—	—	4
Natural gas pipelines	5	—	—	1
Oil pipelines	3	1	—	3


⁽¹⁾	Includes the DBM water systems.

These assets and investments are located in the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming), North-central Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Mexico.

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

Merger transactions. On February 28, 2019, the Partnership, WES Operating, Anadarko, and certain of their affiliates completed the transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement and Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) dated November 7, 2018, pursuant to which, among other things, Clarity Merger Sub, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Partnership, merged with and into WES Operating, with WES Operating continuing as the surviving entity and as a subsidiary of the Partnership (the “Merger”). In connection with the Merger closing, (i) the common units of WES Operating, which previously traded under the symbol “WES,” ceased to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), (ii) the common units of the Partnership, which previously traded under the symbol “WGP,” began to trade on the NYSE under the symbol “WES,” (iii) the Partnership changed its name from Western Gas Equity Partners, LP to Western Midstream Partners, LP, and (iv) WES Operating changed its name from Western Gas Partners, LP to Western Midstream Operating, LP.

The Merger Agreement also provided that the Partnership, WES Operating, and Anadarko cause their respective affiliates to execute the following transactions, among others, immediately prior to the Merger becoming effective in the following order: (1) Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC and WGR Asset Holding Company LLC (“WGRAH”) (the “Contributing Parties”) contribute to WES Operating, and WES Operating subsequently contributes to WGR Operating, LP, Kerr-McGee Gathering LLC, and DBM (each wholly owned by WES Operating), all of their interests in each of Anadarko Wattenberg Oil Complex LLC, Anadarko DJ Oil Pipeline LLC, Anadarko DJ Gas Processing LLC, Wamsutter Pipeline LLC, DBM Oil Services, LLC, Anadarko Pecos Midstream LLC, Anadarko Mi Vida LLC, and APC Water Holdings 1, LLC (“APCWH”) in exchange for aggregate consideration of $1.814 billion of cash, less the outstanding amount payable pursuant to an intercompany note (the “APCWH Note Payable”) assumed by WES Operating in connection with the transfer, and 45,760,201 WES Operating common units; (2) APC Midstream Holdings, LLC (“AMH”) transfers its interests in Saddlehorn and Panola to WES Operating in exchange for $193.9 million of cash; (3) WES Operating contributes cash in an amount equal to the outstanding balance of the APCWH Note Payable immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger to APCWH, which in turn uses the contributed cash to satisfy the APCWH Note Payable to Anadarko; (4) the WES Operating Class C units convert into WES Operating common units on a one-for-one basis; and (5) WES Operating and WES Operating GP convert the incentive distribution rights (“IDRs”) and the 2,583,068 general partner units in WES Operating held by WES Operating GP into a non-economic general partner interest in WES Operating and 105,624,704 WES Operating common units. The 45,760,201 WES Operating common units issued to the Contributing Parties, less 6,375,284 WES Operating common units retained by WGRAH, convert into the right to receive an aggregate of 55,360,984 common units of the Partnership upon Merger completion. Each WES Operating common unit issued and outstanding immediately prior to the closing of the Merger (other than WES Operating common units owned by the Partnership and WES Operating GP, and certain common units held by subsidiaries of Anadarko) converts into the right to receive 1.525 common units of the Partnership. See Note 10 for additional information.

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 the Partnership and entities in which it holds a controlling financial interest, including WES Operating and WES Operating GP. All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated.

The following table outlines the ownership interests and the accounting method of consolidation used in the consolidated financial statements for entities not wholly owned:



	Percentage Interest
Full consolidation
Chipeta ⁽¹⁾	75.00	%
Proportionate consolidation ⁽²⁾
Springfield system	50.10	%
Marcellus Interest systems	33.75	%
Equity investments ⁽³⁾
Mi Vida	50.00	%
Ranch Westex	50.00	%
FRP	33.33	%
Red Bluff Express	30.00	%
Mont Belvieu JV	25.00	%
Rendezvous	22.00	%
TEP	20.00	%
TEG	20.00	%
Whitethorn LLC	20.00	%
Saddlehorn	20.00	%
Cactus II	15.00	%
Panola	15.00	%
Fort Union	14.81	%
White Cliffs	10.00	%


⁽¹⁾	The 25% third-party interest in Chipeta Processing LLC (“Chipeta”) is reflected within noncontrolling interests in the consolidated financial statements, in addition to the noncontrolling interests noted below.


⁽²⁾	The Partnership proportionately consolidates its associated share of the assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses attributable to these assets.


⁽³⁾	Investments in non-controlled entities over which the Partnership exercises significant influence are accounted for under the equity method. “Equity investment throughput” refers to the Partnership’s share of average throughput for these investments.

Certain information and note disclosures commonly included in annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the Partnership and WES Operating’s 2018 Forms 10-K, as filed with the SEC on February 20, 2019, certain sections of which were recast to reflect the results attributable to AMA (as defined in Note 3) in the Partnership and WES Operating’s Current Reports on Form 8-K, as filed with the SEC on May 17, 2019.

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

The consolidated financial results of WES Operating are included in the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements. Throughout these notes to consolidated financial statements, and to the extent material, any differences between the consolidated financial results of the Partnership and WES Operating are discussed separately. The Partnership’s consolidated financial statements differ from those of WES Operating primarily as a result of (i) the presentation of noncontrolling interest ownership (see Noncontrolling interests below and Note 5), (ii) the elimination of WES Operating GP’s investment in WES Operating with WES Operating GP’s underlying capital account, (iii) the general and administrative expenses incurred by the Partnership, which are separate from, and in addition to, those incurred by WES Operating, (iv) the inclusion of the impact of Partnership equity balances and Partnership distributions, and (v) the senior secured revolving credit facility (“WGP RCF”) until its repayment in March 2019. See Note 10.

Presentation of the Partnership’s assets. The Partnership’s assets include assets owned and ownership interests accounted for under the equity method by the Partnership, through its partnership interests in WES Operating as of September 30, 2019 (see Note 8). The Partnership owns the entire non-economic general partner interest in and controls WES Operating GP, and the general partner is controlled by Occidental; therefore, the Partnership’s prior asset acquisitions from Anadarko have been classified as transfers of net assets between entities under common control. As such, assets acquired from Anadarko were initially recorded at Anadarko’s historic carrying value, which did not equate to the total acquisition price paid by the Partnership. Further, subsequent to asset acquisitions from Anadarko, the Partnership was required to recast its financial statements to include the activities of acquired assets from the date of common control.

For reporting periods requiring recast, the consolidated financial statements for periods prior to the acquisition of assets from Anadarko are prepared from Anadarko’s historical cost-basis accounts and may not be necessarily indicative of the actual results of operations that would have occurred if the Partnership had owned the assets during the periods reported. Net income (loss) attributable to the assets acquired from Anadarko for periods prior to the Partnership’s acquisition of such assets was not allocated to the limited partners.

Use of estimates. 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 reasonable methods. 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 included 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.

Noncontrolling interests. For periods subsequent to Merger completion, the Partnership’s noncontrolling interests in the consolidated financial statements consist of (i) the 25% third-party interest in Chipeta and (ii) the 2.0% Occidental subsidiary-owned limited partner interest in WES Operating. For periods prior to Merger completion, the Partnership’s noncontrolling interests in the consolidated financial statements consisted of (i) the 25% third-party interest in Chipeta, (ii) the publicly held limited partner interests in WES Operating, (iii) the common units issued by WES Operating to subsidiaries of Anadarko as part of the consideration paid for prior acquisitions from Anadarko, and (iv) the Class C units issued by WES Operating to a subsidiary of Anadarko as part of the funding for the acquisition of DBM. For all periods presented, WES Operating’s noncontrolling interest in the consolidated financial statements consisted of the 25% third-party interest in Chipeta. See Note 5.

When WES Operating issues equity, the carrying amount of the noncontrolling interest reported by the Partnership is adjusted to reflect the noncontrolling ownership interest in WES Operating. The resulting impact of such noncontrolling interest adjustment on the Partnership’s interest in WES Operating is reflected as an adjustment to the Partnership’s partners’ capital.

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

Shutdown of gathering systems. In May 2018, after assessing a number of factors, and with safety and protection of the environment as the primary focus, the Partnership decided to permanently cease operations at the Kitty Draw gathering system in Wyoming (part of the Hilight system) and the Third Creek gathering system in Colorado (part of the DJ Basin complex). Results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, reflect (i) accruals of zero and $10.9 million, respectively, in anticipated costs associated with the system shutdowns, recorded as a reduction in affiliate Product sales in the consolidated statements of operations, and (ii) impairment expense of $6.8 million and $134.0 million, respectively, associated with reducing the net book value of the gathering systems and recorded an additional asset retirement obligation. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, $6.1 million of the accrual related to the Kitty Draw gathering system shutdown was reversed due to producer settlements being less than initial estimates.

Segments. The Partnership’s operations continue to be organized into a single operating segment, the assets of which gather, compress, treat, process, and transport natural gas; gather, stabilize, and transport condensate, NGLs, and crude oil; and gather and dispose of produced water in the United States.

Recently adopted accounting standards. ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) requires lessee recognition of a lease liability and a right-of-use (“ROU”) asset for all leases, including operating leases, with a term greater than 12 months on the balance sheet. This ASU modifies the definition of a lease and outlines the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of leasing arrangements by both lessees and lessors. The Partnership adopted this standard on January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective method applied to all leases in existence on January 1, 2019, and prior-period financial statements were not adjusted. The Partnership elected not to reassess contracts that commenced prior to adoption, to continue applying its current accounting policy for existing or expired land easements, and not to recognize ROU assets or lease liabilities for short-term leases.

Leases. The Partnership determines if an arrangement is a lease based on the rights and obligations conveyed at contract inception. At the lease-commencement date, a lease is classified as either operating or finance, and ROU assets and lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of future lease payments over the lease term. As the rate implicit in the Partnership’s leases is generally not readily determinable, the Partnership discounts lease liabilities using the Partnership’s incremental borrowing rate at the commencement date. Non-lease components associated with leases that begin in 2019 or later are accounted for as part of the lease component, and prepaid lease payments are included as ROU assets. Options to extend or terminate a lease are included in the lease term when it is reasonably certain that the Partnership will exercise that option. Leases of 12 months or less are not recognized on the consolidated balance sheets.

Lease cost is generally recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. For finance leases, interest expense is recognized over the lease term using the effective interest method. Variable lease payments are recognized when the obligation for those payments is incurred.