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Debt and Interest Expense
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Debt Instruments [Abstract]  
Debt and Interest Expense
13. DEBT AND INTEREST EXPENSE

WES Operating is the borrower for all outstanding debt and is expected to be the borrower for all future debt issuances. The following table presents the outstanding debt:
 December 31, 2021December 31, 2020
thousandsPrincipalCarrying
Value
Fair
Value (1)
PrincipalCarrying
Value
Fair
Value (1)
Short-term debt
4.000% Senior Notes due 2022
$502,246 $502,138 $505,153 $— $— $— 
5.375% Senior Notes due 2021
— — — 431,081 430,606 436,241 
Finance lease liabilities3,794 3,794 3,794 8,264 8,264 8,264 
Total short-term debt
$506,040 $505,932 $508,947 $439,345 $438,870 $444,505 
Long-term debt
4.000% Senior Notes due 2022
$— $— $— $580,917 $580,555 $597,568 
Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023
213,138 212,642 213,072 239,978 238,879 235,066 
3.100% Senior Notes due 2025
732,106 728,096 764,815 1,000,000 992,900 1,028,614 
3.950% Senior Notes due 2025
399,163 395,928 418,506 500,000 494,866 512,807 
4.650% Senior Notes due 2026
474,242 471,629 516,473 500,000 496,708 524,880 
4.500% Senior Notes due 2028
400,000 396,145 437,673 400,000 395,617 415,454 
4.750% Senior Notes due 2028
400,000 396,938 444,550 400,000 396,555 418,786 
4.050% Senior Notes due 2030
1,200,000 1,190,339 1,323,595 1,200,000 1,189,407 1,342,996 
5.450% Senior Notes due 2044
600,000 593,733 717,804 600,000 593,598 607,234 
5.300% Senior Notes due 2048
700,000 687,265 844,223 700,000 687,048 694,172 
5.500% Senior Notes due 2048
350,000 342,659 418,907 350,000 342,543 343,928 
5.250% Senior Notes due 2050
1,000,000 983,709 1,183,514 1,000,000 983,512 1,100,375 
Finance lease liabilities1,533 1,533 1,533 23,644 23,644 23,644 
Total long-term debt
$6,470,182 $6,400,616 $7,284,665 $7,494,539 $7,415,832 $7,845,524 
_________________________________________________________________________________________
(1)Fair value is measured using the market approach and Level-2 fair value inputs.
13. DEBT AND INTEREST EXPENSE

Debt activity. The following table presents the debt activity for the years ended December 31, 2021and 2020:
thousandsCarrying Value
Balance at December 31, 2019$7,959,438 
RCF borrowings220,000 
Issuance of Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023300,000 
Issuance of 3.100% Senior Notes due 2025
1,000,000 
Issuance of 4.050% Senior Notes due 2030
1,200,000 
Issuance of 5.250% Senior Notes due 2050
1,000,000 
Finance lease liabilities24,035 
Repayments of RCF borrowings(600,000)
Repayment of Term loan facility borrowings(3,000,000)
Repayment of 5.375% Senior Notes due 2021
(68,919)
Repayment of 4.000% Senior Notes due 2022
(89,083)
Repayment of Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023(60,022)
Other(30,747)
Balance at December 31, 2020$7,854,702 
RCF borrowings480,000 
Repayments of RCF borrowings(480,000)
Repayment of 5.375% Senior Notes due 2021
(431,081)
Repayment of 4.000% Senior Notes due 2022
(78,671)
Repayment of Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023(26,840)
Repayment of 3.100% Senior Notes due 2025
(267,894)
Repayment of 3.950% Senior Notes due 2025
(100,837)
Repayment of 4.650% Senior Notes due 2026
(25,758)
Finance lease liabilities(26,582)
Other9,509 
Balance at December 31, 2021$6,906,548 

WES Operating Senior Notes. In mid-January 2020, WES Operating issued the Fixed-Rate 3.100% Senior Notes due 2025, 4.050% Senior Notes due 2030, and 5.250% Senior Notes due 2050 (collectively referred to as the “Fixed-Rate Senior Notes”) and the Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023 (the “Floating-Rate Senior Notes”). Including the effects of the issuance prices, underwriting discounts, and interest-rate adjustments, the effective interest rates of the Senior Notes due 2025, 2030, and 2050, were 4.542%, 5.424%, and 6.629%, respectively, at December 31, 2021, and were 4.291%, 5.173%, and 6.375%, respectively, at December 31, 2020. The interest rate on the Floating-Rate Senior Notes was 1.97% and 2.07% at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The effective interest rate of these notes is subject to adjustment from time to time due to a change in credit rating.
During the third quarter of 2021, WES Operating purchased and retired $500.0 million of certain of its senior notes via a tender offer (see Debt activity above). During the first quarter of 2021, WES Operating redeemed the total principal amount outstanding of the 5.375% Senior Notes due 2021 at par value, pursuant to the optional redemption terms in WES Operating’s indenture. During the year ended December 31, 2021, losses of $24.9 million were recognized for the retirement of these notes. During the year ended December 31, 2020, WES Operating purchased and retired $218.0 million of certain of its senior notes and Floating-Rate Senior Notes via open-market repurchases, and gains of $13.5 million were recognized for the early retirement of these notes. Net proceeds from the Fixed-Rate Senior Notes and Floating-Rate Senior Notes were used to repay the $3.0 billion in outstanding borrowings under the Term loan facility and outstanding amounts under the RCF, and for general partnership purposes.
13. DEBT AND INTEREST EXPENSE

As of December 31, 2021, the 4.000% Senior Notes due 2022 were classified as short-term debt on the consolidated balance sheet. At December 31, 2021, WES Operating was in compliance with all covenants under the relevant governing indentures.

Revolving credit facility. WES Operating’s $2.0 billion RCF is expandable to a maximum of $2.5 billion, and matures in February 2025 for each extending lender (see Note 1). The non-extending lender’s commitments mature in February 2024 and represent $100.0 million out of $2.0 billion of total commitments from all lenders. As of December 31, 2021, there were no outstanding borrowings and $5.1 million of outstanding letters of credit, resulting in $2.0 billion of available borrowing capacity under the RCF. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the interest rate on any outstanding RCF borrowings was 1.60% and 1.64%, respectively. The facility-fee rate was 0.25% at December 31, 2021 and 2020.
The RCF bears interest at the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), plus applicable margins ranging from 1.00% to 1.50%, or an alternate base rate equal to the greatest of (a) the Prime Rate, (b) the Federal Funds Effective Rate plus 0.50%, or (c) LIBOR plus 1.00%, in each case plus applicable margins currently ranging from zero to 0.50%, based on WES Operating’s senior unsecured debt rating. A required quarterly facility fee is paid ranging from 0.125% to 0.250% of the commitment amount (whether drawn or undrawn), which also is based on the senior unsecured debt rating.
At December 31, 2021, WES Operating was in compliance with all covenants under the RCF.

Term loan facility. In January 2020, WES Operating repaid the outstanding borrowings with proceeds from the issuance of the Fixed-Rate Senior Notes and Floating-Rate Senior Notes and terminated its $3.0 billion senior unsecured credit facility (“Term loan facility”), see WES Operating Senior Notes above. During the first quarter of 2020, a loss of $2.3 million was recognized for the early termination of the Term loan facility.

Interest-rate swaps. In December 2018 and March 2019, WES Operating entered into interest-rate swap agreements with an aggregate notional principal amount of $750.0 million and $375.0 million, respectively, to manage interest-rate risk associated with anticipated debt issuances. Pursuant to these swap agreements, WES Operating received a floating interest rate indexed to the three-month LIBOR and paid a fixed interest rate. In November and December 2019, WES Operating entered into additional interest-rate swap agreements with an aggregate notional principal amount of $1,125.0 million, effectively offsetting the swap agreements entered into in December 2018 and March 2019.    
In December 2019, all outstanding interest-rate swap agreements were settled. As part of the settlement, WES Operating made cash payments of $107.7 million and recorded an accrued liability of $25.6 million to be paid quarterly in 2020. For the year ended December 31, 2020, WES Operating made cash payments of $25.6 million. These cash payments were classified as cash flows from operating activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows.
The Partnership did not apply hedge accounting and, therefore, gains and losses associated with the interest-rate swap agreements were recognized in earnings. For the year ended December 31, 2019, non-cash losses of $125.3 million were recognized, which are included in Other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations.
13. DEBT AND INTEREST EXPENSE

Finance lease liabilities. The Partnership subleased equipment from Occidental via finance leases through April 2020. During the first quarter of 2020, the Partnership entered into finance leases with third parties for equipment and vehicles. Certain of these equipment leases were amended during the third quarter of 2021 requiring reassessment of lease classification. As a result, these leases were classified as operating leases. See Note 14—Leases.

Interest expense. The following table summarizes the amounts included in interest expense:
Year Ended December 31,
thousands202120202019
Third parties
Long-term and short-term debt
$(366,570)$(369,815)$(315,872)
Finance lease liabilities(861)(1,510)— 
Commitment fees and amortization of debt-related costs(12,705)(13,501)(12,424)
Capitalized interest 3,624 4,774 26,980 
Total interest expense – third parties(376,512)(380,052)(301,316)
Related parties
APCWH Note Payable— — (1,833)
Finance lease liabilities— (6)(137)
Total interest expense – related parties— (6)(1,970)
Interest expense$(376,512)$(380,058)$(303,286)