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Debt and Interest Expense
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Debt Instruments [Abstract]  
Debt and Interest Expense
10. 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:
 September 30, 2023December 31, 2022
thousandsPrincipalCarrying
Value
Fair
Value (1)
PrincipalCarrying
Value
Fair
Value (1)
Short-term debt
Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023
$— $— $— $213,138 $213,121 $214,823 
Finance lease liabilities2,268 2,268 2,268 2,659 2,659 2,659 
Total short-term debt
$2,268 $2,268 $2,268 $215,797 $215,780 $217,482 
Long-term debt
3.100% Senior Notes due 2025
$666,481 $664,844 $638,729 $730,706 $727,953 $692,491 
3.950% Senior Notes due 2025
349,163 347,730 335,675 399,163 396,825 379,107 
4.650% Senior Notes due 2026
467,204 465,566 448,890 474,242 472,161 452,201 
4.500% Senior Notes due 2028
357,094 354,533 332,283 400,000 396,698 368,346 
4.750% Senior Notes due 2028
382,888 380,644 358,230 400,000 397,340 368,141 
6.350% Senior Notes due 2029
600,000 593,081 601,962 — — — 
4.050% Senior Notes due 2030
1,104,593 1,097,358 964,553 1,200,000 1,191,345 1,053,038 
6.150% Senior Notes due 2033
750,000 740,947 724,425 — — — 
5.450% Senior Notes due 2044
600,000 593,992 484,524 600,000 593,878 503,742 
5.300% Senior Notes due 2048
700,000 687,674 548,429 700,000 687,494 580,570 
5.500% Senior Notes due 2048
350,000 342,880 278,674 350,000 342,783 291,194 
5.250% Senior Notes due 2050
1,000,000 984,136 775,000 1,000,000 983,945 829,804 
RCF— — — 375,000 375,000 375,000 
Finance lease liabilities6,666 6,666 6,666 4,160 4,160 4,160 
Total long-term debt
$7,334,089 $7,260,051 $6,498,040 $6,633,271 $6,569,582 $5,897,794 
_________________________________________________________________________________________
(1)Fair value is measured using the market approach and Level-2 fair value inputs.
10. DEBT AND INTEREST EXPENSE

Debt activity. The following table presents the debt activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2023:
thousandsCarrying Value
Balance at December 31, 2022$6,785,362 
RCF borrowings470,000 
Repayments of RCF borrowings(845,000)
Issuance of 6.350% Senior Notes due 2029
600,000 
Issuance of 6.150% Senior Notes due 2033
750,000 
Repayment of Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023(213,138)
Repayment of 3.100% Senior Notes due 2025
(64,225)
Repayment of 3.950% Senior Notes due 2025
(50,000)
Repayment of 4.650% Senior Notes due 2026
(7,038)
Repayment of 4.500% Senior Notes due 2028
(42,906)
Repayment of 4.750% Senior Notes due 2028
(17,112)
Repayment of 4.050% Senior Notes due 2030
(95,407)
Finance lease liabilities2,115 
Other(10,332)
Balance at September 30, 2023$7,262,319 

WES Operating Senior Notes. WES Operating issued the Fixed-Rate 3.100% Senior Notes due 2025, 4.050% Senior Notes due 2030, 5.250% Senior Notes due 2050, and the Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023 in January 2020. 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 3.290%, 4.169%, and 5.363%, respectively, at September 30, 2023, and were 3.790%, 4.671%, and 5.869%, respectively, at September 30, 2022. 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 2023, WES Operating completed the public offering of $600.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 6.350% Senior Notes due 2029. Interest is payable semi-annually on January 15th and July 15th of each year, with the initial interest payment being due on January 15, 2024. Net proceeds from the offering were used to fund a portion of the aggregate purchase price for the Meritage acquisition (see Note 12), to pay related costs and expenses, and for general partnership purposes.
During the second quarter of 2023, WES Operating completed the public offering of $750.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 6.150% Senior Notes due 2033. Interest is payable semi-annually on April 1st and October 1st of each year, with the initial interest payment being due on October 1, 2023. Net proceeds from the offering were used to repay borrowings under the RCF and for general partnership purposes.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, WES Operating purchased and retired $276.7 million of certain of its senior notes via open-market repurchases and redeemed the total principal amount outstanding on the Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2023 at par value with cash on hand (see Debt activity above). For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, a gain of $8.6 million and $15.4 million, respectively, was recognized for the early retirement of portions of these notes.
During the second quarter of 2022, WES Operating (i) redeemed the total principal amount outstanding of the 4.000% Senior Notes due 2022 at par value and (ii) purchased and retired $1.4 million of the 3.100% Senior Notes due 2025 via open-market repurchases.
As of September 30, 2023, WES Operating was in compliance with all covenants under the relevant governing indentures.
10. DEBT AND INTEREST EXPENSE

Revolving credit facility. In April 2023, WES Operating (i) repaid all then-outstanding borrowings under its senior unsecured revolving credit facility (“RCF”) with proceeds from the 6.150% Senior Notes due 2033 offering, and (ii) entered into an amendment to its RCF to, among other things, extend the maturity date to April 2028 and provide for a maximum borrowing capacity up to $2.0 billion, expandable to a maximum of $2.5 billion, through the maturity date.
As of September 30, 2023, 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 September 30, 2023 and 2022, the interest rate on any outstanding RCF borrowings was 6.62% and 4.65%, respectively. The facility-fee rate was 0.20% and 0.25% at September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. As of September 30, 2023, WES Operating was in compliance with all covenants under the RCF.

Interest expense. The following table summarizes the amounts included in interest expense:
 Three Months Ended 
September 30,		Nine Months Ended 
September 30,
thousands2023202220232022
Long-term and short-term debt
$(83,177)$(81,554)$(249,416)$(243,559)
Finance lease liabilities(223)(23)(616)(96)
Commitment fees and amortization of debt-related costs(2,904)(3,049)(9,199)(9,149)
Capitalized interest 3,550 1,520 8,625 3,471 
Interest expense$(82,754)$(83,106)$(250,606)$(249,333)