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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Bankruptcy matters
On July 22, 2008 (the "Petition Date"), SemGroup, L.P. and certain subsidiaries filed petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Also on July 22, 2008, SemGroup, L.P.'s Canadian subsidiaries filed for creditor protection in Canada. Later during 2008, certain other U.S. subsidiaries filed petitions for reorganization. While in bankruptcy, SemGroup, L.P. filed a plan of reorganization with the court, which was confirmed on October 28, 2009 (the "Plan of Reorganization"). The Plan of Reorganization determined, among other things, how pre-Petition Date obligations would be settled, the equity structure of the reorganized company upon emergence and the financing arrangements upon emergence. SemGroup Corporation emerged from bankruptcy protection on November 30, 2009 (the "Emergence Date").
Claims reconciliation process
A large number of parties made claims against us for obligations alleged to have been incurred prior to our predecessor's bankruptcy filing. We have resolved or settled all of these outstanding claims and have made all required distributions. The Plan of Reorganization has therefore been fully administered. On November 7, 2014, SemGroup Corporation and the other reorganized debtors moved for a final decree from the bankruptcy court closing the debtors’ bankruptcy cases. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted the request and entered its Order Granting Motion of Remaining Debtors for Entry of Final Decree on December 18, 2014. Accordingly, the bankruptcy cases for SemCrude, L.P., Eaglwing, L.P., SemCanada II, L.P., SemCanada L.P., SemGas, L.P., SemGroup, L.P., SemMaterials, L.P., and SemStream, L.P. have been closed. As part of its decree, the Court retained jurisdiction over certain on-going adversary proceedings, but the debtors have estimated and paid the claims associated with these remaining adversaries, leaving the non-debtor parties to the adversaries to resolve their remaining claims amongst themselves. On January 2, 2015, Bettina M. Whyte, the duly appointed Trustee of the SemGroup Litigation Trust (the “Litigation Trustee”), filed a notice of appeal of the Bankruptcy Court’s December 18, 2014 order closing the aforementioned bankruptcy cases. However, the Bankruptcy Court’s order of final decree was effective upon entry, and the appeal does not stay the effect of the order. The Litigation Trustee’s appeal to the United States District Court for the District of Delaware is currently pending and will be opposed by SemGroup Corporation and the other remaining reorganized debtors.
Dimmit County, TX claims
An employee of Rose Rock Midstream Field Services, LLC was involved in a tractor trailer accident on January 15, 2015 in Dimmit County, Texas.  A second accident followed resulting in six fatalities and multiple injuries.  Multiple lawsuits involving claims of wrongful death and personal injury were filed in Zavala County and Dimmit County, Texas.  These lawsuits have been consolidated and the trial will be held in the District Court, 293rd Judicial District, Zavala County, Texas.  The trial for cause number 15-01-13356-ZCV, Maribel Rodriguez and the Estate of David Rodriguez, et al., vs. Rose Rock Midstream Field Services, LLC, SemGroup Corporation, Rose Rock Midstream, L.P. and SemManagement LLC, et al., was set to begin on February 9, 2016, and has been postponed to April 12, 2016.  We will continue to defend our position and believe that any liability that may arise from this incident will be covered by our insurance; however, we cannot predict the outcome.
Environmental
We may, from time to time, experience leaks of petroleum products from our facilities and, as a result of which, we may incur remediation obligations or property damage claims. In addition, we are subject to numerous environmental regulations. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in the assessment of fines or penalties by regulatory authorities.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment ("the KDHE") initiated discussions during our bankruptcy proceeding regarding six of our sites in Kansas (five owned by Crude Transportation and one owned by SemGas) that KDHE believes, based on their historical use, may have soil or groundwater contamination in excess of state standards. KDHE sought our agreement to undertake assessments of these sites to determine whether they are contaminated. We reached an agreement with KDHE on this matter and entered into a Consent Agreement and Final Order with KDHE to conduct environmental assessments on the sites and to pay KDHE’s costs associated with their oversight of this matter. We have conducted Phase II investigations at all sites. Four of the sites have limited amounts of soil contamination that will be excavated and/or remediated on site. Four of the sites appeared to have ground water contamination requiring further delineation and/or ongoing monitoring. Work plans have been submitted to, and approved by, the KDHE. One site has been closed. Groundwater beneath two sites is being monitored until contaminants achieve regulatory threshold for closure and will not require active remediation.  Two sites are in the process of completing assessment and characterization and will be remediated if necessary. We do not anticipate any penalties or fines for these historical sites.
Other matters
We are party to various other claims, legal actions, and complaints arising in the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of our management, the ultimate resolution of these claims, legal actions, and complaints, after consideration of amounts accrued, insurance coverage, and other arrangements, will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. However, the outcome of such matters is inherently uncertain, and estimates of our consolidated liabilities may change materially as circumstances develop.
Asset retirement obligations
We will be required to incur significant removal and restoration costs when we retire our natural gas gathering and processing facilities in Canada. We have recorded a liability associated with these obligations, which is reported within other noncurrent liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. The following table summarizes the changes in this liability from December 31, 2012 through December 31, 2015 (in thousands):
 
Balance, December 31, 2012
$
40,105

Accretion
4,752

Payments made
(808
)
Currency translation adjustments
(2,864
)
Balance, December 31, 2013
41,185

Accretion
4,807

Payments made
(514
)
Currency translation adjustments
(3,524
)
Balance, December 31, 2014
41,954

Accretion
4,748

Payments made
(511
)
Revaluation
(26,000
)
Currency translation adjustments
(4,245
)
Balance, December 31, 2015
$
15,946


The December 31, 2015 liability was calculated using the $117.8 million cost we estimate we would incur to retire these facilities, discounted based on our risk-adjusted cost of borrowing and the estimated timing of remediation.
The calculation of the liability for an asset retirement obligation requires the use of significant estimates, including those related to the length of time before the assets will be retired, cost inflation over the assumed life of the assets, actual remediation activities to be required, and the rate at which such obligations should be discounted. Future changes in these estimates could result in material changes in the value of the recorded liability. In addition, future changes in laws or regulations could require us to record additional asset retirement obligations. During the year ended December 31, 2015, we completed a reevaluation of our asset retirement obligations and recorded reductions to the liability and offsetting asset of $26.0 million. The reduction was largely due to a change in the estimated timing of the retirement of the facilities. The $117.8 million estimated cost represents only our proportionate share of the obligations associated with these facilities. An additional $20.0 million of estimated costs are attributable to third-party owners’ proportionate share of the obligations. If an owner fails to perform on its obligations, the other owners (including SemGroup) could be obligated to bear that party’s share of the remediation costs.
Our other segments may also be subject to removal and restoration costs upon retirement of their facilities. However, we are unable to predict when, or if, our pipelines, storage tanks and other facilities would become completely obsolete and require decommissioning. Accordingly, we have not recorded a liability or corresponding asset, as both the amount and timing of such potential future costs are indeterminable.
Operating leases
We have entered into operating lease agreements for office space, office equipment, land and vehicles. Future minimum payments required under operating leases that have initial or remaining non-cancellable lease terms in excess of one year at December 31, 2015 are as follows (in thousands): 
For year ending:
 
December 31, 2016
$
9,218

December 31, 2017
7,001

December 31, 2018
3,055

December 31, 2019
1,941

December 31, 2020
157

Thereafter
6,814

Total future minimum lease payments
$
28,186


We recorded lease and rental expenses of $15.5 million, $16.2 million and $11.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.
Purchase and sale commitments
We routinely enter into agreements to purchase and sell petroleum products at specified future dates. We account for these commitments as normal purchases and sales, and therefore we do not record assets or liabilities related to these agreements until the product is purchased or sold. At December 31, 2015, such commitments included the following (in thousands):
 
Volume
(barrels)
 
Value
Fixed price purchases
1,976

 
$
71,709

Fixed price sales
2,907

 
$
116,329

Floating price purchases
17,361

 
$
652,122

Floating price sales
19,691

 
$
709,991


Certain of the commitments shown in the table above relate to agreements to purchase product from a counterparty and to sell a similar amount of product (in a different location) to the same counterparty. Many of the commitments shown in the table above are cancellable by either party, as long as notice is given within the time frame specified in the agreement (generally 30 to 120 days).
Our SemGas segment has a take or pay contractual obligation related to the fractionation of natural gas liquids. This obligation continues through June 2023. At December 31, 2015, approximately $110.7 thousand was due under the contract. The approximate amount of future obligation is as follows (in thousands):

For year ending:
 
December 31, 2016
$
11,804

December 31, 2017
11,938

December 31, 2018
10,060

December 31, 2019
9,121

December 31, 2020
8,451

Thereafter
15,941

Total expected future payments
$
67,315


SemGas also enters into contracts under which we are responsible for marketing the majority of the gas and natural gas liquids produced by the counterparties to the agreements. The majority of SemGas’ revenues were generated from such contracts.
Rose Rock has a throughput commitment with our equity method investee, White Cliffs, for approximately 5,000 barrels per day of space on White Cliffs' pipeline which became effective in October 2015 and has a term of five years. Annual payments to White Cliffs under the agreement are expected to be $9.4 million.
Rose Rock has a throughput commitment for 5,000 barrels per day on the Dakota Access Pipeline which becomes effective upon the full service date of the pipeline which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2016. The commitment has a seven year term. Annual payments are expected to be $11.9 million.
Capital expenditures
We expect to spend $325 million for construction of the Maurepas Pipeline in 2016. See Note 5 for commitments related to the White Cliffs expansion project.