EQUITY METHOD INVESTMENTS

Our equity method investments consisted of the following (in thousands):



	September 30, 2016		December 31, 2015
White Cliffs Pipeline, L.L.C.	$	283,798	$	297,109
NGL Energy Partners LP	18,939		112,787
Glass Mountain Pipeline, LLC	135,457		141,182
Total equity method investments	$	438,194	$	551,078

Our earnings from equity method investments consisted of the following (in thousands):



	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2016			2015			2016		2015
White Cliffs Pipeline, L.L.C.	$	15,555		$	16,047		$	51,763	$	50,682
NGL Energy Partners LP⁽¹⁾	(38		)	(878		)	2,194		5,037
Glass Mountain Pipeline, LLC	328			1,068			2,037		4,980
Total earnings from equity method investments	$	15,845		$	16,237		$	55,994	$	60,699

(1) Excluding loss on issuance of common units of $41.0 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and a gain on the issuance of common units of $0.1 million and $6.0 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively. Additionally, gains and losses on the disposal or impairment of equity investments are not reported within "earnings from equity method investments" in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss).

Cash distributions received from equity method investments consisted of the following (in thousands):



	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2016		2015		2016		2015
White Cliffs Pipeline, L.L.C.	$	22,733	$	20,631	$	68,495	$	65,336
NGL Energy Partners LP	—		4,752		4,873		14,235
Glass Mountain Pipeline, LLC	2,164		2,971		8,096		9,891
Total cash distributions received from equity method investments	$	24,897	$	28,354	$	81,464	$	89,462

White Cliffs Pipeline, L.L.C.

Certain unaudited summarized income statement information of White Cliffs Pipeline, L.L.C. ("White Cliffs") for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 is shown below (in thousands):



	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2016			2015		2016		2015
Revenue	$	48,331		$	49,027	$	161,973	$	152,150
Cost of products sold	$	(368	)	$	803	$	2,685	$	1,906
Operating, general and administrative expenses	$	7,529		$	7,642	$	27,256	$	23,938
Depreciation and amortization expense	$	10,367		$	8,746	$	29,414	$	25,871
Net income	$	30,801		$	31,835	$	102,623	$	100,428

The equity in earnings of White Cliffs for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, is less than 51% of the net income of White Cliffs for the same periods. This is due to certain general and administrative expenses we incur in managing the operations of White Cliffs that the other owners are not obligated to share. Such expenses are recorded by White Cliffs and are allocated to our ownership interest. White Cliffs recorded $0.3 million and $0.4 million of such general and administrative expense for the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. White Cliffs recorded $1.2 million and $1.1 million of such general and administrative expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

The members of White Cliffs are required to contribute capital to White Cliffs to fund various projects. For the nine months ended September 30, 2016, we contributed $2.2 million to complete an expansion project that added approximately 65,000 barrels per day of capacity.

NGL Energy Partners LP

At September 30, 2016, we no longer own common units representing limited partner interests in NGL Energy Partners LP (NYSE: NGL) ("NGL Energy"). On April 27, 2016, we sold all of our NGL Energy limited partner units for $13.00 per unit and recorded a $9.1 million gain on disposal. We continue to hold an 11.78% interest in the general partner of NGL Energy which is being accounted for under the equity method in accordance ASC 323-30-S99-1, as our ownership is in excess of the 3 to 5 percent interest which is generally considered to be more than minor.

The general partner of NGL Energy is not a publicly traded company. The information below pertains to our general partner interest, and previously held limited partner interest, in NGL Energy.

See Note 4 for discussion of the other-than-temporary impairment of our common unit investment in NGL Energy.

Under the equity method, our policy is to record our equity in earnings of NGL Energy on a one-quarter lag, as we do not expect to have information on the earnings of NGL Energy in time to consistently record the earnings in the quarter in which they are generated.

During the nine months ended June 30, 2016, NGL issued common units which diluted our limited partnership interest. As we record activity on a one-quarter lag, we recognized a non-cash loss of $41.0 thousand associated with these issuances for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. During 2015, NGL announced several transactions in which it issued common units publicly and privately which diluted our limited partnership interest. As such, we recognized non-cash gains of $6.0 million associated with these issuances for the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2015, we sold 1,999,533 of our NGL Energy common units for $56.3 million, net of related costs of $0.5 million. We recorded net gains related to these sales of $14.5 million in "other expense (income)" in our condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) for the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

Glass Mountain Pipeline, LLC

We own a 50% interest in Glass Mountain Pipeline, LLC ("Glass Mountain"), which we account for under the equity method. The excess of the recorded amount of our investment over the book value of our share of the underlying net assets represents equity method goodwill and capitalized interest at September 30, 2016. Capitalized interest is amortized as a reduction of earnings from equity method investments.

Certain unaudited summarized income statement information of Glass Mountain for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 is shown below (in thousands):



	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2016			2015		2016		2015
Revenue	$	6,793		$	8,348	$	22,263	$	29,257
Cost of sales	$	(145	)	$	253	$	300	$	2,235
Operating, general and administrative expenses	$	2,184		$	1,950	$	5,647	$	4,861
Depreciation and amortization expense	$	3,992		$	3,903	$	11,917	$	11,879
Net income	$	761		$	2,242	$	4,393	$	10,278

The equity in earnings of Glass Mountain for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, reported in our condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) is less than 50% of the net income of Glass Mountain for the same period due to amortization of capitalized interest for the period.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2016, we contributed $0.3 million to Glass Mountain related to capital projects.