Investments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures Disclosure [Text Block]

Investments

Catalyst Midstream Partners, LLC

In June 2017, we signed an agreement with Howard Energy Partners (“Howard”) to jointly develop oil gathering and natural gas processing infrastructure in the Stateline area of the Delaware Basin. Under the terms of the agreement, WPX and Howard each have a 50 percent voting interest in the joint venture legal entity, Catalyst Midstream Partners LLC (“Catalyst”) and a Howard entity serves as operator. We account for our investment in Catalyst as an equity method investment. In connection with the joint venture formation, a consolidated subsidiary of WPX dedicated production from its current and future leasehold interest in the Stateline area, representing 50,000 net acres in the Delaware Basin, pursuant to 20 year fixed-fee oil gathering and natural gas processing agreements with subsidiaries of Catalyst. The agreements do not include any minimum volume commitments. Our investment in Catalyst totaled $48 million and $58 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, the difference in our investment and our underlying equity in the net assets of Catalyst was approximately $244 million. In 2017, we deferred recognition of the $349 million we received at closing and will recognize it over the 20 years based on production volumes as a deduction to gathering, processing and transportation expense. As of December 31, 2019, the deferred amount was $339 million of which $329 million is reported within other noncurrent liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Other

During 2018, we contributed an additional $93 million to our equity method investment in the Oryx II pipeline project, of which $23 million increased our ownership from 12.5 percent to 25 percent. During the second quarter of 2019, we received a distribution of approximately $357 million related to our 25 percent equity interest in the Oryx pipeline partnership after the

underlying assets were sold. This transaction is subject to post-closing adjustments. The net book value of this equity method investment was approximately $110 million as of the closing date. As a result of this transaction, we recorded a gain of $247 million.During the first quarter of 2019, we closed on the sale of our 20 percent equity interest in the Whitewater natural gas pipeline. The net book value of this equity method investment at the time of disposition was approximately $15 million. As a result of this transaction, we recorded a $126 million gain in first-quarter 2019 and an additional $7 million gain related to contingent consideration in fourth-quarter 2019.