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Risk Management
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Dec. 31, 2015
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]    
Risk Management

Note 5 – Risk Management

We are exposed to certain market risks related to our ongoing business operations. These risks include exposure to changing commodity prices. We utilize derivative instruments to manage our exposure to fluctuations in commodity prices, which is discussed below. Additional information related to our derivatives is discussed in Note 6.

 

Commodity Derivative Instruments and Price Risk Management

Risk Management Activities

We sell NGLs to energy related businesses and may use a variety of financial and other instruments including forward contracts involving physical delivery of NGLs, heating oil and crude oil. We periodically enter into offsetting positions to economically hedge against the exposure our customer contracts create. Certain of these contracts and positions are derivative instruments. We do not designate any of our commodity-based derivatives as hedging instruments for accounting purposes. Our commodity-based derivatives are reflected at fair value in the consolidated balance sheets, and changes in the fair value of these derivatives that impact the consolidated statements of operations are reflected in costs of product/services sold. During the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the impact to the statement of operations related to our commodity-based derivatives reflected in costs of product/services sold was a gain of $1.2 million and a loss of $2.9 million. We attempt to balance our contractual portfolio in terms of notional amounts and timing of performance and delivery obligations. This balance in the contractual portfolio significantly reduces the volatility in costs of product/services sold related to these instruments.

Commodity Price and Credit Risk

Notional Amounts and Terms

The notional amounts and terms of our derivative financial instruments include the following at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 (in millions):

 

     March 31, 2016      December 31, 2015  
     Fixed Price
Payor
     Fixed Price
Receiver
     Fixed Price
Payor
     Fixed Price
Receiver
 

Propane, crude and heating oil (barrels)

     10.6         11.9         9.1         10.9   

Notional amounts reflect the volume of transactions, but do not represent the amounts exchanged by the parties to the financial instruments. Accordingly, notional amounts do not reflect our monetary exposure to market or credit risks.

All contracts subject to price risk had a maturity of 36 months or less; however, 81% of the contracted volumes will be delivered or settled within 12 months.

Credit Risk

Inherent in our contractual portfolio are certain credit risks. Credit risk is the risk of loss from nonperformance by suppliers, customers or financial counterparties to a contract. We take an active role in managing credit risk and have established control procedures, which are reviewed on an ongoing basis. We attempt to minimize credit risk exposure through credit policies and periodic monitoring procedures as well as through customer deposits, letters of credit and entering into netting agreements that allow for offsetting counterparty receivable and payable balances for certain financial transactions, as deemed appropriate. The counterparties associated with our assets from price risk management activities as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 were energy marketers and propane retailers, resellers and dealers.

Certain of our derivative instruments have credit limits that require us to post collateral. The amount of collateral required to be posted is a function of the net liability position of the derivative as well as our established credit limit with the respective counterparty. If our credit rating were to change, the counterparties could require us to post additional collateral. The amount of additional collateral that would be required to be posted would vary depending on the extent of change in our credit rating as well as the requirements of the individual counterparty. The aggregate fair value of all commodity derivative instruments with credit-risk-related contingent features that were in a liability position at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 was $3.8 million and $3.3 million. At March 31, 2016, we posted $0.3 million of collateral in the normal course of business. We did not post collateral at December 31, 2015 for our commodity derivative instruments with credit-risk-related contingent features. In addition, at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, we had a New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) related net derivative liability position of $3.1 million and $20.8 million, for which we posted $9.5 million and $26.7 million of cash collateral in the normal course of business. At March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, we also received collateral of $7.1 million and $16.8 million in the normal course of business. All collateral amounts have been netted against the asset or liability with the respective counterparty and are reflected in our consolidated balance sheets as assets and liabilities from price risk management activities.

Note 7—Risk Management

We are exposed to certain market risks related to our ongoing business operations. These risks include exposure to changing commodity prices. We utilize derivative instruments to manage our exposure to fluctuations in commodity prices, which is discussed below. We also periodically utilize derivative instruments to manage our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates, which is discussed in Note 9. Additional information related to our derivatives is discussed in Note 2 and Note 8.

Commodity Derivative Instruments and Price Risk Management

Risk Management Activities

We sell NGLs to energy related businesses and may use a variety of financial and other instruments including forward contracts involving physical delivery of NGLs, heating oil and crude oil. We will periodically enter into offsetting positions to economically hedge against the exposure our customer contracts create. Certain of these contracts and positions are derivative instruments. We do not designate any of our commodity-based derivatives as hedging instruments for accounting purposes. Our commodity-based derivatives are reflected at fair value in the consolidated balance sheets, and changes in the fair value of these derivatives that impact the consolidated statements of operations are reflected in costs of product/services sold. During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, the impact to the statement of operations related to our commodity-based derivatives reflected in costs of product/services sold was a gain of $18.9 million, a gain of $51.2 million and a loss of $11.2 million. We attempt to balance our contractual portfolio in terms of notional amounts and timing of performance and delivery obligations. This balance in the contractual portfolio significantly reduces the volatility in costs of product/services sold related to these instruments.

Commodity Price and Credit Risk

Notional Amounts and Terms

The notional amounts and terms of our derivative financial instruments include the following at December 31, 2015 and 2014(in millions):

 

     December 31, 2015      December 31, 2014  
     Fixed Price
Payor
     Fixed Price
Receiver
     Fixed Price
Payor
     Fixed Price
Receiver
 

Propane, crude and heating oil (barrels)

     9.1         10.9         6.8         8.4   

Natural gas (MMBTU’s)

     —           —           0.2         0.1   

Notional amounts reflect the volume of transactions, but do not represent the amounts exchanged by the parties to the financial instruments. Accordingly, notional amounts do not reflect our monetary exposure to market or credit risks.

All contracts subject to price risk had a maturity of 36 months or less; however, 84% of the contracts expire within 12 months.

Credit Risk

Inherent in our contractual portfolio are certain credit risks. Credit risk is the risk of loss from nonperformance by suppliers, customers or financial counterparties to a contract. We take an active role in managing credit risk and have established control procedures, which are reviewed on an ongoing basis. We attempt to minimize credit risk exposure through credit policies and periodic monitoring procedures as well as through customer deposits, letters of credit and entering into netting agreements that allow for offsetting counterparty receivable and payable balances for certain financial transactions, as deemed appropriate. The counterparties associated with our assets from price risk management activities as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 were energy marketers and propane retailers, resellers and dealers.

Certain of our derivative instruments have credit limits that require us to post collateral. The amount of collateral required to be posted is a function of the net liability position of the derivative as well as our established credit limit with the respective counterparty. If our credit rating were to change, the counterparties could require us to post additional collateral. The amount of additional collateral that would be required to be posted would vary depending on the extent of change in our credit rating as well as the requirements of the individual counterparty. The aggregate fair value of all commodity derivative instruments with credit-risk-related contingent features that were in a liability position at December 31, 2015 and 2014, was $3.3 million and $5.2 million. At December 31, 2014 we posted $1.8 million of collateral in the normal course of business. We did not post collateral at December 31, 2015 for our commodity derivative instruments with credit-risk-related contingent features. In addition, at December 31, 2015 and 2014, we had a New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) related net derivative liability position of $20.8 million and $36.9 million, for which we posted $26.7 million and $41.9 million of cash collateral in the normal course of business. At December 31, 2015 and 2014, we also received collateral of $16.8 million and $33.6 million in the normal course of business. All collateral amounts have been netted against the asset or liability with the respective counterparty and is reflected in our consolidated balance sheets as assets and liability from price risk management activities.