Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (“we,” “us,” “our” or “the Partnership”) is a Delaware limited partnership formed by Royal Dutch Shell plc on March 19, 2014 to own and operate pipeline and other midstream assets, including certain assets acquired from Shell Pipeline Company LP (“SPLC”) and its affiliates. We conduct our operations either through our wholly owned subsidiary Shell Midstream Operating LLC (“Operating Company”) or through direct ownership. Our general partner is Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC (“general partner” or “sponsor”). References to “RDS”, “Shell” or “Parent” refer collectively to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its controlled affiliates, other than us, our subsidiaries and our general partner.

Description of Business

We are a growth-oriented master limited partnership that owns, operates, develops and acquires pipelines and other midstream assets. As of September 30, 2019, our assets include interests in entities that own crude oil and refined products pipelines and terminals that serve as key infrastructure to (i) transport onshore and offshore crude oil production to Gulf Coast and Midwest refining markets and (ii) deliver refined products from those markets to major demand centers. Our assets also include interests in entities that own natural gas and refinery gas pipelines that transport offshore natural gas to market hubs and deliver refinery gas from refineries and plants to chemical sites along the Gulf Coast.

We generate revenue from the transportation, terminaling and storage of crude oil and refined products through our pipelines and storage tanks, and generate income from our equity and other investments. Our operations consist of one reportable segment.

The following table reflects our ownership interests as of September 30, 2019:


	SHLX Ownership

Pecten Midstream LLC (“Pecten”)	100.0	%
Sand Dollar Pipeline LLC (“Sand Dollar”)	100.0	%
Triton West LLC (“Triton”)	100.0	%
Zydeco Pipeline Company LLC (“Zydeco”) ⁽¹⁾	92.5	%
Amberjack Pipeline Company LLC (“Amberjack”) – Series A/Series B	75.0% / 50.0%
Mars Oil Pipeline Company LLC (“Mars”)	71.5	%
Odyssey Pipeline L.L.C. (“Odyssey”)	71.0	%
Bengal Pipeline Company LLC (“Bengal”)	50.0	%
Crestwood Permian Basin LLC (“Permian Basin”)	50.0	%
LOCAP LLC (“LOCAP”)	41.48	%
Explorer Pipeline Company (“Explorer”)	38.59	%
Poseidon Oil Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (“Poseidon”)	36.0	%
Colonial Pipeline Company (“Colonial”)	16.125	%
Proteus Oil Pipeline Company, LLC (“Proteus”)	10.0	%
Endymion Oil Pipeline Company, LLC (“Endymion”)	10.0	%
Cleopatra Gas Gathering Company, LLC (“Cleopatra”)	1.0	%

⁽¹⁾SPLC owns the remaining 7.5% ownership interest in Zydeco.

Basis of Presentation

Our unaudited consolidated financial statements include all subsidiaries required to be consolidated under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). Our reporting currency is U.S. dollars, and all references to dollars are

U.S. dollars. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes have been prepared in accordance with GAAP for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete annual financial statements. The year-end consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements. During interim periods, we follow the accounting policies disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 (our “2018 Annual Report”), filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) unless otherwise described herein. The unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and September 30, 2018 include all adjustments we believe are necessary for a fair statement of the results of operations for the interim periods presented. These adjustments are of a normal recurring nature unless otherwise disclosed. Operating results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year. These unaudited consolidated financial statements and other information included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our 2018 Annual Report.

Our consolidated subsidiaries include Pecten, Sand Dollar, Triton, Zydeco, Odyssey and the Operating Company. Asset acquisitions of additional interests in previously consolidated subsidiaries and interests in equity and other investments are included in the financial statements prospectively from the effective date of each acquisition. In cases where these types of acquisitions are considered acquisitions of businesses under common control, the financial statements are retrospectively adjusted.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The accounting policies are set forth in Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements of our 2018 Annual Report. There have been no significant changes to these policies during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, other than those noted below.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Standards Adopted as of January 1, 2019

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02 to Topic 842, Leases. As permitted, we adopted the new standard using the modified retrospective approach, effective January 1, 2019, which provides a method for recording existing leases at the beginning of the period of adoption. As such, results and balances prior to January 1, 2019 are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historical accounting under previous GAAP.

See Note 8 — Leases for additional information and disclosures required by the new standard.

Standards Not Yet Adopted

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13 to Topic 326, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which replaces the current incurred loss impairment method with a method that reflects expected credit losses on financial instruments. For trade receivables, loans and held-to-maturity debt securities, entities will be required to estimate lifetime expected credit losses. The update is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. While our evaluation is ongoing, we currently do not expect the adoption of ASU 2016-13 to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.