Description of the Business and Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Description of the Business and Basis of Presentation

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (“we,” “us,” “our,” “SHLX” 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 received 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”). 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.

Until April 1, 2020, our general partner owned an approximate 2% general partner economic interest in the Partnership, including the incentive distribution rights (“IDRs”). On April 1, 2020, we closed the transactions contemplated by the Partnership Interests Restructuring Agreement with our general partner dated February 27, 2020 (the “Partnership Interests Restructuring Agreement”), pursuant to which the IDRs were eliminated and the 2% general partner economic interest was converted into a non-economic general partner interest in the Partnership. As of March 31, 2021, our general partner holds a non-economic general partner interest in the Partnership, and affiliates of SPLC own a 68.5% limited partner interest (269,457,304 common units) and 50,782,904 Series A perpetual convertible preferred units (the “Series A Preferred Units”) in the Partnership. These common units and preferred units, on an as-converted basis, represent a 72% interest in the Partnership. See Note 7 — (Deficit) Equity for additional details.

Description of the Business

We own, operate, develop and acquire pipelines and other midstream and logistics assets. As of March 31, 2021, our assets include interests in entities that own (a) crude oil and refined products pipelines and terminals that serve as key infrastructure to transport onshore and offshore crude oil production to Gulf Coast and Midwest refining markets and deliver refined products from those markets to major demand centers and (b) storage tanks and financing receivables that are secured by pipelines, storage tanks, docks, truck and rail racks and other infrastructure used to stage and transport intermediate and finished products. The Partnership’s 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, refined products, and intermediate and finished products through our pipelines, storage tanks, docks, truck and rail racks, generate income from our equity and other investments, and generate interest income from financing receivables on certain logistic assets. Our operations consist of one reportable segment.

The following table reflects our ownership interests as of March 31, 2021:


	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	%
Mattox Pipeline Company LLC (“Mattox”)	79.0	%
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 Enterprises, Inc. (“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, 2020 (our “2020 Annual Report”), filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) unless otherwise described herein. The unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 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 2020 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 method 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 2020 Annual Report. There have been no significant changes to these policies during the three months ended March 31, 2021, other than those noted below.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Standards Adopted as of January 1, 2021

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt — Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity. The update will simplify the accounting for convertible instruments by reducing the number of accounting models for convertible debt instruments and convertible preferred stock. Limiting the accounting models may result in fewer embedded conversion features being separately recognized from the host contract as compared with current GAAP. This update also amends the guidance for the derivatives scope exception for contracts in an entity’s own equity to reduce form-over-substance-based accounting conclusions. The update is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2021 for SEC filers, excluding smaller reporting companies. We elected to early adopt effective January 1, 2021. The adoption of ASU 2020-06 did not have a material impact on our unaudited consolidated financial statements.