Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Description of Business: References herein to HollyFrontier Corporation (“HollyFrontier”) include HollyFrontier and its consolidated subsidiaries. In accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) “Plain English” guidelines, this Annual Report on Form 10-K has been written in the first person. In these financial statements, the words “we,” “our,” “ours” and “us” refer only to HollyFrontier and its consolidated subsidiaries or to HollyFrontier or an individual subsidiary and not to any other person, with certain exceptions. Generally, the words “we,” “our,” “ours” and “us” include Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (“HEP”) and its subsidiaries as consolidated subsidiaries of HollyFrontier, unless when used in disclosures of transactions or obligations between HEP and HollyFrontier or its other subsidiaries. These financial statements contain certain disclosures of agreements that are specific to HEP and its consolidated subsidiaries and do not necessarily represent obligations of HollyFrontier. When used in descriptions of agreements and transactions, “HEP” refers to HEP and its consolidated subsidiaries.

We are principally an independent petroleum refiner that produces high-value light products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, specialty lubricant products, and specialty and modified asphalt. We own and operate petroleum refineries that serve markets throughout the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. In addition, we own and operate a lubricant production facility with retail and wholesale marketing of its products through a global sales network with locations in Canada, United States, Europe and China. As of December 31, 2017, we:

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owned and operated a petroleum refinery in El Dorado, Kansas (the “El Dorado Refinery”), two refinery facilities located in Tulsa, Oklahoma (collectively, the “Tulsa Refineries”), a refinery in Artesia, New Mexico that is operated in conjunction with crude oil distillation and vacuum distillation and other facilities situated 65 miles away in Lovington, New Mexico (collectively, the “Navajo Refinery”), a refinery located in Cheyenne, Wyoming (the “Cheyenne Refinery”) and a refinery in Woods Cross, Utah (the “Woods Cross Refinery”);


•	owned and operated Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc. (“PCLI”) located in Mississauga, Ontario which produces base oils and other specialized lubricant products;


•	owned and operated HollyFrontier Asphalt Company (“HFC Asphalt”) which operates various asphalt terminals in Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma; and


•	owned a 59% limited partner interest and a non-economic general partner interest in HEP, a variable interest entity (“VIE”).

On October 29, 2016, our wholly-owned subsidiary, 9952110 Canada Inc., entered into a share purchase agreement with Suncor Energy Inc. (“Suncor”) to acquire 100% of the outstanding capital stock of PCLI. The acquisition closed on February 1, 2017. See Note 2 for additional information.

Principles of Consolidation: Our consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of partnerships and joint ventures that we control through an ownership interest greater than 50% or through a controlling financial interest with respect to variable interest entities. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

Variable Interest Entities: HEP is a VIE as defined under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). A VIE is a legal entity whose equity owners do not have sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support or, as a group, the equity holders lack the power, through voting rights, to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity's financial performance, the obligation to absorb the entity's expected losses or rights to expected residual returns. As the general partner of HEP, we have the sole ability to direct the activities of HEP that most significantly impact HEP's financial performance, and therefore as HEP's primary beneficiary, we consolidate HEP.

Use of Estimates: The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash Equivalents: We consider all highly liquid instruments with a maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are stated at cost, which approximates market value and are primarily invested in highly-rated instruments issued by government or municipal entities with strong credit standings.

Marketable Securities: We consider all marketable debt securities with maturities greater than three months at the date of purchase to be marketable securities. Our marketable securities consist of commercial paper, corporate debt securities and government and municipal debt securities with the maximum maturity or put date of any individual issue generally not more than two years, while the maximum duration of the portfolio of investments is not greater than one year. These instruments are classified as available-for-sale, and as a result, are reported at fair value. Unrealized gains and losses, net of related income taxes, are reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income.

Balance Sheet Offsetting: We purchase and sell inventories of crude oil with certain same-parties that are net settled in accordance with contractual net settlement provisions. Our policy is to present such balances on a net basis because it more appropriately presents our economic resources (accounts receivable) and claims against us (accounts payable) and the future cash flows associated with such assets and liabilities.

Accounts Receivable: Our accounts receivable consist of amounts due from customers that are primarily companies in the petroleum industry. Credit is extended based on our evaluation of the customer's financial condition, and in certain circumstances collateral, such as letters of credit or guarantees, is required. We reserve for doubtful accounts based on our historical loss experience as well as specific accounts identified as high risk, which historically have been minimal. Credit losses are charged to the allowance for doubtful accounts when an account is deemed uncollectible. Our allowance for doubtful accounts was $3.6 million and $2.3 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Accounts receivable attributable to crude oil resales generally represent the sell side of excess crude oil sales to other purchasers and / or users in cases when our crude oil supplies are in excess of our immediate needs as well as certain reciprocal buy / sell exchanges of crude oil. At times we enter into such buy / sell exchanges to facilitate the delivery of quantities to certain locations. In many cases, we enter into net settlement agreements relating to the buy / sell arrangements, which may mitigate credit risk.

Inventories: Inventories related to our refining operations are stated at the lower of cost, using the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method for crude oil and unfinished and finished refined products, or market. Cost, consisting of raw material, transportation and conversion costs, is determined using the LIFO inventory valuation methodology and market is determined using current replacement costs. Under the LIFO method, the most recently incurred costs are charged to cost of sales and inventories are valued at the earliest acquisition costs. In periods of rapidly declining prices, LIFO inventories may have to be written down to market value due to the higher costs assigned to LIFO layers in prior periods. In addition, the use of the LIFO inventory method may result in increases or decreases to cost of sales in years that inventory volumes decline as the result of charging cost of sales with LIFO inventory costs generated in prior periods. An actual valuation of inventory under the LIFO method is made at the end of each year based on the inventory levels at that time. Accordingly, interim LIFO calculations are based on management's estimates of expected year-end inventory levels and are subject to the final year-end LIFO inventory valuation.

Inventories of our Petro-Canada Lubricants business are stated at the lower of cost, using the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method, or net realizable value.

Inventories consisting of process chemicals, materials and maintenance supplies and RINs are stated at the lower of weighted-average cost or net realizable value.

Derivative Instruments: All derivative instruments are recognized as either assets or liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets and are measured at fair value. Changes in the derivative instrument's fair value are recognized in earnings unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. See Note 13 for additional information.

Properties, plants and equipment: Properties, plants and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation is provided by the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, primarily 15 to 32 years for refining, pipeline and terminal facilities, 10 to 40 years for buildings and improvements, 5 to 30 years for other fixed assets and 5 years for vehicles.

Asset Retirement Obligations: We record legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and / or the normal operation of long-lived assets. The fair value of the estimated cost to retire a tangible long-lived asset is recorded as a liability with the associated retirement costs capitalized as part of the asset's carrying amount in the period in which it is incurred and when a reasonable estimate of the fair value of the liability can be made. If a reasonable estimate cannot be made at the time the liability is incurred, we record the liability when sufficient information is available to estimate the liability's fair value. Certain of our refining assets have no recorded liability for asset retirement obligations since the timing of any retirement and related costs are currently indeterminable.

Our asset retirement obligations were $24.8 million and $22.1 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, which are included in “Other long-term liabilities” in our consolidated balance sheets. Accretion expense was insignificant for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Intangibles, Goodwill and long-lived assets: Intangible assets are assets (other than financial assets) that lack physical substance, and goodwill represents the excess of the cost of an acquired entity over the fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Goodwill acquired in a business combination and intangibles with indefinite useful lives are not amortized, whereas intangible assets with finite useful lives are amortized on a straight-line basis. Goodwill and intangible assets not subject to amortization are tested for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate the asset might be impaired. Our goodwill impairment testing first entails a comparison of our reporting unit fair values relative to their respective carrying values. If carrying value exceeds fair value for a reporting unit, we measure goodwill impairment as the excess of the carrying amount of reporting unit goodwill over the implied fair value of that goodwill based on estimates of the fair value of all assets and liabilities in the reporting unit.

Our long-lived assets principally consist of our refining assets that are organized as refining asset groups and our lubricants and specialty products business. The refinery asset groups also constitute our individual refinery reporting units that are used for testing and measuring goodwill impairments. Our long-lived assets are evaluated for impairment by identifying whether indicators of impairment exist and if so, assessing whether the long-lived assets are recoverable from estimated future undiscounted cash flows. The actual amount of impairment loss measured, if any, is equal to the amount by which the asset group’s carrying value exceeds its fair value.

See Note 10 for information regarding goodwill and long-lived asset impairment charges recorded during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.

Upon our acquisition of PCLI, we recognized intangibles, including trademarks, patents, technical know-how and customer relationships, totaling $102.1 million that are being amortized on a straight-line basis over periods ranging from 10 to 20 years. At December 31, 2017, the balance of these intangibles was $100.0 million, and is presented net of accumulated amortization of $5.9 million in “Intangibles and other” in our consolidated balance sheets.

Our consolidated HEP assets include intangible assets consisting of third-party transportation agreements and customer relationships. These intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over periods ranging from 10 to 30 years. Amortization expense was $2.6 million and $2.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and expected to approximate $8.0 million annually over the next five years. The balances of these intangible assets were $95.2 million and $36.5 million at December 31, 2017, and 2016, respectively, and are presented net of accumulated amortization of $26.3 million and $23.7 million, respectively, in “Intangibles and other” in our consolidated balance sheets.

Investments in Joint Ventures: We consolidate the financial and operating results of joint ventures in which we have an ownership interest of greater than 50% or a controlling interest with respect to VIE’s, and use the equity method of accounting for investments in which we have a noncontrolling interest, yet have significant influence over the entity. Under the equity method of accounting, we record our pro-rata share of earnings, and contributions to and distributions from joint ventures as adjustments to our investment balance.

HEP has a 50% interest in Osage Pipe Line Company, LLC, the owner of a pipeline running from Cushing, Oklahoma to El Dorado, Kansas (the “Osage Pipeline”) and a 50% interest in Cheyenne Pipeline, LLC, the owner of a pipeline running from Fort Laramie, Wyoming to Cheyenne, Wyoming (the “Cheyenne Pipeline”), that are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. As of December 31, 2017, HEP's underlying equity and recorded investment balances in the joint ventures are $39.3 million and $85.3 million, respectively. The differences are being amortized as adjustments to HEP's pro-rata share of earnings in the joint ventures.

Revenue Recognition: Refined product sales and related cost of sales are recognized when products are shipped and title has passed to customers. HEP recognizes pipeline transportation revenues as products are shipped through its pipelines. All revenues are reported inclusive of shipping and handling costs billed and exclusive of any taxes billed to customers. Shipping and handling costs incurred are reported in cost of products sold.

Our Petro-Canada Lubricants business has sales agreements with marketers and distributors that provide certain rights of return or provisions for the repurchase of products previously sold to them. Under these agreements with Canadian marketers, revenues and cost of revenues are deferred until the products have been sold to end customers, and for sales to U.S. distributors, revenues are recognized when products are shipped to the distributors, net of allowances for returns that are expected to be repurchased from the distributors. In both cases, repurchased products are subsequently sold directly to end customers.

Cost Classifications: Costs of products sold include the cost of crude oil, other feedstocks, blendstocks and purchased finished products, inclusive of transportation costs. We purchase crude oil that at times exceeds the supply needs of our refineries. Quantities in excess of our needs are sold at market prices to purchasers of crude oil that are recorded on a gross basis with the sales price recorded as revenues and the corresponding acquisition cost as cost of products sold. Additionally, we enter into buy / sell exchanges of crude oil with certain parties to facilitate the delivery of quantities to certain locations that are netted at cost. Operating expenses include direct costs of labor, maintenance materials and services, utilities, marketing expense and other direct operating costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses include compensation, professional services and other support costs.

Deferred Maintenance Costs: Our refinery units require regular major maintenance and repairs which are commonly referred to as “turnarounds.” Catalysts used in certain refinery processes also require regular “change-outs.” The required frequency of the maintenance varies by unit and by catalyst, but generally is every two to five years. Turnaround costs are deferred and amortized over the period until the next scheduled turnaround. Other repairs and maintenance costs are expensed when incurred. Deferred turnaround and catalyst amortization expense was $112.9 million, $110.6 million and $107.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Environmental Costs: Environmental costs are charged to operating expenses if they relate to an existing condition caused by past operations and do not contribute to current or future revenue generation. We have ongoing investigations of environmental matters at various locations and routinely assess our recorded environmental obligations, if any, with respect to such matters. Liabilities are recorded when site restoration and environmental remediation, cleanup and other obligations are either known or considered probable and can be reasonably estimated. Such estimates are undiscounted and require judgment with respect to costs, time frame and extent of required remedial and clean-up activities and are subject to periodic adjustments based on currently available information. Recoveries of environmental costs through insurance, indemnification arrangements or other sources are included in other assets to the extent such recoveries are considered probable.

Contingencies: We are subject to proceedings, lawsuits and other claims related to environmental, labor, product and other matters. We are required to assess the likelihood of any adverse judgments or outcomes to these matters as well as potential ranges of probable losses. A determination of the amount of reserves required, if any, for these contingencies is made after careful analysis of each individual issue. The required reserves may change in the future due to new developments in each matter or changes in approach such as a change in settlement strategy in dealing with these matters.

Foreign Currency Translation: The functional currency of PCLI and its affiliated non-U.S. Petro-Canada Lubricants entities includes the Canadian dollar, the euro and Chinese renminbi. Balance sheet accounts are translated into U.S. dollars using exchange rates in effect as of the balance sheet date. Revenue and expense accounts are translated using the weighted-average exchange rates during the period presented. Foreign currency translation adjustments are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income.

In connection with our PCLI acquisition on February 1, 2017, we issued intercompany notes to initially fund certain of our foreign businesses. Remeasurement adjustments resulting from the conversion of such intercompany financing amounts to functional currencies are recorded as gains and losses as a component of other income (expense) in the income statement. Such adjustments are not recorded to the Lubricants and Specialty Products segment operations, but to corporate and other. See Note 20 for additional information on our segments.

Income Taxes: Provisions for income taxes include deferred taxes resulting from temporary differences in income for financial and tax purposes, using the liability method of accounting for income taxes. The liability method requires the effect of tax rate changes on deferred income taxes to be reflected in the period in which the rate change was enacted. The liability method also requires that deferred tax assets be reduced by a valuation allowance unless it is more likely than not that the assets will be realized.

Potential interest and penalties related to income tax matters are recognized in income tax expense. We believe we have appropriate support for the income tax positions taken and to be taken on our income tax returns and that our accruals for tax liabilities are adequate for all open years based on an assessment of many factors, including past experience and interpretations of tax law applied to the facts of each matter.

Inventory Repurchase Obligations: We periodically enter into same-party sell / buy transactions, whereby we sell certain refined product inventory and subsequently repurchase the inventory in order to facilitate delivery to certain locations. Such sell / buy transactions are accounted for as inventory repurchase obligations under which proceeds received under the initial sell is recognized as an inventory repurchase obligation that is subsequently reversed when the inventory is repurchased. For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we received proceeds of $47.4 million, $57.0 million and $115.4 million and subsequently repaid $49.8 million, $58.0 million and $115.3 million, respectively, under these sell / buy transactions.

New Accounting Pronouncements

Hedge Accounting

In August 2017, Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2017-12, “Derivatives and Hedging: Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities,” was issued amending hedge accounting recognition and presentation requirements, including elimination of the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness, and eases certain documentation and assessment requirements. This standard has an effective date of January 1, 2019. We do not expect adoption of this standard to have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Post-retirement Benefit Cost

In March 2017, ASU 2017-07, “Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Post-retirement Benefit Cost,” was issued amending current GAAP related to the income statement presentation of the components of net periodic post-retirement cost (credit). This standard has an effective date of January 1, 2018. We do not expect adoption of this standard to have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Share-Based Compensation

In March 2016, ASU 2016-09, “Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting,” was issued which simplifies the accounting for employee share-based payment transactions, including the accounting for income taxes, forfeitures and statutory tax withholding requirements, as well as classification in the statement of cash flows. We adopted this standard effective January 1, 2017 on a prospective basis with the excess tax expense from stock-based compensation recognized as a discrete item in our provision for income taxes. Excess tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2017 totaled $0.7 million. The new standard also requires that employee taxes paid when an employer withholds shares for tax-withholding purposes be reported as financing activities in the statement of cash flows on a retrospective basis. Previously, this activity was included in operating activities. The impact of this change for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 was $15.9 million, $4.7 million and $6.2 million, respectively. Finally, consistent with our existing policy, we have elected to account for forfeitures on an estimated basis.

Leases

In February 2016, ASU 2016-02, “Leases,” was issued requiring leases to be measured and recognized as a lease liability, with a corresponding right-of-use asset on the balance sheet. This standard has an effective date of January 1, 2019, and we are evaluating the impact of this standard. In preparing for adoption, we have identified, reviewed and evaluated contracts containing lease and embedded lease arrangements. Additionally, we have acquired software and are implementing systems to facilitate lease capture and related accounting treatment.

Inventories Measurement

In July 2015, ASU 2015-11, “Inventory - Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory,” was issued requiring measurement of inventories, other than inventories accounted for using the LIFO method, to be measured at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Net realizable value is defined as the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business less reasonable, predictable cost of completion, disposal and transportation. We adopted this standard effective January 1, 2017 for our affected inventories, which is primarily the inventory of our Petro-Canada Lubricants business that is valued on a FIFO basis. Adoption had no material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Revenue Recognition

In May 2014, ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” was issued requiring revenue to be recognized when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the expected consideration for these goods or services. This standard has an effective date of January 1, 2018, and we anticipate using the modified retrospective implementation method, whereby a cumulative effect adjustment is recorded to retained earnings as of the date of initial application. In preparing for adoption, we have evaluated the terms, conditions and performance obligations under our existing contracts with customers. Furthermore, we have implemented policies to comply with this new standard, which we do not anticipate will have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.