ORGANIZATION	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
ORGANIZATION	1. ORGANIZATION Buckeye Partners, L.P. is a publicly traded Delaware master limited partnership (“MLP”), and its limited partnership units representing limited partner interests (“LP Units”) are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “BPL.” Buckeye GP LLC (“Buckeye GP”) is our general partner. Buckeye GP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Buckeye GP Holdings L.P. (“BGH”), a Delaware limited partnership that was previously publicly traded on the NYSE prior to BGH’s merger with a wholly owned subsidiary of Buckeye (see below for further information). As used in these Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, “we,” “us,” “our” and “Buckeye” mean Buckeye Partners, L.P. and, where the context requires, includes our subsidiaries. We were formed in 1986 and own and operate one of the largest independent refined petroleum products pipeline systems in the United States in terms of volumes delivered with approximately 6,100 miles of pipeline and over 100 active products terminals that provide aggregate storage capacity of approximately 64 million barrels. In addition, we operate and maintain approximately 2,800 miles of third-party pipelines under agreements with major oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical companies, and perform certain engineering and construction management services for third parties. We also own and operate a natural gas storage facility in northern California, and are a wholesale distributor of refined petroleum products in the United States in areas also served by our pipelines and terminals. Our flagship marine terminal in The Bahamas, Bahamas Oil Refining Company International Limited (“BORCO”) is one of the largest marine crude oil and petroleum products storage facilities in the world, serving the international markets as a premier global logistics hub. On November 19, 2010, we consummated a transaction pursuant to a plan and agreement of merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with our general partner, BGH, BGH’s general partner and our subsidiary, Grand Ohio, LLC (“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub was merged into BGH, with BGH as the surviving entity (the “Merger”). In the transaction, the incentive compensation agreement (also referred to as the incentive distribution rights) held by our general partner was cancelled, the general partner units held by our general partner (representing an approximate 0.5% general partner interest in us) were converted to a non-economic general partner interest, all of the economic interest in BGH was acquired by us and BGH unitholders received aggregate consideration of approximately 20.0 million of our LP Units.

1. ORGANIZATION

Buckeye Partners, L.P. is a publicly traded Delaware master limited partnership (“MLP”), and its limited partnership units representing limited partner interests (“LP Units”) are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “BPL.” Buckeye GP LLC (“Buckeye GP”) is our general partner. Buckeye GP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Buckeye GP Holdings L.P. (“BGH”), a Delaware limited partnership that was previously publicly traded on the NYSE prior to BGH’s merger with a wholly owned subsidiary of Buckeye (see below for further information). As used in these Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, “we,” “us,” “our” and “Buckeye” mean Buckeye Partners, L.P. and, where the context requires, includes our subsidiaries.

We were formed in 1986 and own and operate one of the largest independent refined petroleum products pipeline systems in the United States in terms of volumes delivered with approximately 6,100 miles of pipeline and over 100 active products terminals that provide aggregate storage capacity of approximately 64 million barrels. In addition, we operate and maintain approximately 2,800 miles of third-party pipelines under agreements with major oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical companies, and perform certain engineering and construction management services for third parties. We also own and operate a natural gas storage facility in northern California, and are a wholesale distributor of refined petroleum products in the United States in areas also served by our pipelines and terminals. Our flagship marine terminal in The Bahamas, Bahamas Oil Refining Company International Limited (“BORCO”) is one of the largest marine crude oil and petroleum products storage facilities in the world, serving the international markets as a premier global logistics hub.

On November 19, 2010, we consummated a transaction pursuant to a plan and agreement of merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with our general partner, BGH, BGH’s general partner and our subsidiary, Grand Ohio, LLC (“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub was merged into BGH, with BGH as the surviving entity (the “Merger”). In the transaction, the incentive compensation agreement (also referred to as the incentive distribution rights) held by our general partner was cancelled, the general partner units held by our general partner (representing an approximate 0.5% general partner interest in us) were converted to a non-economic general partner interest, all of the economic interest in BGH was acquired by us and BGH unitholders received aggregate consideration of approximately 20.0 million of our LP Units.