Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

Our principal market risks are our exposure to changes in commodity prices, particularly to the prices of natural gas, NGLs and crude oil, changes in interest rates, as well as nonperformance by our customers.

Risk Management

We evaluate counterparty risks related to our commodity derivative contracts and trade credit. We have all our commodity derivatives with major financial institutions or major oil companies. Should any of these financial counterparties not perform, we may not realize the benefit of some of our hedges under lower commodity prices, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operation. We sell our natural gas, NGLs and condensate to a variety of purchasers. Non-performance by a trade creditor could result in losses.

Crude oil, NGL and natural gas prices are also volatile. In an effort to reduce the variability of our cash flows, we have entered into derivative instruments to hedge the commodity price associated with a portion of our expected natural gas equity volumes, NGL equity volumes and condensate equity volumes and future commodity purchases and sales through 2019. The current market conditions may also impact our ability to enter into future commodity derivative contracts.

Commodity Price Risk

A significant portion of our revenues are derived from percent-of-proceeds contracts under which we receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of natural gas and/or NGLs as payment for services. The prices of natural gas and NGLs are subject to fluctuations in response to changes in supply, demand, market uncertainty and a variety of additional factors beyond our control. We monitor these risks and enter into hedging transactions designed to mitigate the impact of commodity price fluctuations on our business. Cash flows from a derivative instrument designated as a hedge are classified in the same category as the cash flows from the item being hedged.

The primary purpose of our commodity risk management activities is to hedge some of the exposure to commodity price risk and reduce fluctuations in our operating cash flow due to fluctuations in commodity prices. In an effort to reduce the variability of our cash flows, as of December 31, 2016, we have hedged the commodity price associated with a portion of our expected (i) natural gas equity volumes in our Gathering and Processing operations, (ii) NGL and condensate equity volumes in our Gathering and Processing operations that result from our percent-of-proceeds processing arrangements and (iii) future commodity purchases and sales in our Logistics and Marketing segment by entering into derivative instruments. We hedge a higher percentage of our expected equity volumes in the current year compared to future years, for which we hedge incrementally lower percentages of expected equity volumes. With swaps, we typically receive an agreed fixed price for a specified notional quantity of natural gas or NGLs and we pay the hedge counterparty a floating price for that same quantity based upon published index prices. Since we receive from our customers substantially the same floating index price from the sale of the underlying physical commodity, these transactions are designed to effectively lock-in the agreed fixed price in advance for the volumes hedged. In order to avoid having a greater volume hedged than our actual equity volumes, we typically limit our use of swaps to hedge the prices of less than our expected natural gas and NGL equity volumes. We utilize purchased puts (or floors) and calls (or caps) to hedge additional expected equity commodity volumes without creating volumetric risk. We may buy calls in connection with swap positions to create a price floor with upside. We intend to continue to manage our exposure to commodity prices in the future by entering into derivative transactions using swaps, collars, purchased puts (or floors), futures or other derivative instruments as market conditions permit.

When entering into new hedges, we intend to generally match the NGL product composition and the NGL and natural gas delivery points to those of our physical equity volumes. The NGL hedges cover specific NGL products based upon the expected equity NGL composition. We believe this strategy avoids uncorrelated risks resulting from employing hedges on crude oil or other petroleum products as “proxy” hedges of NGL prices. The natural gas and NGL hedges’ fair values are based on published index prices for delivery at various locations, which closely approximate the actual natural gas and NGL delivery points. A portion of our condensate sales are hedged using crude oil hedges that are based on the NYMEX futures contracts for West Texas Intermediate light, sweet crude.

A majority of these commodity price hedging transactions are typically documented pursuant to a standard International Swap Dealers Association form with customized credit and legal terms. The principal counterparties (or, if applicable, their guarantors) have investment grade credit ratings. Our payment obligations in connection with substantially all of these hedging transactions and any additional credit exposure due to a rise in natural gas and NGL prices relative to the fixed prices set forth in the hedges are secured by a first priority lien in the collateral securing the Partnership’s senior secured indebtedness that ranks equal in right of payment with liens granted in favor of the Partnership’s senior secured lenders. Absent federal regulations resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act, and as long as this first priority lien is in effect, we expect to have no obligation to post cash, letters of credit or other additional collateral to secure these hedges at any time, even if a counterparty’s exposure to our credit increases over the term of the hedge as a result of higher commodity prices or because there has been a change in our creditworthiness. A purchased put (or floor) transaction does not expose our counterparties to credit risk, as we have no obligation to make future payments beyond the premium paid to enter into the transaction; however, we are exposed to the risk of default by the counterparty, which is the risk that the counterparty will not honor its obligation under the put transaction.

We also enter into commodity price hedging transactions using futures contracts on futures exchanges. Exchange traded futures are subject to exchange margin requirements, so we may have to increase our cash deposit due to a rise in natural gas and NGL prices. Unlike bilateral hedges, we are not subject to counterparty credit risks when using futures on futures exchanges.

During the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, our operating revenues increased (decreased) by $40.1 million, $74.0 million, and $(9.6) million, respectively, as a result of transactions accounted for as derivatives. We account for derivatives designated as hedges that mitigate commodity price risk as cash flow hedges. Changes in fair value are deferred in OCI until the underlying hedged transactions settle. We also enter into derivative instruments to help manage other short-term commodity-related business risks. We have not designated these derivatives as hedges and record changes in fair value and cash settlements to revenues.

Our risk management position has moved from a net asset position of $119.5 million at December 31, 2015 to a net liability position of $53.3 million at December 31, 2016. The fixed prices we currently expect to receive on derivative contracts are below the aggregate forward prices for commodities related to those contracts, creating this net liability position.

As of December 31, 2016, we had the following derivative instruments that will settle during the years ending below:

Natural GAS

InstrumentPrice
TypeIndex$/MMBtuMMBtu/dFair Value
201720182019(In millions)
Gathering & Processing
SwapIF-Waha2.9387,900--(15.1)
SwapIF-Waha2.71-57,900-(5.2)
SwapIF-Waha2.87--29,6831.7
87,90057,90029,683
SwapIF-PB2.5110,900--(3.3)
SwapIF-PB2.51-10,900-(1.2)
10,90010,900-
SwapIF-PEPL2.683516,000--(4.0)
SwapIF-PEPL2.6835-16,000-(0.8)
SwapIF-PEPL2.6835--16,0000.8
16,00016,00016,000
SwapNG-NYMEX4.1118,082--2.8
Put PriceCall Price
CollarIF-Waha3.003.677,500--(0.2)
CollarIF-Waha3.254.20-1,849-0.0
7,5001,849-
Put PriceCall Price
CollarIF-PB2.803.5015,400--(0.7)
CollarIF-PB3.003.65-7,637-0.6
15,4007,637-
Basis SwapEP-PERMIAN(0.1444)9,041--0.5
Basis SwapPEPL(0.3308)9,041--(0.3)
Gathering & Processing total173,86494,28645,683(24.4)
Other (1)
SwapNG-NYMEX3.1680566--$0.1
Basis SwapVarious(0.1077)54,137--(0.4)
Other total54,703--$(0.3)
$(24.7)
(1)Other includes derivative agreements entered into for the purpose of hedging future commodity purchases and sales in our Logistics and Marketing segment.

NGLs

InstrumentPrice
TypeIndex$/galBbl/dFair Value
201720182019(In millions)
Gathering & Processing
SwapC2-OPIS-MB0.26973,407--(1.2)
SwapC2-OPIS-MB0.2752-1,868-(1.1)
SwapC2-OPIS-MB0.2959--1,210(0.8)
Total3,4071,8681,210
SwapC3-OPIS-MB0.66493,908--(0.9)
SwapC3-OPIS-MB0.5540-1,750-(2.9)
SwapC3-OPIS-MB0.5540--1,750(2.5)
Total3,9081,7501,750
SwapIC4-OPIS-MB0.8037370--(0.4)
SwapIC4-OPIS-MB0.7750-120-(0.1)
Total370120-
SwapNC4-OPIS-MB0.7944800--(0.7)
SwapNC4-OPIS-MB0.7725-300-(0.2)
Total800300-
SwapC5-OPIS-MB1.09761,150--(2.0)
SwapC5-OPIS-MB1.0400-650-(1.7)
SwapC5-OPIS-MB1.1020--409(0.7)
Total1,150650409
Put PriceCall Price
CollarC2-OPIS-MB0.2400.290410--(0.1)
Put PriceCall Price
CollarC3-OPIS-MB0.5700.68625380--(0.2)
Put PriceCall Price
CollarC5-OPIS-MB1.2101.415130--0.1
CollarC5-OPIS-MB1.2301.385-32-0.0
Total13032-
Gathering & Processing total10,5554,7203,369$(15.4)
Other (1)(2)
FutureC2-OPIS-MB0.25964,247--(2.1)
FutureC2-OPIS-MB0.3021-959-(0.3)
Total4,247959-
FutureC3-OPIS-MB0.56601,940--(4.5)
FutureNC4-OPIS-MB0.9700(68)--(0.0)
Put Price
OptionC2-OPIS-MB0.2694548--0.1
OptionC2-OPIS-MB0.2963-1,644-0.6
Total5481,644-
Other total6,6672,603-$(6.2)
InstrumentPrice
TypeIndex$/galBbl/dFair Value
201720182019(In millions)
Gathering & Processing
$(21.6)
(1)Other includes derivative agreements entered into for the purpose of hedging future commodity purchases and sales in our Logistics and Marketing segment.
(2)The “Future” line items are comprised of futures transactions entered into on both the Intercontinental Exchange (“ICE”) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”).

CONDENSATE

InstrumentPrice
TypeIndex$/BblBbl/dFair Value
201720182019(In millions)
Gathering & Processing
SwapWTI-NYMEX55.462,270--(0.7)
SwapWTI-NYMEX48.61-1,770-(5.0)
SwapWTI-NYMEX52.26--643(0.9)
2,2701,770643
Put PriceCall Price
CollarWTI-NYMEX54.0464.091,380--0.8
CollarWTI-NYMEX49.7658.50-691-(0.5)
CollarWTI-NYMEX48.0056.25--590(0.7)
1,380691590
Total3,6502,4611,233
(7.0)

These contracts may expose us to the risk of financial loss in certain circumstances. Generally, our hedging arrangements provide us protection on the hedged volumes if prices decline below the prices at which these hedges are set. If prices rise above the prices at which they have been hedged, we will receive less revenue on the hedged volumes than we would receive in the absence of hedges (other than with respect to purchased calls). For derivative instruments not designated as cash flow hedges, these contracts are marked-to-market and recorded in revenues.

We account for the fair value of our financial assets and liabilities using a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the significant inputs used in measuring fair value. These tiers include: Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets; Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable; and Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions. We determine the value of our derivative contracts utilizing a discounted cash flow model for swaps and a standard option pricing model for options, based on inputs that are readily available in public markets. For the contracts that have inputs from quoted prices, the classification of these instruments is Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy. For those contracts which we are unable to obtain quoted prices for at least 90% of the full term of the commodity contract, the valuations are classified as Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy. See Note 16 - Fair Value Measurements in this Annual Report for more information regarding classifications within the fair value hierarchy.

Interest Rate Risk

We are exposed to the risk of changes in interest rates, primarily as a result of variable rate borrowings under the TRC Revolver, the TRP Revolver and the Securitization Facility. As of December 31, 2016, we do not have any interest rate hedges. However, we may enter into interest rate hedges in the future with the intent to mitigate the impact of changes in interest rates on cash flows. To the extent that interest rates increase, interest expense for the TRC Revolver, TRP Revolver and the Securitization Facility will also increase. As of December 31, 2016, the Partnership had $425.0 million in outstanding variable rate borrowings under the TRP Revolver and Securitization Facility, and we had outstanding variable rate borrowings of $275.0 million under the TRC Revolver and $160.0 million under our term loan facility. A hypothetical change of 100 basis points in the interest rate of our variable rate debt would impact the Partnership’s annual interest expense by $4.3 million and our consolidated annual interest expense by $8.6 million.

Counterparty Credit Risk

We are subject to risk of losses resulting from nonpayment or nonperformance by our counterparties. The credit exposure related to commodity derivative instruments is represented by the fair value of the asset position (i.e. the fair value of expected future receipts) at the reporting date. Our futures contracts have limited credit risk since they are cleared through an exchange and are margined daily. Should the creditworthiness of one or more of the counterparties decline, our ability to mitigate nonperformance risk is limited to a counterparty agreeing to either a voluntary termination and subsequent cash settlement or a novation of the derivative contract to a third party. In the event of a counterparty default, we may sustain a loss and our cash receipts could be negatively impacted. We have master netting provisions in the International Swap Dealers Association agreements with all our derivative counterparties. These netting provisions allow us to net settle asset and liability positions with the same counterparties within the same Targa entity, and would reduce our maximum loss due to counterparty credit risk by $21.9 million as of December 31, 2016. The range of losses attributable to our individual counterparties would be between $1.3 million and $3.8 million, depending on the counterparty in default.

Customer Credit Risk

We extend credit to customers and other parties in the normal course of business. We have an established policy and various procedures to manage our credit exposure risk, including initial and subsequent credit risk analyses, credit limits and terms and credit enhancements when necessary. We use credit enhancements including (but not limited to) letters of credit, prepayments, parental guarantees and rights of offset to limit credit risk to ensure that our established credit criteria are followed and financial loss is mitigated or minimized.

We have an active credit management process, which is focused on controlling loss exposure to bankruptcies or other liquidity issues of counterparties. If an assessment of uncollectible accounts resulted in a 1% reduction of our third-party accounts receivable as of December 31, 2016, our operating income would decrease by $6.7 million in the year of the assessment.

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