UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


Form 10-Q

 

(MARK ONE)

 

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the quarterly period ended SeptemberFOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 20172019

or

 

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM _________ TO _________

 

Commission File Number 001-36260

 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware 61-1721523
(State of or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
   
5727 South Lewis Avenue, Suite 300  
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74105
(Address of principal executive offices) (zipZip code)

 

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:code) (918) 748-3900

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each classTrading Symbol(s)Name of each exchange on which registered
Common UnitsCELPNew York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes   No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes      No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company”company,” and "emerging“emerging growth company"company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer Non-accelerated filer Smaller reporting company Emerging growth company

Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer   Non-accelerated filer Smaller reporting company   Emerging growth company

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes   No

 

As of November 7, 2017,5, 2019, the registrant had 11,889,95812,067,482 common units outstanding.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:     None.

 

 

 

 

 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 

Table of Contents

 

  Page
PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION 
  
ITEM 1.Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements5
   
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 20172019 and December 31, 201620185
   
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 20172019 and 201620186
   

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 20172019 and 20162018

7
   
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Owners’ Equity for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 and 20188
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 20172019 and 201620188
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Owners’ Equity for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 20179
Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements10
   
Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements11
ITEM 2.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations3427
   
ITEM 3.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk5547
   
ITEM 4.Controls and Procedures5547
   
PART II – OTHER INFORMATION 
  
ITEM 1.Legal Proceedings5647
   
ITEM 1A.Risk Factors5648
   
ITEM 2.Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds5648
   
ITEM 3.Defaults upon Senior Securities5648
   
ITEM 4.Mine Safety Disclosures5648
   
ITEM 5.Other Information5648
   
ITEM 6.Exhibits5749
   
SIGNATURES5850

2  


NAMES OF ENTITIES

 

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to “Cypress Energy Partners, L.P.,” “our partnership,” “we,” “our,” “us,” or like terms, refer to Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. and its subsidiaries.

 

References to:

 

 Brown” refers to Brown Integrity, LLC, a 51% owned subsidiary of CEP LLC;
CEM LLC” refers to Cypress Energy Management, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the General Partner;

CEM TIR” refers to Cypress Energy Management – TIR, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CEM LLC;

 

 CEP LLC” refers to Cypress Energy Partners, LLC, a wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary of the Partnership;

CES LLC” refers to Cypress Energy Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary that performs management services for our salt water disposal (“SWD”) facilities, as well as a third party facility;

 

 CF Inspection” refers to CF Inspection Management, LLC, owned 49% by TIR-PUC and consolidated under generally accepted accounting principles by TIR-PUC. CF Inspection is 51% owned, managed and controlled by Cynthia A. Field, an affiliate of Holdings;Holdings and a Director of our General Partner;

 

 General Partner” refers to Cypress Energy Partners GP, LLC, a subsidiary of Cypress Energy GP Holdings, LLC;

 

 Holdings” refers to Cypress Energy Holdings, LLC, the owner of Holdings II;

 

 Holdings II” refers to Cypress Energy Holdings II, LLC, the owner of 5,610,549 common units representing 47.2%47% of our outstanding common units;

IS” refers to our Integrity Services business segment;units as of November 5, 2019;

 

 Partnership” refers to the registrant, Cypress Energy Partners, L.P.;

 

 PIS” refers to our Pipeline Inspection Services business segment;

TIR Entities” refer collectively to TIR LLC,LLC; TIR-Canada, TIR-NDE, TIR-PUC and CF Inspection;

 TIR LLCTIR-NDE” refers to Tulsa Inspection Resources – Nondestructive Examination, LLC, a wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary of CEP LLC;

 

 TIR-CanadaTIR-Canada” refers to Tulsa Inspection Resources – Canada, ULC, a wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary of CEP LLC;

 

 TIR-NDETIR LLC” refers to Tulsa Inspection Resources, – Nondestructive Examination, LLC, a wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary of CEP LLC; and

 

 TIR-PUC” refers to Tulsa Inspection Resources – PUC, LLC, a subsidiary of TIR LLC that has elected to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes; and
W&ES” refers to our Water and Environmental Services business segment.purposes.

3  


CAUTIONARY REMARKS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

The information discussed in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “may,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “believe,” “intend,” “achievable,” “anticipate,” “continue,” “potential,” “should,” “could,” and similar terms and phrases. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties and we can give no assurance that such expectations or assumptions will be achieved. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are described under “Item 1A – Risk Factors” and “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 20162018, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 18, 2019, and in this report. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Other than as required under the securities laws, we do not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or circumstances, changes in expectations or otherwise.

 

4  

4  

 

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

ITEM 1.Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

As of September 30, 20172019 and December 31, 20162018

 (in thousands, except unit data) (in thousands)

 

 September 30, December 31, 
 2017 2016  September 30,  December 31,  
       2019 2018 
ASSETS                
Current assets:                
Cash and cash equivalents $19,238  $26,693  $12,735  $15,380 
Trade accounts receivable, net  49,945   38,482   69,672   48,789 
Prepaid expenses and other  1,610   1,042   958   1,396 
Total current assets  70,793   66,217   83,365   65,565 
Property and equipment:                
Property and equipment, at cost  20,355   22,459   25,394   23,988 
Less: Accumulated depreciation  8,634   7,840   13,134   11,266 
Total property and equipment, net  11,721   14,619   12,260   12,722 
Intangible assets, net  26,180   29,624   20,737   22,759 
Goodwill  55,430   56,903   50,334   50,294 
Finance lease right-of-use assets, net  596    
Operating lease right-of-use assets  3,068    
Debt issuance costs, net  869   1,260 
Other assets  188   149   513   253 
Total assets $164,312  $167,512  $171,742  $152,853 
                
LIABILITIES AND OWNERS’ EQUITY                
Current liabilities:                
Accounts payable $2,171  $1,690  $7,191  $4,848 
Accounts payable - affiliates  3,568   1,638   4,429   4,060 
Accrued payroll and other  12,242   7,585   17,996   12,276 
Income taxes payable  748   1,011   902   737 
Finance lease obligations  167   90 
Operating lease obligations  453    
Total current liabilities  18,729   11,924   31,138   22,011 
Long-term debt  136,142   135,699   80,929   76,129 
Deferred tax liabilities     362 
Asset retirement obligations  161   139 
Finance lease obligations  366   248 
Operating lease obligations  2,551    
Other noncurrent liabilities  205   178 
Total liabilities  155,032   148,124   115,189   98,566 
                
Commitments and contingencies - Note 9        
Commitments and contingencies - Note 7        
                
Owners’ equity:                
Partners’ capital:                
Common units (11,889,958 and 5,945,348 units outstanding at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively)  34,133   (7,722)
Subordinated units (5,913,000 units outstanding at December 31, 2016)     50,474 
Common units (12,065 and 11,947 units outstanding at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively)  36,352   34,677 
Preferred units (5,769 units outstanding at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018)  44,291   44,291 
General partner  (25,876)  (25,876)  (25,876)  (25,876)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss  (2,725)  (2,538)  (2,515)  (2,414)
Total partners’ capital  5,532   14,338   52,252   50,678 
Noncontrolling interests  3,748   5,050   4,301   3,609 
Total owners’ equity  9,280   19,388   56,553   54,287 
Total liabilities and owners’ equity $164,312  $167,512  $171,742  $152,853 

 

 See accompanying notes.

 


5  

 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

For the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 20172019 and 20162018

 (in(in thousands, except unit and per unit data)

 

  Three Months Ended
September 30,
  Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
  2017  2016  2017  2016 
             
 Revenues $77,682  $81,806  $216,971  $227,591 
 Costs of services  68,292   71,880   192,643   202,540 
 Gross margin  9,390   9,926   24,328   25,051 
                 
 Operating costs, expenses and other:                
 General and administrative  5,574   5,056   16,013   16,805 
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,184   1,214   3,561   3,685 
 Impairments        3,598   10,530 
 Losses on asset disposals, net  208      95    
 Operating income (loss)  2,424   3,656   1,061   (5,969)
                 
 Other (expense) income:                
 Interest expense, net  (1,907)  (1,641)  (5,411)  (4,878)
 Foreign currency gains  557      824    
 Other, net  17   210   122   257 
 Net income (loss) before income tax expense  1,091   2,225   (3,404)  (10,590)
 Income tax expense  529   227   458   389 
 Net income (loss)  562   1,998   (3,862)  (10,979)
                 
 Net Income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests  8   81   (1,290)  (4,898)
 Net income (loss) attributable to partners / controlling interests  554   1,917   (2,572)  (6,081)
                 
 Net loss attributable to general partner  (1,000)  (1,431)  (2,750)  (5,366)
 Net income (loss) attributable to limited partners $1,554  $3,348  $178  $(715)
                 
 Net income (loss) attributable to limited partners allocated to:                
 Common unitholders $1,554  $1,676  $178  $(358)
 Subordinated unitholders     1,672      (357)
  $1,554  $3,348  $178  $(715)
                 
 Net income (loss) per common limited partner unit                
 Basic $0.13  $0.28  $0.02  $(0.06)
 Diluted $0.13  $0.27  $0.02  $(0.06)
                 
 Net income (loss) per subordinated limited partner unit - basic and diluted $  $0.28  $  $(0.06)
                 
 Weighted average common units outstanding                
 Basic  11,884,196   5,939,158   10,902,838   5,930,718 
 Diluted  11,994,881   6,158,961   11,111,454   5,930,718 
                 
 Weighted average subordinated units outstanding - basic and diluted     5,913,000   974,670   5,913,000 
  Three Months Ended  Nine Months Ended 
  September 30,  September 30, 
  2019  2018  2019  2018 
 Revenue $108,934  $84,778  $310,401  $226,072 
 Costs of services  93,533   71,870   270,170   194,092 
 Gross margin  15,401   12,908   40,231   31,980 
                 
 Operating costs and expense:                
 General and administrative  6,557   6,064   18,946   17,341 
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,116   1,124   3,329   3,368 
 Gain on asset disposals, net     (822)  (23)  (4,137)
 Operating income  7,728   6,542   17,979   15,408 
                 
 Other (expense) income:                
 Interest expense, net  (1,376)  (1,283)  (4,102)  (4,907)
 Debt issuance cost write-off           (114)
 Foreign currency (losses) gains  (47)  97   138   (354)
 Other, net  82   95   220   302 
 Net income before income tax expense  6,387   5,451   14,235   10,335 
 Income tax expense  907   497   1,731   865 
 Net income  5,480   4,954   12,504   9,470 
                 
 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests  634   289   692   673 
 Net income attributable to partners / controlling interests  4,846   4,665   11,812   8,797 
                 
 Net income attributable to preferred unitholder  1,033   1,045   3,099   1,412 
 Net income attributable to common unitholders $3,813  $3,620  $8,713  $7,385 
                 
 Net income per common limited partner unit:                
 Basic $0.32  $0.30  $0.72  $0.62 
 Diluted $0.26  $0.26  $0.65  $0.59 
                 
 Weighted average common units outstanding:                
 Basic  12,065   11,940   12,030   11,924 
 Diluted  18,350   18,141   18,207   14,970 

 

See accompanying notes.

 


6  

 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)

For the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 20172019 and 20162018

 (in(in thousands)

 

  Three Months Ended
September 30,
  Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
  2017  2016  2017  2016 
             
 Net income (loss) $562  $1,998  $(3,862) $(10,979)
 Other comprehensive income (loss) -                
 foreign currency translation  (207)  (71)  (187)  515 
                 
 Comprehensive income (loss) $355  $1,927  $(4,049) $(10,464)
                 
 Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests  8   81   (1,290)  (4,898)
 Comprehensive loss attributable to general partner  (1,000)  (1,431)  (2,750)  (5,366)
                 
 Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to limited partners $1,347  $3,277  $(9) $(200)
  Three Months Ended  Nine Months Ended 
  September 30  September 30 
  2019  2018  2019  2018 
Net income $5,480  $4,954  $12,504  $9,470 
Other comprehensive income (loss) - foreign currency translation  34   (71)  (101)  61 
                 
Comprehensive income $5,514  $4,883  $12,403  $9,531 
                 
Comprehensive income attributable to preferred unitholders  1,033   1,045   3,099   1,412 
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests  634   289   692   673 
                 
Comprehensive income attributable to common unitholders $3,847  $3,549  $8,612  $7,446 

 

See accompanying notes.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash FlowsOwners’ Equity

For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 20172019 and 20162018

 (in(in thousands)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

  Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
  2017  2016 
 Operating activities:        
 Net loss $(3,862) $(10,979)
 Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:        
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion  4,378   4,354 
 Impairments  3,598   10,530 
 (Gains) losses on asset disposals, net  95   (2)
 Interest expense from debt issuance cost amortization  443   426 
 Equity-based compensation expense  1,136   829 
 Equity in earnings of investee  (98)  (234)
 Distributions from investee  75   138 
 Deferred tax benefit, net  (361)  (39)
 Non-cash allocated expenses  1,750   2,866 
 Foreign currency gains  (824)   
 Changes in assets and liabilities:        
 Trade accounts receivable  (11,583)  4,999 
 Prepaid expenses and other  (765)  1,053 
 Accounts payable and accrued payroll and other  6,552   3,802 
 Income taxes payable  (271)  (84)
 Net cash provided by operating activities  263  17,659 
         
 Investing activities:        
 Proceeds from fixed asset disposals, including insurance proceeds  1,578   3 
 Purchase of property and equipment  (1,182)  (932)
 Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities  396   (929)
         
 Financing activities:        
 Repayment of long-term debt     (4,000)
 Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (120)  (100)
 Contributions attributable to general partner  1,000   2,500 
 Distributions to limited partners  (9,813)  (14,439)
 Distributions to noncontrolling members  (12)  (415)
 Net cash used in financing activities  (8,945)  (16,454)
         
 Effect of exchange rates on cash  831   477 
         
 Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents  (7,455)  753 
 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period  26,693   24,150 
 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $19,238  $24,903 
         
 Non-cash items:        
 Changes in accounts payable excluded from capital expenditures $320  $76 
  Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019 
  Common
Units
   Preferred
Units
   General
Partner
   Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss   Noncontrolling
Interests
   Total Owners’
Equity
 
Owners’ equity at December 31, 2018 $34,677  $44,291  $(25,876) $(2,414) $3,609  $54,287 
Net income (loss) for the period January 1, 2019 through March 31, 2019  567   1,033         (219)  1,381 
Foreign currency translation adjustment           (72)     (72)
Distributions  (2,510)  (1,033)           (3,543)
Equity-based compensation  269               269 
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (158)              (158)
                         
Owners’ equity at March 31, 2019  32,845   44,291   (25,876)  (2,486)  3,390   52,164 
                         
Net income for the period April 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019  4,333   1,033         277   5,643 
Foreign currency translation adjustment           (63)     (63)
Distributions  (2,531)  (1,033)           (3,564)
Equity-based compensation  174               174 
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (1)              (1)
                         
Owners’ equity at June 30, 2019  34,820   44,291   (25,876)  (2,549)  3,667   54,353 
                         
Net income for the period July 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019  3,813   1,033         634   5,480 
Foreign currency translation adjustment           34      34 
Distributions  (2,534)  (1,033)           (3,567)
Equity-based compensation  303               303 
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (50)              (50)
                         
Owners’ equity at September 30, 2019 $36,352  $44,291  $(25,876) $(2,515) $4,301  $56,553 

  Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 
   Common
Units
   Preferred
Units
   General
Partner
   Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss   Noncontrolling
Interests
   Total Owners’
Equity
 
Owners’ equity at December 31, 2017 $34,614  $  $(25,876) $(2,677) $3,924  $9,985 
 Net income for the period January 1, 2018 through March 31, 2018  725            235   960 
Foreign currency translation adjustment           102      102 
Distributions  (2,498)           (6)  (2,504)
Equity-based compensation  212               212 
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (69)              (69)
                         
Owners’ equity at March 31, 2018  32,984      (25,876)  (2,575)  4,153   8,686 
                         
Net income for the period April 1, 2018 through June 30, 2018  3,040   367         149   3,556 
Issuance of preferred units, net     43,269            43,269 
Foreign currency translation adjustment           30      30 
Distributions  (2,506)              (2,506)
Equity-based compensation  335               335 
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (1)              (1)
                         
Owners’ equity at June 30, 2018  33,852   43,636   (25,876)  (2,545)  4,302   53,369 
                         
Net income for the period July 1, 2018 through September 30, 2018  3,620   1,045         289   4,954 
Issuance of preferred units, net     (10)           (10)
Foreign currency translation adjustment           (71)     (71)
Distributions  (2,506)           (985)  (3,491)
Equity-based compensation  361               361 
 Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (61)              (61)
                         
Owners’ equity at September 30, 2018 $35,266  $44,671  $(25,876) $(2,616) $3,606  $55,051 

 

See accompanying notes.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated StatementStatements of Owners’ EquityCash Flows

For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 20172019 and 2018

 (in(in thousands)

 

  General
Partner
  Common
Units
  Subordinated Units  Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss  Noncontrolling Interests  Total Owners’ Equity 
                   
 Owners’ equity at December 31, 2016 $(25,876) $(7,722) $50,474  $(2,538) $5,050  $19,388 
Net income (loss) for the period January 1, 2017 through September 30, 2017  (2,750)  178         (1,290)  (3,862)
Foreign currency translation adjustment           (187)     (187)
Contributions attributable to general partner  2,750               2,750 
Distributions to partners     (7,408)  (2,405)        (9,813)
Distributions to noncontrolling interests              (12)  (12)
Conversion of Subordinated Units to Common Units     48,111   (48,111)         
Equity-based compensation     1,094   42         1,136 
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation     (120)           (120)
                         
 Owners’ equity at September 30, 2017 $(25,876) $34,133  $  $(2,725) $3,748  $9,280 
  Nine Months Ended September 30 
  2019  2018 
Operating activities:        
Net income $12,504  $9,470 
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:        
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  4,153   4,186 
Gain on asset disposals, net  (23)  (4,137)
Interest expense from debt issuance cost amortization  391   429 
Debt issuance cost write-off     114 
Equity-based compensation expense  746   908 
Equity in earnings of investee  (84)  (169)
Distributions from investee  75   113 
Foreign currency (gains) losses, net  (138)  354 
Changes in assets and liabilities:        
Trade accounts receivable  (20,879)  (9,395)
Prepaid expenses and other  121   891 
Accounts payable and accounts payable - affiliates  2,288   (1,117)
Accrued payroll and other  5,735   5,246 
Income taxes payable  166   62 
Net cash provided by operating activities  5,055   6,955 
         
Investing activities:        
Proceeds from fixed asset disposals  39   12,762 
Purchases of property and equipment  (1,518)  (5,466)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities  (1,479)  7,296 
         
Financing activities:        
Issuance of preferred units, net of issuance costs     43,259 
Borrowings on credit facility  7,800    
Repayments of credit facility and long-term debt  (3,000)  (60,771)
Repayments on finance lease obligations  (139)  (8)
Debt issuance cost payments     (1,327)
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (209)  (131)
Distributions  (10,674)  (8,501)
Net cash used in financing activities  (6,222)  (27,479)
         
Effect of exchange rates on cash  1   11 
         
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents  (2,645)  (13,217)
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash equivalents of $551 at December 31, 2018 and $490 at December 31, 2017), beginning of period  15,931   24,998 
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash equivalents of $551 at September 30, 2019 and September 30, 2018), end of period $13,286  $11,781 
         
Non-cash items:        
Accounts payable excluded from capital expenditures $453  $75 
Acquisitions of finance leases included in liabilities $338  $335 

 

See accompanying notes.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

1.Organization and Operations

1. Organization and Operations

 

Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. (the(“we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Partnership”) is a Delaware limited partnership formed in 2013 to2013. We offer essential services that help protect the environment and ensure sustainability. We provide independent pipeline inspection and integrity services to producers, public utility companies, and pipeline companies and to provide salt water disposal (“SWD”) and other water anda wide range of environmental services to U.S. onshore oilincluding independent inspection, integrity, and natural gas producerssupport services for pipeline and trucking companies.energy infrastructure owners and operators and public utilities. We also provide water pipelines, hydrocarbon recovery, disposal, and water treatment services. Trading of our common units began January 15, 2014 on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CELP”.

Our business is organized into the Pipeline Inspection Services (“PIS”Pipeline Inspection”), IntegrityPipeline & Process Services (“IS”Pipeline & Process Services”), and Water and Environmental Services (“W&ES”Environmental Services”) segments. PIS provides pipeline

The Pipeline Inspection segment generates revenue primarily by providing essential environmental services including inspection and otherintegrity services to energy exploration and production (“E&P”) companies, public utility companies, and midstream companies and their vendors throughout the United States and Canada. The inspectors of PIS performon a variety of inspection services oninfrastructure assets including midstream pipelines, gathering systems, and distribution systems, includingsystems. Services include non-destructive examination, in-line inspection support, pig tracking, survey, data gathering, and supervision of third-party construction,contractors. Our results in this segment are driven primarily by the number of inspectors that perform services for our customers and the fees that we charge for those services, which depend on the type, skills, technology, equipment, and number of inspectors used on a particular project, the nature of the project, and the duration of the project. The number of inspectors engaged on projects is driven by the type of project, prevailing market rates, the age and condition of customers’ assets including pipelines, gas plants, compression stations, storage facilities, and gathering and distribution systems including the legal and regulatory requirements relating to the inspection and maintenance of those assets. We also bill our customers for per diem charges, mileage, and repair projects. IS provides independent integrityother reimbursement items. Revenue and costs in this segment may be subject to seasonal variations and interim activity may not be indicative of yearly activity considering many of our customers develop yearly operating budgets and enter into contracts with us during the winter season for work to be performed during the remainder of the year. Additionally, inspection work throughout the United States during the winter months (especially in the northern states) may be hampered or delayed due to inclement weather.

The Pipeline & Process Services segment (formerly our Integrity Services segment) generates revenue primarily by providing essential environmental services including hydrostatic testing services and chemical cleaning to major natural gas and petroleum pipelineenergy companies and to pipeline construction companies located throughout the United States. Field personnelof newly-constructed and existing pipelines and related infrastructure. We generally charge our customers in this segment on a fixed-bid basis, depending on the size and length of the pipeline being tested, the complexity of services provided, and the utilization of our work force and equipment. Our results in this segment are driven primarily by the number of field personnel that perform hydrostatic testingservices for our customers and the fees that we charge for those services, which depend on newly-constructedthe type and existing natural gasnumber of field personnel used on a particular project, the type of equipment used and petroleum pipelines. W&ES providesthe fees charged for the utilization of that equipment, and the nature and duration of the project.

The Environmental Services segment owns and operates nine (9) Environmental Protection Agency Class II saltwater disposal facilities in the Williston Basin region of North Dakota. Eight (8) of the facilities are wholly-owned and we have ten (10) pipelines from multiple E&P customers connected to these saltwater disposal facilities, including two (2) that we developed and own. Our saltwater disposal facilities provide essential environmental services to oil and natural gas upstream producers and trucking companies through its ownership and operation of eight commercial SWD facilities in the Bakken Shale region of the Williston Basin in North Dakota and two SWD facilities in the Permian Basin in Texas.their transportation companies. All of the saltwater disposal facilities utilize specialized equipment and remote monitoring to minimize the facilities’ downtime and increase the facilities’ efficiency for peak utilization. These facilities also containutilize oil skimming and recovery processes that remove residual oil from water delivered to our saltwater disposal facilities via pipeline or truck. We sell the sites.oil recovered from these skimming processes, which contributes to our revenues. In addition to these SWDsaltwater disposal facilities, we provide management and staffing services for an SWD facility pursuant to a management agreement (see Note 7). We alsosaltwater disposal facility in which we own a 25% memberownership interest in this managed SWD facility.(see Note 6).

 

2.Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

2. Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements as of September 30, 20172019 and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 20162018 include our accounts and those of our controlled subsidiaries. Investments over which we exercise significant influence, but do not control, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. All significant intercompany transactions and account balances have been eliminated in consolidation. The Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 20162018 is derived from our audited financial statements.

 

The accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim consolidated financial information and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.Commission (the “SEC”). The Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial position and consolidated results of operations for the interim periods presented. Such adjustments consist only of normal recurring items, unless otherwise disclosed herein. Accordingly, the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete consolidated financial statements. However, we believe that the disclosures made are adequate to make the information not misleading. These interim Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 20162018 included in our Form 10-K. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for a full year. Certain previously-reported amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

Use of Estimates in the Preparation of Financial Statements

 

The preparation of the Partnership’sour Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in these financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

 

Significant Accounting Policies

 

Our significant accounting policies are consistent with those disclosed in Note 2 to our audited financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 20162018 included in our Form 10-K.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes10-K, except for the adoption of Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02 – Leases on January 1, 2019. We adopted the new standard on the effective date of January 1, 2019 and used a modified retrospective approach as permitted under ASU 2018-11. See Note 9 for lease disclosures. The effects of implementing ASU 2016-02 included the addition of right-of-use assets and associated lease liabilities to theour Unaudited Condensed Consolidated FinancialBalance Sheets, but were immaterial to our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

 

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Bad Debts

 

We grant unsecured credit to customers under normal industry standards and terms, and have established policies and procedures that allow for an evaluation of each of our customer’s creditworthiness. The Partnership determinesWe typically receive payment from our customers 45 to 90 days after the services have been performed. We determine allowances for bad debts based on management’s assessment of the creditworthiness of our customers. Trade receivables are written off against the allowance when deemed uncollectible. Recoveries of trade receivables previously written off are recorded when cash is received. InDuring the firstsecond quarter of 2017,2019, we recorded an allowance of $0.1 million against the accounts receivable from a customer of the Environmental Services segment. Also, during the second quarter of 2019, we received $0.3$0.1 million from a former customer of the Environmental Services segment on accounts receivable that we had previously reserved,written off. As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, we had an allowance for doubtful accounts of $0.2 million and less than $0.1 million, respectively.

Pacific Gas and Electric Bankruptcy

PG&E Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary Pacific Gas and Electric Company (collectively, “PG&E”) filed for bankruptcy protection on January 29, 2019. PG&E is a significant customer that accounted for $43.4 million of the revenue and $6.4 million of the gross margin of our Pipeline Inspection segment during the year ended December 31, 2018. As of December 31, 2018, the assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheet included $10.3 million of accounts receivable from PG&E. We collected $1.0 million of this balance in January 2019 prior to PG&E’s bankruptcy filing. We generated $2.8 million of revenue from PG&E during the period from January 1, 2019 through January 28, 2019, bringing the total accounts receivable from PG&E to $12.1 million as of the date of the bankruptcy filing. In October 2019, we reached an agreement to collect $1.7 million of the pre-petition receivables from PG&E under a court-approved program to pay certain pre-petition claims to certain vendors in advance of PG&E's emergence from bankruptcy, which will bring the total remaining pre-petition receivables from PG&E to $10.4 million.

We have continued to provide services to PG&E after the bankruptcy filing and have been receiving prompt payment for these services. We have not recorded an allowance against the accounts receivable from PG&E at September 30, 2019, as we do not believe it is probable that we will ultimately be unable to collect the full balance of the pre-petition receivables. However, due to uncertainties associated with the bankruptcy process, we cannot make assurances regarding the ultimate collection of these receivables nor can we make assurances regarding the timing of any such collections.

Sanchez Bankruptcy

Our former customer, Sanchez Energy Corporation and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Sanchez”) filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2019. As of September 30, 2019, our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet included $0.5 million of pre-petition accounts receivable from Sanchez. We have recorded an allowance of less than $0.1 million at September 30, 2019 against the accounts receivable from Sanchez. We do not believe it is probable that we will be unable to collect the remaining $0.4 million balance of the pre-petition receivables. However, due to uncertainties associated with the bankruptcy process, we cannot make assurances regarding the ultimate collection of these receivables nor can we make assurances regarding the timing of any such collections.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Accrued Payroll and Other

Accrued payroll and other on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets includes the following:

  September 30, 2019  December 31, 2018 
   (in thousands) 
 Accrued payroll $15,387  $9,468 
 Customer deposits  1,160   1,202 
 Other  1,449   1,606 
  $17,996  $12,276 

Foreign Currency Translation

Our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are reported in U.S. dollars. We translate our Canadian-dollar-denominated assets and liabilities into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate in effect at the balance sheet date. We translate our Canadian-dollar-denominated revenues and expenses into U.S. dollars at the average exchange rate in effect during the period in which the applicable revenues and expenses were recorded.

Our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at September 30, 2019 includes $2.5 million of accumulated other comprehensive loss associated with accumulated currency translation adjustments, all of which relate to our Canadian operations. If at some point in the future we were to sell or substantially liquidate our Canadian operations, we would reclassify the balance in accumulated other comprehensive loss to other accounts within partners’ capital, which would be reported in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations as a reduction to generalnet income. Our Canadian subsidiary has certain payables to our U.S.-based subsidiaries. These intercompany payables and administrative expensereceivables among our consolidated subsidiaries are eliminated on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. We report currency translation adjustments on these intercompany payables and receivables within foreign currency gains (losses) in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

 

Income TaxesNew Accounting Standards

 

AsIn 2019, we adopted the following new accounting standard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”);

The FASB issued ASU 2016-02 – Leases in February 2016. This guidance attempts to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing certain lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The main difference between previous GAAP methodology and the method used in this new guidance is the recognition on the balance sheet of lease assets and lease liabilities by lessees for certain operating leases.

We made accounting policy elections to not capitalize leases with a limited partnership, we generallylease term of twelve months or less and to not separate lease and non-lease components for all asset classes. We also elected the package of practical expedients within ASU 2016-02 that allows an entity to not reassess prior to the effective date (i) whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases, (ii) the lease classification for any expired or existing leases, or (iii) initial direct costs for any existing leases, but did not subjectelect the practical expedient of hindsight when determining the lease term of existing contracts at the effective date.

In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-11 – Targeted Improvements, which provided entities with a transition option to federal, state, or local income taxes.not restate the comparative periods for the effects of applying the new leasing standard (i.e. comparative periods presented in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements will continue to be in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification 840). We adopted the new standard on the effective date of January 1, 2019 and used a modified retrospective approach as permitted under ASU 2018-11. The taxeffects of implementing ASU 2016-02 included the addition of right-of-use assets and associated lease liabilities to our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, but were immaterial to our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The cumulative effect adjustment was not material to partners' capital on our net income is generally borne by the individual partners. Net income (loss) for financial statement purposes may differ significantly from taxable income (loss)Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. Upon adoption, we recorded operating lease right-of-use assets of the partners$3.5 million and current and noncurrent operating lease obligations of $0.5 million and $3.0 million, respectively. Liabilities recorded as a result of differences betweenthis standard are excluded from the tax basis and financial reporting basisdefinition of assets and liabilities and the taxable income allocation requirementsindebtedness under our partnership agreement. The aggregated difference incredit facility, and therefore do not adversely impact the basis ofleverage ratio under our net assets for financial and tax reporting purposes cannot be readily determined because information regarding each partner’s tax attributes iscredit facility.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Other accounting guidance proposed by the FASB that may impact our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, which we have not available to us.yet adopted include:

 

The incomeFASB issued ASU 2016-13 – Financial Instruments – Credit Losses in June 2016, which replaces the current “incurred loss” methodology for recognizing credit losses with an “expected loss” methodology. This guidance affects trade receivables, financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value through net income. In August 2019, The FASB issued a proposal to delay the implementation of Tulsa Inspection Resourcesthis new guidance for smaller reporting companies until fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The FASB expects to issue a final ASU with their decision in November 2019. We are currently evaluating the impact this ASU will have on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

The FASB issued ASU 2018-15Canada, ULC,Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract in August 2018. This guidance requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement to follow the internal use software guidance in ASC 350-40 to determine which costs should be capitalized as assets or expensed as incurred. The amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. We plan to adopt this guidance prospectively from the date of adoption (January 1, 2020) and do not believe this new guidance will have a material impact on our Canadian subsidiary, is taxableUnaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

3. Debt

On May 29, 2018, we entered into an amended and restated credit agreement (as amended and restated, the “Credit Agreement”) that provided up to $90.0 million in Canada. Tulsa Inspection Resources – PUC, LLC,borrowing capacity, subject to certain limitations. The Credit Agreement contains an accordion feature that allowed us to increase the borrowing capacity to $110.0 million if new lenders joined the facility. In October 2019, two new lenders joined the facility, and on October 25, 2019, we accordingly increased the total borrowing capacity to $110.0 million. The three-year Credit Agreement matures May 29, 2021. The obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured by a subsidiaryfirst priority lien on substantially all of our PIS segmentassets. The credit agreement as it existed prior to the May 29, 2018 amendment will hereinafter be referred to as the “Previous Credit Agreement” or, together with the Credit Agreement, as the “Credit Agreements”.

Outstanding borrowings at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 were $80.9 million and $76.1 million, respectively, and are reflected as long-term debt on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. We also had $0.5 million of finance lease liabilities at September 30, 2019 that performs pipeline inspectioncount as indebtedness under the Credit Agreement. Debt issuance costs are reported as debt issuance costs, net on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and total $0.9 million and $1.3 million at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The carrying value of our long-term debt approximates fair value, as the borrowings under the Credit Agreement are considered to be priced at market for debt instruments having similar terms and conditions (Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy).

We incurred certain debt issuance costs associated with the Previous Credit Agreement, which we were amortizing on a straight-line basis over the life of the Previous Credit Agreement. Upon amending the Credit Agreement in May 2018, we wrote off $0.1 million of these debt issuance costs, which represented the portion of the unamortized debt issuance costs attributable to lenders who are no longer participating in the credit facility subsequent to the amendment. The remaining debt issuance costs associated with the Previous Credit Agreement, along with $1.3 million of debt issuance costs associated with the amended and restated Credit Agreement, are being amortized on a straight-line basis over the three-year term of the Credit Agreement.

All borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest, at our option, on a leveraged based grid pricing at (i) a base rate plus a margin of 1.5% to 3.0% per annum (“Base Rate Borrowing”) or (ii) an adjusted LIBOR rate plus a margin of 2.5% to 4.0% per annum (“LIBOR Borrowings”). The applicable margin is determined based on the leverage ratio of the Partnership, as defined in the Credit Agreement.

The interest rate on our borrowings ranged between 5.54% and 6.02% for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 4.74% and 5.95% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. As of September 30, 2019, the interest rate in effect on our outstanding borrowings was 5.54%. Interest on Base Rate Borrowings is payable monthly. Interest on LIBOR Borrowings is paid upon maturity of the underlying LIBOR contract, but no less often than quarterly. Commitment fees are charged at a rate of 0.50% on any unused credit and are payable quarterly. Interest paid, including commitment fees, was $1.3 million and $1.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Interest paid, including commitment fees, was $3.7 million and $4.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The Credit Agreement contains various customary covenants and restrictive provisions. The Credit Agreement also requires maintenance of certain financial covenants at each quarter end, including a leverage ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) of not more than 4.0 to 1.0 and an interest coverage ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) of not less than 3.0 to 1.0. At September 30, 2019, our leverage ratio was 2.8 to 1.0 and our interest coverage ratio was 6.4 to 1.0, pursuant to the Credit Agreement. Upon the occurrence and during the continuation of an event of default, subject to the terms and conditions of the Credit Agreement, the lenders may declare any outstanding principal, together with any accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable and may exercise the other remedies set forth or referred to in the Credit Agreement. We were in compliance with all debt covenants as of September 30, 2019.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

In addition, the Credit Agreement restricts our ability to make distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, our equity interests, with certain exceptions detailed in the Credit Agreement. However, we may make distributions of available cash so long as, both at the time of the distribution and after giving effect to the distribution, no default exists under the Credit Agreement, we are in compliance with the financial covenants in the Credit Agreement, and we have at least $5.0 million of unused capacity on the Credit Agreement at the time of the distribution. As of September 30, 2019, we had $8.5 million of unused borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement. In October 2019, our unused borrowing capacity increased to $28.5 million when two new lenders joined the Credit Agreement.

4. Income Taxes

The income tax expense reported in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 differs from the statutory tax rate of 21% due to the fact that, as a partnership, we are generally not subject to U.S. federal or state income taxes. Our income tax provision relates primarily to (1) our U.S. corporate subsidiaries that provide services forto public utility customers, which may not fit within the definition of qualified income as it is defined in the Internal Revenue Code, Regulations, and Brown Integrity – PUC, LLC, a 51% owned subsidiary, have elected to be taxed as corporations for U.S. federalother guidance, which subjects this income tax purposes, and therefore, these subsidiaries are subject to U.S. federal and state income tax. The amounts recognized as income tax expense (benefit),taxes, (2) our Canadian subsidiary, which is subject to Canadian federal and provincial income taxes, payable, and deferred tax liabilities in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements represent(3) certain other state income taxes, including the Canadian and U.S. taxes referred to above, as well as partnership-level taxes levied by various states, most notablyTexas franchise taxes assessed by the state of Texas.tax.

 

As a publicly-traded partnership, we are subject to a statutory requirement that 90% of our total gross income classify asrepresents “qualifying income” (as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, related Treasury Regulations, and Internal Revenue Service pronouncements), determined on a calendar-year basis. If our qualifying income does not meet this statutory requirement, we could be taxed as a corporation for federal and state income tax purposes. Our income has met the statutory qualifying income requirement for each year since our IPO.initial public offering.

 

Noncontrolling Interest5. Equity

 

Series A Preferred Units

On May 29, 2018 (the “Closing Date”), we entered into a Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement (the “Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement”) with an entity controlled by Charles C. Stephenson, Jr. (the “Purchaser”), an affiliate of our General Partner, where we issued and sold in a private placement 5,769,231 Series A Preferred Units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership (the “Preferred Units”) to the Purchaser for a cash purchase price of $7.54 per Preferred Unit, resulting in gross proceeds to the Partnership of $43.5 million. We own a 51% interestused proceeds from the transaction to reduce outstanding borrowings on our revolving credit facility. Concurrent with the closing of this transaction, we entered into an amended and restated Credit Agreement dated as of May 29, 2018, to amend and restate the terms of our credit facility, as more fully described in Brown Integrity, LLC (“Brown”)Note 3.

The Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement contains customary representations, warranties, and a 49% interest in CF Inspection Management, LLC (“CF Inspection”). The accounts of these subsidiaries are included in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. The portioncovenants of the Partnership and the Purchaser. The Partnership and the Purchaser agreed to indemnify each other and their respective officers, directors, managers, employees, agents, counsel, accountants, investment bankers, and other representatives against certain losses resulting from breaches of their respective representations, warranties, and covenants, subject to certain negotiated limitations and survival periods set forth in the Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement.

Pursuant to the Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement, and in connection with the closing of this transaction, our General Partner executed the First Amendment to First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Partnership, which authorizes and establishes the rights and preferences of the Preferred Units. The Preferred Units have voting rights that are identical to the voting rights of the common units into which such Preferred Units would be converted at the then-applicable conversion rate.

The Purchaser is entitled to receive quarterly distributions that represent an annual return of 9.5% on the Preferred Units. Of this 9.5% annual return, we are required to pay at least 2.5% in cash and will have the option to pay the remaining 7.0% in kind (in the form of issuing additional preferred units) for the first twelve quarters after the Closing Date.

After the third anniversary of the Closing Date, the Purchaser will have the option to convert the Preferred Units into common units on a one-for-one basis. If certain conditions are met after the third anniversary of the Closing Date, we will have the option to cause the Preferred Units to convert to common units. After the third anniversary of the Closing Date, we will also have the option to redeem the Preferred Units. We may redeem the Preferred Units (a) at any time after the third anniversary of the Closing Date and on or prior to the fourth anniversary of the Closing Date at a redemption price equal to 105% of the issue price, and (b) at any time after the fourth anniversary of the Closing Date at a redemption price equal to 101% of the issue price.

Earnings Per Unit

Our net income (loss) of these entities that is attributable and allocable to outside ownersthree ownership groups: (1) our preferred unitholder, (2) the noncontrolling interests in certain subsidiaries, and (3) our common unitholders. Income attributable to our preferred unitholder represents the 9.5% annual return to which the owner of the Preferred Units is reported inentitled. netNet income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests inrepresents 49% of the income generated by Brown and 51% of the income generated by CF Inspection. Net income attributable to common unitholders represents our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statementsremaining net income, after consideration of Operations,amounts attributable to our preferred unitholder and the portion of the net assets of these entities that is attributable to outside owners is reported in noncontrolling interests in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment consists of land, land and leasehold improvements, buildings, facilities, wells and related equipment, computer and office equipment, and vehicles. We record property and equipment at cost. Costs of renewals and improvements that substantially extend the useful lives of the assets are capitalized. Maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. We depreciate property and equipment on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Upon retirement or disposition of an asset, we remove the cost and related accumulated depreciation from the balance sheet and report the resulting gain or loss, if any, in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.interests.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

Identifiable Intangible AssetsBasic net income per common limited partner unit

Our intangible assets consist primarily of customer relationships, trade names, is calculated as net income attributable to common unitholders divided by the basic weighted average common units outstanding. Diluted net income per common limited partner unit includes the net income attributable to preferred unitholder and our database of inspectors. We recorded these intangible assets as part of our accounting for the acquisitions of businesses, and we amortize these assets on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, which typically range from 5 – 20 years.

We review our intangible assets for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the asset group to which they relate may be impaired. To perform an impairment assessment, we first determine whether the cash flows expected to be generated from the asset group exceed the carrying valuedilutive effect of the asset group. If such estimated cash flows do not exceed the carrying valuepotential conversion of the asset group, we reducepreferred units and the carrying valuesdilutive effect of the assets to their fair values and record a corresponding impairment loss.unvested equity compensation.

Goodwill

Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to an annual review for impairment on November 1 (or at other dates if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of goodwill may be impaired) at a reporting unit level. The reporting units used to evaluate and measure goodwill for impairment are determined primarily from the manner in which the business is managed or operated. We have determined that our PIS, IS, and W&ES segments are the appropriate reporting units for testing goodwill impairment.

To perform a goodwill impairment assessment, we perform an analysis to assess whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value. If we determine that it is more likely than not that the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, we reduce the carrying value of goodwill and record a corresponding impairment expense.

Impairments of Long-Lived Assets

We assess property and equipment for possible impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. Such indicators include, among others, the nature of the asset, the projected future economic benefit of the asset, changes in regulatory and political environments and historical and future cash flow and profitability measurements. If the carrying value of an asset exceeds the future undiscounted cash flows expected from the asset, we recognize an impairment charge for the excess of carrying value of the asset over its estimated fair value. Determination as to whether and how much an asset is impaired involves management estimates on highly uncertain matters such as future commodity prices, the effects of inflation on operating expenses, and the outlook for national or regional market supply and demand for the services we provide.

Accrued Payroll and Other

Accrued payroll and other on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets includes the following:

  September 30,
2017
  December 31,
2016
 
   (in thousands) 
         
Accrued payroll $9,975  $5,594 
Customer deposits  1,393   1,361 
Other  874   630 
  $12,242  $7,585 

Foreign Currency Translation

Our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are reported in U.S. dollars. We translate our Canadian-dollar-denominated assets and liabilities into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate in effect at the balance sheet date. We translate our Canadian-dollar-denominated revenues and expenses into U.S. dollars at the average exchange rate in effect during the period.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at September 30, 2017 includes $2.7 million of accumulated other comprehensive loss associated with accumulated currency translation adjustments, all of which relate to our Canadian operations. If at some point in the future we were to sell or substantially liquidate our Canadian operations, we would reclassify the balance in accumulated other comprehensive loss to other accounts within Partners’ capital, which would be reported in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations as a reduction to net income.

Our Canadian subsidiary has certain payables to our U.S.-based subsidiaries. These intercompany payables and receivables among our consolidated subsidiaries are eliminated in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Beginning April 1, 2017, we report currency translation adjustments on these intercompany payables and receivables within foreign currency gains in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations, with offsetting amounts reported within other comprehensive income (loss) in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).

Subordination

With the payment of the 2016 fourth quarter distribution and the fulfillment of other requirements associated with the termination of the subordination period, the Partnership emerged from subordination effective February 14, 2017, and the 5,913,000 subordinated units converted into common units on a one-for-one basis.

New Accounting Standards

In 2017, the Partnership adopted the following new accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”):

The FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-09 – Compensation – Stock Compensation in March 2016. This ASU gives entities the option to account for forfeitures of share-based awards when the forfeitures occur (previously, entities were required to estimate future forfeitures and reduce their share-based compensation expense accordingly). We adopted this new standard on January 1, 2017 and elected to account for forfeitures as they occur. The adoption of this ASU had no significant effect on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

The FASB issued ASU 2017-04 – Intangibles – Goodwill and Other in January 2017. The objective of this guidance is to simplify how an entity is required to calculate the amounts of goodwill impairments. We adopted this new standard effective January 1, 2017 in order to simplify the measurement process of any future impairments of goodwill. Under the new standard, we perform a goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit to its carrying amount. If the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value, we record a goodwill impairment charge for the excess (not exceeding the carrying value of the reporting unit’s goodwill).

Other accounting guidance proposed by the FASB that may impact our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements which we have not yet adopted include:

The FASB issued ASU 2016-02 – Leases in February 2016. This guidance attempts to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing certain lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The main difference between previous GAAP and this new guidance is the recognition on the balance sheet of certain lease assets and lease liabilities by lessees for those leases classified as operating leases under previous GAAP. The amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently examining the guidance provided in the ASU and determining the impact this guidance will have on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

The FASB issued ASU 2014-09 – Revenue from Contracts with Customers in May 2014. ASU 2014-09 is intended to clarify the principles for recognizing revenue and to develop a common standard for recognizing revenue for GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards that is applicable to all organizations. We will be required to adopt this standard in 2018 and to apply its provisions either retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented or prospectively with the cumulative effect of initially applying the ASU recognized at the date of initial application (modified retrospective method). Although we continue to evaluate the financial impact of this ASU on the Partnership, we currently plan to adopt this standard utilizing the modified retrospective method and do not anticipate that the adoption of this ASU will materially impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

3.Impairments

In the first quarter of 2017, the largest customer of TIR-Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of our PIS segment, completed a bid process and selected different service providers for its inspection projects. During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, pipeline inspection services to this customer accounted for approximately $18.8 million of revenue and $1.3 million of gross margin, which represented approximately 84% of the revenues and 89% of the gross margin of our Canadian operations (and approximately 9% of our consolidated revenues and 5% of our consolidated gross margin for the nine months ended September 30, 2017). In consideration of the loss of this contract, we recorded impairments to the carrying values of certain intangible assets of $1.3 million in the first quarter of 2017. Of this amount, $1.1 million related to customer relationships and $0.2 million related to trade names. Based on discounted cash flow calculations, which represent Level 3 non-recurring fair value adjustments, we concluded the fair value of the customer relationships and trade names was zero, and thus, have written off the full amounts. We continue to perform inspection and integrity work for customers in Canada (including integrity work for the customer referred to above).

In the first quarter of 2017, we recorded an impairment of $0.7 million to the property, plant and equipment at one of our SWD facilities. We have temporarily shut down the operations at this facility because of low volumes due to competition in the area and due to low levels of exploration and production activity near the facility. Because of the decline in revenues and the temporary shutdown of the facility, we performed a discounted cash flow calculation, which represents a Level 3 non-recurring fair value adjustment, concluding that the fair value of the facility was limited to the fair value of the land. As such, we recorded an impairment to reduce the carrying value of the facility to $0.1 million in the first quarter of 2017, all of which is attributable to land.

In the first quarter of 2017, we recorded an impairment of $1.6 million to the goodwill of our Integrity Services segment. Revenues of this segment were lower than we had expected for the first quarter of 2017. In addition, for this segment, the level of bidding activity for work is typically high in March and April, once customers have finalized their budgets for the upcoming year. While we won bids on a number of projects, and our backlog began to improve, the improvement in the backlog was slower than we had originally anticipated and we revised downward our expectations of the near-term operating results of the segment. For our goodwill impairment assessment, we calculated an estimated fair value of the Integrity Services segment using a discounted cash flow analysis. We prepared two calculations of cash flows for the next twelve months, one of which represented our estimate of the high end of the range of probable cash flows and the other of which represented our estimate of the low range of probable cash flows. We estimated cash flows for the following four years assuming a 2% increase in each succeeding year, to account for estimated inflation, and calculated a terminal value using a Gordon Growth model. We then discounted the future cash flows at a discount rate of 18%. The mid-point of the estimated fair values produced by these two calculations indicated that a full impairment of the value of the goodwill of the Integrity Services segment was warranted. These calculations represent Level 3 non-recurring fair value measurements. If anticipated operating results in this segment do not meet expectations, it is possible that finite-lived intangibles may also become impaired in the future.

In January 2017, a lightning strike at our Orla SWD facility initiated a fire that effectively destroyed the surface equipment at the facility. As a result, we wrote off the net book value of the surface equipment ($1.3 million) of the facility. In May 2017, we received $1.6 million of insurance proceeds. We recorded a gain of $0.3 million in losses on asset disposals, net on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations in the second quarter of 2017 for the difference between the proceeds received and the net book value of the property that was destroyed. During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, we incurred approximately $0.2 million of temporary setup and other costs associated with this incident that are not recoverable through insurance. These expenses are reported within losses on asset disposals, net in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

In July 2017, a lightning strike at our Grassy Butte SWD facility initiated a fire that effectively destroyed the surface equipment at the facility. As a result of previously-recorded impairments, the net book value of the property, plant and equipment at this facility was $0 at the time of the fire. During the three months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded $0.2 million of expense associated with cleanup costs that are not recoverable from insurance, which is reported within losses on asset disposals, net in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. At September 30, 2017, we recorded a receivable of $0.1 million for expected insurance recoveries, which is reported within prepaid expenses and other on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.  In November 2017, we reached agreement with an insurer under which we expect to receive $0.7 million of insurance proceeds during the three months ending December 31, 2017 as partial payment for our property damage and property cleanup claims associated with this incident. We expect to record a $0.6 million gain upon receipt of these proceeds.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

4.Credit Agreement

We are party to a credit agreement (as amended, the “Credit Agreement”) that provides up to $200.0 million in borrowing capacity, subject to certain limitations. The Credit Agreement includes a working capital revolving credit facility (“Working Capital Facility”), which provides up to $75.0 million in borrowing capacity to fund working capital needs, and an acquisition revolving credit facility (“Acquisition Facility”), which provides up to $125.0 million in borrowing capacity to fund acquisitions and expansion projects. In addition, the Credit Agreement provides for an accordion feature that allows us to increase the availability under the facilities by an additional $125.0 million if lenders agree to increase their commitments. The Credit Agreement matures December 24, 2018.

Outstanding borrowings at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 under the Credit Agreement were as follows:

  September 30,
2017
  December 31,
2016
 
   (in thousands) 
         
Working Capital Facility $48,000  $48,000 
Acquisition Facility  88,900   88,900 
Total borrowings  136,900   136,900 
Debt issuance costs  (758)  (1,201)
Long-term debt $136,142  $135,699 

 

The carrying valuefollowing table summarizes the calculation of the partnership’s long-term debt approximates fair value as the borrowings under the Credit Agreement are considered to be priced at market for debt instruments having similar terms and conditions (Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy).

Borrowings under the Working Capital Facility arebasic net income per common limited by a monthly borrowing base calculation as defined in the Credit Agreement. If, at any time, outstanding borrowings under the Working Capital Facility exceed our calculated borrowing base, a principal payment in the amount of the excess is due upon submission of the borrowing base calculation. Available borrowings under the Acquisition Facility may be limited by certain financial covenant ratios as defined in the Credit Agreement. The obligations under our Credit Agreement are secured by a first priority lien on substantially all of our assets.

All borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest, at our option, on a leveraged based grid pricing at (i) a base rate plus a margin of 1.25% to 2.75% per annum (“Base Rate Borrowing”) or (ii) an adjusted LIBOR rate plus a margin of 2.25% to 3.75% per annum (“LIBOR Borrowings”). The applicable margin is determined based on the leverage ratio of the Partnership, as defined in the Credit Agreement. Generally, the interest rate on our Credit Agreement borrowings ranged between 3.90% and 4.99% for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 3.54% and 4.28% for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. Interest on Base Rate Borrowings is payable monthly. Interest on LIBOR Borrowings is paid upon maturity of the underlying LIBOR contract, but no less often than quarterly. Commitment fees are charged at a rate of 0.50% on any unused credit and are payable quarterly. Interest paid during the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 was $1.7 million and $1.6 million, respectively, including commitment fees. Interest paid during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 was $5.0 million and $4.3 million, respectively, including commitment fees.

Our Credit Agreement contains various customary affirmative and negative covenants and restrictive provisions. Our Credit Agreement also requires maintenance of certain financial covenants, including a combined total adjusted leverage ratio (as defined in our Credit Agreement) of not more than 4.0 to 1.0 and an interest coverage ratio (as defined in our Credit Agreement) of not less than 3.0 to 1.0. At September 30, 2017, our combined total adjusted leverage ratio was 3.77 to 1.0 and our interest coverage ratio was 3.08 to 1.0, pursuant to the Credit Agreement. Upon the occurrence and during the continuation of an event of default, subject to the terms and conditions of our Credit Agreement, the lenders may declare any outstanding principal of our Credit Agreement debt, together with accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable and may exercise the other remedies set forth or referred to in our Credit Agreement. We were in compliance with all debt covenants as of September 30, 2017. Working capital borrowings, which are fully secured by our net working capital, are subject to a monthly borrowing base and are excluded from our debt compliance ratios.

In addition, our Credit Agreement restricts our ability to make distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, our equity interests. However, we may make distributions of available cash so long as, both at the time of the distribution and after giving effect to the distribution, no default exists under our Credit Agreement, the borrowers and the guarantors are in compliance with the financial covenants, the borrowing base (which includes 100% of cash on hand) exceeds the amount of outstanding credit extensions under the Working Capital Facility by at least $5.0 million and at least $5.0 million in lender commitments are available to be drawn under the Working Capital Facility.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Our Credit Agreement matures on December 24, 2018 and, although unfavorable financial results may impact our ability to meet our current debt covenants, we believe it is probable that we will be able to maintain compliance with the financial ratio covenants through the maturity date of the Credit Agreement through some combination of 1) improved operating results, 2) refinancing the Credit Agreement, and/or 3) future sponsor support from Holdings.

We plan to improve our operating results through a combination of 1) enhanced business development efforts in our Pipeline Inspection Services and Integrity Services segments, including our continued focus on higher margin services, 2) the re-opening of our Orla, TX and our Grassy Butte, ND SWD facilities that were struck by lightning earlier this year; 3) enhancing our SWD activities due to additional drilling and completion activities in both the Permian and Bakken regions; and 4) capital expansion in our Water and Environmental Services segment (specifically, we are in the process of building a water gathering system at one of our North Dakota facilities).

In anticipation of the Credit Agreement maturing in December 2018, we have an executed mandate and term sheet with the lead bank in the Credit Agreement regarding a refinancing of the Credit Agreement, subject to syndication. The new credit agreement will require a reduction in our current outstanding debt balance and will have modified financial ratio covenants. The term sheet provides for conditions precedent to reduce the principal balance, which may include some combination of 1) using cash currently on the balance sheet; 2) issuing some sort of equity to the owners of Holdings or third parties; 3) issuing convertible debt to the owners of Holdings or third parties; 4) monetizing a portion of our investment-grade accounts receivable with Holdings or a third-party; and/or 5) asset sales of some of our SWD facilities. Although it is our intent to refinance our Credit Agreement under the executed term sheet, we can offer no assurances that the refinancing of our Credit Agreement will be consummated under terms acceptable to us given the conditions precedent outlined in the term sheet.

Holdings has continued to support the Partnership during the oil and gas economic downturn and has provided sponsor support of $6.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2016 and $2.8 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2017. The owners of Holdings, who collectively own approximately 64% of our common units, remain incentivized and have the financial wherewithal to continue to support us in order to maintain compliance with the financial ratio covenants through the maturity date of the Credit Agreement.

5.Income Taxes

The income tax expense (benefit) reported in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operationspartner unit for the three and nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016 differs from2018:

  Three Months Ended September 30  Nine Months Ended September 30 
  2019  2018  2019  2018 
  (in thousands, except per unit data) 
Net income attributable to common unitholders $3,813  $3,620  $8,713  $7,385 
Weighted average common units outstanding  12,065   11,940   12,030   11,924 
Basic net income per common limited partner unit $0.32  $0.30  $0.72  $0.62 

The following table summarizes the statutory tax ratecalculation of 35% due to the fact that, as a partnership, we are generally not subject to U.S. federal or statediluted net income taxes. Our income tax provision relates primarilyper common limited partner unit for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018:

  Three Months Ended September 30  Nine Months Ended September 30 
  2019  2018  2019  2018 
  (in thousands, except per unit data) 
Net income attributable to common unitholders $3,813  $3,620  $8,713  $7,385 
Net income attributable to preferred unitholder  1,033   1,045   3,099   1,412 
Net income attributable to limited partners $4,846  $4,665  $11,812  $8,797 
                 
Weighted average common units outstanding  12,065   11,940   12,030   11,924 
Effect of dilutive securities:                
Weighted average preferred units outstanding  5,769   5,769   5,769   2,628 
Long-term incentive plan unvested units  516   431   408   418 
Diluted weighted average common units outstanding  18,350   18,140   18,207   14,970 
Diluted net income per common limited partner unit $0.26  $0.26  $0.65  $0.59 

Cash Distributions

The following table summarizes the cash distributions declared and paid to our corporate subsidiaries that service public utility customers, which are subject to U.S. federalcommon unitholders for 2018 and state income taxes, our Canadian subsidiary, which is subject to Canadian federal and provincial income taxes, and to certain other state income taxes, including the Texas franchise tax.2019:

Payment Date Per Unit Cash
Distributions
  Total Cash
Distributions
  Total Cash
Distributions
to Affiliates (a)
 
     (in thousands) 
February 14, 2018 $0.21  $2,498  $1,599 
May 15, 2018  0.21   2,506   1,604 
August 14, 2018  0.21   2,506   1,604 
November 14, 2018  0.21   2,509   1,606 
Total 2018 Distributions $0.84  $10,019  $6,413 
             
February 14, 2019 $0.21  $2,510  $1,606 
May 15, 2019  0.21   2,531   1,622 
August 14, 2019  0.21   2,534   1,624 
November 14, 2019 (b)  0.21   2,534   1,627 
Total 2019 Distributions (to date) $0.84  $10,109  $6,479 

 

6.(a)Equity Compensation64% of the Partnership’s outstanding common units at September 30, 2019 were held by affiliates.
(b)Third quarter 2019 distribution was declared and will be paid in the fourth quarter of 2019.

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table summarizes the distributions paid to our preferred unitholder for 2018 and 2019:

Payment Date Cash
Distributions
  Paid-in-Kind
Distributions
  Total
Distributions
 
  (in thousands) 
November 14, 2018 (a) $1,412  $  $1,412 
Total 2018 Distributions $1,412  $  $1,412 
             
February 14, 2019 $1,033  $  $1,033 
May 15, 2019  1,033      1,033 
August 14, 2019  1,033      1,033 
November 14, 2019 (b)  1,033      1,033 
Total 2019 Distributions  $4,132  $  $4,132 

(a)This distribution relates to the period from May 29, 2018 (date of preferred unit issuance) through September 30, 2018.
(b)Third quarter 2019 distribution was declared and will be paid in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Equity Compensation

 

Our General Partner has adopted a long-term incentive plan (“LTIP”) that authorizes the issuance of up to 1,182,6002.5 million common units. Certain directors and employees of the Partnership have been awarded Phantom Restricted Unitsphantom restricted units (“Units”) under the terms of the LTIP. The fair valueLTIP in the form of thetime-based unit awards is determined based on the quoted market value of the publicly-traded common units at each grant date, adjusted for certain discounts. Compensation expense is recorded on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the grant.(“Service Units”), performance-based unit awards (“Performance Units”) and market-based unit awards (“Market Units”). We recorded expense of $1.1$0.7 million and $0.7$0.9 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016,2018, respectively, related to the Unit awards. During November 2017, an officer with 76,345 unvested LTIP units resigned. During the three months ending December 31, 2017, we expect to record a reduction to expense of $0.3 million related to the forfeiture of these units upon this officer’s departure.

 

The following table summarizes the LTIPTime-Based Unit activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016:

  Nine Months Ended September 30, 
  2017  2016 
             
   Number of Units   Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value / Unit   Number of Units   Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value / Unit 
                 
 Units at January 1  573,902  $9.86   361,698  $14.30 
 Units granted  249,120  $7.11   336,847  $6.34 
 Units vested and issued  (43,930) $16.56   (34,023) $10.33 
 Units forfeited  (39,722) $8.51   (62,951) $10.93 
 Units at June 30  739,370  $8.61   601,571  $10.42 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.Awards

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

The majority of the awardsService Units vest in three tranches, with one-third of the units vesting three years from the grant date, one-third vesting four years from the grant date, and one-third vesting five years from the grant date.date, contingent only on the continued service of the recipients through the vesting dates. However, certain of the awardsService Units have different, and typically shorter, vesting periods. For twoThe fair value of the Service Units is determined based on the quoted market value of the publicly-traded common units at the grant date, adjusted for a discount to reflect the fact that distributions are not paid on the Service Units during the vesting period. We recognize compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the grant. We account for forfeitures when they occur. Total unearned compensation associated with the Service Units at September 30, 2019 was $2.7 million with an average remaining life of 2.1 years. The following table summarizes the activity of the Service Units for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018:

  Nine Months Ended September 30, 
  2019  2018 
       Weighted       Weighted 
       Average       Average 
       Grant       Grant 
   Number     Date Fair   Number     Date Fair 
   of Units   Value / Unit   of Units   Value / Unit 
Unvested units at January 1  873,061  $5.83   587,014  $8.56 
Units granted  201,306  $4.40   396,484  $3.24 
Units vested  (140,556) $8.56   (68,038) $14.10 
Units forfeited  (61,774) $6.22   (44,383) $5.76 
                 
Unvested units at September 30  872,037  $5.04   871,077  $5.85 

Performance-Based Unit Awards – We have issued grants which total 77,495of Performance Units that vest three years from the grant date. Upon vesting, the recipient is entitled to receive a number of common units equal to a percentage of the units granted, based on the recipient meeting various performance targets in addition to the service condition.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

In addition, in the third quarter of 2019, we granted Performance Units to certain employees that are subject to performance conditions in addition to the service condition. These Performance Units will vest in April 2022, April 2023, April 2024, or not at all, depending on our performance relative to a specified profitability target. We recognize compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the estimated vesting isperiod of the grant. We adjust the life-to-date expense recognized for the Performance Units for any changes in our estimates of the number of units that will vest and the timing of vesting. We account for forfeitures when they occur. The Performance Units granted in the third quarter of 2019 had an estimated grant date fair value of $4.19 per unit and are being expensed over a service period of 3.73 years.

Total unearned compensation associated with the Performance Units at September 30, 2019 was $0.4 million with an average remaining life of 2.88 years. The unvested Performance Units at September 30, 2019 also include one grant of 72,046 units that vests in November 2021, contingent upon the recipient meeting certain specified performance targets. DistributionsThe following table summarizes the activity of the Performance Units for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018:

  Nine Months Ended September 30, 
  2019  2018 
       Weighted       Weighted 
       Average       Average 
       Grant       Grant 
   Number     Date Fair   Number     Date Fair 
   of Units   Value / Unit   of Units   Value / Unit 
Unvested units at January 1  101,648  $5.11   77,495  $7.75 
Units granted  89,402  $4.19     $ 
Units vested  (6,167) $6.54   (7,184) $8.49 
Units forfeited  (24,310) $6.45   (40,709) $8.49 
                 
Unvested units at September 30  160,573  $4.34   29,602  $6.54 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Market-Based Unit Awards – In the third quarter of 2019, we granted Units that are subject to market conditions in addition to the service condition (the “Market Units”). One-half of the Market Units will vest in April 2022, April 2023, April 2024, or not paidat all, depending on unvestedthe market value of our common units relative to specified targets on those dates. These Market Units duringhad an estimated fair value on the vesting period.grant date of $3.51 per unit and will be expensed over a derived service period of 2.73 years. One-half of the Market Units will vest in April 2022, April 2023, April 2024, or not at all, depending on the yield on our common units relative to specified targets on those dates. These Market Units granted in 2019 had an estimated fair value on the grant date of $3.58 per unit and will be expensed over a derived service period of 2.73 years. Compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over a derived service period, regardless of when, if ever, the market condition is satisfied. Total unearned compensation associated with the Unit awards was $3.8 millionMarket Units at September 30, 2017, and the awards had2019 was $0.3 million with an average remaining life of 2.292.5 years. The following table summarizes the activity of the Market Units for the nine months ended September 30, 2019:

 

7.Related-Party Transactions
  Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2019
 
     Weighted 
     Average 
     Grant 
  Number  Date Fair 
  of Units  Value / Unit 
Unvested units at January 1       
Units granted  89,403  $3.54 
Units vested       
Units forfeited  (875) $3.54 
Unvested units at September 30  88,528  $3.54 

 

6. Related-Party Transactions

Omnibus Agreement and Other Support from Holdings

 

We are party to an omnibus agreement with Holdings and other related parties. The omnibus agreement governs the following matters, among other things:

 

 our payment of a quarterlyan annual administrative fee in the amount of $1.0$4.5 million (or approximately $1.1 million per quarter) to Holdings, for providing certain partnership overhead services, including certain executive management services by certain officers of our General Partner, and payroll services for substantially all employees required to manage and operate our businesses.Partner. This fee also includes the incremental general and administrative expenses we incur as a result of being a publicly-traded partnership.  For the three months ended September 30, 2017, this fee was paid to Holdings in accordance with its termspublicly traded partnership; and conditions.  For the six months ended June 30, 2017 and for the year ended December 31, 2016, Holdings provided sponsor support to the Partnership by waiving payment of the quarterly administrative fee;

 

 our right of first offer on Holdings’ and its subsidiaries’ assets used in, and entities primarily engaged in, providing SWDsaltwater disposal and other water and environmental services; and

indemnification of us by Holdings for certain environmental and other liabilities, including events and conditions associated with the operation of assets that occurred prior to the closing of the IPO and our obligation to indemnify Holdings for events and conditions associated with the operation of our assets that occur after the closing of the IPO and for environmental liabilities related to our assets to the extent Holdings is not required to indemnify us.services.

 

So long as affiliates of Holdings controlcontrols our General Partner, the omnibus agreement will remain in full force and effect, unless we and Holdings agree to terminate it sooner. If affiliates of Holdings ceaseceases to control our General Partner, either party may terminate the omnibus agreement, provided that the indemnification obligations will remain in full force and effect in accordance with their terms.agreement. We and Holdings may agree to further amend the omnibus agreement; however, amendments that the General Partner determines are adverse to our unitholders will also require the approval of the Conflicts Committee of our Board of Directors.

As part of our new Credit Agreement, Holdings incurred expenses of $0.9 million onagreed to waive the omnibus fee to support us in the event our behalfleverage ratio were to exceed 3.75 times our trailing twelve-month Adjusted EBITDA at any quarter-end during the three months ended September 30, 2016,term of the facility.


In an effort to simplify this arrangement so it will be easier for investors to understand, in November 2019, with the approval of the Conflicts Committee of the Board of Directors, we and $1.8 millionHoldings agreed to terminate the management fee provisions of the Omnibus Agreement, effective December 31, 2019. Beginning on January 1, 2020, the executive management services and $2.9 million on our behalf during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. These expenses are reported within general and administrative in the accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and as contributions from general partner in the accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Owners’ Equity.

In addition to funding certainother general and administrative expenses onthat Holdings currently incurs and charges to us via the annual administrative fee will be charged directly to us as they are incurred. Under our behalf, Holdings contributed $1.0 millioncurrent cost structure, we expect these direct expenses to be lower than the annual administrative fee that we are currently paying, although we expect to experience more variability in our quarterly general and $0.5 million duringadministrative expense when we are incurring the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, andexpenses directly than when we paid a total of $2.5 million in cash for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 attributable to the General Partner as a reimbursement of certain expenditures previously incurred by the Partnership. These payments are reflected as contributions attributable to general partner in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Owners’ Equity and as components of the net loss attributable to the general partner in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2017 and 2016.consistent administrative fee each quarter.

 

Total support from Holdings attributable to non-cash allocated expenses and the reimbursement of certain expenditures was $1.0 million and $2.8 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and $1.4 million and $5.4 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016.

Alati Arnegard, LLC

 

We provideThe Partnership provides management services to a 25% owned entity,company, Alati Arnegard, LLC (“Arnegard”). Management fee revenue earned, which is part of the Environmental Services segment. We recorded earnings from Arnegard totaled $0.2this investment of less than $0.1 million and $0.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and $0.5 million and $0.4$0.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016,2018, respectively. These earnings are recorded in other, net in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and equity in earnings of investee in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Management fee revenue earned from Arnegard is included in revenue in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and totaled $0.5 million for each of the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018. Accounts receivable from Arnegard weretotaled $0.1 million at both September 30, 20172019 and December 31, 2016,2018, and areis included in trade accounts receivable, net inon the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Our investment in Arnegard was $0.3 million at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, and is included in other assets on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

8.Earnings per Unit and Cash Distributions

CF Inspection Management, LLC

 

Our net income (loss)We have also entered into a joint venture with CF Inspection, a nationally-qualified woman-owned inspection firm affiliated with one of Holdings’ owners and a Director of our General Partner. CF Inspection allows us to offer various services to clients that require the services of an approved Women’s Business Enterprise (“WBE”), as CF Inspection is attributablecertified as a Women’s Business Enterprise by the Supplier Clearinghouse in California and allocable to several types of owners. Income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests representsas a National Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. We own 49% of CF Inspection and Cynthia A. Field, an affiliate of Holdings and a Director of our General Partner, owns the income of Brown andremaining 51% of the income of CF Inspection. Net loss attributable to the general partner includes expenses incurred by Holdings and not charged to us, as well as contributions for reimbursements of expenses made to us by Holdings. Income attributable to common and subordinated units represents the remaining net income (loss), after consideration of amounts attributable to noncontrolling interests and to the general partner; such amounts were allocated to common and subordinated units ratably based on the weighted-average number of such units outstanding during the relevant time period. In February 2017, all of the outstanding subordinated units converted into common units. Since the subordinated units did not share in the distribution of cash generated subsequent to December 31, 2016, we did not allocate any income or loss after that date to the subordinated units.

Diluted net income (loss) per common and subordinated unit includes the dilutive impact of unvested unit awards granted as share-based compensation to employees and directors. Such awards had no dilutive effect duringFor the nine months ended September 30, 2016 as2019, CF Inspection, which is part of the Pipeline Inspection segment, represented approximately 3.0% of our consolidated revenue.

Sale of Preferred Equity

As described in Note 5, we incurred net losses attributableissued and sold $43.5 million of preferred equity to limited partnersan affiliate in May 2018.

7. Commitments and Contingencies

Security Deposits during those periods.

 

The following table summarizes the cash distributions declared and paid to our limited partners since our IPO.

Payment Date Per Unit Cash Distributions  Total Cash  Distributions  Total Cash  Distributions to Affiliates (a) 
  (in thousands) 
    
May 15, 2014 (b) $0.301389  $3,565  $2,264 
August 14, 2014  0.396844   4,693   2,980 
November 14, 2014  0.406413   4,806   3,052 
Total 2014 Distributions  1.104646   13,064   8,296 
             
February 14, 2015  0.406413   4,806   3,052 
May 14, 2015  0.406413   4,808   3,053 
August 14, 2015  0.406413   4,809   3,087 
November 13, 2015  0.406413   4,809   3,092 
Total 2015 Distributions  1.625652   19,232   12,284 
             
February 12, 2016  0.406413   4,810   3,107 
May 13, 2016  0.406413   4,812   3,099 
August 12, 2016  0.406413   4,817   3,103 
November 14, 2016  0.406413   4,819   3,105 
Total 2016 Distributions  1.625652   19,258   12,414 
             
February 13, 2017  0.406413   4,823   3,107 
May 15, 2017  0.210000   2,495   1,606 
August 14, 2017  0.210000   2,495   1,607 
November 14, 2017 (c)  0.210000   2,497   1,608 
   1.036413   12,310   7,928 
             
Total Distributions (through November 14, 2017 since IPO) $5.392363  $63,864  $40,922 

(a)Approximately 64.4% of the Partnership’s outstanding common units at September 30, 2017 were held by affiliates.
(b)Distribution was pro-rated from the date of our IPO through March 31, 2014.
(c)Third quarter 2017 distribution was declared and will be paid in the fourth quarter of 2017.

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

9.Commitments and Contingencies

Security Deposits

We havePartnership has various performance obligations whichthat are secured with short-term security deposits (reflected as restricted cash equivalents in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of $0.5Cash Flows) totaling $0.6 million at September 30, 20172019 and December 31, 2016,2018. These amounts are included in prepaid expenses and other on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Employment Contract Commitments

We have employment agreements with certain members of management. These agreements provide for minimum annual compensation for specified terms, after which employment will continue on an “at will” basis. Certain agreements provide for severance payments in the event of specified termination of employment. At September 30, 2017, the aggregate commitment for future compensation and severance was approximately $0.7 million.

Compliance Audit Contingencies

 

Certain customer master service agreements (“MSA’s”) offer our customers the opportunity to perform periodic compliance audits, which include the examination of the accuracy of our invoices. Should our invoices be determined to be inconsistent with the MSA, or inaccurate, the MSA’s may provide the customer the right to receive a credit or refund for any overcharges identified. At any given time, we may have multiple audits outstanding. Atongoing. As of September 30, 2017, the Partnership had an estimated liability2019 and December 31, 2018, we established a reserve of $0.1 million recorded for suchpotential liabilities related to these compliance audit contingencies.

 

Legal Proceedings

 

On July 3, 2014, a group of former minority shareholders of Tulsa Inspection Resources, Inc. (“TIR Inc.”), formerly an Oklahoma corporation, filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (the “District Court”) againstFithian v. TIR LLC members of TIR LLC, and certain affiliates of TIR LLC’s members. TIR LLC is the successor in interest to TIR Inc., resulting from a merger of the entities. The former shareholders of TIR Inc. claim that they did not receive sufficient value for their shares and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. All claims against TIR LLC have been resolved by the District Court in TIR LLC’s favor, subject to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and plaintiffs have abandoned their claim for rescission of the merger. The remaining claims, none of which are asserted against the Partnership nor any subsidiary of the Partnership including TIR LLC, were adjudicated at jury trial that began on September 5, 2017. On September 14, 2017, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the defendants, finding that the value paid to the plaintiffs was fair and awarding them no damages.

 

On October 5, 2017, a former inspector for TIR LLC and Cypress Energy Management - TIR, LLC ("(“CEM TIR"TIR”) filed a putative collective action lawsuit alleging that TIR LLC, CEM TIR and Cypress Energy Partners – Texas, LLC failed to pay a class of workers overtime in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) titled James Fithian, et al v. TIR LLC, et al in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland Division. The plaintiff allegessubsequently withdrew his action and filed a similar action in Oklahoma State Court, District of Tulsa County. The plaintiff alleged he was a non-exempt employee of CEM TIR LLC and that he and other potential class members were not paid overtime in compliance with the FLSA. The plaintiff seekssought to proceed as a collective action and to receive unpaid overtime and other monetary damages, including attorney’s fees. The Partnership, TIR LLC, CEM TIR and Cypress Energy Partners – Texas, LLC denydenied the claims.

 

Internal Revenue Service Audit

In January 2016, we received notice fromOn March 28, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) that conveyed its intentcourt granted a joint stipulation of dismissal without prejudice in regard to auditTIR LLC and Cypress Energy Partners – Texas, LLC, as neither of those parties were employers of the consolidated income tax return of one of our predecessor entities forplaintiff or the 2012 tax year. This audit concludedputative class members during the third quartertime period that is the subject of 2017 withthe lawsuit. On July 26, 2018, the plaintiff filed a motion for conditional class certification. CEM TIR subsequently filed pleadings opposing the motion. On January 25, 2019, the court denied the plaintiff’s motion for conditional class certification. On June 10, 2019, the court entered a scheduling order that proscribed, among other things, that the deadline for additional parties to join the lawsuit of August 1, 2019, and that the parties participate in a settlement conference or mediation no material effect onlater than September 1, 2019. After the Partnership or its subsidiaries.deadline, plaintiff’s counsel submitted consents for five additional inspectors to join the lawsuit, to which CEM TIR objected. On August 28, 2019, the parties participated in a settlement conference in which no settlement was reached. Subsequent to the settlement conference, CEM-TIR submitted offers of judgment in immaterial amounts to the named plaintiff and the two opt-in plaintiffs. All plaintiffs accepted the settlement offers. CEM TIR’s counterclaim against Mr. Fithian remains outstanding.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Sun Mountain LLC v. TIR-PUC

On February 27, 2019, Sun Mountain LLC (“Sun Mountain”), a subcontractor of TIR-PUC, filed a lawsuit alleging that TIR-PUC failed to pay invoices amounting to approximately $3.5 million for services subcontracted to Sun Mountain under TIR-PUC’s agreement to provide services to Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Sun Mountain filed the action in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. TIR-PUC denied that such amounts were owed, as conditions to TIR-PUC’s obligation to make the payments were not met. The full amount of these invoices is included within accounts payable on the accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018. TIR-PUC denied the claims. On October 22, 2019, the parties participated in a settlement conference at which the parties agreed to settle the lawsuit. As part of the settlement, TIR-PUC will make specified cash payments in November 2019, January 2020, and July 2020. We expect to record a gain of $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 related to this settlement.

Other

From time to time, we are subject to various claims, lawsuits and other legal proceedings brought or threatened against us in the ordinary course of our business. These actions and proceedings may seek, among other things, compensation for alleged personal injury, workers' compensation, employment discrimination and other employment-related damages, breach of contract, property damage, environmental liabilities, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liabilities, punitive damages and civil penalties or other losses, liquidated damages, consequential damages, or injunctive or declaratory relief. We have been and may in the future be subject to litigation involving allegations of violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws. In addition, we generally indemnify our customers for claims related to the services we provide and actions we take under our contracts, including claims regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws, and, in some instances, we may be allocated risk through our contract terms for actions by our customers or other third parties. Claims related to the Fair Labor Standards Act are generally not covered by insurance.

8. Sale of Saltwater Disposal Facilities

In 2018, we sold our subsidiaries Cypress Energy Partners – Orla SWD, LLC (“Orla”) and Cypress Energy Partners – Pecos SWD, LLC (“Pecos”), each of which owned a saltwater disposal facility in Texas, in separate transactions to unrelated parties for a combined $12.2 million of cash proceeds and a royalty interest in the future revenues of the Pecos facility. We recorded a combined gain on these transactions of $3.6 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, which represented the excess of the cash proceeds over the net book value of the assets sold. These gains are reported within gain on asset disposals, net in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. The net book value of the assets sold included $5.0 million of allocated goodwill, calculated based on the estimated fair value of the Orla and Pecos facilities relative to the estimated fair value of the Environmental Services reporting unit as a whole. This calculation is considered Level 3 and the fair values included in this calculation were determined utilizing estimated discounted cash flows of the Orla and Pecos facilities and the Environmental Services reporting unit as a whole as of the date of sale. We used the proceeds from these transactions to reduce our outstanding debt.

9. Leases

We determine if an agreement contains a lease at the inception of the arrangement. If an arrangement is determined to contain a lease, we classify the lease as an operating lease or a finance lease depending on the terms of the arrangement. Right-of-use (“ROU”) assets represent the right to use an underlying asset for the lease term, and lease liabilities represent the obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. These assets and liabilities are initially recognized based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term calculated using our incremental borrowing rate, unless the implicit rate is readily determinable. Lease assets also include any upfront lease payments made and exclude lease incentives. The lease terms of our leases include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that those options will be exercised.

Practical Expedients and Accounting Policy Elections

We made accounting policy elections to not capitalize leases with a lease term of twelve months or less and to not separate lease and non-lease components for all asset classes. We also elected the package of practical expedients within ASU 2016-02 that allows an entity to not reassess prior to the effective date (i) whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases, (ii) the lease classification for any expired or existing leases, or (iii) initial direct costs for any existing leases, but did not elect the practical expedient of hindsight when determining the lease term of existing contracts at the effective date.

Discount Rate

Our lease agreements do not generally provide an implicit interest rate. As a result, we are required to use our incremental borrowing rate as the discount rate in calculating the present value of the lease payments. The incremental borrowing rate is the estimated rate of interest that we would have to pay to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Operating Leases

Our operating leases include leases for office space and land lease agreements for four of our saltwater disposal facilities. Our lease for our office space headquarters constitutes $2.9 million of our Operating ROU asset at September 30, 2019 of $3.1 million. The lease expires in November of 2024 unless terminated earlier with a payment of a penalty under certain circumstances specified in our lease. In the determination of the lease term for this lease, we concluded the lease term would continue through November 2024 as it was not reasonably certain at the inception of the agreement that we would exercise any of the termination options in the agreement. As of September 30, 2019, the weighted average remaining lease term and weighted average discount rate for our operating leases was 5.4 years and 6.1%, respectively. Our operating leases are reflected as operating lease right-of-use assets within noncurrent assets and operating lease obligations within current and noncurrent liabilities on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at September 30, 2019.

Our operating lease obligations at September 30, 2019 with terms that are greater than one year mature as follows (in thousands):

Remainder of 2019  $109 
2020   680 
2021   679 
2022   679 
2023   679 
Thereafter   720 
Total lease payments  $3,546 
Less imputed interest   (542)
Total operating lease obligation  $3,004 

Finance Leases

Our finance leases primarily include leases for vehicles. As of September 30, 2019, the weighted average remaining lease term and weighted average discount rate for our finance leases was 3.2 years and 5.9%, respectively. Our finance leases are reflected as finance lease right-of-use assets, net within noncurrent assets and finance lease obligations within current and noncurrent liabilities on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at September 30, 2019. Our finance lease obligations at September 30, 2019 with terms that are greater than one year mature as follows (in thousands):

Remainder of 2019  $50 
2020   193 
2021   184 
2022   124 
2023   33 
Thereafter    
Total lease payments  $584 
Less imputed interest   (51)
Total finance lease obligation  $533 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Lease Expense Components

During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, our lease expense consists of the following components (in thousands):

  Nine Months Ended 
  September 30, 2019 
Finance lease expense:    
Amortization of right-of-use assets $124 
Interest on lease liabilities  23 
Operating lease expense  507 
Short-term lease expense - general and administrative  77 
Short-term lease expense - costs of services (a)  2,397 
Variable lease expense  7 
Sublease income - related parties  (25)
Total lease expense $3,110 

 

(a)10.Reportable SegmentsThese short-term lease expenses are included in costs of services within our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. These expenses include the rental of compressors, dryers, vehicles, frac tanks, launchers, receivers and various other types of equipment. These rentals have lease terms of one year or less.

 

Our10. Reportable Segments

The Partnership’s operations consist of three reportable segments: (i) Pipeline Inspection Services (“PIS”Pipeline Inspection”), (ii) IntegrityPipeline & Process Services (“IS”), and (iii) Water and Environmental Services (“W&ES”Environmental Services”).

 

PISPipeline Inspection ThisWe generate revenue in this segment represents our pipeline inspectionprimarily by providing essential environmental services operations. This segment provides independentincluding inspection and integrity services to various energy, public utility, and pipeline companies. The inspectors in this segment performon a variety of inspection services oninfrastructure assets including midstream pipelines, gathering systems, and distribution systems, includingsystems. Services include non-destructive examination, inline support, pig tracking, survey, data gathering and supervision of third-party construction, inspection, and maintenance and repair projects.contractors. Our results in this segment are driven primarily by the number and type of inspectors performingthat perform services for our customers and the fees chargedthat we charge for those services, which depend on the type, skills, technology, equipment, and number of inspectors used on a particular project, the nature of the project, and the duration of the projects.project. The number of inspectors engaged on projects is driven by the type of project, prevailing market rates, the age and condition of customers’ assets including pipelines, gas plants, compression stations, storage facilities, and gathering and distribution systems including the legal and regulatory requirements relating to the inspection and maintenance of those assets. We also bill our customers for per diem charges, mileage, and other reimbursement items. Revenue and costs in this segment may be subject to seasonal variations and interim activity may not be indicative of yearly activity, considering that many of our customers develop yearly operating budgets and enter into contracts with us for work to be performed during the remainder of the year. Additionally, inspection work throughout the United States during the winter months (especially in the northern states) may be hampered or delayed due to inclement weather, thus affecting our revenue and costs. During the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, we recognized $0.2 million and $0.5 million of revenue, respectively, on services performed in previous years. We had constrained recognition of this revenue until the expiration of a contract provision that had given the customer the opportunity to reopen negotiation of the fee paid for the services. As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, we recognized a refund liability of $0.4 million for revenue associated with such variable consideration. In October 2019, we received a signed contract modification from one of our customers for a price increase that is retroactive to June 2019. We will record $0.6 million as a catch-up adjustment to revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 related to this retroactive price increase.

 

IS Pipeline & Process Services– This segment provides independentessential environmental services including hydrostatic testing integrity services and chemical cleaning to major natural gas and petroleum pipelineenergy companies and to pipeline construction companies located throughout the United States. Field personnelof newly-constructed and existing pipelines and related infrastructure. We generally charge our customers in this segment primarily perform hydrostatic testing on newly-constructeda fixed-bid basis, depending on the size and existing natural gaslength of the pipeline being tested, the complexity of services provided, and petroleum pipelines. Resultsthe utilization of our work force and equipment. Our results in this segment are driven primarily by the number of field personnel performingthat perform services for our customers and the fees chargedthat we charge for those services, which depend on the type and number of field personnel used on a particular project, the type of equipment used and the fees charged for the utilization of that equipment, and the nature scope, and duration of the projects.project. Revenue and costs in this segment may be subject to seasonal variations and interim activity may not be indicative of yearly activity, considering that many of our customers develop yearly operating budgets and enter into contracts with us for work to be performed during the remainder of the year. Additionally, field work during the winter months may be hampered or delayed due to inclement weather. Revenue during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 included $0.3 million associated with additional billings on a project that we completed in the fourth quarter of 2017 (we recognized the revenue upon receipt of customer acknowledgment of the additional fees).


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

W&ESEnvironmental Services This segment includesowns and operates nine (9) Environmental Protection Agency Class II saltwater disposal facilities in the operationsWilliston Basin region of North Dakota. Eight (8) of the facilities are wholly-owned and we have ten SWD(10) pipelines from multiple E&P customers connected to these saltwater disposal facilities, including two (2) that were developed and anare owned by the Partnership. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, 92% of our volumes from our wholly-owned facilities were produced water and 41% of our volumes from our wholly-owned facilities were delivered via ten pipelines, including two that we constructed and own. Of the disposal volumes from Arnegard, a 25% owned company, 95% of the volumes were produced water and 61% were delivered via pipeline during the nine months ended September 30, 2019. Our saltwater disposal facilities provide essential environmental services to oil and natural gas upstream producers and their transportation companies. All of the saltwater disposal facilities utilize specialized equipment and remote monitoring to minimize the facilities’ downtime and increase the facilities’ efficiency for peak utilization. These facilities also utilize oil skimming and recovery processes that remove residual oil from water delivered to our saltwater disposal facilities via pipeline or truck. We sell the oil recovered from these skimming processes, which contributes to our revenues. In addition to these saltwater disposal facilities, we provide management and staffing services to a saltwater disposal facility in which we own a 25% ownership interest in one managed facility.interest. Segment results are driven primarily by the volumes of water we inject into our SWDsaltwater disposal facilities and the fees we charge for transporting water in our services.two pipelines connected to these facilities. These fees are charged on a per-barrel basis and vary based on the quantity and type of saltwater disposed, competitive dynamics, and operating costs. In addition, for minimal marginal cost, we generate revenue by selling residual oil we recover from the disposed water. Revenue and costs in this segment may be subject to seasonal fluctuations and interim activity may not be indicative of yearly activity, given that our saltwater disposal facilities are located in North Dakota and weather conditions there (especially winter weather conditions) can affect drilling, operations, and trucking activity, and ultimately, our volumes, revenues, and costs.

 

Other – These amounts represent generalcorporate and administrative expensesoverhead items not specifically allocable to ourthe other reportable segments.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

The following tables show operating income (loss) by reportable segment and a reconciliation of segment operating income (loss) to net income (loss) before income tax expense.

 

  PIS  IS  W&ES  Other  Total 
   (in thousands) 
Three months ended September 30, 2017                    
                     
Revenues $72,737  $2,834  $2,111  $  $77,682 
Costs of services  65,323   2,132   837      68,292 
Gross margin  7,414   702   1,274      9,390 
General and administrative  3,893 (a)  525 (a)  858   298  5,574 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  577   157   450      1,184 
Losses on asset disposals, net        208      208 
Operating income (loss) $2,944  $20  $(242) $(298)  2,424 
Interest expense, net                  (1,907)
Foreign currency gains                  557 
Other, net                  17 
Net income before income tax expense                 $1,091 

(a)Amount includes $0.7 million and $0.3 million of administrative charges under the omnibus agreement charged directly to PIS and W&ES segments, respectivley.

Three months ended September 30, 2016                    
                     
Revenues $75,313  $4,525  $1,968  $  $81,806 
Costs of services  67,579   3,558   743      71,880 
Gross margin  7,734   967   1,225      9,926 
General and administrative  2,920   514   462   1,160(b)  5,056 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  608   157   449      1,214 
Operating income (loss) $4,206  $296  $314  $(1,160) $3,656 
Interest expense, net                  (1,641)
Other, net                  210 
Net income before income tax expense                 $2,225 

(b)Amount includes $0.9 million of administrative charges incurred by Holdings on our behalf under the omnibus agreement not charged to separate segments.
  Pipeline
Inspection
  Pipeline &
Process Services
  Environmental
Services
  Other  Total 
  (in thousands) 
Three months ended September 30, 2019                    
                     
Revenue $99,684  $6,199  $3,051  $  $108,934 
Costs of services  88,597   4,146   790      93,533 
Gross margin  11,087   2,053   2,261      15,401 
General and administrative  4,890   612   731   324   6,557 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  556   144   412   4   1,116 
Operating income (loss) $5,641  $1,297  $1,118  $(328)  7,728 
Interest expense, net                  (1,376)
Foreign currency gains                  (47)
Other, net                  82 
Net income before income tax expense                 $6,387 
                     
Three months ended September 30, 2018                    
                     
Revenue $77,606  $3,881  $3,325  $(34) $84,778 
Costs of services  68,350   2,592   962   (34)  71,870 
Gross margin  9,256   1,289   2,363      12,908 
General and administrative  4,422   592   774   276   6,064 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  571   143   410      1,124 
Gains on asset disposals, net  (21)  (32)  (769)     (822)
Operating income (loss) $4,284  $586  $1,948  $(276)  6,542 
Interest expense, net                  (1,283)
Foreign currency loss                  97 
Other, net                  95 
Net income before income tax expense      ��          $5,451 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

  PIS  IS  W&ES  Other  Total 
   (in thousands) 
Nine months ended September 30, 2017                    
                     
Revenues $205,039  $5,927  $6,005  $  $216,971 
Costs of services  185,308   5,005   2,330      192,643 
Gross margin  19,731   922   3,675      24,328 
General and administrative  10,212 (a)  1,488 (a)  1,651   2,662(b)  16,013 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,755   471   1,335      3,561 
Impairments  1,329   1,581   688      3,598 
Losses on asset disposals, net  18      77      95 
Operating income (loss) $6,417  $(2,618) $(76) $(2,662)  1,061 
Interest expense, net                  (5,411)
Foreign currency gains                  824 
Other, net                  122 
Net loss before income tax expense                 $(3,404)

(a)Amount includes $0.7 million and $0.3 million of administrative charges under the omnibus agreement charged directly to PIS and W&ES segments, respectively.
(b)

Amount includes $1.8 million of administrative charges incurred by Holdings on our behalf under the omnibus agreement not charged to separate segments.

Nine months ended September 30, 2016                    
                     
Revenues $209,632  $11,329  $6,630  $  $227,591 
Costs of services  189,788   9,668   3,084      202,540 
Gross margin  19,844   1,661   3,546      25,051 
General and administrative  9,439   2,388   1,501   3,477(c)  16,805 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,834   502   1,349      3,685 
Impairments     8,411   2,119      10,530 
Operating income (loss) $8,571  $(9,640) $(1,423) $(3,477) $(5,969)
Interest expense, net                  (4,878)
Other, net                  257 
Net loss before income tax expense                 $(10,590)

(c)Amount includes $2.9 million of administrative charges incurred by Holdings on our behalf under the omnibus agreement not charged to separate segments.

Total Assets                    
                     
September 30, 2017 $126,092  $9,979  $38,477  $(10,236) $164,312 
                     
December 31, 2016 $124,840  $12,079  $38,141  $(7,548) $167,512 
  Pipeline
Inspection
  Pipeline &
Process Services
  Envirionmental
Services
  Other  Total 
  (in thousands) 
Nine months ended September 30, 2019                    
                     
Revenue $289,919  $12,554  $7,928  $  $310,401 
Costs of services  259,015   8,893   2,262      270,170 
Gross margin  30,904   3,661   5,666      40,231 
General and administrative  14,101   1,842   2,269   734   18,946 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,667   430   1,221   11   3,329 
Gain on asset disposal, net     (23)        (23)
Operating income (loss) $15,136  $1,412  $2,176  $(745)  17,979 
Interest expense, net                  (4,102)
Foreign currency gains                  138 
Other, net                  220 
Net income before income tax expense                 $14,235 
                     
Nine months ended September 30, 2018                    
                     
Revenue $205,938  $11,307  $8,861  $(34) $226,072 
Costs of services  183,305   7,840   2,981   (34)  194,092 
Gross margin  22,633   3,467   5,880      31,980 
General and administrative  12,313   1,715   2,402   911   17,341 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,717   449   1,202      3,368 
Gain on asset disposals, net  (21)  (77)  (4,039)     (4,137)
Operating income (loss) $8,624  $1,380  $6,315  $(911)  15,408 
Interest expense, net                  (4,907)
Debt issuance cost write-off                  (114)
Foreign currency loss                  (354)
Other, net                  302 
Net income before income tax expense                 $10,335 
                     
Total Assets                    
                     
September 30, 2019 $132,360  $12,072  $22,757  $4,553  $171,742 
                     
December 31, 2018 $116,239  $10,972  $24,281  $1,361  $152,853 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

11.Condensed Consolidating Financial Information

The following financial information reflects consolidating financial information of the Partnership and its wholly owned guarantor subsidiaries and non-guarantor subsidiaries for the periods indicated. The information is presented in accordance with the requirements of Rule 3-10 under the SEC’s Regulation S-X. The financial information may not necessarily be indicative of financial position, results of operations, or cash flows had the guarantor subsidiaries or non-guarantor subsidiaries operated as independent entities. The Partnership has not presented separate financial and narrative information for each of the guarantor subsidiaries or non-guarantor subsidiaries because it believes such financial and narrative information would not provide any additional information that would be material in evaluating the sufficiency of the guarantor subsidiaries and non-guarantor subsidiaries. The Partnership anticipates issuing debt securities that will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by the guarantor subsidiaries. These debt securities will be jointly and severally guaranteed by the guarantor subsidiaries. There are no restrictions on the Partnership’s ability to obtain cash dividends or other distributions of funds from the guarantor subsidiaries.


CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet

 As of September 30, 2017

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 ASSETS                    
 Current assets:                    
 Cash and cash equivalents $567  $10,005  $8,666  $  $19,238 
 Trade accounts receivable, net     46,295   3,770   (120)  49,945 
 Accounts receivable - affiliates     15,064      (15,064)   
 Prepaid expenses and other  324   1,253   33      1,610 
 Total current assets  891   72,617   12,469   (15,184)  70,793 
 Property and equipment:                    
 Property and equipment, at cost     17,338   3,017      20,355 
 Less:  Accumulated depreciation     7,205   1,429      8,634 
 Total property and equipment, net     10,133   1,588      11,721 
 Intangible assets, net     22,179   4,001      26,180 
 Goodwill     53,914   1,516      55,430 
 Investment in subsidiaries  24,953   (3,383)     (21,570)   
 Notes receivable - affiliates     13,845      (13,845)   
 Other assets     163   25      188 
 Total assets $25,844  $169,468  $19,599  $(50,599) $164,312 
                     
 LIABILITIES AND OWNERS’ EQUITY                    
 Current liabilities:                    
 Accounts payable $  $1,303  $868  $  $2,171 
 Accounts payable - affiliates  13,098      5,534   (15,064)  3,568 
 Accrued payroll and other  97   11,508   757   (120)  12,242 
 Income taxes payable     571   177      748 
 Total current liabilities  13,195   13,382   7,336   (15,184)  18,729 
 Long-term debt  (758)  131,400   5,500      136,142 
 Notes payable - affiliates        13,845   (13,845)   
 Deferred tax liabilities               
 Asset retirement obligations     161         161 
 Total liabilities  12,437   144,943   26,681   (29,029)  155,032 
                     
 Owners’ equity:                    
 Total partners’ capital  9,659   20,777   (7,082)  (17,822)  5,532 
 Non-controlling interests  3,748   3,748      (3,748)  3,748 
 Total owners’ equity  13,407   24,525   (7,082)  (21,570)  9,280 
 Total liabilities and owners’ equity $25,844  $169,468  $19,599  $(50,599) $164,312 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet

 As of December 31, 2016

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 ASSETS                    
 Current assets:                    
 Cash and cash equivalents $695  $20,251  $5,747  $  $26,693 
 Trade accounts receivable, net     33,046   6,125   (689)  38,482 
 Accounts receivable - affiliates     12,622      (12,622)   
 Prepaid expenses and other     996   46      1,042 
 Total current assets  695   66,915   11,918   (13,311)  66,217 
 Property and equipment:                    
 Property and equipment, at cost     19,366   3,093      22,459 
 Less:  Accumulated depreciation     6,798   1,042      7,840 
 Total property and equipment, net     12,568   2,051      14,619 
 Intangible assets, net     23,875   5,749      29,624 
 Goodwill     53,914   2,989      56,903 
 Investment in subsidiaries  29,454   (417)     (29,037)   
 Notes receivable - affiliates     13,662      (13,662)   
 Other assets     139   10      149 
 Total assets $30,149  $170,656  $22,717  $(56,010) $167,512 
                     
 LIABILITIES AND OWNERS’ EQUITY                    
 Current liabilities:                    
 Accounts payable $  $1,653  $712  $(675) $1,690 
 Accounts payable - affiliates  8,860      5,400   (12,622)  1,638 
 Accrued payroll and other  15   7,082   503   (15)  7,585 
 Income taxes payable     967   44      1,011 
 Total current liabilities  8,875   9,702   6,659   (13,312)  11,924 
 Long-term debt  (1,201)  131,400   5,500      135,699 
 Notes payable - affiliates        13,662   (13,662)   
 Deferred tax liabilities     8   354      362 
 Asset retirement obligations     139         139 
 Total liabilities  7,674   141,249   26,175   (26,974)  148,124 
                     
 Owners’ equity:                    
 Total partners’ capital  17,425   24,357   (3,458)  (23,986)  14,338 
 Non-controlling interests  5,050   5,050      (5,050)  5,050 
 Total owners’ equity  22,475   29,407   (3,458)  (29,036)  19,388 
 Total liabilities and owners’ equity $30,149  $170,656  $22,717  $(56,010) $167,512 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations

 For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Revenues $  $73,607  $7,762  $(3,687) $77,682 
 Costs of services     65,042   6,937   (3,687)  68,292 
 Gross margin     8,565   825      9,390 
                     
 Operating costs, expenses and other:                    
 General and administrative  297   4,617   660      5,574 
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion     1,027   157      1,184 
 Losses on asset disposals, net     208         208 
 Operating income (loss)  (297)  2,713   8      2,424 
                     
 Other (expense) income:                    
 Equity earnings (loss) in subsidiaries  920   (118)     (802)  
 Interest expense, net  (229)  (1,460)  (218)     (1,907)
 Foreign currency gains     141   416      557 
 Other, net     7   10      17 
 Net income (loss) before income tax expense  394   1,283   216   (802)  1,091 
 Income tax expense     425   104      529 
 Net income (loss)  394   858   112   (802)  562 
                     
 Net Income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests     8         8 
 Net income (loss) attributable to partners / controlling interests  394   850   112   (802)  554 
                     
 Net loss attributable to general partner  (1,000)           (1,000)
 Net income (loss) attributable to limited partners $1,394  $850  $112  $(802) $1,554 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations

 For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Revenues $  $67,408  $18,540  $(4,142) $81,806 
 Costs of services     59,156   16,866   (4,142)  71,880 
 Gross margin     8,252   1,674      9,926 
                     
 Operating costs and expense:                    
 General and administrative  1,161   2,905   990      5,056 
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion     1,029   185      1,214 
 Operating (loss)  (1,161)  4,318   499      3,656 
                     
 Other income (expense):                    
 Equity earnings (loss) in subsidiaries  3,205   165      (3,370)   
 Interest expense, net  (224)  (1,226)  (191)     (1,641)
 Other, net     205   5      210 
 Net income (loss) before income tax expense  1,820   3,462   313   (3,370)  2,225 
 Income tax expense     176   51      227 
 Net income (loss)  1,820   3,286   262   (3,370)  1,998 
                     
 Net income attributable to non-controlling interests     81         81 
 Net income (loss) attributable to controlling interests  1,820   3,205   262   (3,370)  1,917 
                     
 Net (loss) attributable to general partner  (1,431)           (1,431)
 Net income (loss) attributable to limited partners $3,251  $3,205  $262  $(3,370) $3,348 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations

 For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Revenues $  $188,740  $35,572  $(7,341) $216,971 
 Costs of services     166,803   33,181   (7,341)  192,643 
 Gross margin     21,937   2,391      24,328 
                     
 Operating costs, expenses and other:                    
 General and administrative  2,662   10,975   2,376      16,013 
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion     3,071   490      3,561 
 Impairments     688   2,910      3,598 
 Losses on asset disposals, net     88   7      95 
 Operating income (loss)  (2,662)  7,115   (3,392)     1,061 
                     
 Other (expense) income:                    
 Equity earnings (loss) in subsidiaries  1,002   (3,008)     2,006    
 Interest expense, net  (682)  (4,128)  (601)     (5,411)
 Foreign currency gains     211   613      824 
 Other, net     103   19      122 
 Net income (loss) before income tax expense  (2,342)  293   (3,361)  2,006   (3,404)
 Income tax expense     581   (123)     458 
 Net income (loss)  (2,342)  (288)  (3,238)  2,006   (3,862)
                     
 Net Income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests     (1,290)        (1,290)
 Net income (loss) attributable to partners / controlling interests  (2,342)  1,002   (3,238)  2,006   (2,572)
                     
 Net loss attributable to general partner  (2,750)           (2,750)
 Net income (loss) attributable to limited partners $408  $1,002  $(3,238) $2,006  $178 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations

 For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Revenues $  $193,605  $44,734  $(10,748) $227,591 
 Costs of services     171,844   41,444   (10,748)  202,540 
 Gross margin     21,761   3,290      25,051 
                     
 Operating costs and expense:                    
 General and administrative  3,478   9,601   3,726      16,805 
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion     3,099   586      3,685 
 Impairments     2,119   8,411      10,530 
 Operating (loss)  (3,478)  6,942   (9,433)     (5,969)
                     
 Other income (expense):                    
 Equity earnings (loss) in subsidiaries  (1,889)  (9,999)     11,888    
 Interest expense, net  (664)  (3,607)  (607)     (4,878)
 Other, net     243   14      257 
 Net income (loss) before income tax expense  (6,031)  (6,421)  (10,026)  11,888   (10,590)
 Income tax expense     366   23      389 
 Net income (loss)  (6,031)  (6,787)  (10,049)  11,888   (10,979)
                     
 Net (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests     (4,898)        (4,898)
 Net income (loss) attributable to controlling interests  (6,031)  (1,889)  (10,049)  11,888   (6,081)
                     
 Net (loss) attributable to general partner  (5,366)           (5,366)
 Net income (loss) attributable to limited partners $(665) $(1,889) $(10,049) $11,888  $(715)

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss)

 For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2017

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Net income (loss) $394  $858  $112  $(802) $562 
 Other comprehensive income (loss) -                    
 Foreign currency translation       (207)     (207)
                     
 Comprehensive income (loss) $394  $858  $(95 $(802) $355 
                     
 Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests     8         8 
 Comprehensive loss attributable to general partner  (1,000)           (1,000)
 Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to limited partners $1,394  $850  $(95) $(802) $1,347 

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss)

 For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Net income (loss) $1,820  $3,286  $262  $(3,370) $1,998 
 Other comprehensive income (loss) -                    
 Foreign currency translation     (109)  38      (71)
                     
 Comprehensive income (loss) $1,820  $3,177  $300  $(3,370) $1,927 
                     
 Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests     81         81 
 Comprehensive loss attributable to general partner  (1,431)           (1,431)
 Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to limited partners $3,251  $3,096  $300  $(3,370) $3,277 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss)

 For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Net income (loss) $(2,342) $(288) $(3,238) $2,006  $(3,862)
 Other comprehensive income -                    
 Foreign currency translation     (59)  (128)     (187)
                     
 Comprehensive income (loss) $(2,342) $(347) $(3,366) $2,006  $(4,049)
                     
 Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests     (1,290)        (1,290)
 Comprehensive loss attributable to general partner  (2,750)           (2,750)
 Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to limited partners $408  $943  $(3,366) $2,006  $(9)

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss)

 For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Net income (loss) $(6,031) $(6,787) $(10,049) $11,888  $(10,979)
 Other comprehensive income -                    
 Foreign currency translation     82   433      515 
                     
 Comprehensive income (loss) $(6,031) $(6,705) $(9,616) $11,888  $(10,464)
                     
 Comprehensive loss attributable to non-controlling interests     (4,898)        (4,898)
 Comprehensive loss attributable to general partner  (5,366)           (5,366)
 Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to controlling interests $(665) $(1,807) $(9,616) $11,888  $(200)

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows

 For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Operating activities:                    
 Net income (loss) $(2,342) $(288) $(3,238) $2,006  $(3,862)
 Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to cash provided by (used in) operating activities:                    
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion     3,484   894      4,378 
 Impairments     688   2,910      3,598 
 (Gain) loss on asset disposal     88   7      95 
 Interest expense from debt issuance cost amortization  443            443 
 Equity-based compensation expense  1,136            1,136 
 Equity in earnings of investee     (98)        (98)
 Distributions from investee     75         75 
 Equity earnings in subsidiaries  (1,002)  3,008      (2,006)   
 Deferred tax benefit, net     (8)  (353)     (361)
 Non-cash allocated expenses  1,750            1,750 
 Foreign currency gains     (211)  (613)    (824)
 Changes in assets and liabilities:                    
 Trade accounts receivable     (13,249)  2,235   (569)  (11,583)
 Receivables from affiliates     (2,442)     2,442    
 Prepaid expenses and other  (323)  (635)  11  182   (765)
 Accounts payable and accrued payroll and other  4,320   3,756   531   (2,055)  6,552 
 Income taxes payable     (396)  125      (271)
 Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities  3,982   (6,228)  2,509      263
                     
 Investing activities:                    
 Proceeds from fixed asset disposals     1,576   2      1,578 
 Purchases of property and equipment     (1,169)  (13)     (1,182)
 Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities     407   (11)     396 
                     
 Financing activities:                    
 Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity-based compensation  (120)           (120)
 Contributions from general partner  1,000            1,000 
 Distributions from subsidiaries  4,823   (4,812)  (11)      
 Distributions to limited partners  (9,813)           (9,813)
 Distributions to non-controlling members        (12)     (12)
 Net cash used in financing activities  (4,110)  (4,812)  (23)     (8,945)
                     
 Effects of exchange rates on cash     387   444      831 
                     
 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents  (128)  (10,246)  2,919      (7,455)
 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period  695   20,251   5,747      26,693 
 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $567  $10,005  $8,666  $  $19,238 
                     
 Non-cash items:                    
 Changes in accounts payable excluded from capital expenditures $  $320  $  $  $320 

CYPRESS ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

 Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 Condensed Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows

 For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016

 (in thousands) 

        Non-       
  Parent  Guarantors  Guarantors  Eliminations  Consolidated 
                
 Operating activities:                    
 Net income (loss) $(6,031) $(6,787) $(10,049) $11,888  $(10,979)
 Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to cash provided by (used in) operating activities:                    
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion     3,379   975      4,354 
 Impairments     2,119   8,411      10,530 
 Gain on asset disposal        (2)     (2)
 Interest expense from debt issuance cost amortization  426            426 
 Equity-based compensation expense  829            829 
 Equity in earnings of investee     (234)        (234)
 Distributions from investee     138         138 
 Equity earnings in subsidiaries  1,889   9,999      (11,888)   
 Deferred tax benefit, net     (30)  (9)     (39)
 Non-cash allocated expenses  2,866            2,866 
 Changes in assets and liabilities:                    
 Trade accounts receivable     5,498   (2,326)  1,827   4,999 
 Receivables from affiliates     (2,401)     2,401    
 Prepaid expenses and other  (36)  (101)  217   973   1,053 
 Accounts payable and accrued payroll and other  2,791   3,435   2,812   (5,236)  3,802 
 Income taxes payable     (118)  (1)  35   (84)
 Net cash provided by operating activities  2,734   14,897   28      17,659 
                     
 Investing activities:                    
 Proceeds from fixed asset disposals        3      3 
 Purchases of property and equipment     (687)  (245)     (932)
 Net cash used in investing activities     (687)  (242)     (929)
                     
 Financing activities:                    
 Repayments of long-term debt     (4,000)        (4,000)
 Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards  (100)           (100)
 Contribution attributable to general partner  2,500            2,500 
 Distributions from subsidiaries  9,622   (9,239)  (383)      
 Distributions to limited partners  (14,439)           (14,439)
 Distributions to non-controlling members        (415)     (415)
 Net cash used in financing activities  (2,417)  (13,239)  (798)     (16,454)
                     
 Effects of exchange rates on cash     82   395      477 
                     
 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents  317   1,053   (617)     753 
 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period  378   19,570   4,202      24,150 
 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $695  $20,623  $3,585  $  $24,903 
                     
 Non-cash items:                    
Accrued capital expenditures $  $12  $64  $  $76 

Item 2.Item 2.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our future plans, estimates, beliefs and expected performance. The forward-looking statements are dependent upon events, risks and uncertainties that may be outside our control, including, among other things, the risk factors discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 20162018 and this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, market prices for oil and natural gas, production volumes, capital expenditures, weather, economic and competitive conditions, regulatory changes and other uncertainties, as well as those factors discussed below and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 20162018 and this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, all of which are difficult to predict. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed may or may not occur. See “Cautionary Remarks Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in the front of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

 

This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contains a discussion of our business, including a general overview of our properties, our results of operations, our liquidity and capital resources, and our quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk broken down into three segments: (1) our Pipeline Inspection Services (“PIS”Pipeline Inspection”) segment is comprised of our investment in the TIR Entities; (2) our IntegrityPipeline & Process Services (“IS”Pipeline & Process Services”) segment made up(formerly referred to as our “Integrity Services” segment), comprised of our 51% ownership investment in Brown Integrity, LLC and; (3) our Water and Environmental Services (W&ES”(“Environmental Services”) segment, comprised of our investments in various salt watersaltwater disposal (“SWD”) facilities and activities related thereto. The financial information for PIS, ISPipeline Inspection, Pipeline & Process Services and W&ESEnvironmental Services included in “Item 2 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” should be read in conjunction with the interim financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report and prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and in our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2016.2018.

 

Overview

 

We are a growth-oriented master limited partnership formed in September 2013 to provide environmental services to energy and utility companies. We offer essential services that help protect the oilenvironment and gas industry. ensure sustainability. As a master limited partnership traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) (NYSE: CELP) we hold ourselves to the high standards of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, various state regulators, and the NYSE.


We provide a wide range of environmental services including independent inspection, integrity, and support services for pipeline and energy infrastructure owners and operators and public utilities. We also provide water pipelines, hydrocarbon recovery, disposal, and water treatment services.

We provide independent pipeline inspection and integrity services to various energy exploration and production and midstream companies and their vendors public utility companies, and energy exploration and production (“E&P”) companies in our PIS and IS segments throughout the United States and Canada.Canada through our Pipeline Inspection and Pipeline & Process Services segments. The PISPipeline Inspection segment is comprised of the operations of theour TIR Entities and the ISPipeline & Process Services segment is comprised of the operations of Brown. We also provide SWDsaltwater disposal and other water and environmental services to U.S. onshore oil and natural gas producers and trucking companies through our W&ESEnvironmental Services segment. We operate ten SWDnine (eight owned) saltwater disposal facilities, eightall of which are located in the Bakken Shale region of the Williston Basin in North Dakota and two of which are located in the Permian Basin in west Texas.Dakota. We also have a management agreement in place to provide staffing and management services to an SWDone 25%-owned saltwater disposal facility in the Bakken Shale region (a facility in which we own a 25% interest). W&ES customers are oil and natural gas exploration and production companies and trucking companies operating in the regions that we serve.region. In all of our business segments, we work closely with our customers to help them comply with increasingly complex and strict environmental and safety rules and regulations applicable to production and pipeline operations assisting in reducingand to reduce their operating costs.

 

In all of our business segments, we work closely with our customers to help them protect the environment, property, and people. Our wide range of services also help our clients comply with increasingly complex federal and state environmental and safety rules and regulations. Our environmental services are required services under various federal and state laws.

Many clients encourage supplier diversity, and some encourage the use of minority-owned businesses as suppliers. To support clients seeking a minority qualified vendor solution we have formed a strategic partnership with CF Inspection that allows us to offer our services to clients that require the services of an approved Women’s Business Enterprise (“WBE”). CF Inspection is certified as a WBE by the Supplier Clearinghouse in California and as a National Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

Cypress has a very experienced management team and board of directors with decades of industry experience and expertise.

Ownership


As of September 30, 2017,2019, Holdings owns approximately 58.6%58% of the Partnership,Partnership’s common units, while affiliates of Holdings own approximately 5.8%6% of the Partnership,Partnership’s common units, for a total ownership percentage of the PartnershipPartnership’s common units of approximately 64.4%64% by Holdings and its affiliates. Holdings’ ownership group also owns 100% of the General Partner and the incentive distribution rights.rights (“IDR’s”), and an affiliate of Holdings owns 100% of the preferred units.

 

Omnibus Agreement

 

We are party to an omnibus agreement with Holdings and other related parties. The omnibus agreement governs the following matters, among other things:

 

 our payment of a quarterlyan annual administrative fee in the amount of $1.0$4.5 million (or approximately $1.1 million per quarter) to Holdings, for providing certain partnership overhead services, including certain executive management services by certain officers of our General Partner, and payroll services for substantially all employees required to manage and operate our businesses.Partner. This fee also includes the incremental general and administrative expenses we incur as a result of being a publicly traded partnership.  For the three months ended September 30, 2017, this fee was paid to Holdings in accordance with its termspartnership; and conditions.  For the six months ended June 30, 2017 and for the year ended December 31, 2016, Holdings provided sponsor support to the Partnership by waiving payment of the quarterly administrative fee;

 our right of first offer on Holdings’ and its subsidiaries’ assets used in, and entities primarily engaged in, providing SWDsaltwater disposal and other water and environmental services; and

indemnification of us by Holdings for certain environmental and other liabilities, including events and conditions associated with the operation of assets that occurred prior to the closing of the IPO and our obligation to indemnify Holdings for events and conditions associated with the operation of our assets that occur after the closing of the IPO and for environmental liabilities related to our assets to the extent Holdings is not required to indemnify us.services.

  

So long as affiliates of Holdings controlcontrols our General Partner, the omnibus agreement will remain in full force and effect, unless we and Holdings agree to terminate it sooner. If affiliates of Holdings ceaseceases to control our General Partner, either party may terminate the omnibus agreement, provided that the indemnification obligations will remain in full force and effect in accordance with their terms.agreement. We and Holdings may agree to further amend the omnibus agreement; however, amendments that the General Partner determines are adverse to our unitholders will also require the approval of the Conflicts Committee of our Board of Directors. As part of our new Credit Agreement, Holdings agreed to waive the omnibus fee to support us in the event our leverage ratio were to exceed 3.75 times our trailing twelve-month Adjusted EBITDA at any quarter-end during the term of the facility.

 

27  

In an effort to simplify this arrangement so it will be easier for investors to understand, in November 2019, with the approval of the Conflicts Committee of the Board of Directors, we and Holdings incurred expensesagreed to terminate the management fee provisions of $0.9 millionthe Omnibus Agreement, effective December 31, 2019. Beginning on our behalf duringJanuary 1, 2020, the three months ended September 30, 2016,executive management services and $1.8 million and $2.9 million on our behalf during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. These expenses are reported within general and administrative in the accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and as contributions from general partner in the accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Owners’ Equity.

In addition to funding certainother general and administrative expenses onthat Holdings currently incurs and charges to us via the annual administrative fee will be charged directly to us as they are incurred. Under our behalf, Holdings contributed $1.0 millioncurrent cost structure, we expect these direct expenses to be lower than the annual administrative fee that we are currently paying, although we expect to experience more variability in our quarterly general and $0.5 million duringadministrative expense when we are incurring the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, andexpenses directly than when we paid a total of $2.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 attributable to the General Partner as a reimbursement of certain expenditures previously incurred by the Partnership. These payments are reflected as contributions attributable to general partner in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Owners’ Equity and as components of the net loss attributable to the general partner in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2017 and 2016.consistent administrative fee each quarter.

 

Total support from Holdings attributable to non-cash allocated expenses and the reimbursement of certain expenditures was $1.0 million and $2.8 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and $1.4 million and $5.4 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016.

Pipeline Inspection Services

 

We generate revenue in the PISPipeline Inspection segment primarily by providing essential environmental services including inspection and integrity services on a variety of infrastructure assets including midstream pipelines, gathering systems, and distribution systems, includingsystems. Services include non-destructive examination, inline support, pig tracking, survey, data gathering and supervision of third-party construction, inspection, and maintenance and repair projects.contractors. Our results in this segment are driven primarily by the number of inspectors thatwho perform services for our customers and the fees that we charge for those services, which depend on the type, skills, technology, equipment, and number of inspectors used on a particular project, the nature of the project, and the duration of the project. The number of inspectors engaged on projects is driven by the type of project, prevailing market rates, the age and condition of customers’ midstreamassets (including pipelines, gas plants, compression stations, storage facilities, and gathering and distribution systems,systems), and the legal and regulatory requirements relating to the inspection and maintenance of those assets. We chargealso bill our customers on a per-inspector basis, includingfor per diem charges, mileage, and other reimbursement items.

 

IntegrityPipeline & Process Services

 

We generate revenue in our ISPipeline & Process Services segment primarily by providing essential environmental services including hydrostatic testing services and chemical cleaning to major natural gas and petroleumenergy companies and pipeline construction companies ofon newly-constructed and existing natural gaspipelines and petroleum pipelines.related infrastructure. We generally charge our customers in this segment on a fixed-bid basis, with the price depending on the size and length of the pipeline being inspected,tested, the complexity of services provided, and the utilization of our work force and equipment. Our results in this segment are driven primarily by the number of field personnel that perform servicesour ability to win bids for our customersprojects and the fees that we charge for those services, which depend on the type and number of field personnel used on a particular project, the type of equipment used and the fees charged for theresulting utilization of that equipment,our personnel and the nature and duration of the project.equipment.

 

Water and Environmental Services

 

We generate revenue in the W&ESEnvironmental Services segment primarily by treating flowback and produced water and injecting the saltwater into our SWDsaltwater disposal facilities. Our results are driven primarily by the volumes of produced water and flowback water we inject into our SWDsaltwater disposal facilities and the fees we charge for these services. These fees are charged on a per-barrel basis under contracts that are short-term in nature and vary based on the quantity and type of saltwater disposed, competitive dynamics, and operating costs. In addition, for minimal marginal cost, we generate revenue by selling residual oil we recover from the water.saltwater. We also generate revenue managing an SWDa saltwater disposal facility for a fee.

 

The volumes of saltwater disposed at our SWDsaltwater disposal facilities are driven by water volumes generated from existing oil and natural gas wells during their useful lives and development drilling and production volumes from wells located near our facilities.drilling. Producers’ willingness to engage in new drilling is determined by a number of factors, the most important of which are the current and projected prices of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (“NGLs”),liquids; the cost to drill and operate a well,well; the availability and cost of capital,capital; and environmental and governmental regulations. We generally expect the level of drilling to correlate with long-term trends in prices of oil, natural gas, and NGLs.natural gas liquids.


We also generate revenues from the salessale of residual oil recovered during the saltwater treatment process. Our ability to recover residual oil is dependent upon the residual oil content in the saltwater we treat, which is, among other things, a function of water type, chemistry, source, and temperature. Generally, where outside temperatures are lower, there is less residual oil content and separation is more difficult. Thus, our residual oil recovery during the winter season is usually lower than our recovery during the summer season in North Dakota.summer. Additionally, residual oil content willcan decrease if,based on the following factors, among other things, producers begin recovering higher levelsothers: an increase in pipeline water as operators control the flow of pipeline water and an increase in residual oil recovered in saltwater by producers prior to delivering suchthe saltwater to us for treatment.

 

OutlookPacific Gas and Electric Bankruptcy

 

PG&E Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary Pacific Gas and Electric Company (collectively, “PG&E”) filed for bankruptcy protection on January 29, 2019. PG&E cited as the reason for its bankruptcy filing the fact that PG&E might become liable for paying damages to those affected by certain wildfires that occurred in 2017 and 2018. Regulators have completed investigations and have found PG&E responsible for certain of the wildfires and not responsible for others. Investigations of certain of the other wildfires are ongoing. PG&E has asserted that filing for bankruptcy protection will enable it to continue its normal operations until any liabilities associated with the wildfires can be resolved.


PG&E is a significant customer that accounted for $43.4 million of the revenue and $6.4 million of the gross margin of our Pipeline Inspection segment during the year ended December 31, 2018. As of December 31, 2018, the assets on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet included $10.3 million of accounts receivable from PG&E. We collected $1.0 million of this balance in January 2019 prior to PG&E’s bankruptcy filing. We generated $2.8 million of revenue from PG&E during the period from January 1, 2019 through January 28, 2019, bringing the total accounts receivable from PG&E to $12.1 million as of the date of the bankruptcy filing. Our relationship with PG&E remains strong. We have continued to provide services to PG&E after the bankruptcy filing and have been receiving prompt payment for such services.

On January 29, 2019, PG&E filed a motion with the bankruptcy court (the “Court”) requesting that the Court grant PG&E authority to pay certain pre-petition claims to certain key suppliers. In October 2019, we reached an agreement to collect $1.7 million of the pre-petition receivables from PG&E under this program in advance of PG&E’s emergence from bankruptcy, which will bring the total remaining pre-petition receivables from PG&E to $10.4 million.

Also on January 29, 2019, PG&E filed a motion with the Court requesting that the Court grant PG&E authority to pay pre-petition claims to certain suppliers that have filed or could file liens on PG&E’s assets. The motion indicates that PG&E would contact each such vendor and offer to pay the vendor the pre-petition receivables owed to the vendor, in return for which the vendor would take whatever action was necessary to remove the liens. The Court granted this motion. We believe, based on the nature of the services we have provided to PG&E, that we have the right to file mechanics’ liens on PG&E’s natural gas distribution assets, and we have filed and perfected such liens in the 38 counties in which we performed services that are subject to our pre-petition receivables. We are working with PG&E to ensure they have all required information to support our liens as they work through their payment approval process. The motion included a limit on the combined amount of pre-petition claims that may be paid pursuant to the motion; at this time, we do not know the total amount of pre-petition claims asserted by all vendors that are subject to the motion or whether the combined amount of such claims exceeds the maximum amount allowed for under the motion.

In September 2019, PG&E filed a Plan of Reorganization with the Court. PG&E has stated that it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy on or before June 30, 2020. Another party has filed a competing Plan of Reorganization with the Court. Both of these plans call for the payment in full, with interest, of all pre-petition trade claims. These plans are subject to review and approval by the Court. An active market exists for the purchase and sale of pre-petition claims.

We have not recorded an allowance against the accounts receivable from PG&E at September 30, 2019, as we do not believe it is probable that we will not be able to collect the full balance of the pre-petition receivables. However, due to uncertainties associated with the bankruptcy process, we cannot make assurances regarding the ultimate collection of these receivables nor can we make assurances regarding the timing of any such collections.

Sanchez Bankruptcy

Our former customer, Sanchez Energy Corporation and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Sanchez”) filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2019. As of September 30, 2019, our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet included $0.5 million of pre-petition accounts receivable from Sanchez. We believe, based on the nature of the services we have provided to Sanchez, that we have the right to file liens on Sanchez’s assets, and we have filed and perfected such liens. The liens secure $0.4 million of the pre-petition accounts receivable. We do not believe it is probable that we will be unable to collect the $0.4 million of pre-petition receivables that are subject to these liens. We have recorded an allowance of less than $0.1 million at September 30, 2019 against the remaining accounts receivable from Sanchez. However, due to uncertainties associated with the bankruptcy process, we cannot make assurances regarding the ultimate collection of these receivables nor can we make assurances regarding the timing of any such collections.

Outlook

Overall

 

ForRevenues of our PISPipeline Inspection segment increased from $77.6 million during the three months ended September 30, 2018 to $99.7 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of 28%. This increase was due to high demand for our services and ISincreased business segments, revenues, margins, and margin percentages were higherdevelopment efforts. During the fourth quarter of 2018, we began work on the largest contract in the third quarter16-year history of 2017 than they wereTIR. The headcount for this project peaked in the second quarter of 2017, even though some projects were delayed due2019, and we expect the project to Hurricane Harvey,continue, with declining headcounts, throughout the remainder of 2019. Gross margins in this segment increased from $9.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 2018 to $11.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of 20%. During the three months ended September 30, 2019, we generated an increased percentage of our revenue from inspection services (due in part to the pipeline inspection project that represented the largest contract award in our history), which struck the gulf coasttypically carry lower margins than integrity services. The resulting decrease in August 2017. This is generally consistent with the seasonality inherentgross margin percentage was partially offset by increased activity in our business in which the third quarter of each year is generally the strongest quarter of the annual business cycle. We believe that our PIS and IS segments will have many opportunities over the next several years,serves public utility customers, as many customer projects previously delayed have recently been approved. We have also invested in organic growth and have started two new business units this year, with the latest business unit offering mechanical integritythese services a new line of inspection and integrity support. This new line of business has already been awarded several new projects from investment-grade companies.

For our Pipeline Inspection Services segment, headcount was higher in the third quarter of 2017 than it was in the second quarter of 2017, despite the loss of over 200 inspectors in Canada earlier this year. We have continued to focus on our nondestructive examination business, staking, and mechanical integrity, businesses and the revenues of these business lines were higher in the third quarter 2017 than in any previous quarter. These businesses typically generate higher margins than our legacyother inspection business. We expect revenues of our Canadian operations to be much lower in the future than they have been in the recent past due to the loss of low margin work from our largest Canadian customer at the end of the second quarter. We continue to support this customer with higher margin integrity services.

 

Revenues of our 51% owned IntegrityPipeline & Process Services segment increased from $3.9 million during the three months ended September 30, 2018 to $6.2 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of 60%. Revenues of this segment benefitted from several large projects that were higherscheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2017 than they were in the second quarter of 2017, as our utilization rate significantly improved and our backlog has remained healthy. Earlier in 2017, we hired new business development personnel to assist in these efforts and we have seen some successful increases in backlog for the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. We continue to bid on numerous upcoming work opportunities and remain focused on winning more of these bids2019, but were delayed by adverse weather. Gross margins in an on-going effort to increase our volume and backlog.

Revenues of our Water and Environmental Servicesthis segment were 5% higher in third quarter 2017 than inincreased from $1.3 million during the second quarter. Two of our facilities are located in the Permian basin, which has experienced an increase in production activity. The remainder of our facilities are in the Bakken region, where the recovery of production activity has been slower. However, through the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017,2018 to $2.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of 59%.


Revenues of our Environmental Services segment decreased from $3.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 2018 to $3.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019, a substantial amountdecrease of acquisition activity has occurred with private equity backed energy companies acquiring both production and acreage8%. The decrease in revenues was due to a decrease of 0.3 million barrels in the Bakkenvolume of water processed, a decrease in pipeline transportation fees, and lower crude oil prices on our oil sales.

In 2018, Holdings completed two acquisitions to further broaden our suite of environmental services that we offer both the municipal water and energy industries. Both transactions require some repositioning before bringing the acquired assets into the Partnership. Holdings continues to make progress on both of these acquisitions and intends to offer them to the Partnership once it has accomplished certain developmental goals. If completed, the purchase of the acquired assets would move us into several new lines of work, including water treatment, in-line inspection (“ILI”), equipment rental (which could be converted into a service business before offering this business to the Partnership), and offshore pipeline process services. We remain excited about entering the in-line inspection industry with plans to increase drilling which, in turn, will create substantial amountsnext-generation high resolution magnetic flux leakage ILI technology, capable of new water for disposal. Additionally,helping pipeline owners and operators better manage the integrity of their assets in both regions,the energy and municipal water industries.

The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ("PHMSA") recently finalized a rule that significantly revises certain aspects of the hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations codified at Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 190-199. Nearly nine years in the making, the final rule is PHMSA's response to several significant numberhazardous liquid pipeline accidents that have occurred in recent years, most notably the 2010 crude oil spill near Marshall, Michigan. The final rule also addresses 2011 and 2016 outstanding congressional mandates and U.S. Government Accountability Office recommendations.

A version of wells have been drilled but not yet completed. Once producers complete these wells,this rule was initially scheduled for publication in the Federal Register in the last week of the prior presidential administration in 2017. It was held back as a result of the regulatory freeze and subsequent deregulatory review by the Trump administration, which removed certain of the requirements of the prior rule in the recent final rule.

Effective July 1, 2020, this rule expands requirements to address risks to pipelines outside of environmentally sensitive and populated areas, requiring the performance of periodic integrity assessments and the use of leak detection systems for all regulated hazardous liquids pipelines (except for offshore gathering and regulated rural gathering lines). In addition, the rule makes changes to the integrity management requirements, including revising data integration requirements and emphasizing the use of in-line inspection technology.

The long-term increasing demand for environmental services such as pipeline inspection, integrity services, and water solutions remains strong due to our nation’s aging pipeline infrastructure, and we expect to have the opportunity to generate additional volumes and revenues. As previously disclosed, two of our facilities were struck by lightning and one remains out of service. Our Orla, Texas facility should be fully rebuilt and open for regular business in December, andbelieve we continue to workbe well-positioned to capitalize on these opportunities. Our ownership interests continue to remain fully aligned with our insurance company on the covered loss atunitholders, as our Grassy Butte facility in North Dakota. We also continue to work on the growth capital expenditure development of a water gathering system that will connect three large five well pads into oneGeneral Partner and insiders collectively own 76% of our existing facilities in the Bakken for a large public energy company.total common and preferred units.

 

Despite the low commodity prices of recent years, we maintained positive operating cash flows during the year ended December 31, 2016 and expect to generate positive operating cash flows for the year ending December 31, 2017.Pipeline Inspection

 

We continue to evaluate several interesting acquisition opportunities, including continued due diligence of one sizable exclusive opportunity currently under a letter of intent. Areas of focus continue to be traditional midstream opportunities and opportunities inDemand has been strong for our existing lines of business. Holdings remains willing to deploy capital to assist us in acquiring attractive assets that may be larger than what we can currently acquire independently, with plans to offer those assets to us as drop-down opportunities.

Pipeline Inspection Services

Demand is once again growing for our pipeline inspection services, as wesegment. We operate in a very large market, with well over 1,000more than 3,000 customer prospects that we do not currently serve who require federalfederally and/or state mandatedstate-mandated inspection and integrity services. During the third quarter of 2018, we signed the largest contract in the 16-year history of TIR and began work on this project in the fourth quarter of 2018.

 

An energy research analyst recently published the following multi-year pipeline industry update that is summarized below:

2017 Forecast: Estimated 2017 pipeline spending of $25.5 billion, a 5.1% increase over 2016 levels of $24.2 billion. This follows very strong growth of 25.2% in 2016. With this update, essentially shifted all pipeline construction activity that has not yet begun, or is firmly scheduled to begin in the next two months, into future years.

2018 Forecast: Tracking $38.5 billion of pipeline/midstream infrastructure spending proposed for 2018. On a probability-weighted basis, forecasted all-in potential 2018 spending of $33.1 billion, or a 30.2% year-to-year increase. If only highest confidence Tier 1 projects were to move forward, would produce 13.7% year-to-year growth. Layering in moderate confidence Tier 2 projects, the growth forecast rises to 25.3%.

2019 and beyond: Anticipated 2019 spending will reflect growth over 2018 levels. Given that the database only includes announced, named pipeline projects, the tracker currently reflects a decline in proposed activity in 2019 and 2020. This is a function of the timing of project announcements, and is expected to rise through 2018. Virtually every industry contact/source along the supply chain, including equipment providers, engineers and construction sources, are suggesting that 2019 could post growth off of a record 2018.

Bidding and award activity is accelerating following delays related to the lack of a quorum at FERC. Recall that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) lacked a quorum for roughly 6 months, delaying large project approval activity in the first half of 2017. The quorum was re-established on August 10, with the swearing-in of Robert Powelson. At the time the quorum was re-established, it was estimated that approximately $14 billion of pipeline projects had been backlogged. FERC is beginning to take action on the queue, with NEXUS, Atlantic Coast, and the Mountain Valley Pipelines approved in October.

Tracking nearly $30 billion in projects that could be awarded over the next approximately 12 months, and believe that at least $4.5 billion worth of projects is currently out to bid. This bodes well for additional large pipeline project awards for contractors in late 2017/early 2018. Developers are concerned about procuring quality construction partners, given that the industry is likely to reach full utilization in 2018. This generally bodes well for contractor pricing, terms, and conditions.

Our continued focus remains on both maintenance and integrity work on existing pipelines, as well as work on new projects. The majority of our existing and potential customers are once again investing in their businesses following a difficult economic downturn. We continue to focus on new lines of business to serve our existing customers, including mechanical integrity, pipeline pig cleaning, and decontamination services. The majority of our clients are public, investment-grade companies with long planning cycles that lead to healthy backlogs of new long-term projects and existing pipeline networks that also require inspection and integrity services. We believe that with regulatory requirements, andcoupled with the aging pipeline infrastructure, mean that, the PIS business is more insulated from changes inregardless of commodity prices, in the near term than has been the case in the past.our customers will require our inspection services. However, a prolonged depressiondownturn in oil and natural gas prices could lead to a downturn in demand for our services, as was the case in recent years. services.

 

The two year downturnPipeline & Process Services

During 2018, we opened a new office in energy prices required many ofOdessa, Texas to better serve the growing Permian basin market. In addition, we added several industry veterans to our customers that rely more heavily on commodity pricesmanagement team in order to focus on reducing their operating costs, leverage,further enhance our image and in many cases they delayed or cancelledgrow the segment. In early 2019, an affiliated entity opened a new projects. Several clients have sought to reduce the rates paid to inspectors to reduce their inspection costs. We have recently renewed several sizable existing contracts and are bidding on several new contracts. However, we continue to see certain of our customers’ projects slipping past original start dates as a result of permitting or other delays. This has improved substantially following the changelocation in the FERC administration as noted above. Year to date in 2017, we added 26 new customers.  

Integrity Services

Brown, our 51% owned hydrostatic testing business unit, has seen a significant improvement through 2017 in its utilization rate and backlog. Brown had a difficult year in 2016, which forcedHouston market that will help us to implement aggressive measures to manage and reduce its cost structure. We have recently hired new business development personnel who are focused on the potential synergies that may develop between IS and other current customerstake advantage of the Partnership, as well as the growth and nurture of Brown’s historical, ongoing business. The initial results have been encouraging and the new construction projects referenced above should significantly benefit Brown. Brown operated in 13 states during 2016, compared with over 40 states that the TIR Entities (through our PIS segment) operated in throughout 2016. Year-to-date in 2017, Brown has worked in 15 states and has successfully obtained new business from TIR relationships. Brown’s revenues improvedgrowing market in the third quarter along with its backlog.industry. Brown continues to enjoy an excellent reputation in the industry and hascontinues to bid on a substantial amount of new work that it is currently bidding to win. Year-to-datework. Although the first and fourth quarters of each year are typically slower as a result of seasonal fluctuations in 2017, Brown added 10activity, we entered the fourth quarter of 2019 with a strong backlog of new customers.projects.

 

Water and Environmental Services

Quarterly volumes in our W&ES segment grew 5% over the prior quarter, despite two of our facilities having been hit by lightning earlier in the year. Our average revenue per barrel held steady at $0.68 per barrel (inclusive of disposal fees, residual oil sales, and management fees). Drilling activity has improved dramatically following the downturn and the low that occurred in May 2016. As of the end of October 2017, as reported publicly by Baker Hughes:

Total US rig count of 909, including 379 in the Permian basin and 49 in the Williston basin/Bakken;

Rigs have increased 125%, or 505 rigs, from the May 2016 trough of 404; and

Rigs still remain down 52.9%, or 1,022 rigs, from September 2014 peak of 1,931.

Crude oil prices have also improved, and at the end of October, WTI crude exceeded $54 per barrel of oil. The decline in the market price of crude oil, which began in the second half of 2014, has had an adverse impact on our volumes and revenues over the last three years. The resultant slowdown in exploration and production activity led to lower new drilling activity, volumes, and commodity prices from sales of crude oil we recover from the water we process. In addition, many of our E&P customers requested pricing concessions to help them cope with the lower commodity prices, and the market became over supplied relative to activity levels. In the majority of the basins in the country, new SWD facilities were developed to support previous rig counts and activity levels prior to the sharp contraction in activity and commodity prices. These events have led to excess SWD facility supply relative to current demand in many locations, including the Bakken and the Permian that, in turn, has led to aggressive pricing.

 

We have always focusedcontinue to focus on produced water and pipedpipeline water whenever possible insteadpossible. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, 92% of trucked flowbackour volumes from our wholly-owned facilities were produced water and therefore, we believe we have been less impacted than many41% of our competitors duringvolumes from our wholly-owned facilities were delivered via ten pipelines, including two that we constructed and own. Of the oil and gas economic downturn. Duringdisposal volumes from Arnegard, a 25% owned company, 95% of the quarter, 90% of our volumes were produced water and approximately 45% of our water was received61% were delivered via pipelines. Inpipeline during the second quarter of 2016, we took aggressive actions to reduce operating costs in an effort to offset the financial impact of continued depressed market volumes and prices, and continue to see the positive results of those actions, including gross margins exceeding 60%. Additionally, wenine months ended September 30, 2019. We continue to focus on pipedpipeline water opportunities to secure additional long-term volumes of produced water for the life of the oil and gas wells’ production and currently are working on a growth capital expenditure project to develop a water gathering system that will connect to 15 oil wells for a public energy company in the Bakken. We also provide management services for a Bakken SWD facility in which we also own a 25% interest.production.

30  

Results of Operations

 

We continue to actively pursue acquisition opportunities with the same discipline that protected the Partnership during a heated market in 2014 and 2013 that drove up valuations to unsustainable levels, leading to many bankruptcies and restructurings. We also continue to evaluate and compete for some interesting opportunities for pipelines and new SWD facilities directly with E&P companies seeking to monetize their midstream assets or minimize their spending on infrastructure required to support their production. We continue to work collaboratively with our customers to help them address the volatility in commodity prices and their need to reduce operating expenses. We also continue to carefully evaluate market pricing on a facility-by-facility basis to ensure we remain competitive.

In January 2017, our Orla, Texas facility was struck by lightning. The downhole facilities were not damaged and we had insurance covering the surface facilities with a reasonable deductible. We do not carry business interruption insurance given its costs, waiting periods, and coverages. Within two weeks, the facility re-opened with temporary surface facilities. We have begun the redevelopment process with insurance proceeds and plan to have this facility fully functional in December. We continue to take both piped and trucked water with temporary facilities. In July 2017, a lightning strike at our Grassy Butte, North Dakota SWD facility initiated a fire that effectively destroyed the surface storage equipment at the facility, but it did not damage our pumps, electrical, housing, office, or downhole facilities. The facility has been closed while we negotiate our insurance claim. We have reached an agreement with the insurance carrier and plan to commence reconstruction with the intent to open for business again in the first quarter of 2018. 


Results of Operations

Consolidated Results of Operations

 

The following table summarizes our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three and nine month periodsmonths ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016:2018:

 

  Three Months Ended
September 30,
  Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
  2017  2016  2017  2016 
     (in thousands)    
          
 Revenues $77,682  $81,806  $216,971  $227,591 
 Costs of services  68,292   71,880   192,643   202,540 
 Gross margin  9,390   9,926   24,328   25,051 
                 
 Operating costs and expense:                
 General and administrative - segment  5,276   3,896   13,351   13,328 
 General and administrative - corporate  298   1,160   2,662   3,477 
 Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,184   1,214   3,561   3,685 
 Impairments        3,598   10,530 
 Losses on asset disposals, net  208      95    
 Operating income (loss)  2,424   3,656   1,061   (5,969)
                 
 Other income (expense):                
 Interest expense, net  (1,907)  (1,641)  (5,411)  (4,878)
 Foreign currency gains  557      824    
 Other, net  17   210   122   257 
 Net income (loss) before income tax expense  1,091   2,225   (3,404)  (10,590)
 Income tax expense  529   227   458   389 
 Net income (loss)  562   1,998   (3,862)  (10,979)
                 
 Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests  8   81   (1,290)  (4,898)
 Net income (loss) attributable to partners / controlling interests  554   1,917   (2,572)  (6,081)
                 
 Net loss attributable to general partner  (1,000)  (1,431)  (2,750)  (5,366)
 Net income (loss) attributable to limited partners $1,554  $3,348  $178  $(715)
  Three Months Ended
September 30,
  Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
  2019  2018  2019  2018 
  (in thousands) 
Revenue $108,934  $84,778  $310,401  $226,072 
Costs of services  93,533   71,870   270,170   194,092 
Gross margin  15,401   12,908   40,231   31,980 
                 
Operating costs and expense:                
General and administrative - segment  6,233   5,788   18,212   16,430 
General and administrative - corporate  324   276   734   911 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,116   1,124   3,329   3,368 
Gain on asset disposals, net     (822)  (23)  (4,137)
Operating income  7,728   6,542   17,979   15,408 
                 
Other (expense) income:                
Interest expense, net  (1,376)  (1,283)  (4,102)  (4,907)
Debt issuance cost write-off           (114)
Foreign currency gains (losses)  (47)  97   138   (354)
Other, net  82   95   220   302 
Net income before income tax expense  6,387   5,451   14,235   10,335 
Income tax expense  907   497   1,731   865 
Net income  5,480   4,954   12,504   9,470 
                 
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests  634   289   692   673 
Net income attributable to partners / controlling interests  4,846   4,665   11,812   8,797 
                 
Net income attributable to preferred unitholder  1,033   1,045   3,099   1,412 
Net income attributable to common unitholders $3,813  $3,620  $8,713  $7,385 

 

See the detailed discussion of revenues, costs of services, gross margin, general and administrative expense and depreciation, amortization and accretion by reportable segmentsegments below. The following is a discussion of significant changes in the non-segment related corporate other income and expenses during the respective periods.

General and administrative – corporate. General and administrative-corporate decreased primarily dueadministrative expense – corporate includes equity-based compensation expense for certain employees and certain administrative expenses not directly attributable to the omnibus administrative expense charge of $1.0 million that was incurred in the third quarter of 2017 and recorded in general and administrative-segment in 2017.  This omnibus administrative expense was waived by the sponsor in 2016. Amounts recorded in general and administrative-corporate include administrative expenses incurred by Holdings on our behalf (and not charged to us).operating segments.

 

Interest expense.Interest expense primarily consists of interest on borrowings under our Credit Agreement, as well as amortization of debt issuance costs and unused commitment fees. Interest expense increaseddecreased from 2016the nine months ended September 30, 2018 to 2017the nine months ended September 30, 2019 primarily due to the refinancing of our Credit Agreement. We made payments of $4.0 million, $5.0 million, and $8.0 million in January, April, and May 2018, respectively, to reduce the outstanding balance on our Credit Agreement. In May 2018, we issued preferred equity and used the proceeds to reduce the outstanding balance on the Credit Agreement by an increase in interest rates.additional $43.8 million. Average debt outstanding during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 20162018 was $136.9$81.6 million and $137.6$105.9 million, respectively. The average interest rate on our borrowings has increased from 4.08% in5.42% during the nine months ended September 30, 20162018 to 4.62% in5.97% during the nine months ended September 30, 2017.2019.

 

Debt issuance cost write-off . In May 2018, we entered into an amendment to our revolving credit facility and wrote off $0.1 million of debt issuance costs, which represented the portion of the unamortized debt issuance costs attributable to lenders who are no longer participating in the credit facility subsequent to the amendment to the Credit Agreement.


Foreign currency gains.gains (losses). DuringOur Canadian subsidiary has certain intercompany payables to our U.S.-based subsidiaries. Such intercompany payables and receivables among our consolidated subsidiaries are eliminated on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. We report currency translation adjustments on these intercompany payables and receivables within foreign currency gains (losses) in our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. The net foreign currency gains during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded $0.6 million and $0.8 million, respectively,2019 resulted from the appreciation of income associated with currency translation adjustments on intercompany balances among our consolidated subsidiaries.the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar.

  

Other, net. Other income includes income associated with our 25% interest in an SWDa saltwater disposal facility, which we account for under the equity method.


Income tax expense.Income tax expense includes(benefit). Our income tax provision relates primarily to (1) our U.S. corporate subsidiaries that provide services to public utility customers, which do not appear to fit within the definition of qualified income as it is defined in the Internal Revenue Code, Regulations, and other guidance, which subjects this income to U.S. federal and state income taxes, related(2) our Canadian subsidiary, which is subject to two of our taxable corporate subsidiaries inCanadian federal and provincial income taxes, and (3) certain other state income taxes, including the United States and one taxable corporate subsidiary in Canada (two in our PIS segment and one in our IS segment), as well as business activity, gross margin, andTexas franchise taxes incurred in certain states.tax. We estimate an annual tax rate based on our projected income for the year and apply that annual tax rate to our year-to-date earnings. Income tax expense increased from $0.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 to $1.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 primarily due to increased income in our U.S. corporate subsidiary that provides services to public utility customers and increases in revenue that is subject to the Texas franchise tax.

 

As a publicly-traded partnership, we are subject to a statutory requirement that 90% of our total gross income represents “qualifying income” (as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, related Treasury Regulations, and Internal Revenue Service pronouncements), determined on a calendar-year basis. Income generated by taxable corporate subsidiaries is excluded from this calculation. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, substantially all of our gross income, which consisted of approximately $245.5 million of revenue (exclusive of the income generated by our taxable corporate subsidiaries), represented “qualifying income”.

Net lossincome attributable to noncontrolling interests. We own a 51% interest in Brown and a 49% interest in CF Inspection. The accounts of these subsidiaries are included within our consolidated financial statements. The portion of the net income (loss) of these entities that is attributable to outside owners is reported in net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interestin our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

 

Net lossincome attributable to general partnerpreferred unitholder. On May 29, 2018, we issued and sold $43.5 million of preferred equity. The net lossholder of the preferred units is entitled to an annual return of 9.5% on this investment. The earnings attributable to the general partner during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 consists of expenses that Holdings incurred on our behalf. Since Holdings did not charge us for these expenses, we recorded these expenses as an equity contribution from our general partner. The net loss attributable to the general partner in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 also includes $1.0 million of cash support provided by the General Partner for reimbursement of expenses. The net loss attributable to the general partner in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 also includes $0.5 million and $2.5 million, respectively, of cash support provided by the General Partner for reimbursement of expenses.preferred unitholder reflects this return.

 

32  

Segment Operating Results

 

Pipeline Inspection Services (PIS)

 

The following table summarizes the operating results of the PISPipeline Inspection segment for the three months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016.  2018.

 

 Three Months Ended September 30, 
 2017 % of Revenue 2016 % of Revenue Change % Change  Three Months Ended September 30, 
 (in thousands, except average revenue and inspector data)  2019 % of Revenue 2018 % of Revenue Change % Change 
    (in thousands, except average revenue and inspector data) 
Revenue $72,737      $75,313      $(2,576)  (3.4)% $99,684     $77,606     $22,078  28.4% 
Costs of services  65,323       67,579       (2,256)  (3.3)%  88,597      68,350      20,247  29.6% 
Gross margin  7,414   10.2%  7,734   10.3%  (320)  (4.1)%  11,087  11.1%  9,256  11.9%  1,831  19.8% 
                                             
General and administrative  3,893   5.4%  2,920   3.9%  973   33.3%  4,890  4.9%  4,422  5.7%  468  10.6% 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  577   0.8%  608   0.8%  (31)  (5.1)%
Depreciation and amortization  556  0.6%  571  0.7%  (15) (2.6)% 
Gains on asset disposals, net        (21) 0.0%  21  (100.0)% 
Operating income $2,944   4.0% $4,206   5.6% $(1,262)  (30.0)% $5,641  5.7% $4,284  5.5% $1,357  31.7% 
                                             
Operating Data                                             
Average number of inspectors  1,211       1,231       (20)  (1.6)%  1,540      1,263      277  21.9% 
Average revenue per inspector per week $4,570      $4,655      $(85)  (1.8)% $4,925     $4,675     $250  5.3% 
                                             
Revenue variance due to number of inspectors                 $(1,201)                   $17,927    
Revenue variance due to average revenue per inspector                 $(1,375)                   $4,151    

Revenues.Revenue. Revenues decreased $2.6Revenue increased $22.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016, primarily2018, due to a decreasean increase in the average number of inspectors engaged (a decrease(an increase of 20277 inspectors accounting for a $1.2$17.9 million of the revenue decrease)increase) and a reductionan increase in the average revenue billed for eachper inspector (accounting for a $1.4$4.2 million of the revenue decrease)increase).

Revenues of Revenue attributable to our Canadian business decreased $8.6U.S. operations increased $22.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016,2018, due primarily to increased activity by our clients and increased business development efforts. During the lossfourth quarter of a major customer2018, we began work on the largest contract award in our history. The headcount for this pipeline inspection project peaked in the second quarter of 2017. This decrease was partially offset by an increase2019, and we expect the project to continue, with declining headcounts, throughout 2019. Revenues of $6.0 million in our U.S. domestic business lines, including increases of $1.3 million in oursubsidiary that serves public utility business and $0.8customers increased by $3.0 million in nondestructive examination service line during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016.


Costs of services. Costs of services decreased $2.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 2017 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016, corresponding to the decrease in revenue.

Gross margin. Gross margin decreased $0.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 2017 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016, due to lower revenues and a slightly decreased margin percentage.

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses increased $1.0 million, of which $0.7 million was due to the omnibus administrative expense charge incurred and allocated to the segments in the third quarter of 2017 that was waived by Holdings in 2016 and recorded in general and administrative-corporate.

Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense during the third quarter of 2017 was not significantly different from depreciation and amortization expense during the third quarter of 2016.

Operating income. Operating income decreased $1.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 2017 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016, due primarily to the increased general and administrative expenses and the decreased gross margin in the third quarter of 2017 compared to the third quarter of 2016. 

2018. The following table summarizes the operating results of the PIS segment for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016.  

  Nine Months Ended September 30, 
  2017  % of Revenue  2016  % of Revenue  Change  % Change 
  (in thousands, except average revenue and inspector data) 
    
Revenue $205,039      $209,632      $(4,593)  (2.2)%
Costs of services  185,308       189,788       (4,480)  (2.4)%
Gross margin  19,731   9.6%  19,844   9.5%  (113)  (0.6)%
                         
General and administrative  10,212   5.0%  9,439   4.5%  773   8.2%
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,755   0.9%  1,834   0.9%  (79)  (4.3)%
Impairments  1,329   0.6%     0.0%  1,329     
Losses on asset disposals and insurance recoveries, net  18   0.0%     0.0%  18     
Operating income $6,417   3.1% $8,571   4.1% $(2,154)  (25.1)%
                         
Operating Data                        
                         
Average number of inspectors  1,160       1,165       (5)  (0.4)%
Average revenue per inspector per week $4,532      $4,597      $(65)  (1.4)%
                         
Revenue variance due to number of inspectors                 $(884)    
Revenue variance due to average revenue per inspector                 $(3,709)    

40

Revenues. Revenues decreased $4.6 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016, primarily due to a decrease in the average number of inspectors engaged (a decrease of 5 inspectors accounting for a $0.9 million revenue decrease) and a reduction in the average revenue billed for each inspector (accounting for a $3.7 million revenue decrease). We continue to focus on areas of inspection that are less impacted by economic conditions, such as maintenance projects and projects associated with public utility companies, to help mitigate the decline in revenues associated with new construction projects. Revenues of our nondestructive examination service line increased by $2.9 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016.

The declineincrease in average revenue per inspector is due to changes in customer mix. Fluctuations in the average revenue per inspector per year are expected, given that we charge different rates for different types of inspectors and different types of inspection services. Competition remains strong in the industry which continues to exert downward pressure on rates.

 

Costs of services. Costs of services decreased $4.5increased $20.2 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2018, primarily related to an increase in the average number of inspectors employed during the period.

Gross margin. Gross margin increased $1.8 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2018. The gross margin percentage was 11.1% in 2019, compared to 11.9% in 2018. The decrease in gross margin percentage is due to changes in the mix of services provided. During the three months ended September 30, 2019, we generated an increased percentage of our revenue from inspection services, which typically carry lower margins than integrity services. This was due in part to an inspection project that represented the largest contract award in our history. The resulting decrease in gross margin percentage was partially offset by increased activity in our business that serves public utility customers, as these services typically generate higher margins than our other inspection services.

Gross margin during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 benefited from the fact that we recognized $0.2 million and $0.5 million, respectively, of revenue on services performed in previous years. We had constrained recognition of this revenue until the expiration of a contract provision that had given the customer the opportunity to reopen negotiation of the fee paid for the services.

In October 2019, we received a signed contract modification from one of our customers for a price increase that is retroactive to June 2019. We will record $0.6 million as catch-up adjustment to revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 related to this retroactive price increase. In 2018, we received the signed contract modification for this annual price increase during the three months ended September 30, 2018, and we recognized the related revenue during the three months ended September 30, 2018.

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses increased by $0.5 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2018. Compensation expense increased approximately $0.1 million due primarily to increased incentive compensation expense resulting from the improved performance of the business. Professional fees increased by $0.3 million, due to legal costs associated with certain employment-related lawsuits and claims. The administrative fee charged by Holdings increased by $0.1 million, as a result of an inflation adjustment called for in our agreement with Holdings.


Depreciation, amortization and accretion. Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense during the three months ended September 30, 2019 was not significantly different from depreciation, amortization and accretion expense during the three months ended September 30, 2018.

Operating income. Operating income increased by $1.4 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2018, due primarily to an increase in gross margin, which was partially offset by an increase in general and administrative expense.

The following table summarizes the operating results of the Pipeline Inspection segment for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

  Nine Months Ended September 30, 
  2019  % of Revenue  2018  % of Revenue  Change  % Change 
  (in thousands, except average revenue and inspector data) 
Revenue $289,919     $205,938     $83,981  40.8% 
Costs of services  259,015      183,305      75,710  41.3% 
Gross margin  30,904  10.7%   22,633  11.0%   8,271  36.5% 
                      
General and administrative  14,101  4.9%   12,313  6.0%   1,788  14.5% 
Depreciation and amortization  1,667  0.6%   1,717  0.8%   (50) (2.9)% 
Gains on asset disposals, net        (21) 0.0%   21  (100.0)% 
Operating income $15,136  5.2%  $8,624  4.2%  $6,512  75.5% 
                      
Operating Data                     
Average number of inspectors  1,548      1,160      388  33.4% 
Average revenue per inspector per week $4,802     $4,552     $250  5.5% 
                      
Revenue variance due to number of inspectors               $72,662    
Revenue variance due to average revenue per inspector               $11,319    

Revenue. Revenue of the Pipeline Inspection segment increased $84.0 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016,2018, due primarily to lower revenues.

Gross margin. Gross margin remained relatively consistentan increase in the average number of inspectors engaged (an increase of 388 inspectors accounting for $72.7 million of the revenue increase) and an increase in the average revenue billed per inspector (accounting for $11.3 million of the revenue increase). Revenue attributable to our U.S. operations increased $85.0 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016.2018, due to increased activity by our clients and increased business development efforts. During the fourth quarter of 2018, we began work on the largest contract award in our history. The headcount for this pipeline inspection project peaked in the second quarter of 2019, and we expect the project to continue, with declining headcounts, throughout 2019. Revenues of our subsidiary that serves public utility customers increased by $12.6 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $1.0 million in revenues attributable to our Canadian operations due to a decrease in the average number of inspectors employed during the period. The increase in average revenue per inspector is due to changes in customer mix. Fluctuations in the average revenue per inspector are expected, given that we charge different rates for different types of inspectors and different types of inspection services.

Costs of services. Costs of services increased $75.7 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018, primarily related to an increase in the average number of inspectors employed during the period.

Gross margin. Gross margin increased $8.3 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018. The gross margin percentage changes can be attributablewas 10.7% in 2019, compared to 11.0% in 2018. The decrease in gross margin percentage is due to changes in the mix of services provided. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we generated an increased percentage of our revenue from inspection services, which typically carry lower margins than integrity services. This was due in part to an inspection project that represented the largest contract award in our history. The resulting decrease in gross margin percentage was partially offset by increased activity in our business that serves public utility customers, as these services typically generate higher margins than our other inspection services.


Gross margin during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 benefited from the fact that we recognized $0.2 million and $0.5 million, respectively, of revenue on services performed in previous years. We had constrained recognition of this revenue until the expiration of a contract provision that had given the customer the opportunity to reopen negotiation of the fee paid for the services.

 

In October 2019, we received a signed contract modification from one of our customers for a price increase that is retroactive to June 2019. We will record $0.6 million as a catch-up adjustment to revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 related to this retroactive price increase. In 2018, we received the signed contract modification for this annual price increase during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, and we recognized the related revenue during the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

General and administrative.General and administrative expenses increased $0.8by $1.8 million primarilyduring the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018. Compensation expense increased by $0.9 million due to an increase in personnel to support our growing businesses and to increased incentive compensation expense resulting from the omnibus administrative expense charge incurredimproved performance of our business. Professional fees increased by $0.6 million, due to legal costs associated with certain employment-related lawsuits and allocatedclaims and to legal advisory costs related to the segments in the third quarterbankruptcy of 2017 that was waivedone of our largest customers. The administrative fee charged by Holdings increased by $0.3 million, as a result of an inflation adjustment called for in 2016 and recorded in general and administrative-corporate.our agreement with Holdings.

 

Depreciation, amortization and amortization.accretion. Depreciation, amortization and amortizationaccretion expense during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 was not significantly different from depreciation, amortization and amortizationaccretion expense during the nine months ended September 30, 2016.2018.

 

Impairments. During the first quarter of 2017, the largest customer of our Canadian subsidiary completed a bid process and selected different service providers for its inspection contracts. In consideration of the loss of this contract, we recorded impairments to the carrying values of certain intangible assets of $1.3 million in the first quarter of 2017. Of this amount, $1.1 million related to customer relationships and $0.2 million related to trade names.

Operating income. Operating income decreased $2.2increased by $6.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016,2018, due primarily to $1.3 million of impairments and tothe increase in gross margin, partially offset by an increase in general and administrative costs of $0.8 million. expenses.


IntegrityPipeline & Process Services (IS)

 

The following table summarizes the results of the ISPipeline & Process Services segment for the three months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016. 2018.

 

 Three Months Ended September 30, 
 2017 % of Revenue 2016 % of Revenue Change % Change  Three Months Ended September 30, 
 (in thousands, except average revenue and inspector data)  2019 % of Revenue 2018 % of Revenue Change % Change 
              (in thousands, except average revenue and inspector data) 
Revenue $2,834      $4,525      $(1,691)  (37.4)% $6,199     $3,881     $2,318  59.7% 
Costs of services  2,132       3,558       (1,426)  (40.1)%  4,146      2,592      1,554  60.0% 
Gross margin  702   24.8%  967   21.4%  (265)  (27.4)%  2,053  33.1%   1,289  33.2%   764  59.3% 
                                             
General and administrative  525   18.5%  514   11.4%  11   2.1%  612  9.9%   592  15.3%   20  3.4% 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  157   5.5%  157   3.5%     0.0%  144  2.3%   143  3.7%   1  0.7% 
Operating income (loss) $20   0.7% $296   6.5% $(276)  (93.2)%
Gain on asset disposals, net        (32) (0.8)%   32  (100.0)% 
Operating income $1,297  20.9%  $586  15.1%  $711  121.3% 
                                             
Operating Data                                             
Average number of field personnel  21       25       (4)  (16.0)%  29      23      6  26.1% 
Average revenue per field personnel per week $10,268      $13,772      $(3,504)  (25.4)% $16,264     $12,839     $3,425  26.7% 
Revenue variance due to number of field personnel                 $(540)                   $1,283    
Revenue variance due to average revenue per field personnel                 $(1,151)                   $1,035    

Revenue. Revenues decreased approximately $1.7Revenue increased $2.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016 due2018. Revenues of this segment benefitted from several large projects that were scheduled to a $0.5 million decreasebegin earlier in the average number of field personnel engaged in customer projects and a decrease in the average revenue charged per field personnel of $1.2 million. Revenues during the three months ended September 30, 2017 continued to be adversely affected2019, but were delayed by a slowdown in new projects by our customers and by the loss during 2016 of key business development employees. Earlier in 2017, we hired new business development personnel to assist in these efforts and we have seen some success via increases in backlog for the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018.adverse weather.

 

Costs of services. Cost of services decreased approximately $1.4increased by $1.6 million during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016, consistent with the decrease2018, due to an increase in revenue.revenues.

 

Gross margin. Gross margin decreased approximately $0.3increased by $0.8 million during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016, due primarily to lower revenues, partially offset by an improved2018. The increase in gross margin percentage.was due to an increase in revenue.


General and administrative. General and administrative expenses primarily include compensation expense for office employees and general office expenses. These expenses remained relatively consistent from the three months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016.2018.

 

Depreciation, amortization and amortization.accretion. Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense includes depreciation of property and equipment and amortization of intangible assets associated with customer relationships, trade names, and noncompete agreements. Depreciation, amortization and amortizationaccretion expense during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 was not significantly different from depreciation, amortization and amortizationaccretion expense during the three months ended September 30, 2016.2018.

 

Operating income (loss).income. Operating income (loss) decreased $0.3increased by $0.7 million during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016,2018. The increase was primarily due primarily to the decrease inhigher gross margin.margin of $0.8 million.


The following table summarizes the results of the ISPipeline & Process Services segment for the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016. 2018.

 

 Nine Months Ended September 30, 
 2017 % of Revenue 2016 % of Revenue Change % Change  Nine Months Ended September 30, 
 (in thousands, except average revenue and inspector data)  2019 % of Revenue 2018 % of Revenue Change % Change 
    (in thousands, except average revenue and inspector data) 
Revenue $5,927      $11,329      $(5,402)  (47.7)% $12,554     $11,307     $1,247  11.0% 
Costs of services  5,005       9,668       (4,663)  (48.2)%  8,893      7,840      1,053  13.4% 
Gross margin  922   15.6%  1,661   14.7%  (739)  (44.5)%  3,661  29.2%   3,467  30.7%   194   5.6% 
                                             
General and administrative  1,488   25.1%  2,388   21.1%  (900)  (37.7)%  1,842  14.7%   1,715  15.2%   127  7.4% 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  471   7.9%  502   4.4%  (31)  (6.2)%  430  3.4%   449   4.0%   (19)  (4.2)% 
Impairments  1,581   26.7%  8,411   74.2%  (6,830)  (81.2)%
Operating loss $(2,618)  (44.2)% $(9,640)  (85.1)% $7,022   (72.8)%
Gain on asset disposals, net  (23) (0.2)%   (77) (0.7)%   54  (70.1)% 
Operating income $1,412  11.2%  $1,380  12.2%  $32   2.3% 
                                             
Operating Data                                             
Average number of field personnel  18       24       (6)  (25.0)%  28      22      6  27.3% 
                        
Average revenue per field personnel per week $8,443      $12,059      $(3,616)  (30.0)% $11,496     $13,178     $(1,682) (12.8)% 
Revenue variance due to number of field personnel                 $(1,976)                   $2,690    
Revenue variance due to average revenue per field personnel                 $(3,426)                   $(1,443)   

Revenue. Revenues decreasedRevenue increased by approximately $5.4$1.3 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016. Approximately $2.0 million of the decrease2018. The increase in revenue was due to a decreaseincreased success in the average number of field personnel engaged in customer projects and approximately $3.4 million of the decrease was due to a decrease in the average revenue per field personnel generated. Revenueswinning bids for large projects. Revenue during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 included $0.3 million associated with additional billings on a project that we completed in the fourth quarter of 2017 have been adversely affected by a slowdown in new projects by our customers and by(we recognized the loss during 2016revenue upon receipt of key business development employees.customer acknowledgment of the additional fees).

 

Costs of services. Cost of services decreased approximately $4.7increased $1.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016,2018, due primarily to the slowdownan increase in business activity.revenues.

 

Gross margin. Gross margin decreased approximately $0.7increased $0.2 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016, due primarily to lower revenues, partially offset by an improved2018. The decrease is gross margin percentage. percentage was due in part to $0.3 million of revenue recognized during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 associated with additional billings on a project that we completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.

 

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses primarily include compensation expense for office employees and general office expenses. These expenses decreasedincreased by $0.9$0.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016,2018, due primarily to cost-cutting measures we implementedan increase in response to the continued low-revenue environment. These measures included the closure of one office location.employee compensation expenses.


Depreciation, amortization and amortization.accretion. Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense includes depreciation of property and equipment and amortization of intangible assets associated with customer relationships, trade names, and noncompete agreements. Depreciation, amortization and amortizationaccretion expense during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 was not significantly different from depreciation, amortization and amortizationaccretion expense during the nine months ended September 30, 2016.2018.


Impairments. During the first quarter of 2017, we recorded an impairment of $1.6 million to goodwill. During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, we recorded an impairment of $8.4 million to goodwill. As of March 31, 2017, goodwill in this segment was fully impaired.

Operating loss.income. Operating loss decreasedincome increased by $7.0less than $0.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2016,2018. This increase was due primarily to a lower goodwill impairment chargehigher gross margins of $6.8 million and lower general and administrative expenses of $0.9$0.2 million partially offset by a $0.7an increase of $0.1 million decrease in the gross margin.general and administrative expenses.

Water & Environmental Services (W&ES)

 

The following table summarizes the operating results of the W&ESEnvironmental Services segment for the three months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016.2018.

 

  Three Months Ended September 30, 
  2017  % of Revenue  2016  % of Revenue  Change  % Change 
  (in thousands, except per barrel data) 
    
Revenue $2,111      $1,968      $143   7.3%
Costs of services  837       743       94   12.7%
Gross margin  1,274   60.4%  1,225   62.2%  49   4.0%
                         
General and administrative  858   40.6%  462   23.5%  396   85.7%
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  450   21.3%  449   22.8%  1   0.2%
Losses on asset disposals, net  208   9.9%         208     
Operating income (loss) $(242)  (11.5)% $314   16.0% $(556)  (177.1)%
                         
Operating Data                        
Total barrels of saltwater disposed  3,102       2,937       165   5.6%
Average revenue per barrel disposed (a) $0.68      $0.67      $0.01   2.0%
Revenue variance due to barrels disposed                 $111     
Revenue variance due to revenue per barrel                 $32     
(a)   Average revenue per barrel disposed is calculated by dividing revenues (which includes disposal revenues, residual oil sales, and management fees) by the total barrels of saltwater disposed.

Revenue. Revenues increased $0.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2017 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016, due primarily to a 5.6% increase in the volume of saltwater disposed. The increase in volume was due primarily to increased flowback volumes at one of our facilities in North Dakota. Average revenue per barrel was relatively consistent. Oil revenue represented approximately 5.7% of total revenue during the three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016.

The increase in revenues was partially offset by interruptions associated with lightning strikes and fires at our facility in Orla, Texas in January 2017 and at our Grassy Butte facility in North Dakota in July 2017. We re-established temporary operations at the Orla facility soon after that incident, and the incidents did have an adverse effect on the revenues of these facilities.


Costs of services. Costs of services increased $0.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2017 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016, relatively consistent with the increase in revenues.

Gross margin. Gross margin remained relatively consistent during the three months ended September 30, 2017 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2016.

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses include general office overhead expenses such as salary costs, insurance, property taxes, royalty expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses. General and administrative expenses increased $0.4 million, primarily due to the omnibus administrative expense charge incurred and allocated to the segments in the third quarter of 2017 that was waived by Holdings in 2016 and recorded in general and administrative-corporate.

Depreciation, amortization and accretion. Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense during the three months ended September 30, 2017 was not significantly different from depreciation and amortization expense during the three months ended September 30, 2016.

Losses on asset disposals, net. During the three months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded losses of $0.2 million related to lightning strikes and fires at two of our SWD facilities for non-reimbursable costs associated with these incidents.

Operating income (loss). Our W&ES segment generated an operating loss of $0.2 million during the three months ended September 30, 2017 compared to operating income of $0.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 2016. This decrease in operating income (loss) was primarily due to an increase in general and administrative costs of $0.4 million and losses on asset disposals, net of $0.2 million.


The following table summarizes the operating results of the W&ES segment for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016.

 Nine Months Ended September 30, 
 2017 % of Revenue 2016 % of Revenue Change % Change  Three Months Ended September 30, 
 (in thousands, except per barrel data)  2019 % of Revenue 2018 % of Revenue Change % Change 
              (in thousands, except per barrel data) 
Revenue $6,005      $6,630      $(625)  (9.4)% $3,051     $3,325     $(274) (8.2)% 
Costs of services  2,330       3,084       (754)  (24.4)%  790      962      (172) (17.9)% 
Gross margin  3,675   61.2%  3,546   53.5%  129   3.6%  2,261  74.1%   2,363  71.1%   (102) (4.3)% 
                                             
General and administrative  1,651   27.5%  1,501   22.6%  150   10.0%  731  24.0%   774  23.3%   (43) (5.6)% 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,335   22.2%  1,349   20.3%  (14)  (1.0)%  412  13.5%   410  12.3%   2  0.5% 
Impairments  688   11.5%  2,119   32.0%  (1,431)  (67.5)%
Losses on asset disposals, net  77   1.3%         77     
Operating loss $(76)  (1.3)% $(1,423)  (21.5)% $1,347   (94.7)%
Gain on asset disposals, net        (769) (23.1)%   769  (100.0)% 
Operating income $1,118  36.6%  $1,948  58.6%  $(830) (42.6)% 
                                             
Operating Data                                             
Total barrels of saltwater disposed  8,841       9,917       (1,076)  (10.9)%  3,989      4,276      (287) (6.7)% 
Average revenue per barrel disposed (a) $0.68      $0.67      $0.01   2.0% $0.76     $0.78     $(0.02) (2.6)% 
Revenue variance due to barrels disposed                 $(719)                   $(214)   
Revenue variance due to revenue per barrel                 $94                    $(60)   

 

(a)Average revenue per barrel disposed is calculated by dividing revenues (which includes disposal revenues, residual oil sales and management fees) by the total barrels of saltwater disposed.

 

Revenue.Revenue. Revenues decreased by $0.6$0.3 million during the ninethree months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the ninethree months ended September 30, 2016, due primarily2018. The decrease in revenues was due to a 10.9% decrease of 0.3 million barrels in the volume of saltwater disposed.water processed, a decrease in pipeline transportation fees, and lower crude oil prices on our oil sales. The decrease in volumes was due primarily to reducedvolume resulted from a slowdown in exploration and production activity in North Dakota, as a result of low commodity prices. Averagethe areas near our facilities.

The average revenue per barrel remained relatively consistent from 2016 to 2017. Oil revenue represented approximately 7.5% of total revenuedecreased during the ninethree months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to 5.5% during the ninethree months ended September 30, 2016.

In addition, business activity was interrupted by2018, due in part to the fact that transportation fees on piped water represented a lightning strikesmaller percentage of the total volumes in 2019 than in 2018, and fire atin part to a scheduled decrease in pricing on pipeline transportation fees into one of our facilityfacilities and due in Orla, Texas in January 2017 and atpart to lower crude oil prices on our Grassy Butte facility in North Dakota in July 2017. We re-established temporary operations at the Orla facility soon after that incident, but the incidents did have an adverse effect on the revenues of these facilities. Revenues at the Orla facility were $0.3 million lower and revenues at our Grassy Butte facility were $0.1 million lower during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 than during the nine months ended September 30, 2016.oil sales.

 

Costs of services. Costs of services decreased by $0.8$0.2 million during the ninethree months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the ninethree months ended September 30, 2016,2018. The decrease was due primarily to cost reduction measures that we implementeda decrease of $0.1 million in mid-2016variable expenses such as chemicals and utilities as a result in response to adverse market conditions. These measures included the temporary suspensiondecrease in volumes processed and a decrease of activity at two of our facilities$0.1 million in repairs and investments in automation at other facilities.maintenance expense.

 

Gross marginmargin.. Gross margin increaseddecreased by $0.1 million betweenduring the ninethree months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to the ninethree months ended September 30, 2016. A2018, due primarily to a $0.3 million decrease in revenues of $0.6 million wasrevenue, partially offset by a $0.2 million decrease in costscost of services of $0.8 million.services.

 

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses include general office overhead expenses such as salary costs, insurance, property taxes, royalty expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses. GeneralThese expenses remained relatively consistent from the three months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2018.

Depreciation, amortization and administrative expensesaccretion. Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense during the three months ended September 30, 2019 was not significantly different from depreciation, amortization and accretion expense during the three months ended September 30, 2018.


Gain on asset disposals, net. During the three months ended September 30, 2018, we received $0.2 million of additional proceeds from the May 2018 sale of our facility in Orla, Texas. These proceeds had been subject to a holdback provision in the agreement to sell the facility, and we received these proceeds upon settlement of a dispute related to workmanship associated with one of the assets that was rebuilt prior to the sale.

During the three months ended September 30, 2018, we received proceeds of $0.4 million from the settlement of litigation related to lightning strikes that occurred in 2017 at our facilities in Orla, Texas and Grassy Butte, North Dakota. This litigation related to the non-performance of certain lightning protection equipment we had purchased to protect the facilities.

During the three months ended September 30, 2018, we collected $0.1 million of insurance proceeds, which represented the final payment on a property damage insurance claim related to the Grassy Butte facility.

Operating income. Operating income decreased by $0.8 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2018. The decrease in operating income was primarily due to $0.8 million of gains on asset disposals during the three months ended September 30, 2018.

The following table summarizes the operating results of the Environmental Services segment for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

  Nine Months Ended September 30, 
  2019  % of Revenue  2018  % of Revenue  Change  % Change 
  (in thousands, except per barrel data) 
Revenue $7,928     $8,861     $(933) (10.5)% 
Costs of services  2,262      2,981      (719) (24.1)% 
Gross margin  5,666  71.5%   5,880  66.4%   (214) (3.6)% 
                      
General and administrative  2,269  28.6%   2,402  27.1%   (133) (5.5)% 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,221  15.4%   1,202  13.6%   19  1.6% 
Gain on asset disposals, net        (4,039) (45.6)%   4,039  (100.0)% 
Operating income $2,176  27.4%  $6,315  71.3%  $(4,139) (65.5)% 
                      
Operating Data                     
Total barrels of saltwater disposed  10,322      10,928      (606) (5.5)% 
Average revenue per barrel disposed (a) $0.77     $0.81     $(0.04) (4.9)% 
Revenue variance due to barrels disposed               $(500)   
Revenue variance due to revenue per barrel               $(433)   

(a)Average revenue per barrel disposed is calculated by dividing revenues (which includes disposal revenues, residual oil sales and management fees) by the total barrels of saltwater disposed.

Revenue. Revenue decreased by $0.9 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 were reduced by $0.32019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018. Revenues during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 included $0.2 million from our Texas facilities, which included management fees associated with a transition services agreement related to the collectionsale in January 2018 of an account receivableour Pecos, Texas facility and revenues from our Orla, Texas facility, which was sold in May 2018. Revenues of our North Dakota facilities decreased by approximately $0.7 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018, due to a decrease of 0.5 million barrels in the volume of water processed, a decrease in pipeline transportation fees, and lower prices on which we had previouslyour crude oil sales. The decrease in volume resulted from a slowdown in exploration and production activity in the areas near our facilities.

The average revenue per barrel decreased during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018, due in part to approximately $0.1 million of management fees recorded in 2018 associated with a valuation allowancetransition services agreement related to the sale of the Pecos, Texas facility, due in part to the fact that transportation fees on piped water represented a smaller percentage of the total volumes in 2019 than in 2018, due in part to a scheduled decrease in pricing on pipeline transportation fees into one of our facilities and increasedin part to lower crude oil prices on our oil sales.

Costs of services. Costs of services decreased by $0.7 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018. The decrease was due to a decrease of $0.2 million in variable expenses such as chemicals and utilities as a result of the decrease in volumes processed, a decrease of $0.1 million resulting from the sale in 2018 of our two facilities in Texas, a decrease of $0.2 million in repairs and maintenance expense, and approximately $0.2 million of expense associated with the cleanup and remediation of a saltwater spill at one of our facilities in North Dakota during 2018.


Gross margin. Gross margin decreased during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2018, due primarily to a $0.9 million decrease in revenue, partially offset by a $0.3$0.7 million omnibusdecrease in cost of services.

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses primarily include compensation expense charge incurredfor office employees and allocatedgeneral office expenses. These expenses decreased by $0.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the segmentsnine months ended September 30, 2018, due primarily to a decrease in the third quarter of 2017 that was waived by Holdings in 2016 and recorded in general and administrative-corporate.employee compensation expenses.


Depreciation, amortization and accretion. Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 was not significantly different from depreciation, amortization and amortizationaccretion expense during the nine months ended September 30, 2016.2018.

 

Impairments. In the first quarter of 2017, we recorded an impairment of $0.7 million to the property, plant and equipment at one of our SWD facilities. We have experienced low volumes at this facility due to competition in the area and to low levels of exploration and production activity near the facility. In the second quarter of 2016, we recorded an impairment of $2.1 million to the property, plant and equipment at one of our SWD facilities. 

LossesGain on asset disposals, net. During the threenine months ended September 30, 2017,2018, we recorded a lossgain of $0.1$1.8 million on the sale of our facility in Orla, Texas and a gain of $1.8 million on the sale of our facility in Pecos, Texas. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we received proceeds of $0.4 million from the settlement of litigation related to lightning strikes that occurred in 2017 at our facilities in Orla, Texas and fires at twoGrassy Butte, North Dakota. This litigation related to the non-performance of our SWD facilities,certain equipment we had purchased to protect the facilities. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we collected $0.1 million of insurance proceeds, which primarily represent non-reimbursable costs associated with these incidents.  This loss was net of a $0.3 million gain that we recorded upon receipt of proceeds fromrepresented the final payment on a property damage insurance claim related to the Orla, TexasGrassy Butte facility. These gains were partially offset by a loss of $0.1 million on the abandonment of a capital expansion project.

 

Operating loss.income. Our W&ES segment generated an operating loss of $0.1Operating income decreased by $4.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 compared to an operating loss of $1.4 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2016.2018. The decrease in operating income was due in part to gains of $4.0 million from asset disposals, partially offset by a loss of $0.1 million on the operating loss was primarily due toabandonment of a decrease of $1.4 million in impairments.capital expansion project.

 

Adjusted EBITDA


We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss);income; plus interest expense; depreciation, amortization and accretion expenses; income tax expense; impairments; non-cash allocated expenses; and equity-based compensation expense; less certain other extraordinaryunusual or non-recurring items. We define Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners as net income (loss) attributable to limited partners; plus interest expense attributable to limited partners; depreciation, amortization and accretion expenses attributable to limited partners; income tax expenseimpairments attributable to limited partners; impairmentsincome tax expense attributable to limited partners; non-cash allocated expenses attributable to limited partners; and equity-based compensation expense attributable to limited partners; less certain other extraordinaryunusual or non-recurring items attributable to limited partners. We define Distributable Cash Flow as Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners excludingpartners; less cash interest paid, cash income taxes paid, maintenance capital expenditures, and other extraordinary or non-recurring items.cash distributions on preferred equity. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners, and Distributable Cash Flow are used as supplemental financial measures by management and by external users of our financial statements, such as investors and commercial banks, to assess:

 

 the financial performance of our assets without regard to the impact of financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis of our assets;

 the viability of capital expenditure projects and the overall rates of return on alternative investment opportunities;

 our ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures;

 the ability of our assets to generate cash sufficient to make debt payments and to make distributions; and

 our operating performance as compared to those of other companies in our industry without regard to the impact of financing methods and capital structure.

We believe that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDAthese non-GAAP measures provides useful information to investors in assessing our financial condition and results of operations. The GAAP measures most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners’partners, and Distributable Cash Flow are net income (loss) and cash flow from operating activities. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered as alternatives to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.measures. Each of these non-GAAP measures exclude some, but not all, items that affect the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.measures. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners and Distributable Cash Flow should not be considered alternatives to net income, (loss), net income (loss) before income taxes, net income (loss) attributable to limited partners, cash flows from operating activities, or any other measure of financial performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, as those items are used to measure operating performance, liquidity, or the ability to service debt obligations.

 

Because Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners, and Distributable Cash Flow may be defined differently by other companies in our industry, our definitions of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners, and Distributable Cash Flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, thereby diminishing their utility.


The following tables present a reconciliation of net income (loss)to Adjusted EBITDA and to Distributable Cash Flow, a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to limited partnersto Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners and to Distributable Cash Flow, and a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activitiesto Adjusted EBITDA and to Distributable Cash Flow for each of the periods indicated.


Reconciliation of Net Loss to Adjusted EBITDA and to Distributable Cash Flow

             
  Three Months ended September 30,  Nine Months ended September 30, 
  2017  2016  2017  2016 
     (in thousands)    
          
 Net income (loss) $562  $1,998  $(3,862) $(10,979)
 Add:                
Interest expense  1,907   1,641   5,411   4,878 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,465   1,447   4,378   4,354 
Impairments        3,598   10,530 
Income tax expense  529   227   458   389 
Non-cash allocated expenses     931   1,750   2,866 
Equity based compensation  371   322   1,137   829 
Losses on asset disposals, net  208      77    
 Less:                
Foreign currency gains  557      824    
 Adjusted EBITDA $4,485  $6,566  $12,123  $12,867 
                 
 Adjusted EBITDA attributable to general partner  (1,000)  (500)  (1,000)  (2,500)
 Adjusted EBITDA attributable to non-controlling interests  163   294   (73)  (137)
 Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners / controlling interests $5,322  $6,772  $13,196  $15,504 
                 
 Less:                
 Cash interest paid, cash taxes paid, maintenance capital expenditures  1,910   1,671   6,380   5,058 
 Distributable cash flow $3,412  $5,101  $6,816  $10,446 

 

Reconciliation of Net LossIncome to Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow

  Three Months ended September 30,  Nine Months ended September 30, 
  2019  2018  2019  2018 
  (in thousands) 
Net income $5,480  $4,954  $12,504  $9,470 
Add:                
Interest expense  1,376   1,283   4,102   4,907 
Debt issuance cost write-off           114 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion  1,391   1,393   4,155   4,186 
Income tax expense  907   497   1,731   865 
Equity-based compensation  303   361   746   908 
Foreign currency losses  47         354 
Less:                
Foreign currency gains     97   138    
Gain on asset disposals, net     769      4,039 
Adjusted EBITDA $9,504  $7,622  $23,100  $16,765 
                 
Adjusted EBITDA attributable to noncontrolling interests  783   412   1,114   1,076 
Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners / controlling interests $8,721  $7,210  $21,986  $15,689 
                 
Less:                
Preferred unit distributions  1,033      3,099    
Cash interest paid, cash taxes paid, maintenance capital expenditures  1,922   1,469   5,604   5,897 
Distributable cash flow $5,766  $5,741  $13,283  $9,792 

Reconciliation of Net Income Attributable to Limited Partners to Adjusted

EBITDA Attributable to Limited Partners and to Distributable Cash Flow

 

 Three Months ended September 30, Nine Months ended September 30,  Three Months ended September 30, Nine Months ended September 30, 
 2017 2016 2017 2016  2019 2018 2019 2018 
    (in thousands)    (in thousands) 
         
Net income (loss) attributable to limited partners $1,554  $3,348  $178  $(715)
Net income attributable to limited partners $4,846  $4,665  $11,812  $8,797 
Add:                                
Interest expense attributable to limited partners  1,907   1,578   5,411   4,690   1,376   1,283   4,102   4,907 
Debt issuance cost write-off attributable to limited partners           114 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion attributable to limited partners  1,322   1,306   3,952   3,921   1,255   1,277   3,759   3,804 
Impairments attributable to limited partners        2,823   6,409 
Income tax expense attributable to limited partners  517   218   442   370   894   490   1,705   844 
Equity based compensation attributable to limited partners  371   322   1,137   829   303   361   746   908 
Losses on asset disposals attributable to limited partners, net  208      77    
Foreign currency losses attributable to limited partners  47         354 
Less:                                
Foreign currency gains attributable to limited partners  557      824         97   138    
Gain on asset disposals attributable to limited partners, net     769      4,039 
Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners  5,322   6,772   13,196   15,504   8,721   7,210   21,986   15,689 
                                
Less:                                
Cash interest paid, cash taxed paid and maintenance capital expenditures attributable to limited partners  1,910   1,671   6,380   5,058 
Preferred unit distributions  1,033      3,099    
Cash interest paid, cash taxes paid and maintenance capital expenditures attributable to limited partners  1,922   1,469   5,604   5,897 
Distributable cash flow $3,412  $5,101  $6,816  $10,446  $5,766  $5,741  $13,283  $9,792 


40  

Reconciliation of Net Cash Flows Provided by Operating Activities to Adjusted

EBITDA and to Distributable Cash Flow

 

 Nine Months ended September 30, 
 2017 2016  Nine Months ended September 30, 
 (in thousands)  2019 2018 
      (in thousands) 
Cash flows provided by operating activities $263 $17,659  $5,055  $6,955 
Changes in trade accounts receivable, net  11,583   (4,999)  20,879   9,395 
Changes in prepaid expenses and other  765   (1,053)  (121)  (891)
Changes in accounts payable and accrued liabilities  (6,552)  (3,802)  (8,023)  (4,129)
Changes in income taxes payable  271   84 
Change in income taxes payable  (166)  (62)
Interest expense (excluding non-cash interest)  4,968   4,452   3,711   4,478 
Income tax expense (excluding deferred tax benefit)  819   428   1,731   865 
Other  6   98   34   154 
Adjusted EBITDA $12,123  $12,867  $23,100  $16,765 
                
Adjusted EBITDA attributable to general partner  (1,000)  (2,500)
Adjusted EBITDA attributable to noncontrolling interests  (73)  (137)  1,114   1,076 
Adjusted EBITDA attributable to limited partners / controlling interests $13,196  $15,504  $21,986  $15,689 
                
Less:                
Cash interest paid, cash taxes paid, maintenance capital expendirures  6,380   5,058 
Preferred unit distributions  3,099    
Cash interest paid, cash taxes paid, maintenance capital expenditures  5,604   5,897 
Distributable cash flow $6,816  $10,446  $13,283  $9,792 

41  

 

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Liquidity

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

We anticipate making growth capital expenditures in the future, including acquiring new businesses that may include pipeline inspection companies and SWD facilities or expanding our existing assets and offerings in our current operations.businesses. In addition, the working capital needs of the PISPipeline Inspection segment are substantial, driven by payroll and per diem expenses paid to our inspectors on a weekly basis (please read “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business — The working capital needs of the PISPipeline Inspection segment are substantial”substantial and will continue to be substantial. This will reduce our borrowing capacity for other purposes and reduce our cash available for distribution” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016)2018), which could require us to seek additional financing that we may not be able to obtain on satisfactory terms, or at all. Consequently, our ability to develop and maintain sources of funds to meet our capital requirements is critical to our ability to meet our growth objectives.

 

At September 30, 2017,2019, our sources of liquidity included:

 

 $19.212.7 million cash on the balance sheet at September 30, 2017;2019;

 available borrowings under our Credit Agreement of $63.1$8.5 million at September 30, 2017 that are limited by certain borrowing base computations and financial covenant ratios as outlined in the agreement;2019; and

 issuance of equity and/or debt securities. We filed a Securities Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 8, 2015securities, subject to register $1.0 billion in securities, which we may issue in any combination of equity orour debt securities from time to time in one or more offerings.covenants.

OnIn October 27, 2017,2019, two new lenders joined the Credit Agreement, which increased the total borrowing capacity from $90.0 million to $110.0 million. This increased our Boardunused borrowing capacity from $8.5 million to $28.5 million. At September 30, 2019, we had $81.5 million of Directors declared a distributionborrowings outstanding (inclusive of $0.21 perfinance leases). At each quarter end, our borrowing capacity is limited to four times trailing-twelve-month EBITDA (as defined in the Credit Agreement); at September 30, 2019, trailing-twelve-month EBITDA (as defined in the Credit Agreement) was $29.4 million.

At-the-Market Equity Program

In April 2018, we established an at-the-market equity program (“ATM Program”), which will allow us to offer and sell common unit ($0.84 annualized), payable on November 14, 2017units from time to owners of record on November 7, 2017. If this distribution level is maintainedtime, to or through the fourth quartersales agent under the ATM Program, up to an aggregate offering amount of 2017, it will provide approximately $9.3 million$10 million. We are under no obligation to sell any common units under this program. As of internally generated capital on an annualized basis to provide increased liquidity, reduce leverage, invest in selected growth projects in the future,date of this filing, we have not sold any common units under the ATM Program and, strengthen the Company’s balance sheet comparedas such, have not received any net proceeds or paid any compensation to the previous distribution level of $0.406413 per unit per quarter ($1.63 annualized). This action should provide a sound catalyst to reducing our currently elevated cost of capital by de-levering and improving increased distribution coverage to our unitholders. We are confident these actions supportsales agent under the long-term interests of our unitholders, employees, and other stakeholders. We continue to see encouraging signs with some new customers and are focused on organic growth, and improved SWD asset utilization in an effort to improve cash flow that will, in turn, contribute to the improvement of all of our financial ratios. We continue to believe the fundamental demand for increased inspection and water disposal remains strong over the long-term, but the recovery has been slower than previously anticipated.ATM Program.

Distributions

 

Our partnership agreement requires that, within 45 days after the end of each quarter, we distribute all of our available cash to unitholders of record on the applicable record date.

 

Available cash, for any quarter, consists of all cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of that quarter:

 

less, the amount of cash reserves established by our General Partner at the date of determination of available cash for the quarter to:

provide for the proper conduct of our business, which could include, but is not limited to, amounts reserved for capital expenditures, working capital and operating expenses;
 comply with applicable law, and of our debt instruments or other agreements; or
 provide funds for distributions to our unitholders (including our General Partner) for any one or more of the next four quarters (provided that our General Partner may not establish cash reserves for the payment of future distributions unless it determines that the establishment of reserves will not prevent us from distributing the minimum quarterly distribution on all common units and any cumulative arrearages on such common units for such quarter);
plus, if our General Partner so determines, all or a portion of cash on hand on the date of determination of available cash for the quarter, including cash on hand resulting from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter.

42  

The following table summarizes the cash distributions declared sinceand paid to our IPO:common unitholders for 2018 and 2019:

 

        Total Cash 
  Per Unit Cash  Total Cash  Distributions 
Payment Date Distributions  Distributions  to Affiliates (a) 
     (in thousands) 
          
May 15, 2014 (b) $0.301389  $3,565  $2,264 
August 14, 2014  0.396844   4,693   2,980 
November 14, 2014  0.406413   4,806   3,052 
Total 2014 Distributions  1.104646   13,064   8,296 
             
February 14, 2015  0.406413   4,806   3,052 
May 14, 2015  0.406413   4,808   3,053 
August 14, 2015  0.406413   4,809   3,087 
November 13, 2015  0.406413   4,809   3,092 
Total 2015 Distributions  1.625652   19,232   12,284 
             
February 12, 2016  0.406413   4,810   3,107 
May 13, 2016  0.406413   4,812   3,099 
August 12, 2016  0.406413   4,817   3,103 
November 14, 2016  0.406413   4,819   3,105 
Total 2016 Distributions  1.625652   19,258   12,414 
             
February 13, 2017  0.406413   4,823   3,107 
May 15, 2017  0.210000   2,495   1,606 
August 14, 2017  0.210000   2,495   1,607 
November 14, 2017 (c)  0.210000   2,497   1,608 
  1.036413   12,310   7,928 
            
Total Distributions (through November 14, 2017 since IPO) $5.392363  $63,864  $40,922 
Payment Date Per Unit Cash
Distributions
  Total Cash
Distributions
  Total Cash
Distributions
to Affiliates (a)
 
     (in thousands) 
February 14, 2018 $0.21  $2,498  $1,599 
May 15, 2018  0.21   2,506   1,604 
August 14, 2018  0.21   2,506   1,604 
November 14, 2018  0.21   2,509   1,606 
Total 2018 Distributions $0.84  $10,019  $6,413 
             
February 14, 2019 $0.21  $2,510  $1,606 
May 15, 2019  0.21   2,531   1,622 
August 14, 2019  0.21   2,534   1,624 
November 14, 2019 (b)  0.21   2,534   1,627 
Total 2019 Distributions $0.84  $10,109  $6,479 

 

(a)Approximately 64.4%64% of the Partnership’s outstanding common units at September 30, 20172019 were held by affiliates.
(b)Distribution was pro-rated from the date of our IPO through March 31, 2014.
(c)(b)Third quarter 20172019 distribution was declared and will be paid in the fourth quarter of 2017.2019.

The following table summarizes the distributions paid to our preferred unitholder for 2018 and 2019:

Payment Date Cash
Distributions
  Paid-in-Kind
Distributions
  Total
Distributions
 
  (in thousands) 
November 14, 2018 (a) $1,412  $  $1,412 
Total 2018 Distributions $1,412  $  $1,412 
             
February 14, 2019 $1,033  $  $1,033 
May 15, 2019  1,033      1,033 
August 14, 2019  1,033      1,033 
November 14, 2019 (b)  1,033      1,033 
Total 2019 Distributions $4,132  $  $4,132 

(a)This distribution relates to the period from May 29, 2018 (date of preferred unit issuance) through September 30, 2018.
(b)Third quarter 2019 distribution was declared and will be paid in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Our Credit Agreement

 

We are party to aOn May 29, 2018, we entered into an amended and restated credit agreement (as amended and restated, the “Credit Agreement”) that providesprovided up to $200.0$90.0 million in borrowing capacity, subject to certain limitations. The Credit Agreement includes a working capital revolving credit facility (“Working Capital Facility”), which provides up to $75.0 million in borrowing capacity to fund working capital needs, and an acquisition revolving credit facility (“Acquisition Facility”), which provides up to $125.0 million in borrowing capacity to fund acquisitions and expansion projects. In addition, the Credit Agreement provides forcontains an accordion feature that allowsallowed us to increase the availability under the facilities by an additional $125.0borrowing capacity to $110.0 million if new lenders agreejoined the facility. In October 2019, two new lenders joined the facility, which increased the total borrowing capacity to increase their commitments.$110.0 million. The three-year Credit Agreement matures December 24, 2018, and we are currently in discussions with the leader of the lending syndicate of our Credit Agreement about refinancing the Credit Agreement.

Outstanding borrowings at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 under the Credit Agreement were as follows:

  September 30,
2017
  December 31,
2016
 
  (in thousands) 
       
Working Capital Facility $48,000  $48,000 
Acquisition Facility  88,900   88,900 
Total borrowings  136,900   136,900 
Debt issuance costs  (758)  (1,201)
Long-term debt $136,142  $135,699 

The carrying value of our long-term debt approximates fair value, as the borrowings under the Credit Agreement are considered to be priced at market for debt instruments having similar terms and conditions (Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy).

Borrowings under the Working Capital Facility are limited by a monthly borrowing base calculation as defined in the Credit Agreement. If, at any time, outstanding borrowings under the Working Capital Facility exceed our calculated borrowing base, a principal payment in the amount of the excess is due upon submission of the borrowing base calculation. Available borrowings under the Acquisition Facility may be limited by certain financial covenant ratios as defined in the Credit Agreement.May 29, 2021. The obligations under ourthe Credit Agreement are secured by a first priority lien on substantially all of our assets. The credit agreement as it existed prior to the May 29, 2018 amendment will hereinafter be referred to as the “Previous Credit Agreement” or, together with the Credit Agreement, as the “Credit Agreements”.

Outstanding borrowings at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 were $80.9 million and $76.1 million, respectively, and are reflected as long-term debt on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. We also had $0.5 million of finance lease liabilities at September 30, 2019 that count as indebtedness under the Credit Agreement. Debt issuance costs are reported as debt issuance costs, net on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and total $0.9 million and $1.3 million at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.


We incurred certain debt issuance costs associated with the Previous Credit Agreement, which we were amortizing on a straight-line basis over the life of the Previous Credit Agreement. Upon amending the Credit Agreement in May 2018, we wrote off $0.1 million of these debt issuance costs, which represented the portion of the unamortized debt issuance costs attributable to lenders who are no longer participating in the credit facility subsequent to the amendment. The remaining debt issuance costs associated with the Previous Credit Agreement, along with $1.3 million of debt issuance costs associated with the amended and restated Credit Agreement, are being amortized on a straight-line basis over the three-year term of the Credit Agreement.

 

All borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest, at our option, on a leveraged based grid pricing at (i) a base rate plus a margin of 1.25%1.5% to 2.75%3.0% per annum (“Base Rate Borrowing”) or (ii) an adjusted LIBOR rate plus a margin of 2.25%2.5% to 3.75%4.0% per annum (“LIBOR Borrowings”). The applicable margin is determined based on the leverage ratio of the Partnership, as defined in the Credit Agreement. Generally, the

The interest rate on our Credit Agreement borrowings ranged between 3.90%5.54% and 4.99%6.02% for the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 3.54%4.74% and 4.28%5.95% for the nine months ended September 30, 2016.2018. As of September 30, 2019, the interest rate in effect on outstanding borrowings was 5.54%. Interest on Base Rate Borrowings is payable monthly. Interest on LIBOR Borrowings is paid upon maturity of the underlying LIBOR contract, but no less often than quarterly. Commitment fees are charged at a rate of 0.50% on any unused credit and are payable quarterly. Interest paid, duringincluding commitment fees, was $1.3 million and $1.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 20172019 and 20162018, respectively. Interest paid, including commitment fees, was $1.7$3.7 million and $1.6$4.6 million respectively, including commitment fees. Interest paid duringfor the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016 was $5.0 million and $4.3 million, respectively, including commitment fees.2018, respectively.

 

OurThe Credit Agreement contains various customary affirmative and negative covenants and restrictive provisions. OurThe Credit Agreement also requires maintenance of certain financial covenants at each quarter end, including a combined total adjusted leverage ratio (as defined in ourthe Credit Agreement) of not more than 4.0 to 1.0 and an interest coverage ratio (as defined in ourthe Credit Agreement) of not less than 3.0 to 1.0. At September 30, 2017,2019, our combined total adjusted leverage ratio was 3.772.8 to 1.0 and our interest coverage ratio was 3.086.4 to 1.0, pursuant to the Credit Agreement. Upon the occurrence and during the continuation of an event of default, subject to the terms and conditions of ourthe Credit Agreement, the lenders may declare any outstanding principal, of our Credit Agreement debt, together with any accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable and may exercise the other remedies set forth or referred to in ourthe Credit Agreement. We were in compliance with all debt covenants as of September 30, 2017. Working capital borrowings, which are fully secured by our net working capital, are subject to a monthly borrowing base and are excluded from our debt compliance ratios.2019.

 

In addition, ourthe Credit Agreement restricts our ability to make distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, our equity interests.interests, with certain exceptions detailed in the Credit Agreement. However, we may make distributions of available cash so long as, both at the time of the distribution and after giving effect to the distribution, no default exists under ourthe Credit Agreement, the borrowers and the guarantorswe are in compliance with the financial covenants in the borrowing base (which includes 100% of cash on hand) exceeds the amount of outstanding credit extensions under the Working Capital Facility byCredit Agreement, and we have at least $5.0 million and at least $5.0 million in lender commitments are available to be drawn under the Working Capital Facility.


Our Credit Agreement maturesof unused capacity on December 24, 2018 and, although unfavorable financial results may impact our ability to meet our current debt covenants, we believe it is probable that we will be able to maintain compliance with the financial ratio covenants through the maturity date of the Credit Agreement through some combinationat the time of 1) improved operating results, 2) refinancingthe distribution. As of September 30, 2019, we had $8.5 million of unused borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement, and/or 3) future sponsor support from Holdings.

We planAgreement. In October 2019, our unused borrowing capacity increased to improve our operating results through a combination of 1) enhanced business development efforts in our Pipeline Inspection Services and Integrity Services segments, including our continued focus on higher margin services, 2) the re-opening of our Orla, TX and our Grassy Butte, ND SWD facilities that were struck by lightning earlier this year; 3) enhancing our SWD activities due to additional drilling and completion activities in both the Permian and Bakken regions; and 4) capital expansion in our Water and Environmental Services segment (specifically, we are in the process of building a water gathering system at one of our North Dakota facilities).

In anticipation of the Credit Agreement maturing in December 2018, we have an executed mandate and term sheet with the lead bank in the Credit Agreement regarding a refinancing of the Credit Agreement, subject to syndication. The$28.5 million when two new credit agreement will require a reduction in our current outstanding debt balance and will have modified financial ratio covenants. The term sheet provides for conditions precedent to reduce the principal balance, which may include some combination of 1) using cash currently on the balance sheet; 2) issuing some sort of equity to the owners of Holdings or third parties; 3) issuing convertible debt to the owners of Holdings or third parties; 4) monetizing a portion of our investment-grade accounts receivable with Holdings or a third-party; and/or 5) asset sales of some of our SWD facilities. Although it is our intent to refinance our Credit Agreement under the executed term sheet, we can offer no assurances that the refinancing of our Credit Agreement will be consummated under terms acceptable to us given the conditions precedent outlined in the term sheet.

Holdings has continued to support the Partnership during the oil and gas economic downturn and has provided sponsor support of $6.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2016 and $2.8 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2017. The owners of Holdings, who collectively own approximately 64% of our common units, remain incentivized and have the financial wherewithal to continue to support us in order to maintain compliance with the financial ratio covenants through the maturity date oflenders joined the Credit Agreement.

Cash Flows

 

The following table sets forth a summary of the net cash provided by (used in) operating, investing, and financing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 and 2016.2018.

 

 Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
 2017 2016  Nine Months Ended September 30 
 (in thousands)  2019 2018 
    (in thousands) 
Net cash provided by operating activities $263 $17,659  $5,055  $6,955 
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities  396   (929)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities  (1,479)  7,296 
Net cash used in financing activities  (8,945)  (16,454)  (6,222)  (27,479)
Effect of exchange rates on cash  831   477   1   11 
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $(7,455) $753 
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents $(2,645) $(13,217)

 

Net cash provided by operating activitiesactivities. . Net operating cash provided by operating activitiesoutflows for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 was $0.32019 were $5.1 million, consisting of a net lossincome of $3.9$12.5 million plus non-cash expenses of $10.2$5.1 million, which was partially offset by net changes in working capital of $12.6 million. Non-cash expenses included depreciation, amortization and accretion and equity-based compensation expense, among others. The net change in working capital includes a net increase of $20.9 million in accounts receivable, a net decrease of $0.1 million in prepaid expenses and other, partially offset by a net increase of $8.2 million in current liabilities. During periods of revenue growth, changes in working capital typically reduce operating cash flows, based on the fact that we pay our employees before we collect accounts receivable from our customers. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, we experienced a significant increase in inspector headcount in our Pipeline Inspection segment that required the use of working capital. In addition, as described above under “Overview”, the collection of approximately $12.1 million of accounts receivable has been delayed as a result of the bankruptcy of our customer PG&E.


Net operating cash inflows for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 were $7.0 million, consisting of net income of $9.5 million plus non-cash expenses of $1.8 million, less net changes in working capital of $6.0$4.3 million. Non-cash expense items include depreciation, amortization, and accretion expense of $4.2 million, (including anequity-based compensation expense of $0.9 million, interest expense from debt issuance cost amortization of $0.4 million, and foreign currency losses of $0.4 million, partially offset by net gains on asset disposals of $4.1 million. The net change in working capital includes a net increase of $9.4 million in accounts receivable, of $11.5 million and an increasea decrease in prepaid expenses and other of $0.8$0.9 million, partially offset by anand a net increase of $4.2 million in current liabilities of $6.3 million).liabilities. The increase in working capital duringresulted from the nine months ended September 30, 2017 was due, in part, to revenue growth. Non-cash expenses included depreciation, amortization and accretion, and impairment expense, among others. Non-cash expenses also included expenses attributable to the Partnership that were paid by Holdings and recorded as an equity contributiongrowth of our business, primarily in the Partnership’s financial statements.Pipeline Inspection segment. 

 

Net operating cash provided by operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 of $17.7 million included $11.0 million of net loss, $18.9 million of non-cash expenses (including impairments of $10.5 million) and $9.8 million of net changes in working capital. 

Net cash (used in) provided by (used in) investing activities. Cash provided by (used in)Net cash outflows from investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 were $1.5 million, consisting primarily consists of $1.6 millionthe purchase of insurance proceedsequipment to support the nondestructive examination activities of our Pipeline Inspection segment and costs associated with property damagea new software system for payroll and clean-up activitieshuman resources management that resulted from a lightning strike and fire at our SWD facilitywe are in Orla, TX, offset by capital expenditures. Capital expenditures duringthe process of implementing.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, cash inflows from investing activities included proceeds of $12.2 million related to the sales of our Orla and Pecos saltwater disposal facilities, $0.4 million related to the settlement of litigation related to lightning strikes at two of our facilities, and $0.1 million of property damage insurance proceeds related to the lightning strikes. Cash outflows from investing activities included $5.5 million of capital expenditures, which related primarily to the construction of two pipelines at one of our facilities in North Dakota, the rebuilding of the Orla, Texas facility prior to its sale, and the rebuilding of the Grassy Butte, North Dakota facility (the surface equipment at both the Orla and Grassy Butte facilities were destroyed in 2017 consisted primarilyby fires resulting from lightning strikes). Capital expenditures also included the purchase of equipment purchases, much of which was to support increasing revenues inthe nondestructive examination activities of our Pipeline Inspection Services segment’s non-destructive examination business and improvements to one of our SWD facilities in anticipation of building a gathering system from production sites to the facility.  Capital expenditures during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 were made primarily in our Pipeline Inspection Services segment’s non-destructive examination business.segment.

 

Net cash used in financing activities. Financing cash inflows for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 primarily consisted of $4.8 million of net borrowings on our revolving credit facility to fund working capital needs of our Pipeline Inspection segment. Financing cash outflows for the nine months ended September 30, 20172019 primarily consisted of $9.8$7.6 million of common unit distributions to limited partners, offset by a contribution attributable to our general partnerand $3.1 million of $1.0 million. Financing cash outflows forpreferred unit distributions.

During the nine months ended September 30, 20162018, cash inflows from financing activities included $14.4$43.3 million of proceeds from the sale of Preferred Units, net of related costs. Cash outflows from financing activities primarily included $60.8 million of payments to reduce the balance outstanding on our revolving credit facility, $1.3 million of debt issuance costs related to an amendment to our revolving credit facility, $7.5 million of distributions to limited partners, $0.4common unitholders and $1.0 million of distributions to noncontrolling interest owners, and a $4.0 million payment on our Working Capital Facility, partially offset by contributions attributable to our general partner totaling $2.5 million.interests.

  

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Working Capital

 

Our working capital (defined as net current assets less net current liabilities) was $52.1$52.2 million at September 30, 2017. Working capital increased from December 31, 2016 to September 30, 2017 due primarily to increased accounts receivable, partially offset by increased accrued liabilities2019. Our Pipeline Inspection and a decreased cash balance. Business activity in our PIS and IS segments is typically higher during the second and third quarters of a year, and during this time working capital typically increases. Our PIS and ISPipeline & Process Services segments have substantial working capital needs, as wethey generally pay ourtheir inspectors and field personnel on a weekly basis, but typically receive payment from ourtheir customers 45 to 90 days after the services have been performed. We utilize borrowings under our Credit Agreement to fund the working capital needs of these segments. These borrowings reduce the amount of credit available for other uses, such as acquisitions and growth projects, and increases interest expense, thereby reducing cash flow. Please read “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business — The working capital needs of the PISPipeline Inspection segment are substantial, which could require usand will continue to seek additional financing that webe substantial. This will reduce our borrowing capacity for other purposes and reduce our cash available for distribution,” and “Risk Factors – Risks Related to Our Business – Our existing and future debt levels may not be ablelimit our flexibility to obtain on satisfactory terms, or at all”financing and to pursue other business opportunities” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.2018.

 

As described above under “Overview”, at September 30, 2019, we had accounts receivable of $12.1 million from PG&E that represents a pre-petition claim in PG&E’s bankruptcy filing. Although we do not believe it is probable that we will not be able to collect the full amount of these pre-petition receivables, the timing of collection of these receivables is unknown. We believe that we have sufficient liquidity, in the form of cash on hand and available capacity on our revolving credit facility, to meet our working capital needs while the PG&E bankruptcy process runs its course. However, the delay in collecting these receivables has required us to maintain a larger outstanding debt balance on the revolving credit facility than otherwise would have been required and leaves us with less flexibility to pursue growth opportunities than we otherwise would have enjoyed. During October 2019, we reached an agreement to collect $1.7 million of the pre-petition receivables from PG&E under a court-approved program to pay certain pre-petition claims to certain vendors in advance of PG&E’s emergence from bankruptcy, which will bring the total remaining pre-petition receivables from PG&E to $10.4 million.

Capital Expenditures

 

W&ESWe generally have small capital expenditure requirements compared to many other master limited partnerships. Our Environmental Services segment has minimal capital needs requiring investmentexpenditure requirements for the maintenance of existing SWD facilities and the acquisition or construction and development of new SWDsaltwater disposal facilities. Our PISPipeline Inspection segment does not generally require significant capital expenditures, other than in the nondestructive examination service line, which has been acquiringalthough we acquire field equipment to support its growing revenues. ISour nondestructive examination activities. Our Pipeline & Process Services segment has both maintenance and growth capital needs for heavy equipment and vehicles in order to perform hydrostatic testing and other integrity procedures. Our partnership agreement requires that we categorize our capital expenditures as either maintenance capital expenditures or expansion capital expenditures.

 

 Maintenance capital expenditures are those cash expenditures that will enable us to maintain our operating capacity or operating income over the long-term. Maintenance capital expenditures include tankage, workovers, pipelines, pumps, and other improvement of existing capital assets, including the construction or development of new capital assets to replace our existing saltwater disposal systems as they become obsolete.  Other examples of maintenance capital expenditures are expenditures to repair, refurbish, and replace tubing and packers on the SWD well itself to maintain equipment reliability, integrity, and safety, as well as to address environmental laws and regulations. Maintenance capital expenditures were $0.2 million and $0.1$0.5 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016,2019, respectively, and $0.3 million and $0.2$0.6 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016,2018, respectively.


 Expansion capital expenditures are those capital expenditures that we expect will increase our operating capacity or operating income over the long-term. Expansion capital expenditures include the acquisition of assets or businesses and the construction or development of additional saltwater disposal capacity, to the extent such expenditures are expected to expand our long-term operating capacity or operating income. Expansion capital expenditures were $0.5$0.3 million and $0.8$1.2 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017,2019, respectively, and $0.1$1.3 million and $0.5$4.9 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016,2018, respectively.

 

Future expansion capital expenditures may vary significantly from period to period based on the investment opportunities available. We expect to fund future capital expenditures from cash flows generated from our operations, borrowings under our Credit Agreement, the issuance of additional partnership units or debt offerings.

 

Contractual Obligations

 

WeContractual obligations as reported in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 have $136.9 million of borrowings under our Credit Agreementnot changed significantly as of September 30, 2017. Additionally, we have long-term office and other2019. See Note 3 for disclosures regarding our revolving credit facility. See Note 9 for disclosures regarding our lease obligations totaling approximately $4.7 million (including extensions), payable through calendar year 2042.commitments.

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements or any hedging arrangements.

 

Critical Accounting Policies

 

OurThere have been no material changes in our critical accounting policies are consistent with those disclosedand procedures during the nine months ended September 30, 2019. For more information, please read our disclosure of critical accounting policies in Note 2 included inItem 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of our audited financial statements as of andAnnual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 included in our Form 10-K and also as outlined in Note 2 of our Unaudited Condensed Financial Statements as of for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 included in our Form 10-Q.2018.

 

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Recent Accounting Standards

 

In 2017, the Partnership2019, we adopted the following new accounting standardsstandard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”);

 

The FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-09 – Compensation – Stock Compensation in March 2016. This ASU gives entities the option to account for forfeitures of share-based awards when the forfeitures occur (previously, entities were required to estimate future forfeitures and reduce their share-based compensation expense accordingly). We adopted this new standard on January 1, 2017 and elected to account for forfeitures as they occur. The adoption of this ASU had no significant effect on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

The FASB issued ASU 2017-04 – Intangibles – Goodwill and Other in January 2017. The objective of this guidance is to simplify how an entity is required to calculate the amounts of goodwill impairments. We adopted this new standard effective January 1, 2017 in order to simplify the measurement process of any future impairments of goodwill. Under the new standard, we perform a goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit to its carrying amount. If the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value, we record a goodwill impairment charge for the excess (not exceeding the carrying value of the reporting unit’s goodwill). 

Other accounting guidance proposed by the FASB that may impact our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, which we have not yet adopted include:

The FASB issued ASU 2016-02 – Leases in February 2016. This guidance attempts to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing certain lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The main difference between previous GAAP methodology and the method used in this new guidance is the recognition on the balance sheet of certain lease assets and lease liabilities by lessees for certain operating leases.

We made accounting policy elections to not capitalize leases with a lease term of twelve months or less and to not separate lease and non-lease components for all asset classes. We also elected the package of practical expedients within ASU 2016-02 that allows an entity to not reassess prior to the effective date (i) whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases, (ii) the lease classification for any expired or existing leases, or (iii) initial direct costs for any existing leases, but did not elect the practical expedient of hindsight when determining the lease term of existing contracts at the effective date.

In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-11 – Targeted Improvements, which provided entities with a transition option to not restate the comparative periods for the effects of applying the new leasing standard (i.e. comparative periods presented in the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements will continue to be in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification 840). We adopted the new standard on the effective date of January 1, 2019 and used a modified retrospective approach as permitted under ASU 2018-11. The effects of implementing ASU 2016-02 were material to our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets with the addition of right-of-use assets and associated lease liabilities, but immaterial to our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Upon adoption, we recorded operating lease right-of-use assets of $3.5 million and current and noncurrent operating lease obligations of $0.5 million and $3.0 million, respectively. Liabilities recorded as a result of this standard are excluded from the definition of indebtedness under our credit facility, and therefore do not adversely impact the leverage ratio under our credit facility. Liabilities recorded as a result of this standard are excluded from the definition of indebtedness under our credit facility, and therefore do not adversely impact the leverage ratio under our credit facility.


Other accounting guidance proposed by the FASB that may impact our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, which we have not yet adopted include:

The FASB issued ASU 2016-13 – Financial Instruments – Credit Losses in June 2016, which replaces the current “incurred loss” methodology for recognizing credit losses with an “expected loss” methodology. This guidance affects trade receivables, financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value through net income. In August 2019, The FASB issued a proposal to delay the implementation of this new guidance for smaller reporting companies until fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those leases classifiedfiscal years. The FASB expects to issue a final ASU with their decision in November 2019. We are currently evaluating the impact this ASU will have on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

The FASB issued ASU 2018-15 – Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract in August 2018. This guidance requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement to follow the internal use software guidance in ASC 350-40 to determine which costs should be capitalized as operating leases under previous GAAP.assets or expensed as incurred. The amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018,2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently examining the guidance provided in the ASU and determining the impactplan to adopt this guidance prospectively from the date of adoption (January 1, 2020) and do not believe this new guidance will have a material impact on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

The FASB issued ASU 2014-09 – Revenue from Contracts with Customers in May 2014. ASU 2014-09 is intended to clarify the principles for recognizing revenue and to develop a common standard for recognizing revenue for GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards that is applicable to all organizations. We will be required to adopt this standard in 2018 and to apply its provisions either retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented or prospectively with the cumulative effect of initially applying the ASU recognized at the date of initial application (modified retrospective method). Although we continue to evaluate the financial impact of this ASU on the Partnership, we currently plan to adopt this standard utilizing the modified retrospective method and do not anticipate that the adoption of this ASU will materially impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Item 3.Item 3.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

There have been no material changes to the Partnership’sour exposure to market risk since December 31, 2016.2018.

 

Item 4.Item 4.Controls and Procedures

Management’s Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

As required by Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act, as of the end of the period covered by this report, the Partnership carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Partnership’s disclosure controls and procedures. This evaluation was carried out under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as well asand others involved in the accounting and reporting functions.

 

Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that the information required to be disclosed in Partnership reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’sSEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the Partnership reports filed under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including the Partnership’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Based upon that evaluation, our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this report, the Partnership’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that financial information was processed, recorded and reported accurately.

 

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Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

 

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the three months ended September 30, 20172019 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.During late 2018, we signed agreements with a software provider and with a system integration advisor under which we will implement a new software system for payroll and human resources management. We expect to implement the new system on January 1, 2020 and will develop, test, and apply internal control procedures related to this payroll and human resources management system as deemed necessary.

 

PART II - OTHER INFORMATION

 

Item 1.Item 1.Legal Proceedings

Stuart v. TIR

In July 2014, a group of former minority shareholders of Tulsa Inspection Resources, Inc. (“TIR Inc.”), formerly an Oklahoma corporation, filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (the “District Court”) against TIR LLC, members of TIR LLC, and certain affiliates of TIR LLC’s members.  TIR LLC is the successor in interest to TIR Inc., resulting from a merger between the entities.  The former shareholders in TIR Inc. claim that they did not receive sufficient value for their shares and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.  All claims against TIR LLC have been resolved by the District Court in TIR LLC’s favor, subject to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and plaintiffs have abandoned their claim for rescission of the merger.  The remaining claims, none of which are asserted against the Partnership nor any subsidiary of the Partnership including TIR LLC, were adjudicated at jury trial that began on September 5, 2017. On September 14, 2017, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the defendants, finding that the value paid to the plaintiffs was fair and awarding them no damages.

Fithian v. TIR LLC

 

On October 5, 2017, a former inspector for TIR LLC and Cypress Energy Management - TIR, LLC ("(“CEM TIR"TIR”) filed a putative collective action lawsuit alleging that TIR LLC, CEM TIR and Cypress Energy Partners – Texas, LLC failed to pay a class of workers overtime in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) titled James Fithian, et al v. TIR LLC, et al in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland Division. The plaintiff allegessubsequently withdrew his action and filed a similar action in Oklahoma State Court, District of Tulsa County. The plaintiff alleged he was a non-exempt employee of CEM TIR LLC and that he and other potential class members were not paid overtime in compliance with the FLSA. The plaintiff seekssought to proceed as a collective action and to receive unpaid overtime and other monetary damages, including attorney’s fees. The Partnership, TIR LLC, CEM TIR and Cypress Energy Partners – Texas, LLC denydenied the claims.


On March 28, 2018, the court granted a joint stipulation of dismissal without prejudice in regard to TIR LLC and Cypress Energy Partners – Texas, LLC, as neither of those parties were employers of the plaintiff or the putative class members during the time period that is the subject of the lawsuit. On July 26, 2018, the plaintiff filed a motion for conditional class certification. CEM TIR subsequently filed pleadings opposing the motion. On January 25, 2019, the court denied the plaintiff’s motion for conditional class certification. On June 10, 2019, the court entered a scheduling order that proscribed, among other things, that the deadline for additional parties to join the lawsuit of August 1, 2019, and that the parties participate in a settlement conference or mediation no later than September 1, 2019. After the deadline, plaintiff’s counsel submitted consents for five additional inspectors to join the lawsuit, to which CEM TIR objects. On August 28, 2019 the parties participated in a settlement conference in which no settlement was reached. Subsequent to the settlement conference, CEM-TIR submitted offers of judgment in immaterial amounts to the named plaintiff and the two opt-in plaintiffs. All plaintiffs accepted the settlement offers. CEM TIR’s counterclaim against Mr. Fithian remains outstanding.

 

Sun Mountain LLC v. TIR-PUC

On February 27, 2019, Sun Mountain LLC (“Sun Mountain”), a subcontractor of TIR-PUC, filed a lawsuit alleging that TIR-PUC failed to pay invoices amounting to approximately $3.5 million for services subcontracted to Sun Mountain under TIR-PUC’s agreement to provide services to Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Sun Mountain filed the action in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. TIR-PUC denied that such amounts were owed, as conditions to TIR-PUC’s obligation to make the payments were not met. The full amount of these invoices is included within accounts payable on the accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018. TIR-PUC denied the claims. On October 22, 2019, the parties participated in a settlement conference at which the parties agreed to settle the lawsuit. As part of the settlement, TIR-PUC will make specified cash payments in November 2019, January 2020, and July 2020. We expect to record a gain of $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 related to this settlement.

Other

 

From time to time, we are subject to various claims, lawsuits and other legal proceedings and claims that arisebrought or threatened against us in the ordinary course of our business. LikeThese actions and proceedings may seek, among other organizations, our operations arethings, compensation for alleged personal injury, workers' compensation, employment discrimination and other employment-related damages, breach of contract, property damage, environmental liabilities, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liabilities, punitive damages and civil penalties or other losses, liquidated damages, consequential damages, or injunctive or declaratory relief. We have been and may in the future be subject to extensive and rapidly changing federallitigation involving allegations of violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and state environmental, healthwage and safetyhour laws. In addition, we generally indemnify our customers for claims related to the services we provide and otheractions we take under our contracts, including claims regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws, and, regulations governing air emissions, wastewater discharges, and solid and hazardous waste management activities.in some instances, we may be allocated risk through our contract terms for actions by our customers or other third parties. Claims related to the Fair Labor Standards Act are generally not covered by insurance.

 

We are not a party to any other material pending or overtly threatened legal or governmental proceedings, other than proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course and are incidental to our business.

Item 1A.Item 1A.Risk Factors

ThereExcept as set forth below, there have been no material changes with respect to the risk factors disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.2018.

 

In the ordinary course of our business, we may become subject to lawsuits, indemnity, or other claims, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, profitability, cash flows, and growth prospects.

From time to time, we are subject to various claims, lawsuits and other legal proceedings brought or threatened against us in the ordinary course of our business. These actions and proceedings may seek, among other things, compensation for alleged personal injury, workers' compensation, employment discrimination and other employment-related damages, breach of contract, property damage, environmental liabilities, multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liabilities, punitive damages and civil penalties or other losses, liquidated damages, consequential damages, or injunctive or declaratory relief. We have been and may in the future be subject to litigation involving allegations of violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws. In addition, we generally indemnify our customers for claims related to the services we provide and actions we take under our contracts, including claims regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws, and, in some instances, we may be allocated risk through our contract terms for actions by our customers or other third parties.

Item 2.Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

None.

 

Item 3.Defaults upon Senior Securities

None.

 

Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

 

Item 5.Other Information

 

On November 8, 2017 the Board of Directors of the General Partner reappointed Jeffrey Herbers as the Chief Accounting Officer of the General Partner and increased his duties such that he will act as the principal accounting officer and interim principal financial officer of the General Partner, effective as of November 26, 2017.

Mr. Herbers, age 40, has served the General Partner as the Chief Accounting Officer since September 2016.  Prior to his employment with the General Partner, Mr. Herbers served as sole member of Jeff Herbers PLLC from December 2015 until September 2016 and, prior to that role, served as the Chief Accounting Officer of the general partner of NGL Energy Partners LP from February 2012 until November 2015.  Mr. Herbers holds a B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Tulsa.

There are no family relationships between Mr. Herbers and and director or other executive officer of the General Partner, and he was not selected by the General Partner's board of directors to serve in any capacity pursuant to any arrangement or understanding with any person.  Mr. Herbers has no direct or indirect material interest in any transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

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Item 6.Item 6.Exhibits

The following exhibits are filed as part of, or incorporated by reference into, this Form 10-Q.

 

Exhibit


Number

 Description
   

3.1

 First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. dated as of January 21, 2014 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 27, 2014)
   
3.2 First Amendment to First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. dated as of May 29, 2018 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 31, 2018) 
3.3Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of Cypress Energy Partners GP, LLC dated as of January 21, 2014 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 27, 2014)
   
3.4Certificate of Limited Partnership of Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.7 of our Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed on December 17, 2013)
3.5Certificate of Formation of Cypress Energy Partners GP, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.5 of our Registration Statement on Form S-1/A filed on December 17, 2013)
10.1First Amendment to the Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. 2013 Long-Term Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 18, 2019)
31.1* Chief Executive Officer Certification Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a), as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002  
31.2*Chief Financial Officer Certification Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a), as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
   
31.2*Chief Financial Officer Certification Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a), as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 200232.1**
32.1** Chief Executive Officer Certification Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code, as Adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
   
32.2** Chief Financial Officer Certification Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code, as Adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

101 INS* XBRL Instance Document
   
101 SCH* XBRL Schema Document
   
101 CAL* XBRL Calculation Linkbase Document
   
101 DEF* XBRL Definition Linkbase Document
   
101 LAB* XBRL Label Linkbase Document
   
101 PRE* XBRL Presentation Linkbase Document

 

*Filed herewith.
**Furnished herewith.

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Tulsa, State of Oklahoma, on November 14, 2017.12, 2019.

 

Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. 
   
By:Cypress Energy Partners GP, LLC, its general partner 
   
/s/ Peter C. Boylan III 
By:Peter C. Boylan III 
Title:Chief Executive Officer 
   
/s/  G. Les Austin /s/ Jeffrey A. Herbers 
By:G. Les AustinJeffrey A. Herbers 
Title:Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer 

 

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50