Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. is a

master limited partnership In the United States, a master limited partnership (MLP) or publicly traded partnership (PTP) is a publicly traded entity taxed as a partnership. It combines the tax benefits of a partnership with the liquidity of publicly traded securities. To o ...

engaged in

pipeline transport A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

, marketing, and storage of

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, Butane, ''n''-butane and isobutane. It can also contain some ...

and

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Plains owns interests in of pipelines, storage capacity for about 75 million barrels of crude oil, 28 million barrels of NGLs, 68 billion cubic feet of

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

, and 5

natural gas processing Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

plants. The company is headquartered in the Allen Center in

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45 ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Plains (NASDAQ: PAA) is a publicly traded

Master limited partnership In the United States, a master limited partnership (MLP) or publicly traded partnership (PTP) is a publicly traded entity taxed as a partnership. It combines the tax benefits of a partnership with the liquidity of publicly traded securities. To o ...

. PAA owns an extensive network of pipeline transportation, terminalling, storage and gathering assets in key crude oil and NGL producing basins and transportation corridors at major market hubs in the United States and Canada.

History

The company began in 1981 as a small oil and gas exploration and production company called Plains Resources. It became a

publicly traded company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

in 1998. Major acquisitions include: * 1998 - All American Pipeline System * 1999 - Scurlock Oil Company Permian and west Texas pipeline from

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...

for $35 million * 2001 - Midstream operations of Murphy Oil for $155 million * 2001 - CANPET Energy Group, a liquified gas marketing company based in Canada, for $42 million * 2004 - Capline Pipeline System * 2004 - Link Energy pipeline system for $273 million * 2005 - Assets in Louisiana from

Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States–based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is among the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...

for $12 million * 2006 - Pacific Energy Partners for $2.4 billion * 2008 - Rainbow oil pipeline in Northern Alberta * 2012 - Canadian NGL business from BP * 2017 - Alpha Crude Connector gathering system and pipeline in the Permian Basin for $1.2 billion. * 2019- The Cactus II Pipeline System enters service, capable of transporting 670,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Wink, Texas to Corpus Christi. * 2021- Plains Oryx Permian Basin, a joint venture between Plains and Oryx Midstream Services, is formed. The combined system includes ~5,500 miles of pipeline, ~6.8 million barrels per day of pipeline capacity, and ~16.9 million barrels operational storage capacity.

Financial performance and credit ratings

The company earned a profit in nine of the ten calendar years from 2013 to 2022. It reported a $2.59 billion loss for calendar year 2020. Management attributed the 2020 loss to the COVID-19 global pandemic, which reduced demand for energy products. In response, the company recorded goodwill impairment losses and non-cash impairment charges of some $3.4 billion in 2020. As of August 2023, Plains All American's senior unsecured debt was rated Baa3 by

Moody's Investors Service Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...

, and BBB− by

Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is considered as being one of the " Bi ...

and

S&P Global Ratings S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is cons ...

. All three ratings are generally considered "investment grade."

Carbon footprint

Plains All American Pipeline reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 1,929 Kt (-290 /-13.1% y-o-y).Alt URL
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Controversies

2010 settlement

In 2010, the company agreed to pay a $3.25 million civil penalty for violating the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

and to spend $41 million to upgrade more than 10,000 miles of crude oil pipelines after the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

pressed charges regarding 10 pipeline spills in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas between June 2004 and September 2007 that spilled over 273,000 gallons of crude oil, some of which ended up in rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Little Buffalo oil spill

The 2011 Little Buffalo oil spill was one of the largest land-based oil spills in North America, the largest

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

in Alberta in 36 years, and the second spill in Alberta within a two-week period. The Rainbow Pipeline system, owned by Plains Midstream Canada, ruptured on April 29, 2011, spilling 28,000 barrels of oil in a fairly isolated stretch of

boreal forest Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by pinophyta, coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. I ...

in northern

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, about four miles from the nearest homes in Little Buffalo, Alberta. The local school was closed due to concerns about the effects of fumes. The incident resulted in charges against the company in 2013. In 2013, the Energy Resources Conservation Board of Alberta reprimanded the company for operational failures in connection with the oil spill.

Rangeland Pipeline Incident

Heavy rains in early June 2012 caused a leak on a 46-year-old Plains Midstream Canada pipeline at Jackson Creek, Alberta, a tributary of the

Red Deer River The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta and a small portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River and is part of the larger Saskatchewan / Nelson River, Nelson system that empties into Hudson Bay. T ...

, which spilled approximately 1,000-3,000 barrels of light sour crude into the Red Deer River. The company was charged in 2014.

Refugio oil spill

On May 19, 2015, a pipeline operated by the company ruptured northwest of

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. Within 24 hours, oil polluted approximately 9 miles of the Santa Barbara coast. The spill shut down the popular El Capitán State Beach and Campground during

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

weekend, just prior to the beginning of the summer high season. The spill leaked , including that reached the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committee (United States Congress), standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name chang ...

opened an investigation into the oil spill on June 25, 2015. Companies are required to report to the National Response Center on the release of hazardous-material "at the earliest practicable moment."; however, the company did not initially report the spill. According to preliminary findings of the federal

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a United States Department of Transportation agency created in 2004, responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound trans ...

released in June 2015, corrosion had worn a pipeline section to less than an inch thick. By June 2015 the cost of cleanup rose to USD$92 million. Santa Barbara County firefighters were among the first to discover the spill, before being notified by the company, and they "built a rim of rocks to prevent oil from running to the shoreline." In March 2020, the company agreed to pay over $60 million in penalties related to the incident.

Byhalia Connection pipeline

In December 2019, the company announced a joint venture with Valero Energy Corp. to build the Byhalia Connection pipeline – a crude oil pipeline system that would run 49 miles from Memphis to Marshall County, Mississippi, and connect two existing crude oil pipelines: the Diamond pipeline and the Capline pipeline. Concerns over the pipeline's route through the Memphis Sand aquifer, as well as the city's predominantly Black neighborhoods, sparked an opposition movement. The struggle to stop the pipeline gained widespread attention, with environmental and social justice advocates like

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...

and

Danny Glover Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...

lending their support. Former Vice-President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

called the pipeline a “reckless, racist rip-off,” and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen asked President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

to consider revoking the project's federal permit. After defending the pipeline and then putting its planned construction on hold in May 2021, the company announced on July 2, 2021 that it was abandoning the project. Community leader Justin J. Pearson called the pipeline’s cancellation an “extraordinary testament to what Memphis and Shelby County can do when citizens build power toward justice.”

References

External links

* {{Finance links , name = Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. , google = PAA , yahoo = PAA , bloomberg = PAA:US , reuters = PAA , sec_cik = PAA , nasdaq = PAA 1981 establishments in Texas 1998 initial public offerings American companies established in 1981 Companies based in Houston Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Nasdaq Energy companies established in 1981 Natural gas pipeline companies Oil companies of the United States Oil pipeline companies Payne County, Oklahoma Petroleum in Oklahoma Non-renewable resource companies established in 1981