Buckeye Partners

Buckeye Partners is a U.S. energy infrastructure business focused on the transportation, storage, and distribution of petroleum products. Its operating platform includes refined-products pipelines, petroleum terminals, truck-loading facilities, and related logistics infrastructure serving fuel suppliers, refiners, distributors, airports, and other commercial customers. The company is particularly associated with the movement of refined petroleum products in the eastern and Midwestern United States. The business traces its origins to the Buckeye Pipe Line Company, established in 1886 as part of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil system. After the breakup of Standard Oil in 1911, the pipeline company continued as an independent enterprise. Over subsequent decades, Buckeye expanded by acquiring pipeline and terminal assets from larger petroleum companies and by operating infrastructure connected to major refining, distribution, and transportation networks. A major organizational change occurred in 1986, when the company adopted the Buckeye Partners name as part of a reorganization into a master limited partnership. The new structure supported an infrastructure-oriented business model in which long-lived transportation and storage assets generated fee-based revenue. Buckeye’s network developed around important petroleum-consuming markets, including the Northeast and Midwest, and parts of its pipeline system use rights-of-way associated with historic rail corridors. Buckeye’s portfolio grew through acquisitions, including the 1942 purchase of Indiana Pipe Line and the 2004 acquisition of refined-petroleum pipelines and terminals from Shell. The Shell transaction, valued at $517 million, included the North Line System, a refined-products pipeline connecting the Wood River refinery area in Illinois with Buckeye facilities and onward connections in Illinois and Indiana. The acquisition strengthened Buckeye’s position in the Midwest and expanded its network of terminals and customer connections. At the scale described in reference material, Buckeye manages more than 6,200 miles of petroleum pipelines and more than 100 truck-loading terminals. Its infrastructure supports the wholesale logistics chain rather than the retail sale of branded motor fuel. The company has also supplied petroleum products to major New York City airports and has therefore operated assets with importance to aviation-fuel distribution and regional energy security. In 2019, IFM Investors acquired Buckeye Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $10.3 billion, with shareholders receiving $41.50 per share. Following completion of the transaction, Buckeye became a wholly owned subsidiary of IFM Investors’ Global Infrastructure Fund and ceased to operate as an independently publicly traded master limited partnership. The business continues as an energy-infrastructure platform under private ownership.

Buckeye Partners began in 1886 as the Buckeye Pipe Line Company, a pipeline enterprise within John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil system. Its original role was to transport petroleum through pipeline infrastructure, an increasingly important alternative to moving oil by rail or wagon as the U.S. petroleum industry expanded. The company became an independent business after the dissolution of Standard Oil in 1911. During the twentieth century, Buckeye developed through a combination of organic network expansion and asset acquisitions. In 1942 it purchased Indiana Pipe Line, extending its presence beyond its original operating base. The company’s infrastructure increasingly served refined petroleum products and connected refineries, terminals, industrial customers, and major population centers. Some routes followed former Northeastern railroad rights-of-way, including corridors associated with the Penn Central system, giving the network a distinctive relationship with historic U.S. transportation infrastructure. In 1986 the company changed its name to Buckeye Partners during a reorganization that converted it into a master limited partnership. This structure was suited to a business based on long-lived pipelines, terminals, and storage facilities. Rather than functioning primarily as a producer or refiner, Buckeye operated as a logistics provider whose assets supported the distribution of fuels produced by other companies. Buckeye expanded its portfolio through purchases from major petroleum companies. One of the most significant transactions was its 2004 acquisition of refined-petroleum pipelines and terminals from Shell. The Federal Trade Commission approved the $517 million transaction. Among the acquired assets was the North Line System, a 309-mile refined-products pipeline built by Shell in 1952. The system connected the Wood River refinery area in Roxana, Illinois, with Buckeye’s Peotone, Illinois, terminal and included onward connections to Hammond, Indiana, and Summit, Illinois. The pipeline had a stated capacity of 96,000 barrels per day. By the period described in the reference material, Buckeye operated more than 6,200 miles of petroleum pipelines and over 100 truck-loading terminals. Its network was concentrated in the eastern and Midwestern United States and handled petroleum products for wholesale and institutional customers. Airport-fuel logistics was among its areas of importance; the company supplied petroleum products to major airports in the New York City area. This infrastructure profile also caused Buckeye-related facilities to be mentioned by federal prosecutors in connection with the 2007 John F. Kennedy International Airport attack plot. The reference material presents Buckeye as a potential target because of its infrastructure role, not as a participant in the plot. The company remained a publicly traded master limited partnership until its acquisition by IFM Investors in 2019. IFM agreed to acquire Buckeye in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $10.3 billion, with consideration of $41.50 per share. After closing, Buckeye became wholly owned by IFM Investors through its Global Infrastructure Fund and was no longer an independently listed public partnership. Its continuing identity is that of a privately owned U.S. petroleum logistics and energy-infrastructure platform.

• 2019

  Acquired by IFM Investors

  [1]Buckeye Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  IFM Investors acquired Buckeye in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $10.3 billion, taking the company private.

• 2004

  Shell refined-products assets acquired

  [1]Buckeye Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  Buckeye purchased Shell pipelines and terminals for $517 million, including the North Line System in Illinois and Indiana.

• 1986

  Reorganized as Buckeye Partners

  [1]Buckeye Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  The company adopted the Buckeye Partners name during a reorganization into a master limited partnership.

• 1942

  Indiana Pipe Line acquired

  [1]Buckeye Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  Buckeye expanded its pipeline footprint through the purchase of Indiana Pipe Line.

• 1911

  Becomes independent after Standard Oil dissolution

  [1]Buckeye Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  Following the breakup of Standard Oil, the Buckeye pipeline business continued as an independent company.

• 1886

  Buckeye Pipe Line Company established

  [1]Buckeye Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  The predecessor of Buckeye Partners was founded as part of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil organization.

A large independent petroleum-logistics and energy-infrastructure operator serving refined-fuel markets in the eastern and Midwestern United States.

• Pipeline transportation

  Petroleum-product pipelines

  Buckeye’s core infrastructure transports refined petroleum products between refineries, storage terminals, airports, industrial customers, and regional distribution points. The network is concentrated in the eastern and Midwestern United States and includes more than 6,200 miles of pipelines according to the reference material. Services are primarily logistics and transportation services rather than petroleum refining or fuel manufacturing.

• Storage and terminal services

  Petroleum storage terminals

  Buckeye operates terminals used to receive, store, transfer, and distribute petroleum products. These facilities allow customers to manage supply timing and connect pipeline movements with truck transportation and other downstream distribution modes. The terminal network is an important complement to the company’s pipeline system and supports wholesale fuel markets.

• Fuel distribution

  Truck-loading terminals

  Truck-loading facilities provide the interface between bulk petroleum storage and road-based distribution. Buckeye’s system includes more than 100 truck-loading terminals in the reference material. These sites enable fuel distributors and other customers to load products for delivery to local markets, commercial users, and institutional facilities.

• Refined-products pipeline · 1952

  North Line System

  The North Line System is a 309-mile refined-products pipeline acquired from Shell in 2004. It connects the Wood River refinery area in Roxana, Illinois, with a Buckeye terminal in Peotone, Illinois, and has onward connections to Hammond, Indiana, and Summit, Illinois. The system was built in 1952 and is described as having capacity of 96,000 barrels per day.

• 2019

  Sale to IFM InvestorsM&A

  Background

  Buckeye operated as a publicly traded master limited partnership before agreeing to a take-private transaction with infrastructure investor IFM Investors.

  Action taken

  IFM Investors acquired Buckeye in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $10.3 billion, with shareholders receiving $41.50 per share.

  Aftermath

  Buckeye became a wholly owned subsidiary of IFM Investors’ Global Infrastructure Fund and ceased to be an independently listed public partnership.

  Acquisition value and shareholder consideration. $10.3 billion transaction value; $41.50 per share (2019 acquisition)

  Source

• 2004

  Acquisition of Shell refined-petroleum assetsM&A

  Background

  Buckeye sought to expand its refined-products pipeline and terminal network in the Midwest through the purchase of operating assets from Shell.

  Action taken

  Buckeye acquired Shell pipelines and terminals, including the North Line System, in a transaction approved by the Federal Trade Commission.

  Aftermath

  The transaction broadened Buckeye’s Midwest network and added a major refined-products corridor linking Illinois and Indiana facilities.

  Transaction value. $517 million (2004 acquisition)

  Source

• 1986

  Reorganization as a master limited partnershipStrategy

  Background

  Buckeye reorganized during a period when infrastructure businesses were increasingly structured around asset ownership, contracted transportation, and terminal services.

  Action taken

  The company adopted the Buckeye Partners name and operated as a master limited partnership.

  Aftermath

  The new structure became the basis for Buckeye’s subsequent expansion as an independent petroleum-logistics platform before the company was taken private in 2019.

  Source

• 2021.06.10

  Reported2021.06.10

  Magellan agrees to sell its independent terminals network to Buckeye[2]Magellan同意将独立终端网络出售给Buckeyeprnewswire.com

  Magellan Midstream Partners announced an agreement to sell its independent terminals network, comprising 26 refined petroleum products terminals, to Buckeye Partners for $435 million. The sale was expected to close after required regulatory approvals; the article reports the agreement, not its completion.

Read more

1. 1Buckeye Partnersen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Magellan同意将独立终端网络出售给Buckeyeprnewswire.com