Edgar Filing: Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.

424B3

Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration No. 333-207759

The information in this preliminary prospectus supplement is not complete and may be changed. This preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus are not an offer to sell these securities and are not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion, dated November 11, 2015

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

(To Prospectus dated November 2, 2015)

8,000,000 Common Units

Representing Limited Partner Interests

We are offering 8,000,000 common units representing limited partner interests in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.

Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SHLX.” On November 11, 2015, the last reported sale price of our common units on the New York Stock Exchange was $33.55 per common unit.

Investing in our common units involves risks. Before buying any common units, you should carefully read “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-5 of this prospectus supplement, page 3 of the accompanying base prospectus and in the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement.


	Per Common Unit	Total
Price to the public	$	$
Underwriting discounts and commissions	$	$
Proceeds to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (before expenses)	$	$

We have granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,200,000 common units from us on the same terms and conditions as set forth above.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus supplement or the accompanying base prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Barclays expects to deliver the common units on or about , 2015.

Barclays

Prospectus Supplement dated , 2015.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prospectus Supplement


	Page
PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY		S-1
RISK FACTORS		S-5
USE OF PROCEEDS		S-6
CAPITALIZATION		S-7
PRICE RANGE OF COMMON UNITS AND DISTRIBUTIONS		S-8
MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES		S-9
UNDERWRITING		S-10
LEGAL MATTERS		S-15
EXPERTS		S-15
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS		S-15
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION		S-16

Prospectus
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS		1
SHELL MIDSTREAM PARTNERS, L.P.		1
RISK FACTORS		3
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS		4
USE OF PROCEEDS		5
DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS		6
DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTNERSHIP SECURITIES		8
DESCRIPTION OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT		9
CASH DISTRIBUTION POLICY		22
MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES		37
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION		54
LEGAL MATTERS		55
EXPERTS		55
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION		55

This document is in two parts. The first part is this prospectus supplement, which describes the specific terms of this offering of common units. The second part is the accompanying base prospectus, which gives more general information, some of which may not apply to this offering of common units. Generally, when we refer only to the “prospectus,” we are referring to both this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus combined. If the information relating to the offering varies between this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus, you should rely on the information in this prospectus supplement.

Any statement made in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus or in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus supplement to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus or in any other subsequently filed document that is also incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement modifies or supersedes that statement. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus supplement.

We have not, and the underwriter has not, authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus and any free writing prospectuses we have prepared. We and the underwriter take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus do not constitute an offer to sell or

the solicitation of an offer to buy securities other than the securities described in this prospectus supplement or an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. Neither the delivery of this prospectus supplement or the accompanying base prospectus nor any sale made under this prospectus supplement or the accompanying base prospectus shall, under any circumstances, create any implication that there has been no change in the affairs of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. since the date of this prospectus supplement or that the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement or the accompanying base prospectus is correct as of any time subsequent to the date of such information.

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to “Shell Midstream Partners,” “the Partnership,” “us,” “our,” “we,” or similar expressions for time periods from November 3, 2014, the closing date of our Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) refer to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. and its subsidiaries. References to the Partnership or other expressions defined above for time periods prior to our IPO refer to our predecessor for accounting purposes. The predecessor’s financial results included in our condensed consolidated statements of income and condensed consolidated statements of cash flows contain the financial results of the following entities for the time periods indicated below.

For the accounting periods through June 30, 2014, the predecessor’s financial results are those of the crude oil pipeline system from Houston, Texas to Houma, Louisiana (“Ho-Ho”) wholly owned by Shell Pipeline Company LP (“SPLC”). On July 1, 2014, SPLC formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Zydeco Pipeline Company LLC (“Zydeco”), to receive the fixed assets and certain agreements of Ho-Ho and other related fixed assets of SPLC. For the accounting periods between July 1, 2014 and November 2, 2014, the predecessor’s financial results are those of Zydeco.

Our general partner, Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company and has ultimate responsibility for conducting our business and managing our operations.

References to “Shell” refer collectively to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its controlled affiliates, other than us, our subsidiaries and our general partner.

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY

This summary highlights information included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus. It does not contain all of the information that you should consider before investing in the common units. You should read carefully the entire prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein for a more complete understanding of this offering. Please read “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-5 of this prospectus supplement, on page 3 of the accompanying base prospectus and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, the “Updates to Risk Factors” included in Exhibit 99.2 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2015, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 and our other filings with the SEC, which are incorporated by reference herein, for information regarding risks you should consider before making a decision to purchase any common units in this offering. Unless otherwise specifically stated, the information presented in this prospectus supplement assumes that the underwriter has not exercised its option to purchase additional common units.

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SHLX) is a fee-based, growth-oriented master limited partnership recently formed by Shell to own, operate, develop and acquire pipelines and other midstream assets. Our assets consist of interests in entities that own crude oil and refined products pipelines. These pipelines serve as key infrastructure to transport growing onshore and offshore crude oil production to Gulf Coast refining markets and to deliver refined products from those markets to major demand centers. We generate substantially all of our revenue under long-term agreements by charging fees for the transportation of crude oil and refined products through our pipelines. We do not engage in the marketing and trading of any commodities. Our operations comprise one reportable segment containing our portfolio of pipelines and other midstream assets.

We own interests in three crude oil pipeline systems and two refined products systems. The crude oil pipeline systems, which are held by Zydeco, Mars Oil Pipeline Company (“Mars”) and Poseidon Oil Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (“Poseidon”), are strategically located along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. These systems link major onshore and offshore production areas with key refining markets. The refined products pipeline systems, which are held by Bengal Pipeline Company LLC (“Bengal”) and Colonial Pipeline Company, connect Gulf Coast and southeastern U.S. refineries to major demand centers from Alabama to New York.

Recent Developments

Pecten Midstream Acquisition from Shell

On November 11, 2015, we entered into a contribution agreement with SPLC and Shell Midstream Operating LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of us, to acquire a 100% interest in Pecten Midstream LLC (“Pecten”) (the “Pecten Midstream Acquisition”). Total consideration for the Pecten Midstream Acquisition at closing is expected to be $390 million. We expect to fund the consideration using: (i) all of the net proceeds received from this offering, less offering expenses, (ii) all of the general partner units issued in connection with this offering to maintain our general partner’s 2% interest in us, (iii) $50 million of cash on hand, and (iv) the remaining amount with borrowings under our revolving credit facilities. The Pecten Midstream Acquisition is expected to close on November 17, 2015, subject to customary closing conditions, with an effective date of October 1, 2015.

S-1

Pecten owns the Auger Pipeline System (“Auger”) and the Lockport Crude Terminal (“Lockport”), which are more fully described below:

•

Auger. Auger is a 174-mile offshore Gulf of Mexico pipeline corridor that transports medium sour crude from producers in eastern Garden Bank and Keathley Canyon blocks. Auger shares a complementary strategic connection to the Poseidon pipeline system through SMI 205.

•

Lockport. Lockport is a crude terminal facility located southwest of Chicago with 2 million barrels of storage capacity that feeds regional refineries, while also offering strategic trading opportunities.

SPLC owns a 100% interest in our general partner. Accordingly, the terms of the Pecten Midstream Acquisition were approved by the board of directors of our general partner and by the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner, which consists entirely of independent directors. The conflicts committee engaged an independent financial advisor and legal counsel.

There can be no assurances that the Pecten Midstream Acquisition will be consummated or that the expected benefits of such acquisition will be realized. The closing of this offering is not conditioned on, nor is it a condition to, the consummation of the Pecten Midstream Acquisition. If the Pecten Midstream Acquisition is delayed, not consummated or consummated in a manner different than described herein, the price of our common units may decline. In addition, if the Pecten Midstream Acquisition is not consummated, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds of this offering. Accordingly, if you decide to purchase common units in this offering, you should be willing to do so whether or not we complete the Pecten Midstream Acquisition.

In connection with the Pecten Midstream Acquisition, we increased the borrowing base of our 364 day revolving credit facility from $100 million to $180 million.

Third Quarter Distribution and Results

On October 21, 2015, we announced that the board of directors of our general partner declared a quarterly distribution for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 of $0.2050 per limited partnership unit. This represents an increase of 7.9% over the previous quarterly distribution of $0.1900 per unit and a 26.2% increase over the minimum quarterly distribution. The distribution will be paid November 12, 2015 to unitholders of record as of November 2, 2015. On November 11, 2015, we announced our financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015.

Our Principal Executive Offices

Our principal executive offices are located at One Shell Plaza, 910 Louisiana Street, Houston, Texas 77002, and our telephone number is (713) 241-6161.

S-2

The Offering

Common units offered by us

8,000,000 common units, or 9,200,000 common units if the underwriter exercises in full its option to purchase an additional 1,200,000 common units.

Units outstanding after this offering

83,167,376 common units, or 84,367,376 common units if the underwriter exercises in full its option to purchase an additional 1,200,000 common units.

67,475,068 subordinated units.

Use of proceeds

The net proceeds from this offering are approximately $ million, or $ million if the underwriter exercises its option to purchase additional common units in full prior to the closing of the Pecten Midstream Acquisition, in each case after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to fund a portion of the purchase price for the Pecten Midstream Acquisition. If the Pecten Midstream Acquisition does not close, or if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional common units is exercised after the closing of the Pecten Midstream Acquisition, we intend to use the net proceeds from this offering or such exercise, as applicable, for general partnership purposes.

Cash distributions

Our partnership agreement requires that, within 60 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” is defined in our partnership agreement and includes all of our cash on hand at the end of each quarter, less reserves established by our general partner.

Our partnership agreement requires us to distribute all of our available cash each quarter in the following manner:

•

first, 98% to the holders of common units and 2% to our general partner, until each common unit has received a minimum quarterly distribution of $0.1625 plus any arrearages from prior quarters;

•

second, 98% to the holders of subordinated units and 2% to our general partner, until each subordinated unit has received a minimum quarterly distribution of $0.1625; and

•

third, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until each unit has received a distribution of $0.186875.

If cash distributions to our unitholders exceed $0.186875 per unit in any quarter, our general partner will receive, in addition to distributions on its 2% general partner interest, increasing percentages, up to 48%, of the cash we distribute in excess of that amount. We refer to these distributions as “incentive distributions” because they incentivize our general partner to increase distributions to our unitholders. In certain circumstances, our general partner, as the initial holder of our incentive distribution rights, has the right to

S-3

reset the target distribution levels described above to higher levels based on our cash distributions at the time of the exercise of this reset election. Please read “Cash Distribution Policy” in the accompanying base prospectus.

Issuance of additional units

Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional units without the approval of our unitholders. Our unitholders will not have preemptive or participation rights to purchase their pro rata share of any additional units issued. Please read “Description of Our Partnership Agreement—Issuance of Additional Partnership Interests” in the accompanying base prospectus.

Limited voting rights

Our general partner manages and operates us. Unlike the holders of common stock in a corporation, our unitholders will have only limited voting rights on matters affecting our business. Our unitholders will have no right to elect our general partner or its directors on an annual or other continuing basis. Our general partner may not be removed except by a vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding common and subordinated units, including any common and subordinated units owned by our general partner and its affiliates, voting together as a single class. Please read “Description of Our Partnership Agreement—Voting Rights” in the accompanying base prospectus.

Estimated ratio of taxable income to distributions

We estimate that a purchaser of common units in this offering who owns common units from the date of closing of this offering through the record date for distributions for the period ending December 31, 2018, will be allocated, on a cumulative basis, an amount of federal taxable income for that period that will be 20% or less of the cash distributed to you with respect to that period. For example, if you receive an annual distribution of $0.6500 per unit, we estimate that your average allocable federal taxable income per year will be no more than approximately $0.1300 per unit. Thereafter, the ratio of allocable taxable income to cash distributions to you could substantially increase. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Ratio of Taxable Income to Distributions” for the basis of this estimate.

Material U.S. tax consequences

For a discussion of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to prospective unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States, please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” in this prospectus supplement and “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” in the accompanying base prospectus.

New York Stock Exchange symbol

SHLX.

S-4

RISK FACTORS

Our business is subject to uncertainties and risks. Before making an investment in our common units, you should carefully consider the risk factors included in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, the “Updates to Risk Factors” included in Exhibit 99.2 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2015, and Part II, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, which are incorporated by reference herein, together with the other information contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus and the documents we have incorporated by reference. If any of the events or circumstances discussed in the foregoing documents or below actually occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or ability to make distributions to our unitholders could suffer and you could lose all or part of your investment. Please also read “Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to the Pecten Midstream Acquisition

The Pecten Midstream Acquisition may not be completed, and even if the Pecten Midstream Acquisition is completed, we may fail to realize the benefits anticipated as a result of the Pecten Midstream Acquisition.

The Pecten Midstream Acquisition is expected to close on or about November 17, 2015, with an effective date of October 1, 2015, subject to customary closing conditions. If these conditions are not satisfied or waived, the Pecten Midstream Acquisition will not be consummated. There can be no assurances that the Pecten Midstream Acquisition will be consummated or that the expected benefits of such acquisition will be realized. The closing of this offering is not conditioned on, nor is it a condition to, the consummation of the Pecten Midstream Acquisition. If the Pecten Midstream Acquisition is delayed, not consummated or consummated in a manner different than described herein, the price of our common units may decline. In addition, if the Pecten Midstream Acquisition is not consummated, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds of this offering. Accordingly, if you decide to purchase common units in this offering, you should be willing to do so whether or not we complete the Pecten Midstream Acquisition.

If we are able to consummate the Pecten Midstream Acquisition, such consummation would involve potential risks, including, without limitation, difficulties in integrating the acquired business, inefficiencies and unexpected costs and liabilities. If we consummate the Pecten Midstream Acquisition and if these risks or other expected costs and liabilities were to materialize, any desired benefits of the Pecten Midstream Acquisition may not be fully realized, if at all, and our future financial performance and results of operations could be negatively impacted.

S-5

USE OF PROCEEDS

The net proceeds from this offering are approximately $ million, or $ million if the underwriter exercises its option to purchase additional common units in full, in each case after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to fund a portion of the purchase price for the Pecten Midstream Acquisition. If the Pecten Midstream Acquisition does not close, or if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional common units is exercised after the Pecten Midstream Acquisition closes, then we intend to use the net proceeds from this offering or such exercise, as applicable, for general partnership purposes.

S-6

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and our capitalization as of September 30, 2015:

•

on a historical basis; and

•

as adjusted to give effect to (i) the issuance and sale of the common units offered hereby and the application of all of the net proceeds therefrom, less estimated offering expenses, to fund a portion of the $390 million purchase price for the Pecten Midstream Acquisition as described under “Use of Proceeds,” and (ii) our payment of the remaining purchase price for the Pecten Midstream Acquisition, using all of the general partner units issued in connection with this offering to maintain our general partner’s 2% interest in us, $50 million of cash on hand, and borrowings under our revolving credit facilities.

You should read this table in conjunction with our historical financial statements and notes that are incorporated by reference into this prospectus for additional information about our capital structure.


	As of September 30, 2015
	Historical			As Adjusted (4)
(in millions)
Cash and cash equivalents	$	117.5		$

Long-term debt:
Five year revolving credit facility (1)	$	320.8		$
364 day revolving credit facility (2)		100.0
Zydeco revolving credit facility		—
Equity:
Held by public:
Common units		1,330.4
Held by Shell:
Common units		(133.9	)
Subordinated units		(421.2	)
General partner units		(722.7	)

Total partners’ capital		52.6
Noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiary (3)		104.1

Total equity	$	156.7		$

(1)	As of November 10, 2015, we had $320.8 million outstanding under our five year revolving credit facility.

(2)	As of November 10, 2015, we had $100.0 million outstanding under our 364 day revolving credit facility.

(3)	Represents the 37.5% ownership interest in Zydeco held by SPLC.

(4)

If the Pecten Midstream Acquisition did not close, then Cash and cash equivalents, as adjusted, would include all of net proceeds of this offering, less estimated offering expenses, and our general partner’s proportionate capital contribution to maintain its 2% general partner interest, and Five year revolving credit facility, as adjusted, and 364 day revolving credit facility, as adjusted, would be the same as Five year revolving credit facility, historical, and 364 day revolving credit facility, historical.

S-7

PRICE RANGE OF COMMON UNITS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Our common units trade on the NYSE under the symbol “SHLX.” The following table shows the high and low closing prices per common unit, as reported by the New York Stock Exchange, and cash distributions paid per common unit for the periods indicated.


Quarter Ended	High		Low		Distribution per Common Unit
2015
Fourth Quarter (through November 11, 2015)	$	38.85	$	29.11			(1)
Third Quarter	$	48.39	$	25.13	$	0.2050
Second Quarter	$	49.77	$	36.27	$	0.1900
First Quarter	$	42.83	$	35.00	$	0.1750
2014
Fourth Quarter (2)	$	41.46	$	31.50	$	0.1042

(1)	Distributions with respect to the quarter ending December 31, 2015 have not yet been declared or paid. We expect to declare and pay a cash distribution within 60 days following the end of the quarter.

(2)	The quarterly distribution for the three months ended December 31, 2014 was prorated for the period beginning on the closing date of our IPO, November 3, 2014, through December 31, 2014.

On November 11, 2015, the last sales price of the common units as reported on the NYSE was $33.55 per common unit. As of November 11, 2015, there were approximately three record holders of our common units.

S-8

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

The tax consequences to you of an investment in our common units will depend in part on your own tax circumstances. Although this section updates and adds information related to certain tax considerations, it should be read in conjunction with the risk factors included under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, as updated by our other filings with the SEC incorporated by reference herein, and with “Risk Factors” and “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” in the accompanying base prospectus, which provide a discussion of the principal federal income tax considerations associated with our operations and the purchase, ownership and disposition of our common units. The following discussion is limited as described under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” in the accompanying base prospectus. You are urged to consult with your own tax advisor about the federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to your circumstances.

Ratio of taxable income to distributions

We estimate that a purchaser of common units in this offering who owns those common units from the date of closing of this offering through the record date for distributions for the period ending December 31, 2018, will be allocated, on a cumulative basis, an amount of federal taxable income for that period that will be 20% or less of the cash distributed to you with respect to that period. However, the ratio of taxable income to distributions for any single year in the projection period may be higher or lower. Thereafter, we anticipate that the ratio of taxable income to cash distributions to the unitholders will increase. These estimates are based upon the assumption that gross income from operations will approximate the amount required to make the minimum quarterly distribution on all units and other assumptions with respect to capital expenditures, cash flow, net working capital and anticipated cash distributions. These estimates and assumptions are subject to, among other things, numerous business, economic, regulatory, legislative, competitive and political uncertainties beyond our control. Further, the estimates are based on current tax law and tax reporting positions that we will adopt and with which the IRS could disagree. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that these estimates will prove to be correct.

The actual ratio of taxable income to cash distributions could be higher or lower than expected, and any differences could be material and could materially affect the value of the common units. For example, the ratio of taxable income to cash distributions to a purchaser of common units in this offering will be higher, and perhaps substantially higher, than our estimate with respect to the period described above if:

•

gross income from operations exceeds the amount required to make minimum quarterly distributions on all units, yet we only distribute the minimum quarterly distributions on all units; or

•

we make a future offering of common units and use the proceeds of this offering in a manner that does not produce substantial additional deductions during the period described above, such as to repay indebtedness outstanding at the time of this offering or to acquire property that is not eligible for depreciation or amortization for federal income tax purposes or that is depreciable or amortizable at a rate significantly slower than the rate applicable to our assets at the time of this offering.

Tax-exempt organizations and other investors

Ownership of common units by tax-exempt entities, including employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts, and foreign investors raises issues unique to such persons. The relevant rules are complex, and the discussions herein and in the accompanying base prospectus do not address tax considerations applicable to tax-exempt entities and foreign investors, except as specifically set forth in the accompanying base prospectus. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences—Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors” in the accompanying base prospectus.

S-9

UNDERWRITING

Barclays Capital Inc. is acting as the sole underwriter of this offering. Under the terms of an underwriting agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement, the underwriter has agreed to purchase from us 8,000,000 common units at a public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions set forth on the cover page of this prospectus.

The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriter’s obligation to purchase common units depends on the satisfaction of the conditions contained in the underwriting agreement including:

•

the obligation to purchase all of the common units offered hereby (other than those common units covered by its option to purchase additional common units as described below), if any of the common units are purchased;

•

the representations and warranties made by us to the underwriter are true;

•

there is no material change in our business or the financial markets; and

•

we deliver customary closing documents to the underwriter.

Commissions and Expenses

The following table summarizes the underwriting discounts and commissions we will pay to the underwriter. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional common units. The underwriting fee is the difference between the initial price to the public and the amount the underwriter pays to us for the common units.


	No Exercise	Full Exercise
Per Common Unit	$	$
Total	$	$

We have agreed to reimburse the underwriter for up to $25,000 of reasonable fees and expenses of counsel related to the review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, of the terms of sale of the common units offered hereby.

The underwriter has advised us that it proposes to offer the common units directly to the public at the public offering price on the cover of this prospectus supplement and to selected dealers at such offering price less a selling concession not in excess of $ per common unit. After the offering, the representative may change the offering price and other selling terms. The offering of the common units by the underwriter is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriter’s right to reject an order in whole or in part.

The expenses of the offering that are payable by us are estimated to be approximately $600,000 (excluding underwriting discounts and commissions). The underwriter has agreed to reimburse us for certain of our expenses in connection with this offering.

Option to Purchase Additional Common Units

We have granted the underwriter an option exercisable for 30 days after the date of this prospectus supplement to purchase, from time to time, in whole or in part, up to an aggregate of 1,200,000 common units from us at the public offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions. This option may be exercised to the extent the underwriter sells more than 8,000,000 common units in connection with this offering. To the extent that this option is exercised, the underwriter will be obligated, subject to certain conditions, to purchase the additional common units.

S-10

Lock-Up Agreements

Our general partner’s executive officers and directors, our general partner, and we have agreed that, for a period of 45 days after the date of this prospectus supplement, we will not directly or indirectly, without the prior written consent of Barclays Capital Inc. (1) offer for sale, sell, pledge, or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction or device that is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the disposition by any person at any time in the future of) any of our common units (including, without limitation, common units that may be deemed to be beneficially owned by us in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC and common units that may be issued upon exercise of any options or warrants) or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common units (other than common units issued pursuant to employee benefit plans, qualified option plans, or other employee compensation plans existing on the date of this prospectus supplement), or sell or grant options, rights or warrants with respect to securities convertible into or exchangeable for common units (other than the grant of options pursuant to option plans existing on the date of this prospectus supplement), (2) enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic benefits or risks of ownership of common units, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of common units or other securities, in cash or otherwise, (3) make any demand for or exercise any right or file or cause to be filed a registration statement, including any amendments thereto, with respect to the registration of any common units or securities convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into common units or any of our other securities (other than any registration statement on Form S-8), or (4) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing.

Barclays Capital Inc., in its sole discretion, may release the common units and other securities subject to the lock-up agreements described above in whole or in part at any time. When determining whether or not to release common units and other securities from lock-up agreements, Barclays Capital Inc. will consider, among other factors, the holder’s reasons for requesting the release, the number of common units and other securities for which the release is being requested and market conditions at the time.

Indemnification

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriter against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, and to contribute to payments that the underwriter may be required to make for these liabilities.

Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids

The representative may engage in stabilizing transactions, short sales and purchases to cover positions created by short sales, and penalty bids or purchases for the purpose of pegging, fixing or maintaining the price of the common units, in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act:

•

Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.

•

A short position involves a sale by the underwriter of common units in excess of the number of common units the underwriter is obligated to purchase in the offering, which creates the syndicate short position. This short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of common units involved in the sales made by the underwriter in excess of the number of common units it is obligated to purchase is not greater than the number of common units that it may purchase by exercising its option to purchase additional common units. In a naked short position, the number of common units involved is greater than the number of common units in its option to purchase additional common units. The underwriter may close out any short position by either exercising its option to purchase additional common units and/or purchasing common units in the open market. In determining the source of common units to close out the short position, the underwriter will consider, among other things, the price of common units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which it may purchase common units through its option to purchase additional

S-11

common units. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriter is concerned that there could be downward pressure on the price of the common units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering.

•

Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the common units in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions.

•

Penalty bids permit the representative to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the common units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.

These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our common units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the common units. As a result, the price of the common units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. These transactions may be effected on the NYSE or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

Neither we nor the underwriter make any representation or prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of the common units. In addition, neither we nor the underwriter make any representation that the representative will engage in these stabilizing transactions or that any transaction, once commenced, will not be discontinued without notice.

Electronic Distribution

A prospectus supplement in electronic format may be made available on the Internet sites or through other online services maintained by the underwriter and/or selling group members participating in this offering, or by their affiliates. In those cases, prospective investors may view offering terms online and, depending upon the particular underwriter or selling group member, prospective investors may be allowed to place orders online. The underwriter may agree with us to allocate a specific number of common units for sale to online brokerage account holders. Any such allocation for online distributions will be made by the representative on the same basis as other allocations.

Other than the prospectus supplement in electronic format, the information on any underwriter’s or selling group member’s web site and any information contained in any other web site maintained by an underwriter or selling group member is not part of the prospectus supplement or the registration statement of which this prospectus supplement forms a part, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or any underwriter or selling group member in its capacity as underwriter or selling group member and should not be relied upon by investors.

Listing on the NYSE

Our common units are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “SHLX”.

Stamp Taxes

If you purchase common units offered in this prospectus supplement, you may be required to pay stamp taxes and other charges under the laws and practices of the country of purchase, in addition to the offering price listed on the cover page of this prospectus supplement.

Other Relationships

The underwriter and certain of its affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include securities trading, commercial and investment banking, financial advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, financing and brokerage activities.

S-12

The underwriter and certain of its affiliates have, from time to time, performed, and may in the future perform, various commercial and investment banking and financial advisory services for the issuer and its affiliates, for which they received or may in the future receive customary fees and expenses. In connection with these services, Barclays Capital Inc. or its affiliates have received or may receive customary fees and reimbursement of expenses.

In the ordinary course of their various business activities, the underwriter and certain of its affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers, and such investment and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of the issuer or its affiliates. If the underwriter or its affiliates have a lending relationship with us, the underwriter or its affiliates may hedge their credit exposure to us consistent with their customary risk management policies. Typically, the underwriter and its affiliates would hedge such exposure by entering into transactions which consist of either the purchase of credit default swaps or the creation of short positions in our securities or the securities of our affiliates, including potentially the common units offered hereby. Any such credit default swaps or short positions could adversely affect future trading prices of the common units offered hereby. The underwriter and certain of its affiliates may also communicate independent investment recommendations, market color or trading ideas and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or instruments and may at any time hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.

Direct Participation Program Requirements

Because FINRA views the common units offered hereby as interests in a direct participation program, the offering is being made in compliance with FINRA Rule 2310. Investor suitability with respect to the common units should be judged similarly to the suitability with respect to other securities that are listed for trading on a national securities exchange.

Selling Restrictions

This prospectus supplement does not constitute an offer to sell to, or a solicitation of an offer to buy from, anyone in any country or jurisdiction (i) in which such an offer or solicitation is not authorized, (ii) in which any person making such offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or (iii) in which any such offer or solicitation would otherwise be unlawful. No action has been taken that would, or is intended to, permit a public offer of the common units or possession or distribution of this prospectus supplement or any other offering or publicity material relating to the common units in any country or jurisdiction (other than the United States) where any such action for that purpose is required. Accordingly, each underwriter has undertaken that it will not, directly or indirectly, offer or sell any common units or have in its possession, distribute or publish any prospectus, form of application, advertisement or other document or information in any country or jurisdiction except under circumstances that will, to the best of its knowledge and belief, result in compliance with any applicable laws and regulations and all offers and sales of common units by it will be made on the same terms.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong

Our common units may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of this prospectus supplement or any other document other than to (a) professional investors as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance of Hong Kong (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) (“SFO”) and any rules made under the SFO or (b) in other circumstances which do not result in this prospectus supplement being deemed to be a “prospectus,” as defined in the Companies Ordinance of Hong Kong (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) (“CO”), or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the CO or the SFO; and no person has issued or had in possession for the purposes of issue, or will issue or has in possession for the purposes of issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere, any advertisement, invitation or document relating to our common units which is directed at, or the

S-13

contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public of Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our common units which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to professional investors as defined in the SFO.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore

This prospectus supplement has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the units may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the units be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA.

Where the units are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 by a relevant person which is: (a) a corporation (which is not an accredited investor) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or (b) a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, units, debentures and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest in that trust shall not be transferable for 6 months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the units under Section 275 except: (1) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the SFA or to a relevant person, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA; (2) where no consideration is given for the transfer; or (3) by operation of law.

S-14

LEGAL MATTERS

Baker Botts L.L.P., Houston, Texas will pass on the validity of the common units offered in this prospectus supplement. Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., Houston, Texas will pass upon legal matters for the underwriter in connection with this offering.

EXPERTS

The consolidated financial statements of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. incorporated in this prospectus supplement by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

The financial statements of Poseidon Oil Pipeline Company, L.L.C. as of and for the year ended December 31, 2014, incorporated in this prospectus supplement by reference, from Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on July 2, 2015, have been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, independent auditors, as stated in their report which is incorporated herein by reference. Such financial statements have been so incorporated in reliance upon the report of such firm upon their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.

The financial statements of Mars Oil Pipeline Company incorporated in this prospectus supplement by reference to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.’s Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 17, 2015 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

The financial statements of Bengal Pipeline Company LLC as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, and for the years then ended, incorporated in this prospectus supplement have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent auditors, as set forth in their report thereon, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the information in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus and the documents we incorporate by reference may contain forward-looking statements. You can identify our forward-looking statements by the words “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “budget,” “continue,” “could,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “objective,” “projection,” “forecast,” “goal,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “effort,” “target” and similar expressions.

We based the forward-looking statements on our current expectations, estimates and projections about us and the industries in which we operate in general. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance as they involve assumptions that, while made in good faith, may prove to be incorrect, and involve risks and uncertainties we cannot predict. In addition, we based many of these forward-looking statements on assumptions about future events that may prove to be inaccurate. Accordingly, our actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what we have expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. Any differences could result from a variety of factors, including the following:

•

The satisfaction of the conditions to the closing of the Pecten Midstream Acquisition and the possibility that the Pecten Midstream Acquisition will not close.

•

Timing of the completion of the proposed Pecten Midstream Acquisition.

S-15

•

The continued ability of Shell and our non-affiliate customers to satisfy their obligations under our commercial and other agreements.

•

The volume of crude oil and refined petroleum products we transport or store.

•

The tariff rates with respect to volumes that we transport through our regulated assets, which rates are subject to review and possible adjustment by federal and state regulators.

•

Changes in revenue we realize under the loss allowance provisions of our fees and tariffs resulting from changes in underlying commodity prices.

•

Fluctuations in the prices for crude oil and refined petroleum products.

•

The level of onshore and offshore, including deepwater, production and demand for crude by U.S. refiners.

•

Changes in global economic conditions and the effects of a global economic downturn on the business of Shell and the business of its suppliers, customers, business partners and credit lenders.

•

Liabilities associated with the risks and operational hazards inherent in transporting and storing crude oil and refined petroleum products.

•

Curtailment of operations or expansion projects due to severe weather disruption; riots, strikes, lockouts or other industrial disturbances; or failure of information technology systems due to various causes, including unauthorized access or attack.

•

Costs or liabilities associated with federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and safety, including spills, releases and pipeline integrity.

•

Costs associated with compliance with evolving environmental laws and regulations on climate change.

•

Costs associated with compliance with safety regulations, including pipeline integrity management program testing and related repairs.

•

Changes in the cost or availability of third-party vessels, pipelines, rail cars and other means of delivering and transporting crude oil and refined petroleum products.

•

Direct or indirect effects on our business resulting from actual or threatened terrorist incidents or acts of war.

•

The factors generally described in “Risk Factors” in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus, in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, the “Updates to Risk Factors” included in Exhibit 99.2 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2015, and Part II, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We have filed a registration statement with the SEC under the Securities Act that registers the securities offered by this prospectus supplement. The registration statement, including the attached exhibits, contains additional relevant information about us. The rules and regulations of the SEC allow us to omit some information included in the registration statement from this prospectus supplement.

We file with or furnish to the SEC periodic reports and other information. These reports and other information may be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549 or obtained from the SEC’s website on the internet at www.sec.gov. You may obtain information on the operation of the public reference room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. Our website on the Internet is located at www.shellmidstreampartners.com and we make our periodic

S-16

reports and other information filed with or furnished to the SEC available, free of charge, through our website, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports and other information are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and does not constitute a part of this prospectus supplement.

The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” into this prospectus supplement the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents. Information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus supplement, except for any information that is superseded by information included directly in this prospectus supplement. Any statement contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus or a document incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus supplement to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus or in any other subsequently filed document that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement modifies or supersedes the statement. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus supplement. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below (excluding any portions of such documents that have been “furnished” but not “filed” for purposes of the Exchange Act):

•

our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014;

•

our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2015;

•

our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2015, May 13, 2015, May 20, 2015, July 2, 2015, July 20, 2015, November 3, 2015, November 3, 2015 and November 12, 2015; and

•

the description of our common units in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (Registration No. 001-36710) filed on October 28, 2014.

We will provide a copy of any and all of the information that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement to any person, including a beneficial owner, to whom a prospectus supplement is delivered, without charge, upon written or oral request. You may obtain a copy of these filings by writing or telephoning:

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.

Attention: Investor Relations

One Shell Plaza

910 Louisiana Street

Houston, Texas 77002

(832) 337-2034.

S-17

PROSPECTUS

Common Units

Partnership Securities

We may offer, from time to time, in one or more series, the following securities under this prospectus:

•

Common Units representing limited partner interests in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.;

•

Partnership Securities representing limited partner interests in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.

We may offer and sell the securities through one or more underwriters, dealers or agents, or directly to purchasers, on a continuous or delayed basis.

We may offer the securities in amounts, at prices and on terms to be determined by market conditions and other factors at the time of the offer. This prospectus describes only the general terms of these securities and the general manner in which we or selling securities holders will offer the securities. The specific terms of any securities we offer will be included in a supplement to this prospectus. The prospectus supplement will describe the specific manner in which we will offer the securities and also may add, update or change information contained in this prospectus.

You should carefully read this prospectus and any prospectus supplement before you invest. You should also read the documents we refer to in the “Where You Can Find More Information” section of this prospectus for the information on us and our financial statements. This prospectus may not be used to consummate sales of our securities unless it is accompanied by a prospectus supplement.

Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SHLX.” We will provide information in the prospectus supplement for the trading market, if any, for any other securities we may offer.

Investing in our common units involves a high degree of risk. Before buying any common units, you should carefully read the discussion of material risks of investing in our common units in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 3 of this prospectus and in the applicable prospectus supplement and in the documents incorporated herein and therein before you make any investment in our securities.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Prospectus dated November 2, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS


ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS			1
SHELL MIDSTREAM PARTNERS, L.P.			1
RISK FACTORS			3
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS			4
USE OF PROCEEDS			5
DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS			6
DESCRIPTION OF PARTNERSHIP SECURITIES			8
DESCRIPTION OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT			9
CASH DISTRIBUTION POLICY			22
MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES			37
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION			54
LEGAL MATTERS			55
EXPERTS			55
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION			55

We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the cover page of this prospectus or that any information we have incorporated by reference is accurate as of any date other than the date of the documents incorporated by reference. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Please read “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements.”

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 that we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) using a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell, in one or more offerings, securities described in this prospectus. This prospectus provides you with a general description of us and the securities offered under this prospectus.

Each time we sell securities under this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering and the securities being offered. The prospectus supplement also may add to, update or change information in this prospectus. If there is any inconsistency between the information in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, you should rely on the information in the prospectus supplement. You should read carefully this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the additional information described below under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information.”

This prospectus contains summaries of certain provisions contained in some of the documents described herein, but reference is made to the actual documents for complete information. All of the summaries are qualified in their entirety by reference to the actual documents. For additional information about our business, operations and financial results, please read the documents incorporated by reference herein as described below in the section entitled “Where You Can Find More Information.”

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to “Shell Midstream Partners,” “the Partnership,” “us,” “our,” “we,” or similar expressions for time periods from November 3, 2014, the closing date of our Initial Public Offering (“IPO”), refer to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. and its subsidiaries. References to the Partnership or other expressions defined above for time periods prior to our IPO refer to our predecessor for accounting purposes. The predecessor’s financial results included in our condensed consolidated statements of income and condensed consolidated statements of cash flows contain the financial results of the following entities for the time periods indicated below.

Our general partner, Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company and has ultimate responsibility for conducting our business and managing our operations.

References to “Shell” refer collectively to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its controlled affiliates, other than us, our subsidiaries and our general partner.

SHELL MIDSTREAM PARTNERS, L.P.

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SHLX) is a fee-based, growth-oriented master limited partnership recently formed by Shell to own, operate, develop and acquire pipelines and other midstream assets. Our assets consist of interests in entities that own crude oil and refined products pipelines. These pipelines serve as key infrastructure to transport growing onshore and offshore crude oil production to Gulf Coast refining markets and to deliver refined products from those markets to major demand centers. We generate substantially all of our revenue under long-term agreements by charging fees for the transportation of crude oil and refined petroleum products through our pipelines. We do not engage in the marketing and trading of any commodities. Our operations comprise one reportable segment containing our portfolio of pipelines and other midstream assets.

We own interests in three crude oil pipeline systems and two refined products systems. The crude oil pipeline systems, which are held by Zydeco, Mars Oil Pipeline Company (“Mars”) and Poseidon Oil Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (“Poseidon”), are strategically located along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. These systems link major onshore and offshore production areas with key refining markets. The refined products pipeline systems, which are held by Bengal Pipeline Company LLC (“Bengal”) and Colonial Pipeline Company (“Colonial”), connect Gulf Coast and southeastern U.S. refineries to major demand centers from Alabama to New York.

Our general partner, Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company and has ultimate responsibility for conducting our business and managing our operations.

Our principal executive offices are located at One Shell Plaza, 910 Louisiana Street, Houston, Texas 77002, and our telephone number is (713) 241-6161.

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described in our filings with the SEC referred to under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information,” as well as the risks included and incorporated by reference in this prospectus, including the risk factors incorporated by reference herein from our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and the “Updates to Risk Factors” included in Exhibit 99.2 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2015, as updated by annual, quarterly and other reports and documents we file with the SEC after the date of this prospectus and that are incorporated by reference herein. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our securities could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. When we offer and sell any securities pursuant to a prospectus supplement, we may include additional risk factors relevant to such securities in the prospectus supplement.

Tax Risks to Common Unitholders

We prorate our items of income, gain, loss and deduction for U.S. federal income tax purposes between transferors and transferees of our units each month based upon the ownership of our units on the first day of each month, instead of on the basis of the date a particular unit is transferred. The IRS may challenge this treatment, which could change the allocation of items of income, gain, loss and deduction among our unitholders.

We prorate our items of income, gain, loss and deduction between transferors and transferees of our units each month based upon the ownership of our units on the first day of each month, instead of on the basis of the date a particular unit is transferred. However, the Department of the Treasury and the IRS issued Treasury Regulations pursuant to which a publicly traded partnership may use a similar monthly simplifying convention to allocate tax items among transferor and transferee unitholders although such tax items must be prorated on a daily basis. The Partnership is currently evaluating these regulations, which will apply beginning with our taxable year that begins on January 1, 2016. The Treasury Regulations do not specifically authorize the use of the proration method we have currently adopted. Accordingly, Baker Botts L.L.P. is unable to opine on the validity of our method of allocating income and deductions between transferee and transferor unitholders. If the IRS were to challenge our proration method or new Treasury Regulations were issued, we may be required to change the allocation of items of income, gain, loss and deduction among our unitholders. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees.”

If the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns for tax years beginning after 2017, it may collect any resulting taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) directly from us, in which case our cash available for distribution to our unitholders might be substantially reduced.

Pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns for tax years beginning after 2017, it may collect any resulting taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) directly from us. We will generally have the ability to shift any such tax liability to our general partner and our unitholders in accordance with their interests in us during the year under audit, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so under all circumstances. If we are required to make payments of taxes, penalties and interest resulting from audit adjustments, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders might be substantially reduced.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the information in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the documents we incorporate by reference may contain forward-looking statements. You can identify our forward-looking statements by the words “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “budget,” “continue,” “could,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “objective,” “projection,” “forecast,” “goal,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “effort,” “target” and similar expressions.

We based the forward-looking statements on our current expectations, estimates and projections about us and the industries in which we operate in general. We caution you these statements are not guarantees of future performance as they involve assumptions that, while made in good faith, may prove to be incorrect, and involve risks and uncertainties we cannot predict. In addition, we based many of these forward-looking statements on assumptions about future events that may prove to be inaccurate. Accordingly, our actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what we have expressed or forecast in the forward-looking statements. Any differences could result from a variety of factors, including the following:

•

The continued ability of Shell and our non-affiliate customers to satisfy their obligations under our commercial and other agreements.

•

The volume of crude oil and refined petroleum products we transport or store.

•

The tariff rates with respect to volumes that we transport through our regulated assets, which rates are subject to review and possible adjustment by federal and state regulators.

•

Changes in revenue we realize under the loss allowance provisions of our fees and tariffs resulting from changes in underlying commodity prices.

•

Fluctuations in the prices for crude oil and refined petroleum products.

•

Changes in global economic conditions and the effects of a global economic downturn on the business of Shell and the business of its suppliers, customers, business partners and credit lenders.

•

Liabilities associated with the risks and operational hazards inherent in transporting and storing crude oil and refined petroleum products.

•

Costs or liabilities associated with federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and safety, including spills, releases and pipeline integrity.

•

Costs associated with compliance with evolving environmental laws and regulations on climate change.

•

Costs associated with compliance with safety regulations, including pipeline integrity management program testing and related repairs.

•

Changes in the cost or availability of third-party vessels, pipelines, rail cars and other means of delivering and transporting crude oil and refined petroleum products.

•

Direct or indirect effects on our business resulting from actual or threatened terrorist incidents or acts of war.

•

The factors generally described in “Risk Factors” in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, and the “Updates to Risk Factors” included in Exhibit 99.2 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2015.

USE OF PROCEEDS

Unless we specify otherwise in any prospectus supplement, we will use the net proceeds we receive from the sale of securities covered by this prospectus for general partnership purposes, which may include, among other things:

•

paying or refinancing all or a portion of our indebtedness outstanding at the time; and

•

funding working capital, capital expenditures or acquisitions.

The actual application of proceeds from the sale of any particular offering of securities using this prospectus will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to such offering. The precise amount and timing of the application of these proceeds will depend upon our funding requirements and the availability and cost of other funds.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS

The Units

The common units represent limited partner interests in us. The holders of common units, along with the holders of subordinated units, are entitled to participate in partnership distributions and are entitled to exercise the rights and privileges available to limited partners under our partnership agreement. For a description of the relative rights and preferences of holders of common and subordinated units in and to partnership distributions, please read “Cash Distribution Policy.” For a general discussion of the expected federal income tax consequences of owning and disposing of common units, please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.” For a description of the rights and privileges of limited partners under our partnership agreement, including voting rights, please read “Description of Our Partnership Agreement.” Our common units are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “SHLX.”

Transfer Agent and Registrar

Duties

American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC serves as the registrar and transfer agent for our common units. We will pay all fees charged by the transfer agent for transfers of common units, except the following that must be paid by our unitholders:

•

surety bond premiums to replace lost or stolen certificates, or to cover taxes and other governmental charges in connection therewith;

•

special charges for services requested by a holder of a common unit; and

•

other similar fees or charges.

Unless our general partner determines otherwise in respect of some or all of any classes of our partnership interests, our partnership interests will be evidenced by book entry notation on our partnership register and not by physical certificates.

There will be no charge to our unitholders for disbursements of our cash distributions. We will indemnify the transfer agent, its agents and each of their respective stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.

Resignation or Removal

The transfer agent may resign, by notice to us, or be removed by us. The resignation or removal of the transfer agent will become effective upon our appointment of a successor transfer agent and registrar and its acceptance of the appointment. If no successor has been appointed and has accepted the appointment within 30 days after notice of the resignation or removal, our general partner may act as the transfer agent and registrar until a successor is appointed.

Transfer of Common Units

By transfer of common units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission are reflected in our books and records. Each transferee, with or without executing our partnership agreement:

•

agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of our partnership agreement;

•

represents and warrants that the transferee has the right, power, authority and capacity to enter into our partnership agreement; and

•

gives the consents, waivers and approvals contained in our partnership agreement, such as the approval of all transactions and agreements that we entered into in connection with our formation and that we are entering into in connection with an offering pursuant to this prospectus.

We are entitled to treat the nominee holder of a common unit as the absolute owner in the event such nominee is the record holder of such common unit. In such case, the beneficial holder’s rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.

Common units are securities and are transferable according to the laws governing the transfer of securities. Until a common unit has been transferred on our register, we and the transfer agent are entitled to treat the record holder of the common unit as the absolute owner, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.

DESCRIPTION OF PARTNERSHIP SECURITIES

The Units

Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional limited partner interests and other equity securities on the terms and conditions established by our general partner without the approval of any of our limited partners. In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may issue additional partnership interests that have special voting rights to which our common units are not entitled.

The following is a description of the general terms and provisions of our partnership securities. The particular terms of any series of partnership securities will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement and the amendment to our partnership agreement, if necessary, relating to that series of partnership securities, which will be filed as an exhibit to or incorporated by reference into this prospectus at or before the time of issuance of any such series of partnership securities. If so indicated in a prospectus supplement, the terms of any such series may differ from the terms set forth below.

Our general partner is authorized to approve the issuance of one or more series of partnership securities without further authorization of the limited partners and to fix the number of securities, the designations, rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions of any such series.

The applicable prospectus supplement will set forth the number of securities, particular designation, relative rights and preferences and the limitations of any series of partnership securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered. The particular terms of any such series may include the following:

•

the maximum number, if any, of securities to constitute the series and the designation and ranking thereof;

•

the distribution rate, if any, on securities of the series, whether such rate is fixed or variable or both, the dates from which distributions will begin to accrue or accumulate, whether distributions will be cumulative and whether such distributions will be paid in cash, securities or otherwise;

•

whether the securities of the series will be redeemable and, if so, the price and the terms and conditions on which the securities of the series may be redeemed, including the time during which securities of the series may be redeemed and any accumulated distributions thereof that the holders of the securities of the series will be entitled to receive upon the redemption thereof;

•

the liquidation preference, if any, applicable to securities of the series;

•

the terms and conditions, if any, on which the securities of the series will be convertible into, or exchangeable for, securities of any other class or classes of partnership securities, including the price or prices or the rate or rates of conversion or exchange and the method, if any, of adjusting the same; and

•

the voting rights, if any, of the securities of the series.

Partnership securities will be fully paid (to the extent required under our partnership agreement) and non-assessable (except as such nonassessability may be affected by Sections 17-303, 17-607 and 17-804 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act) when issued upon full payment of the purchase price therefor. The prospectus supplement will contain, if applicable, a description of the material federal income tax consequences relating to the purchase and ownership of the series of partnership securities offered by the prospectus supplement. The transfer agent, registrar and distributions disbursement agent for the partnership securities will be designated in the applicable prospectus supplement.

DESCRIPTION OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

The following is a summary of the material provisions of our partnership agreement. Our partnership agreement is incorporated by reference into the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. We will provide prospective investors with a copy of our partnership agreement upon request at no charge.

We summarize the following provisions of our partnership agreement elsewhere in this prospectus:

•

with regard to distributions of available cash, please read “Cash Distribution Policy”;

•

with regard to the transfer of common units, please read “Description of the Common Units—Transfer of Common Units”; and

•

with regard to allocations of taxable income and taxable loss, please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.”

Organization and Duration

Our partnership was organized on March 19, 2014 and will have a perpetual existence unless terminated pursuant to the terms of our partnership agreement.

Purpose

Our purpose under our partnership agreement is limited to any business activity that is approved by our general partner and that lawfully may be conducted by a limited partnership organized under Delaware law; provided, however, that our general partner shall not cause us to engage, directly or indirectly, in any business activity that our general partner determines would be reasonably likely to cause us to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes.

Although our general partner has the ability to cause us and our subsidiaries to engage in activities other than the business of owning, operating, developing and acquiring crude oil and refined products pipelines, terminals and other transportation and logistics assets, our general partner has no current plans to do so and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or our limited partners, other than the implied contractual covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Our general partner is authorized in general to perform all acts it determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.

Capital Contributions

Unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under “—Limited Liability.”

For a discussion of our general partner’s right to contribute capital to maintain its 2% general partner interest if we issue additional units, please read “—Issuance of Additional Partnership Interests.”

Voting Rights

The following is a summary of the unitholder vote required for the matters specified below. Matters requiring the approval of a “unit majority” require:

•

during the subordination period, the approval of a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding those common units whose voting power is, with respect to the subject vote, controlled by our general partner or its affiliates, through ownership or otherwise, and a majority of the outstanding subordinated units, voting as separate classes; and

•

after the subordination period, the approval of a majority of the outstanding common units.

In voting their common and subordinated units, our general partner and its affiliates will have no duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or the limited partners, other than the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

Issuance of additional units

No unitholder approval right.

Amendment of our partnership agreement

Certain amendments may be made by our general partner without the approval of the unitholders. Other amendments generally require the approval of a unit majority. Please read “—Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement.”

Merger of our partnership or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets

Unit majority in certain circumstances. Please read “—Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets.”

Dissolution of our partnership

Unit majority. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.”

Continuation of our business upon dissolution

Unit majority. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.”

Withdrawal of our general partner

Under most circumstances, the approval of unitholders holding at least a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding common units held by our general partner and its affiliates, is required for the withdrawal of our general partner prior to December 31, 2024 in a manner that would cause a dissolution of our partnership. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.”

Removal of our general partner

Not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding units, voting as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.”

Transfer of the general partner interest

Our general partner may transfer any or all of its general partner interest in us without a vote of our unitholders. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Units.”

Transfer of incentive distribution rights

Our general partner may transfer any or all of the incentive distribution rights to an affiliate or another person without a vote of our unitholders. Please read “—Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights.”

Reset of incentive distribution levels

No unitholder approval required.

Transfer of ownership interests in our general partner

No unitholder approval required. Please read “—Transfer of Ownership Interests in our General Partner.”

Applicable Law; Forum, Venue and Jurisdiction

Our partnership agreement is governed by Delaware law. Our partnership agreement requires that any claims, suits, actions or proceedings:

•

arising out of or relating in any way to our partnership agreement (including any claims, suits or actions to interpret, apply or enforce the provisions of our partnership agreement or the duties, obligations or liabilities among limited partners or of limited partners to us, or the rights or powers of, or restrictions on, the limited partners or us);

•

brought in a derivative manner on our behalf;

•

asserting a claim of breach of a duty (including a fiduciary duty) owed by any director, officer or other employee of us or our general partner, or owed by our general partner, to us or the limited partners;

•

asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, or the Delaware Act; or

•

asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine

shall be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, any other court located in the State of Delaware with subject matter jurisdiction), regardless of whether such claims, suits, actions or proceedings sound in contract, tort, fraud or otherwise, are based on common law, statutory, equitable, legal or other grounds, or are derivative or direct claims. By purchasing a common unit, a limited partner is irrevocably consenting to these limitations and provisions regarding claims, suits, actions or proceedings and submitting to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or such other Delaware courts) in connection with any such claims, suits, actions or proceedings. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation or similar governing documents have been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any action, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our partnership agreement to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.

Limited Liability

Assuming that a limited partner does not participate in the control of our business within the meaning of the Delaware Act and that it otherwise acts in conformity with the provisions of our partnership agreement, its liability under the Delaware Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital it is obligated to contribute to us for its common units plus its share of any undistributed profits and assets. If it were determined, however, that the right, or exercise of the right, by the limited partners as a group:

•

to remove or replace our general partner;

•

to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement; or

•

to take other action under our partnership agreement;

constituted “participation in the control” of our business for the purposes of the Delaware Act, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the laws of Delaware, to the same extent as our general partner. This liability would extend to persons who transact business with us who reasonably believe that the limited partner is a general partner. Neither our partnership agreement nor the Delaware Act specifically provides for legal recourse against our general partner if a limited partner were to lose limited liability through any fault of our general partner. While this does not mean that a limited partner could not seek legal recourse, we know of no precedent for this type of a claim in Delaware case law.

Under the Delaware Act, a limited partnership may not make a distribution to a partner if, after the distribution, all liabilities of the limited partnership, other than liabilities to partners on account of their limited

partner interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the partnership, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the limited partnership. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a limited partnership, the Delaware Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds the non-recourse liability. The Delaware Act provides that a limited partner who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Delaware Act shall be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution for three years. Under the Delaware Act, a substituted limited partner of a limited partnership is liable for the obligations of its assignor to make contributions to the partnership, except that such person is not obligated for liabilities unknown to him at the time it became a limited partner and that could not be ascertained from our partnership agreement.

Our subsidiaries conduct business in several states and we may have subsidiaries that conduct business in other states in the future. Maintenance of our limited liability as a limited partner or member of our operating subsidiaries may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which our operating subsidiaries conduct business, including qualifying our subsidiaries to do business there.

Limitations on the liability of limited partners or members for the obligations of a limited partnership or limited liability company have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our limited partner interest in our operating company or otherwise, it were determined that we were conducting business in any state without compliance with the applicable limited partnership or limited liability company statute, or that the right or exercise of the right by the limited partners as a group to remove or replace our general partner, to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement, or to take other action under our partnership agreement constituted “participation in the control” of our business for purposes of the statutes of any relevant jurisdiction, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the law of that jurisdiction to the same extent as our general partner under the circumstances. We will operate in a manner that our general partner considers reasonable and necessary or appropriate to preserve the limited liability of the limited partners.

Issuance of Additional Partnership Interests

Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional partnership interests for the consideration and on the terms and conditions determined by our general partner without the approval of the unitholders.

It is possible that we will fund acquisitions through the issuance of additional common units, subordinated units or other partnership interests. Holders of any additional common units we issue will be entitled to share equally with the then-existing holders of common units in our distributions of available cash. In addition, the issuance of additional common units or other partnership interests may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing holders of common units in our net assets.

In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may also issue additional partnership interests that, as determined by our general partner, may have special voting rights to which the common units are not entitled. In addition, our partnership agreement does not prohibit the issuance by our subsidiaries of equity interests, which may effectively rank senior to the common units.

Upon issuance of additional limited partner interests (other than the issuance of common units in connection with a reset of the incentive distribution target levels or the issuance of common units upon conversion of outstanding partnership interests), our general partner will be entitled, but not required, to make additional capital contributions up to the amount necessary to maintain its 2% general partner interest in us. Our general partner’s 2% interest in us will be reduced if we issue additional units in the future and our general partner does not contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its 2% general partner interest. Moreover, our general partner will have the right, which it may from time to time assign in whole or in part to any of its

affiliates, to purchase common units, subordinated units or other partnership interests whenever, and on the same terms that, we issue those interests to persons other than our general partner and its affiliates, to the extent necessary to maintain the percentage interest of our general partner and its affiliates, including such interest represented by common and subordinated units, that existed immediately prior to each issuance. The other holders of common units will not have preemptive rights to acquire additional common units or other partnership interests.

Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement

General

Amendments to our partnership agreement may be proposed only by our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to propose any amendment and may decline to propose or approve any amendment to our partnership agreement. In order to adopt a proposed amendment, other than the amendments discussed below, our general partner is required to seek written approval of the holders of the number of units required to approve the amendment or call a meeting of the limited partners to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. Except as described below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority.

Prohibited Amendments

No amendment may be made that would:

•

enlarge the obligations of any limited partner without its consent, unless such is deemed to have occurred as a result of an amendment approved by at least a majority of the type or class of limited partner interests so affected; or

•

enlarge the obligations of, restrict in any way any action by or rights of, or reduce in any way the amounts distributable, reimbursable or otherwise payable by us to our general partner or any of its affiliates without its consent, which consent may be given or withheld at its option.

The provisions of our partnership agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in any of the clauses above can be amended upon the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units voting together as a single class (including units owned by our general partner and its affiliates).

No Limited Partner Approval

Our general partner may generally make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner to reflect:

•

a change in our name, the location of our principal office, our registered agent or our registered office;

•

the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with our partnership agreement;

•

a change that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to qualify or continue our qualification as a limited partnership or a partnership in which the limited partners have limited liability under the laws of any state or to ensure that neither we nor any of our subsidiaries will be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes;

•

a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and any other changes that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate as a result of such change;

•

an amendment that is necessary, in the opinion of our counsel, to prevent us or our general partner or its directors, officers, trustees or agents from in any manner being subjected to the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, or “plan asset” regulations

adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, each as amended, whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor;

•

an amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate for the authorization or issuance of additional partnership interests;

•

any amendment expressly permitted in our partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone;

•

an amendment effected, necessitated or contemplated by a merger agreement or plan of conversion that has been approved under the terms of our partnership agreement;

•

any amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to reflect and account for the formation by us of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company or other entity, in connection with our conduct of activities permitted by our partnership agreement;

•

an amendment providing that any transferee of a limited partner interest (including any nominee holder or an agent or representative acquiring such limited partner interest for the account of another person) shall be deemed to certify that the transferee is an Eligible Taxable Holder (as defined below);

•

conversions into, mergers with or conveyances to another limited liability entity that is newly formed and has no assets, liabilities or operations at the time of the conversion, merger or conveyance other than those it receives by way of the conversion, merger or conveyance; or

•

any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described in the clauses above.

In addition, our general partner may make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner if our general partner determines that those amendments:

•

do not adversely affect in any material respect the limited partners considered as a whole or any particular class of partnership interests as compared to other classes of partnership interests;

•

are necessary or appropriate to satisfy any requirements, conditions or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation of any federal or state agency or judicial authority or contained in any federal or state statute;

•

are necessary or appropriate to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are or will be listed or admitted to trading;

•

are necessary or appropriate for any action taken by our general partner relating to splits or combinations of units under the provisions of our partnership agreement; or

•

are required to effect the intent expressed in this prospectus or the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement.

Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval

For amendments of the type not requiring unitholder approval, our general partner will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that an amendment will not affect the limited liability of any limited partner under Delaware law. No other amendments to our partnership agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units voting as a single class unless we first obtain such an opinion.

In addition to the above restrictions, any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any type or class of partnership interests in relation to other classes of partnership interests will

require the approval of at least a majority of the type or class of partnership interests so affected. Any amendment that would reduce the percentage of units required to take any action, other than to remove our general partner or call a meeting of unitholders, must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the percentage sought to be reduced. Any amendment that would increase the percentage of units required to remove our general partner must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than 90% of outstanding units. Any amendment that would increase the percentage of units required to call a meeting of unitholders must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute at least a majority of the outstanding units.

Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets

A merger, consolidation or conversion of our partnership requires the prior consent of our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to consent to any merger, consolidation or conversion and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or the limited partners, other than the implied contractual covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

In addition, our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner without the prior approval of the holders of a unit majority, from causing us to, among other things, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets in a single transaction or a series of related transactions. Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without that approval. Our general partner may also sell any or all of our assets under a foreclosure or other realization upon those encumbrances without that approval. Finally, our general partner may consummate any merger with another limited liability entity without the prior approval of our unitholders if we are the surviving entity in the transaction, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters, the transaction would not result in an amendment to our partnership agreement requiring unitholder approval, each of our units will be an identical unit of our partnership following the transaction, and the partnership interests to be issued by us in such merger do not exceed 20% of our outstanding partnership interests immediately prior to the transaction.

If the conditions specified in our partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may convert us or any of our subsidiaries into a new limited liability entity or merge us or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey all of our assets to a newly formed entity, if the sole purpose of that conversion, merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in our legal form into another limited liability entity, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters, and our general partner determines that the governing instruments of the new entity provide the limited partners and our general partner with the same rights and obligations as contained in our partnership agreement. The unitholders are not entitled to dissenters’ rights of appraisal under our partnership agreement or applicable Delaware law in the event of a conversion, merger or consolidation, a sale of substantially all of our assets or any other similar transaction or event.

Termination and Dissolution

We will continue as a limited partnership until dissolved and terminated under our partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:

•

the withdrawal or removal of our general partner or any other event that results in its ceasing to be our general partner, other than by reason of a transfer of its general partner interest in accordance with our partnership agreement or a withdrawal or removal followed by approval and admission of a successor;

•

the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority;

•

the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of our partnership; or

•

there being no limited partners, unless we are continued without dissolution in accordance with applicable Delaware law.

Upon a dissolution under the first bullet point above, the holders of a unit majority may also elect, within specific time limitations, to continue our business on the same terms and conditions described in our partnership agreement by appointing as a successor general partner an entity approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority, subject to our receipt of an opinion of counsel to the effect that:

•

the action would not result in the loss of limited liability of any limited partner; and

•

neither our partnership nor any of our subsidiaries would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise be taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes upon the exercise of that right to continue.

Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds

Upon our dissolution, unless we are continued as a new limited partnership, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our general partner that are necessary or appropriate, liquidate our assets and apply the proceeds of the liquidation as described in “Cash Distribution Policy—Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation.” The liquidator may defer liquidation or distribution of our assets for a reasonable period of time or distribute assets to partners in kind if it determines that a sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to our partners.

Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner

Except as described below, our general partner has agreed not to withdraw voluntarily as our general partner prior to December 31, 2024 without obtaining the approval of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding common units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and furnishing an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. On or after December 31, 2024, our general partner may withdraw as general partner without first obtaining approval of any unitholder by giving 90 days’ written notice, and that withdrawal will not constitute a violation of our partnership agreement. Notwithstanding the information above, our general partner may withdraw without unitholder approval upon 90 days’ notice to the limited partners if at least 50% of the outstanding units are held or controlled by one person and its affiliates other than our general partner and its affiliates. In addition, our partnership agreement permits our general partner to sell or otherwise transfer all of its general partner interest in us without the approval of the unitholders. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Units” and “—Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights.”

Upon voluntary withdrawal of our general partner by giving notice to the other partners, the holders of a unit majority may select a successor to that withdrawing general partner. If a successor is not elected, or is elected but an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters cannot be obtained, we will be dissolved, wound up and liquidated, unless within a specified period after that withdrawal, the holders of a unit majority agree to continue our business by appointing a successor general partner. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.”

Our general partner may not be removed unless that removal is approved by the vote of the holders of not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding units, voting together as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and we receive an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. Any removal of our general partner is also subject to the approval of a successor general partner by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units voting as a separate class, and subordinated units, voting as a separate class. The ownership of more than 33 1/3% of the outstanding units by our general partner and its affiliates would give them the practical ability to prevent our general partner’s removal.

Our partnership agreement also provides that if our general partner is removed as our general partner under circumstances where cause does not exist and units held by our general partner and its affiliates are not voted in favor of that removal:

•

the subordination period will end, and all outstanding subordinated units will immediately convert into common units on a one-for-one basis;

•

any existing arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units will be extinguished; and

•

our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of those interests as of the effective date of its removal.

In the event of removal of our general partner under circumstances where cause exists or withdrawal of our general partner where that withdrawal violates our partnership agreement, a successor general partner will have the option to purchase the general partner interest and incentive distribution rights of the departing general partner for a cash payment equal to the fair market value of those interests. Under all other circumstances where our general partner withdraws or is removed by the limited partners, the departing general partner will have the option to require the successor general partner to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and its incentive distribution rights for fair market value. In each case, this fair market value will be determined by agreement between the departing general partner and the successor general partner. If no agreement is reached, an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the departing general partner and the successor general partner will determine the fair market value. Or, if the departing general partner and the successor general partner cannot agree upon an expert, then an expert chosen by agreement of the experts selected by each of them will determine the fair market value.

If the option described above is not exercised by either the departing general partner or the successor general partner, the departing general partner will become a limited partner and its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights will automatically convert into common units pursuant to a valuation of those interests as determined by an investment banking firm or other independent expert selected in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.

In addition, we will be required to reimburse the departing general partner for all amounts due the departing general partner, including, without limitation, all employee-related liabilities, including severance liabilities, incurred for the termination of any employees employed by the departing general partner or its affiliates for our benefit.

Transfer of General Partner Units

Our general partner may transfer all or any of its general partner units to an affiliate or a third party without the approval of our unitholders. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must assume, among other things, the rights and duties of our general partner, agree to be bound by the provisions of our partnership agreement, and furnish an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters.

Our general partner and its affiliates may at any time, transfer common units to one or more persons, without unitholder approval, except that they may not transfer subordinated units to us.

Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner

At any time, Shell Pipeline Company LP and its subsidiaries may sell or transfer all or part of their membership interest in our general partner to an affiliate or third party without the approval of our unitholders.

Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights

At any time, our general partner may sell or transfer its incentive distribution rights to an affiliate or third party without the approval of our unitholders.

Change of Management Provisions

Our partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC as our general partner or otherwise change our management. If any person or group other than our general partner and its affiliates acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply to any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates and any transferees of that person or group who are notified by our general partner that they will not lose their voting rights or to any person or group who acquires the units with the prior approval of the board of directors of our general partner.

•

the subordination period will end and all outstanding subordinated units will immediately convert into common units on a one-for-one basis;

•

any existing arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units will be extinguished; and

•

our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner units and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of those interests as of the effective date of its removal.

Limited Call Right

If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 75% of the then-issued and outstanding limited partner interests of any class, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the limited partner interests of such class held by unaffiliated persons as of a record date to be selected by our general partner, on at least 10 but not more than 60 days’ notice. The purchase price in the event of this purchase is the greater of:

•

the highest cash price paid by either of our general partner or any of its affiliates for any limited partner interests of the class purchased within the 90 days preceding the date on which our general partner first mails notice of its election to purchase those limited partner interests; and

•

the current market price calculated in accordance with our partnership agreement as of the date three business days before the date the notice is mailed.

As a result of our general partner’s right to purchase outstanding limited partner interests, a holder of limited partner interests may have its limited partner interests purchased at a price that may be lower than market prices at various times prior to such purchase or lower than a unitholder may anticipate the market price to be in the future. The tax consequences to a unitholder of the exercise of this call right are the same as a sale by that unitholder of its common units in the market. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences—Disposition of Common Units.”

Meetings; Voting

Except as described below regarding a person or group owning 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, record holders of units on the record date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, meetings of our limited partners and to act upon matters for which approvals may be solicited.

Our general partner does not anticipate that any meeting of unitholders will be called in the foreseeable future. Any action that is required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders may be taken either at a meeting of

the unitholders or, if authorized by our general partner, without a meeting if consents in writing describing the action so taken are signed by holders of the number of units that would be necessary to authorize or take that action at a meeting where all limited partners were present and voted. Meetings of the unitholders may be called by our general partner or by unitholders owning at least 20% of the outstanding units of the class for which a meeting is proposed. Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called represented in person or by proxy will constitute a quorum unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum will be the greater percentage. The units representing the general partner interest are units for distribution and allocation purposes, but do not entitle our general partner to any vote other than its rights as general partner under our partnership agreement, will not be entitled to vote on any action required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders and will not count toward or be considered outstanding when calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum, or for similar purposes.

Each record holder of a unit has a vote according to its percentage interest in us, although additional limited partner interests having special voting rights could be issued. Please read “—Issuance of Additional Partnership Interests.” However, if at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, a direct transferee of our general partner and its affiliates or a transferee of such direct transferee who is notified by our general partner that it will not lose its voting rights, acquires, in the aggregate, beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its units and the units may not be voted on any matter and will not be considered to be outstanding when sending notices of a meeting of unitholders, calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum or for other similar purposes. Common units held in nominee or street name account will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and its nominee provides otherwise. Except as our partnership agreement otherwise provides, subordinated units will vote together with common units as a single class.

Any notice, demand, request, report or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record holders of common units under our partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent or an exchange agent.

Status as Limited Partner

By transfer of common units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission is reflected in our register. Except as described under “—Limited Liability,” the common units will be fully paid, and unitholders will not be required to make additional contributions.

Ineligible Holders; Redemption

Under our partnership agreement, an “Eligible Taxable Holder” is a limited partner whose, or whose owners’, federal income tax status does not have or is not reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the rates that can be charged by us on assets that are subject to regulation by FERC or a similar regulatory body, as determined by our general partner with the advice of counsel. An “Ineligible Holder” is a limited partner (a) who is not an Eligible Taxable Holder or (b) whose nationality, citizenship or other related status would create a substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property in which we have an interest, as determined by our general partner with the advice of counsel. A list of types of unitholders and whether they are of the type currently determined by the general partner to be Eligible Taxable Holders or Ineligible Holders is included in this prospectus as Appendix B. Our general partner may change its determination of what types of unitholders are considered Eligible Taxable Holders and Ineligible Holders at any time. We will make an updated list of such types of unitholders available to our unitholders and prospective unitholders.

If at any time our general partner determines, with the advice of counsel, that one or more limited partners are Ineligible Holders, then our general partner may request any limited partner to furnish to our general partner

an executed certification or other information about its federal income tax status and/or nationality, citizenship or related status. If a limited partner fails to furnish such certification or other requested information within 30 days (or such other period as our general partner may determine) after a request for such certification or other information, or our general partner determines after receipt of the information that the limited partner is an Ineligible Holder, the limited partner may be treated as an Ineligible Holder. An Ineligible Holder does not have the right to direct the voting of its units and may not receive distributions in kind upon our liquidation.

Furthermore, we have the right to redeem all of the common and subordinated units of any holder that our general partner concludes is an Ineligible Holder or fails to furnish the information requested by our general partner. The redemption price in the event of such redemption for each unit held by such unitholder will be the current market price of such unit (the date of determination of which shall be the date fixed for redemption). The redemption price will be paid, as determined by our general partner, in cash or by delivery of a promissory note. Any such promissory note will bear interest at the rate of 5% annually and be payable in three equal annual installments of principal and accrued interest, commencing one year after the redemption date.

Indemnification

Under our partnership agreement, in most circumstances, we will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events:

•

our general partner;

•

any departing general partner;

•

any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner or any departing general partner;

•

any person who is or was a manager, managing member, general partner, director, officer, fiduciary or trustee of us, our subsidiaries or any entity set forth in the preceding three bullet points;

•

any person who is or was serving as manager, managing member, general partner, director, officer, fiduciary or trustee of another person owing a fiduciary duty to us or any of our subsidiaries at the request of our general partner or any departing general partner or any of their affiliates; and

•

any person designated by our general partner.

Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless it otherwise agrees, our general partner will not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or lend funds or assets to us to enable us to effectuate, indemnification. We will purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against such liabilities under our partnership agreement.

Reimbursement of Expenses

Our partnership agreement requires us to reimburse our general partner for all direct and indirect expenses it incurs or payments it makes on our behalf and all other expenses allocable to us or otherwise incurred by our general partner in connection with operating our business. These expenses include salary, bonus, incentive compensation and other amounts paid to persons who perform services for us or on our behalf and expenses allocated to our general partner by its affiliates. Our general partner is entitled to determine in good faith the expenses that are allocable to us. The expenses for which we are required to reimburse our general partner are not subject to any caps or other limits.

Books and Reports

Our general partner is required to keep appropriate books of our business at our principal offices. The books will be maintained for financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. For tax and fiscal reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.

We will mail or make available to record holders of common units, within 105 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited financial statements and a report on those financial statements by our independent public accountants. Except for our fourth quarter, we will also mail or make available summary financial information within 50 days after the close of each quarter.

We will furnish each record holder of a unit with information reasonably required for tax reporting purposes within 90 days after the close of each calendar year. This information is expected to be furnished in summary form so that some complex calculations normally required of partners can be avoided. Our ability to furnish this summary information to unitholders will depend on the cooperation of unitholders in supplying us with specific information. Every unitholder will receive information to assist him in determining its federal and state tax liability and filing its federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether it supplies us with information.

Right to Inspect Our Books and Records

Our partnership agreement provides that a limited partner can, for a purpose reasonably related to its interest as a limited partner, upon reasonable written demand stating the purpose of such demand and at its own expense, have furnished to him:

•

a current list of the name and last known address of each record holder;

•

copies of our partnership agreement and our certificate of limited partnership and all amendments thereto; and

•

certain information regarding the status of our business and financial condition.

Our general partner may, and intends to, keep confidential from the limited partners, trade secrets or other information the disclosure of which our general partner determines is not in our best interests or that we are required by law or by agreements with third parties to keep confidential. Our partnership agreement limits the right to information that a limited partner would otherwise have under Delaware law.

Registration Rights

Under our partnership agreement, we have agreed to register for resale under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws any common units, subordinated units or other partnership interests proposed to be sold by our general partner or any of its affiliates or their assignees if an exemption from the registration requirements is not otherwise available. These registration rights will continue for two years following any withdrawal or removal of our general partner. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.

CASH DISTRIBUTION POLICY

Set forth below is a summary of the significant provisions of our partnership agreement that relate to cash distributions.

Distributions of Available Cash

General

Our partnership agreement requires that, within 60 days after the end of each quarter, we distribute all of our available cash to unitholders of record on the applicable record date.

Definition of Available Cash

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

•

less, the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner to:

•

provide for the proper conduct of our business (including reserves for our future maintenance and expansion capital expenditures, future acquisitions and anticipated future debt service requirements and refunds of collected rates reasonably likely to be refunded as a result of a settlement or hearing related to FERC rate proceedings or rate proceedings under applicable law) subsequent to that quarter;

•

comply with applicable law, any of our or our subsidiaries’ debt instruments or other agreements; or

•

provide funds for distributions to our unitholders and to our general partner for any one or more of the next four quarters (provided that our general partner may not establish cash reserves for distributions if the effect of the establishment of such reserves will prevent us from making the minimum quarterly distribution on all common units and any cumulative arrearages on such common units for the current quarter);

•

plus, all cash on hand on the date of determination resulting from dividends or distributions received after the end of the quarter from equity interests in any person other than a subsidiary in respect of operations conducted by such person during the quarter;

•

plus, if our general partner so determines, all or any portion of the cash on hand on the date of determination resulting from working capital borrowings after the end of the quarter.

The purpose and effect of the last bullet point above is to allow our general partner, if it so decides, to use cash from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter but on or before the date of determination of available cash for that quarter to pay distributions to unitholders. Under our partnership agreement, working capital borrowings are generally borrowings that are made under a credit facility, commercial paper facility or similar financing arrangement, and in all cases are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to partners, and with the intent of the borrower to repay such borrowings within twelve months with funds other than from additional working capital borrowings.

Intent to Distribute the Minimum Quarterly Distribution

We intend to make a minimum quarterly distribution to the holders of our common units and subordinated units of $0.1625 per unit, or $0.6500 per unit on an annualized basis, to the extent we have sufficient available cash after the establishment of cash reserves and the payment of costs and expenses, including reimbursements of expenses to our general partner. However, there is no guarantee that we will pay the minimum quarterly

distribution on our units in any quarter. Even if our cash distribution policy is not modified or revoked, the amount of distributions we pay and the decision to make any distribution is determined by our general partner, taking into consideration the terms of our partnership agreement.

General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights

Initially, our general partner was entitled to 2.0% of all quarterly distributions from inception that we made prior to our liquidation. Our general partner has the right, but not the obligation, to contribute up to a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its current general partner interest. The general partner’s initial 2% interest in these distributions will be reduced if we issue additional units in the future and our general partner does not contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its 2% general partner interest.

Assuming our general partner maintains or attains a 2.0% general partner interest, our general partner will hold incentive distribution rights that entitle it to receive increasing percentages, up to a maximum of 48%, of the cash we distribute from operating surplus (as defined below) in excess of $0.186875 per unit per quarter. The maximum distribution of 48% does not include any distributions that our general partner or its affiliates may receive on common, subordinated or general partner units that they own. Please read “—General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights” below for additional information.

Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus

General

All cash distributed to unitholders is characterized as either being paid from “operating surplus” or “capital surplus.” We treat distributions of available cash from operating surplus differently than distributions of available cash from capital surplus.

Operating Surplus

We define operating surplus as:

•

$90 million (as described below); plus

•

all of the cash receipts of us and our subsidiaries (as defined below) since the closing of our initial public offering, excluding cash from interim capital transactions (as defined below), provided that cash receipts from the termination of a commodity hedge or interest rate hedge prior to its specified termination date shall be included in operating surplus in equal quarterly installments over the remaining scheduled life of such commodity hedge or interest rate hedge; plus

•

all of our cash receipts since the closing of our initial public offering resulting from dividends or distributions received after the end of the quarter from equity interests in any person other than a subsidiary in respect of operations conducted by such person during the quarter (excluding the proceeds received by us from interim capital transactions by such persons); plus

•

working capital borrowings made by us or our subsidiaries after the end of a quarter but on or before the date of determination of operating surplus for that quarter; plus

•

cash distributions (including incremental distributions on incentive distribution rights) paid in respect of equity issued to finance all or a portion of expansion capital expenditures in respect of the period from the date that we or a subsidiary enter into a binding obligation to commence the construction, development, replacement, improvement or expansion of a capital asset and ending on the earlier to occur of the date the capital asset commences commercial service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed of; plus

•

cash distributions (including incremental distributions on incentive distribution rights) paid in respect of equity issued to pay interest and related fees on debt incurred, or to pay distributions on equity issued, to finance the expansion capital expenditures referred to in the prior bullet point; less

•

all of our and our subsidiaries’ operating expenditures (as defined below) after the closing of our initial public offering; less

•

the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner or the boards of our subsidiaries to provide funds for future operating expenditures; less

•

all working capital borrowings made by us or our subsidiaries not repaid within twelve months after having been incurred, or repaid within such twelve-month period with the proceeds of additional working capital borrowings; less

•

any cash loss realized on disposition of an investment capital expenditure.

For purposes of our partnership agreement, Zydeco will be deemed a subsidiary, and Mars, Bengal, Poseidon and Colonial will not be deemed subsidiaries.

As described above, operating surplus does not reflect actual cash on hand that is available for distribution to our unitholders and is not limited to cash generated by our operations. For example, it includes a provision that will enable us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus up to $90 million of cash we receive from non-operating sources such as asset sales, issuances of securities and long-term borrowings that would otherwise be distributed as capital surplus. In addition, the effect of including, as described above, certain cash distributions on equity interests in operating surplus will be to increase operating surplus by the amount of any such cash distributions. As a result, we may also distribute as operating surplus up to the amount of any such cash that we receive from non-operating sources.

In addition, operating surplus generated in a certain period may be more than revenue for the same period as shown in our financial statements. Cash payments relating to committed volume deficiencies received under our FERC-approved transportation services agreements are not recognized as revenue until applicable contingencies and performance obligations are satisfied or have expired but such cash payments are included in operating surplus during the period in which the payment under the contract is made. Similarly, when the deferred revenue related to such cash payment is recognized as revenue in a later period, the amount of such revenue is not included in operating surplus in that period.

The proceeds of working capital borrowings increase operating surplus and repayments of working capital borrowings are generally operating expenditures (as described below) and thus reduce operating surplus when repayments are made. However, if working capital borrowings, which increase operating surplus, are not repaid during the twelve-month period following the borrowing, they will be deemed repaid at the end of such period, thus decreasing operating surplus at such time. When such working capital borrowings are in fact repaid, they will not be treated as a further reduction in operating surplus because operating surplus will have been previously reduced by the deemed repayment.

We define interim capital transactions as (i) borrowings, refinancings or refundings of indebtedness (other than working capital borrowings and items purchased on open account or for a deferred purchase price in the ordinary course of business) and sales of debt securities; (ii) issuances of equity securities; (iii) sales or other dispositions of assets, other than sales or other dispositions of inventory, accounts receivable and other assets in the ordinary course of business and sales or other dispositions of assets as part of normal asset retirements or replacements; and (iv) capital contributions received by a group member.

We define operating expenditures as all of our cash expenditures, including, but not limited to, taxes, reimbursements of expenses of our general partner and its affiliates, business insurance, officer compensation, payments made in the ordinary course of business under interest rate hedge contracts and commodity hedge contracts (provided that payments made in connection with the termination of any interest rate hedge contract or commodity hedge contract prior to the expiration of its settlement or termination date specified therein will be included in operating expenditures in equal quarterly installments over the remaining scheduled life of such

interest rate hedge contract or commodity hedge contract and amounts paid in connection with the initial purchase of a rate hedge contract or a commodity hedge contract will be amortized over the life of such rate hedge contract or commodity hedge contract), maintenance capital expenditures (as discussed in further detail below), and repayment of working capital borrowings; provided, however, that operating expenditures will not include:

•

repayments of working capital borrowings where such borrowings have previously been deemed to have been repaid (as described above);

•

payments (including prepayments and prepayment penalties and the purchase price of indebtedness that is repurchased and cancelled) of principal of and premium on indebtedness other than working capital borrowings;

•

expansion capital expenditures;

•

investment capital expenditures;

•

payment of transaction expenses (including taxes) relating to interim capital transactions;

•

distributions to our partners; or

•

repurchases of partnership interests (excluding repurchases we make to satisfy obligations under employee benefit plans).

Capital Surplus

Capital surplus is defined in our partnership agreement as any distribution of available cash in excess of our cumulative operating surplus. Accordingly, except as described above, capital surplus would generally be generated by:

•

borrowings other than working capital borrowings;

•

sales of our equity and debt securities;

•

sales or other dispositions of assets, other than inventory, accounts receivable and other assets sold in the ordinary course of business or as part of ordinary course retirement or replacement of assets; and

•

capital contributions received.

Characterization of Cash Distributions

Our partnership agreement requires that we treat all available cash distributed as coming from operating surplus until the sum of all available cash distributed since the closing of our initial public offering equals the operating surplus from the closing of our initial public offering through the end of the quarter immediately preceding that distribution. Our partnership agreement requires that we treat any amount distributed in excess of operating surplus, regardless of its source, as capital surplus. Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the initial unit price from our initial public offering and as a return of capital. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from capital surplus.

Capital Expenditures

Maintenance capital expenditures are cash expenditures (including expenditures for the construction or development of new capital assets or the replacement, improvement or expansion of existing capital assets) made to maintain, over the long-term, our operating capacity or operating income. Examples of maintenance capital expenditures are expenditures to repair, refurbish and replace pipelines, to maintain equipment reliability, integrity and safety and to address environmental laws and regulations. For purposes of calculating cash available for distribution, our maintenance capital expenditures will include maintenance capital expenditures made by

Zydeco and cash contributed by us to Mars, Bengal, Poseidon, Colonial or similar investment entities that are not subsidiaries to the extent such cash is designated to be used by such entity for maintenance capital expenditures. Maintenance capital expenditures are included in operating expenditures and thus will reduce operating surplus.

Expansion capital expenditures are cash expenditures incurred for acquisitions or capital improvements that we expect will increase our operating income or operating capacity over the long term. Examples of expansion capital expenditures include the acquisition of equipment and the construction, development or acquisition of additional pipeline or storage capacity to the extent such capital expenditures are expected to expand our operating capacity or our operating income. Expansion capital expenditures include interest payments (and related fees) on debt incurred to finance all or a portion of expansion capital expenditures in respect of the period from the date that we enter into a binding obligation to commence the construction, development, replacement, improvement or expansion of a capital asset and ending on the earlier to occur of the date that such capital improvement commences commercial service and the date that such capital improvement is abandoned or disposed of. Expansion capital expenditures will include expansion expenditures made by Zydeco and cash contributions made by us to Mars, Bengal, Poseidon, Colonial or similar persons that are not subsidiaries and designated to be used by such entity for expansion capital expenditures.

Capital expenditures that are made in part for maintenance capital purposes and in part for expansion capital purposes will be allocated as maintenance capital expenditures or expansion capital expenditures by our general partner.

Subordination Period

General

Our partnership agreement provides that, during the subordination period (which we define below), the common units will have the right to receive distributions of available cash from operating surplus each quarter in an amount equal to $0.1625 per common unit, which amount is defined in our partnership agreement as the minimum quarterly distribution, plus any arrearages in the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units from prior quarters, before any distributions of available cash from operating surplus may be made on the subordinated units. These units are deemed “subordinated” because for a period of time, referred to as the subordination period, the subordinated units will not be entitled to receive any distributions until the common units have received the minimum quarterly distribution plus any arrearages from prior quarters. Furthermore, no arrearages will accrue or be payable on the subordinated units. The practical effect of the subordinated units is to increase the likelihood that, during the subordination period, there will be available cash to be distributed on the common units.

Subordination Period

Except as described below, the subordination period began on the closing date of our initial public offering and will extend until the first business day following the distribution of available cash in respect of any quarter beginning with the quarter ending December 31, 2017, that each of the following tests are met:

•

distributions of available cash from operating surplus on each of the outstanding common units, subordinated units and general partner units equaled or exceeded $0.6500 per unit (the annualized minimum quarterly distribution), for each of the three consecutive, non-overlapping four-quarter periods immediately preceding that date;

•

the adjusted operating surplus (as defined below) generated during each of the three consecutive, non-overlapping four-quarter periods immediately preceding that date equaled or exceeded the sum of $0.6500 (the annualized minimum quarterly distribution) on all of the outstanding common units, subordinated units and general partner units during those periods on a fully diluted basis; and

•

there are no arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units.

Early Termination of Subordination Period

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the subordination period will automatically terminate on the first business day following the distribution of available cash in respect of any quarter beginning with the quarter ending December 31, 2015, that each of the following tests are met:

•

distributions of available cash from operating surplus on each of the outstanding common units, subordinated units and general partner units equaled or exceeded $0.9750 (150% of the annualized minimum quarterly distribution), for the four-quarter period immediately preceding that date;

•

the adjusted operating surplus (as defined below) generated during the four-quarter period immediately preceding that date equaled or exceeded the sum of (i) $0.9750 per unit (150% of the annualized minimum quarterly distribution) on all of the outstanding common units, subordinated units and general partner units during that period on a fully diluted basis and (ii) the corresponding distributions on the incentive distribution rights; and

•

there are no arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distributions on the common units.

Expiration Upon Removal of the General Partner

In addition, if the unitholders remove our general partner other than for cause:

•

the subordinated units held by any person will immediately and automatically convert into common units on a one-for-one basis; provided that (i) neither such person nor any of its affiliates voted any of its units in favor of the removal and (ii) such person is not an affiliate of the successor general partner;

•

if all of the subordinated units convert pursuant to the foregoing, all cumulative common unit arrearages on the common units will be extinguished and the subordination period will end; and

•

our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests.

Expiration of the Subordination Period

When the subordination period ends, each outstanding subordinated unit will convert into one common unit and will thereafter participate pro rata with the other common units in distributions of available cash.

Adjusted Operating Surplus

Adjusted operating surplus is intended to reflect the cash generated from operations during a particular period and therefore excludes net drawdowns of reserves of cash established in prior periods. Adjusted operating surplus for a period consists of:

•

operating surplus generated with respect to that period (excluding any amounts attributable to the item described in the first bullet point under the caption “—Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus—Operating Surplus” above); less

•

any net increase in working capital borrowings (including our proportionate share of any net increase in working capital borrowings by subsidiaries that are not wholly owned) with respect to that period; less

•

any net decrease in cash reserves for operating expenditures (including our proportionate share of any net decrease in cash reserves by subsidiaries that are not wholly owned) with respect to that period not relating to an operating expenditure made with respect to that period; plus

•

any net decrease in working capital borrowings with respect to that period; plus

•

any net increase in cash reserves for operating expenditures with respect to that period required by any debt instrument for the repayment of principal, interest or premium; plus

•

any net decrease made in subsequent periods to cash reserves for operating expenditures with respect to that period to the extent such decrease results in a reduction in adjusted operating surplus in subsequent periods.

Distributions of Available Cash from Operating Surplus During the Subordination Period

We will make distributions of available cash from operating surplus for any quarter during the subordination period in the following manner:

•

first, 98% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter;

•

second, 98% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit an amount equal to any arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units for any prior quarters during the subordination period;

•

third, 98% to the subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding subordinated unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter; and

•

thereafter, in the manner described in “—General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights” below.

The preceding discussion is based on the assumptions that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

Distributions of Available Cash from Operating Surplus After the Subordination Period

We will make distributions of available cash from operating surplus for any quarter after the subordination period in the following manner:

•

first, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter; and

•

thereafter, in the manner described in “—General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights” below.

The preceding discussion is based on the assumptions that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights

Our partnership agreement provides that our general partner is entitled, with respect to its general partner interest, to 2% of all distributions that we make prior to our liquidation. Our general partner has the right, but not the obligation, to contribute up to a proportionate amount of capital to us in order to maintain its 2% general partner interest if we issue additional units. Our general partner’s 2% interest, and the percentage of our cash distributions to which it is entitled from such 2% interest, will be proportionately reduced if we issue additional units in the future (other than the issuance of common units upon conversion of outstanding subordinated units or the issuance of common units upon a reset of the incentive distribution rights) and our general partner does not contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us in order to maintain its 2% general partner interest. Our partnership agreement does not require that our general partner fund its capital contribution with cash. It may instead fund its capital contribution by the contribution to us of common units or other property.

Incentive distribution rights represent the right to receive an increasing percentage (13%, 23% and 48%) of the quarterly distributions of available cash from operating surplus after the minimum quarterly distribution and

the target distribution levels have been achieved. Our general partner currently holds the incentive distribution rights, but may transfer these rights separately from its general partner interest.

The following discussion assumes that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and that our general partner continues to own the incentive distribution rights.

If for any quarter:

•

we have distributed available cash from operating surplus to the common and subordinated unitholders in an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution; and

•

we have distributed available cash from operating surplus on outstanding common units in an amount necessary to eliminate any cumulative arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution;

then, we will distribute any additional available cash from operating surplus for that quarter among the unitholders and our general partner in the following manner:

•

first, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.186875 per unit for that quarter (the “first target distribution”);

•

second, 85% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.203125 per unit for that quarter (the “second target distribution”);

•

third, 75% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.243750 per unit for that quarter (the “third target distribution”); and

•

thereafter, 50% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to our general partner.

Percentage Allocations of Available Cash from Operating Surplus

The following table illustrates the percentage allocations of available cash from operating surplus between the unitholders and our general partner based on the specified target distribution levels. The amounts set forth under “Marginal Percentage Interest in Distributions” are the percentage interests of our general partner and the unitholders in any available cash from operating surplus we distribute up to and including the corresponding amount in the column “Target Quarterly Distribution per Unit Target Amount.” The percentage interests shown for our unitholders and our general partner for the minimum quarterly distribution are also applicable to quarterly distribution amounts that are less than the minimum quarterly distribution. The percentage interests set forth below for our general partner include its 2% general partner interest and assume that our general partner has contributed any additional capital necessary to maintain its 2% general partner interest, our general partner has not transferred its incentive distribution rights and that there are no arrearages on common units.


	Target Quarterly Distribution per Unit Target Amount				Marginal Percentage Interest in Distributions
					Unitholders			General Partner
Minimum Quarterly Distribution		$0.162500				98	%		2	%
First Target Distribution		above $0.162500	up to $	0.186875		98	%		2	%
Second Target Distribution		above $0.186875	up to $	0.203125		85	%		15	%
Third Target Distribution		above $0.203125	up to $	0.243750		75	%		25	%
Thereafter		above $0.243750				50	%		50	%

General Partner’s Right to Reset Incentive Distribution Levels

Our general partner, as the holder of our incentive distribution rights, has the right under our partnership agreement, subject to certain conditions, to elect to relinquish the right to receive incentive distribution payments based on the initial target distribution levels and to reset, at higher levels, the minimum quarterly distribution

amount and target distribution levels upon which the incentive distribution payments to our general partner would be set. If our general partner transfers all or a portion of the incentive distribution rights in the future, then the holder or holders of a majority of our incentive distribution rights will be entitled to exercise this right. The following discussion assumes that our general partner holds all of the incentive distribution rights at the time that a reset election is made. Our general partner’s right to reset the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels upon which the incentive distributions payable to our general partner are based may be exercised, without approval of our unitholders or the conflicts committee, at any time when there are no subordinated units outstanding, we have made cash distributions to the holders of the incentive distribution rights at the highest level of incentive distributions for each of the four consecutive fiscal quarters immediately preceding such time and the aggregate amounts distributed in respect of such four-quarter period did not exceed the adjusted operating surplus for such four-quarter period. If our general partner and its affiliates are not the holders of a majority of the incentive distribution rights at the time an election is made to reset the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels, then the proposed reset will be subject to the prior written concurrence of the general partner that the conditions described above have been satisfied. The reset minimum quarterly distribution amount and target distribution levels will be higher than the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels prior to the reset such that our general partner will not receive any incentive distributions under the reset target distribution levels until cash distributions per unit following this event increase as described below. We anticipate that our general partner would exercise this reset right in order to facilitate acquisitions or internal expansion projects that would otherwise not be sufficiently accretive to cash distributions per common unit, taking into account the existing levels of incentive distribution payments being made to our general partner.

In connection with the resetting of the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels and the corresponding relinquishment by our general partner of incentive distribution payments based on the target distributions prior to the reset, our general partner will be entitled to receive a number of newly issued common units based on a predetermined formula described below that takes into account the “cash parity” value of the average cash distributions related to the incentive distribution rights received by our general partner for the two quarters immediately preceding the reset event as compared to the average cash distributions per common unit during that two-quarter period. In addition, our general partner will be issued the number of general partner units necessary to maintain our general partner’s interest in us immediately prior to the reset election.

The number of common units that our general partner (or the then holder of the incentive distribution rights, if other than our general partner) would be entitled to receive from us in connection with a resetting of the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels then in effect would be equal to the quotient determined by dividing (x) the average aggregate amount of cash distributions received by our general partner in respect of its incentive distribution rights during the two consecutive fiscal quarters ended immediately prior to the date of such reset election by (y) the average of the aggregate amount of cash distributed per common unit during each of these two quarters.

Following a reset election, the minimum quarterly distribution amount will be reset to an amount equal to the average cash distribution amount per common unit for the two fiscal quarters immediately preceding the reset election (which amount we refer to as the “reset minimum quarterly distribution”) and the target distribution levels will be reset to be correspondingly higher such that we would distribute all of our available cash from operating surplus for each quarter thereafter as follows:

•

first, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives an amount equal to 115% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter;

•

second, 85% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives an amount per unit equal to 125% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter;

•

third, 75% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives an amount per unit equal to 150% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter; and

•

thereafter, 50% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to our general partner.

The following table illustrates the percentage allocations of available cash from operating surplus between the unitholders and our general partner at various cash distribution levels (i) pursuant to the cash distribution provisions of our partnership agreement in effect as of the date of this prospectus, as well as (ii) following a hypothetical reset of the minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels based on the assumption that the average quarterly cash distribution amount per common unit during the two fiscal quarters immediately preceding the reset election was $0.3000.


	Quarterly Distribution per Unit Prior to Reset			Marginal Percentage Interest in Distribution									Quarter Distribution per Unit Following Hypothetical Reset
	Quarterly Distribution per Unit Prior to Reset			Common Unitholders			General Partner Units			Incentive Distribution Rights			Quarter Distribution per Unit Following Hypothetical Reset
Minimum Quarterly Distribution		$0.162500			98	%		2	%		—			$0.3000

First Target Distribution		above $0.162500	up to $0.186875		98	%		2	%		—			above $0.3000		up to $	0.3450	⁽¹⁾

Second Target Distribution		above $0.186875	up to $0.203125		85	%		2	%		13	%		above $0.3450	⁽¹⁾	up to $	0.3750	⁽²⁾

Third Target Distribution		above $0.203125	up to $0.243750		75	%		2	%		23	%		above $0.3750	⁽²⁾	up to $	0.4500	⁽³⁾

Thereafter		above $0.243750			50	%		2	%		48	%		above $0.4500	⁽³⁾

(1)	This amount is 115% of the hypothetical reset minimum quarterly distribution.

(2)	This amount is 125% of the hypothetical reset minimum quarterly distribution.

(3)	This amount is 150% of the hypothetical reset minimum quarterly distribution.

The following table illustrates the total amount of available cash from operating surplus that would be distributed to the unitholders and our general partner and its affiliates, including in respect of incentive distribution rights, based on an average of the amounts distributed for the two quarters immediately prior to the reset. The table assumes that immediately prior to the reset there would be 142,642,444 common units outstanding, our general partner’s 2% interest has been maintained, and the average distribution to each common unit would be $0.3000 per quarter for the two consecutive non-overlapping quarters prior to the reset.


	Prior to Reset
				Cash Distributions to Public Common Unitholders		Cash Distributions to General Partner and its Affiliates
	Quarterly Distribution per Unit					Common Units		General Partner Units		Incentive Distribution Rights		Total		Total Distributions
Minimum Quarterly Distribution		$0.162500		$	8,725,000	$	14,454,397	$	473,049		—	$	14,927,446	$	23,652,446

First Target Distribution		above $0.162500	up to $0.186875		1,308,750		2,168,160		70,957		—		2,239,117		3,547,867

Second Target Distribution		above $0.186875	up to $0.203125		872,500		1,445,440		54,540		354,508		1,854,488		2,726,988

Third Target Distribution		above $0.203125	up to $0.243750		2,181,250		3,613,599		154,529		1,777,088		5,545,216		7,726,466

Thereafter		above $0.243750			3,020,192		5,003,445		320,946		7,702,692		13,027,083		16,047,275

				$	16,107,692	$	26,685,041	$	1,074,021	$	9,834,288	$	37,593,350	$	53,701,042

The following table illustrates the total amount of available cash from operating surplus that would be distributed to the unitholders and the general partner and its affiliates, including in respect of incentive distribution rights, with respect to the quarter after the reset occurs. The table reflects that as a result of the reset there would be 175,423,403 common units outstanding, our general partner has maintained its 2% general partner interest, and that the average distribution to each common unit would be $0.3000. The number of common units issued as a result of the reset was calculated by dividing (x) $9,834,288 as the average of the amounts received by the general partner in respect of its incentive distribution rights for the two consecutive non-overlapping quarters prior to the reset as shown in the table above, by (y) the average of the cash distributions made on each common unit per quarter for the two consecutive non-overlapping quarters prior to the reset as shown in the table above, or $0.3000.


	After Reset
	Quarterly Distribution per Unit		Cash Distributions to Public Common Unitholders		Cash Distributions to General Partner and its Affiliates
	Quarterly Distribution per Unit				Common Units		General Partner Units		Incentive Distribution Rights		Total		Total Distributions
Minimum Quarterly Distribution	$0.3000		$	16,107,692	$	36,519,329	$	1,074,021	$	—	$	37,593,350	$	53,701,042

First Target Distribution	above $0.3000	up to $0.3450		—		—		—		—		—		—

Second Target Distribution	above $0.3450	up to $0.3750		—		—		—		—		—		—

Third Target Distribution	above $0.3750	up to $0.4500		—		—		—		—		—		—

Thereafter	above $0.4500			—		—		—		—		—		—

			$	16,107,692	$	36,519,329	$	1,074,021	$	—	$	37,593,350	$	53,701,042

Our general partner will be entitled to cause the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels to be reset on more than one occasion, provided that it may not make a reset election except at a time when it has received incentive distributions for the immediately preceding four consecutive fiscal quarters based on the highest level of incentive distributions that it is entitled to receive under our partnership agreement.

Distributions from Capital Surplus

How Distributions from Capital Surplus Will Be Made

We will make distributions of available cash from capital surplus, if any, in the following manner:

•

first, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until the minimum quarterly distribution is reduced to zero, as described below under “—Effect of a Distribution from Capital Surplus”;

•

second, 98% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit, an amount of available cash from capital surplus equal to any unpaid arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units; and

•

thereafter, as if such distributions were from operating surplus.

The preceding discussion is based on the assumptions that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

Effect of a Distribution from Capital Surplus

Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the initial unit price from our initial public offering, which is a return of capital. The initial public offering price less any distributions of capital surplus per unit is referred to as the “unrecovered initial unit price.” Each time a distribution of capital surplus is made, the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels will be reduced in the same proportion as the corresponding reduction in the unrecovered initial unit price. Because distributions of capital surplus will reduce the minimum quarterly distribution after any of these distributions are made, it may be easier for our general partner to receive incentive distributions and for the subordinated units to convert into common units. However, any distribution of capital surplus before the unrecovered initial unit price is reduced to zero cannot be applied to the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution or any arrearages.

Once we distribute capital surplus on a unit sold in our initial public offering in an amount equal to the initial unit price, we will reduce the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels to zero. Then, after distributing an amount of capital surplus for each common unit equal to any unpaid arrearages of the minimum quarterly distributions on outstanding common units, we will make all future distributions from operating surplus, with 50% being paid to the unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner and 48% to the holder of our incentive distribution rights.

Adjustment to the Minimum Quarterly Distribution and Target Distribution Levels

In addition to adjusting the minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels to reflect a distribution of capital surplus, if we combine our units into fewer units or subdivide our units into a greater number of units, we will proportionately adjust:

•

the minimum quarterly distribution;

•

target distribution levels;

•

the unrecovered initial unit price;

•

the number of general partner units comprising the general partner interest; and

•

the arrearages per common unit in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units.

For example, if a two-for-one split of the common units should occur, the minimum quarterly distribution, the target distribution levels and the unrecovered initial unit price would each be reduced to 50% of its initial level, and each subordinated unit and general partner unit would be split into two units. We will not make any adjustment by reason of the issuance of additional units for cash or property (including the issuance of additional units under any compensation or benefit plans).

In addition, if legislation is enacted or if the official interpretation of existing law is modified by a governmental authority, so that we become taxable as a corporation or otherwise subject to taxation as an entity for federal, state or local income tax purposes, our partnership agreement specifies that the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels for each quarter may be reduced by multiplying each distribution level by a fraction, the numerator of which is available cash for that quarter (reduced by the amount of the estimated tax liability for such quarter payable by reason of such legislation or interpretation) and the denominator of which is the sum of available cash for that quarter (reduced by the amount of the estimated tax liability for such quarter payable by reason of such legislation or interpretation) plus our general partner’s estimate of our aggregate liability for the quarter for such income taxes payable by reason of such legislation or interpretation. To the extent that the actual tax liability differs from the estimated tax liability for any quarter, the difference may be accounted for in subsequent quarters.

Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation

General

If we dissolve in accordance with our partnership agreement, we will sell or otherwise dispose of our assets in a process called liquidation. We will first apply the proceeds of liquidation to the payment of our creditors. We will distribute any remaining proceeds to the unitholders and our general partner, in accordance with their capital account balances, as adjusted to reflect any gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of our assets in liquidation.

The allocations of gain and loss upon liquidation are intended, to the extent possible, to entitle the holders of outstanding common units to a preference over the holders of outstanding subordinated units upon our liquidation, to the extent required to permit common unitholders to receive their unrecovered initial unit price plus the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which liquidation occurs plus any unpaid arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units. However, there may not be sufficient gain upon our liquidation to enable the holders of common units to fully recover all of these amounts, even though there may be cash available for distributions to the holders of subordinated units. Any further net gain recognized upon liquidation will be allocated in a manner that takes into account the incentive distribution rights of our general partner.

Manner of Adjustments for Gain

The manner of the adjustment for gain is set forth in our partnership agreement. If our liquidation occurs before the end of the subordination period, we will allocate any gain to our partners in the following manner:

•

first, to our general partner to the extent of any negative balance in its capital account;

•

second, 98% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until the capital account for each common unit is equal to the sum of: (i) the unrecovered initial unit price; (ii) the amount of the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which our liquidation occurs; and (iii) any unpaid arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution;

•

third, 98% to the subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until the capital account for each subordinated unit is equal to the sum of: (i) the unrecovered initial unit price; and (ii) the amount of the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which our liquidation occurs;

•

fourth, 98% to all common and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to: (i) the sum of the excess of the first target distribution per unit over the minimum quarterly distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less (ii) the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the minimum quarterly distribution per unit that we distributed 98% to the common and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, for each quarter of our existence;

•

fifth, 85% to all common and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to: (i) the sum of the excess of the second target distribution per unit over the first target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less (ii) the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the first target distribution per unit that we distributed 85% to the common and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner for each quarter of our existence;

•

sixth, 75% to all common and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to: (i) the sum of the excess of the third target distribution per unit over the second target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less (ii) the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the second target distribution per unit that we distributed 75% to the common and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner for each quarter of our existence; and

•

thereafter, 50% to all common and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to our general partner.

The percentages set forth above are based on the assumption that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest, has not transferred its incentive distribution rights and has not previously exercised its right to reset incentive distribution levels, and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

If the liquidation occurs after the end of the subordination period, the distinction between common units and subordinated units will disappear, so that clause (iii) of the second bullet point above and all of the third bullet point above will no longer be applicable.

Manner of Adjustments for Losses

If our liquidation occurs before the end of the subordination period, after making allocations of loss to the general partner and the unitholders in a manner intended to offset in reverse order the allocations of gains that have previously been allocated, we will generally allocate any loss to our general partner and unitholders in the following manner:

•

first, 98% to the holders of subordinated units in proportion to the positive balances in their capital accounts and 2% to our general partner, until the capital accounts of the subordinated unitholders have been reduced to zero;

•

second, 98% to the holders of common units in proportion to the positive balances in their capital accounts and 2% to our general partner, until the capital accounts of the common unitholders have been reduced to zero; and

•

thereafter, 100% to our general partner.

If the liquidation occurs after the end of the subordination period, the distinction between common units and subordinated units will disappear, so that all of the first bullet point above will no longer be applicable.

The percentages set forth above are based on the assumption that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and has not transferred its incentive distribution rights and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

Adjustments to Capital Accounts

Our partnership agreement requires that we make adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units. In this regard, our partnership agreement specifies that we allocate any unrealized and, for tax purposes, unrecognized gain resulting from the adjustments to the unitholders and the general partner in the same manner as we allocate gain upon liquidation. In the event that we make positive adjustments to the capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units, our partnership agreement requires that we generally allocate any later negative adjustments to the capital accounts resulting from the issuance of additional units or upon our liquidation in a manner which results, to the extent possible, in the partners’ capital account balances equaling the amount which they would have been if no earlier positive adjustments to the capital accounts had been made. In contrast to the allocations of gain, and except as provided above, we generally will allocate any unrealized and unrecognized loss resulting from the adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units to the unitholders and our general partner based on their respective percentage ownership of us. In this manner, prior to the end of the subordination period, we generally will allocate any such loss equally with respect to our common and subordinated units. If we make negative adjustments to the capital accounts as a result of such loss, future positive adjustments resulting from the issuance of additional units will be allocated in a manner designed to reverse the prior negative adjustments, and special allocations will be made upon liquidation in a manner that results, to the extent possible, in our unitholders’ capital account balances equaling the amounts they would have been if no earlier adjustments for loss had been made.

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

This section is a summary of the material tax considerations that may be relevant to prospective unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and, unless otherwise noted in the following discussion, is the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P., counsel to our general partner and us, insofar as it relates to legal conclusions with respect to matters of U.S. federal income tax law. This section is based upon current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), existing and proposed Treasury regulations promulgated under the Code (the “Treasury Regulations”) and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Later changes in these authorities may cause the tax consequences to vary substantially from the consequences described below. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to “us” or “we” are references to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. and our operating subsidiaries.

The following discussion does not comment on all federal income tax matters affecting us or our unitholders. Moreover, the discussion focuses on unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the U.S. and has only limited application to corporations, estates, entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, trusts, nonresident aliens, U.S. expatriates and former citizens or long-term residents of the United States or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, tax-exempt institutions, foreign persons (including, without limitation, controlled foreign corporations, passive foreign investment companies and non-U.S. persons eligible for the benefits of an applicable income tax treaty with the U.S.), IRAs, real estate investment trusts (REITs) or mutual funds, dealers in securities or currencies, traders in securities, U.S. persons whose “functional currency” is not the U.S. dollar, persons holding their units as part of a “straddle,” “hedge,” “conversion transaction” or other risk reduction transaction, and persons deemed to sell their units under the constructive sale provisions of the Code. In addition, the discussion only comments to a limited extent on state, local and foreign tax consequences. Accordingly, we encourage each prospective unitholder to consult his own tax advisor in analyzing the state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to him of the ownership or disposition of common units and potential changes in applicable tax laws.

All statements as to matters of federal income tax law and legal conclusions with respect thereto, but not as to factual matters, contained in this section, unless otherwise noted, are the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. and are based on the accuracy of the representations made by us.

We will rely on opinions of Baker Botts L.L.P. An opinion of counsel represents only that counsel’s best legal judgment and does not bind the IRS or the courts. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Any contest of this sort with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for the common units and the prices at which common units trade. In addition, the costs of any contest with the IRS, principally legal, accounting and related fees, will result in a reduction in our cash available for distribution and thus will be borne indirectly by our unitholders and our general partner. Furthermore, the tax treatment of us, or of an investment in us, may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions. Any modifications may or may not be retroactively applied.

For the reasons described below, Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following specific federal income tax issues: (i) the treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales”); (ii) whether our monthly convention for allocating taxable income and losses is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees”) and (iii) whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” and “—Uniformity of Units”).

Partnership Status

A partnership is not a taxable entity and incurs no federal income tax liability. Instead, each partner of a partnership is required to take into account his share of items of income, gain, loss and deduction of the partnership in computing his federal income tax liability, regardless of whether cash distributions are made to him by the partnership. Distributions by a partnership to a partner are generally not taxable to the partnership or the partner unless the amount of cash distributed to him is in excess of the partner’s adjusted basis in his partnership interest.

Section 7704 of the Code provides that publicly traded limited partnerships will, as a general rule, be taxed as corporations. However, an exception, referred to as the “Qualifying Income Exception,” exists with respect to publicly traded limited partnerships of which 90% or more of the gross income for every taxable year consists of “qualifying income.” Qualifying income includes income and gains derived from the transportation, processing, storage and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and refined products thereof. Other types of qualifying income include interest (other than from a financial business), dividends, gains from the sale of real property and gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. We estimate that approximately 8% of our current gross income is not qualifying income; however, this estimate could change from time to time. Based upon and subject to this estimate, the factual representations made by us and our general partner and a review of the applicable legal authorities, Baker Botts L.L.P. is of the opinion that at least 90% of our current gross income constitutes qualifying income. The portion of our income that is qualifying income may change from time to time.

The IRS has made no determination as to our status or the status of our operating subsidiaries for federal income tax purposes or whether our operations generate “qualifying income” under Section 7704 of the Code. Instead, we will rely on the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. on such matters. It is the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. that, based upon the Code, its regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and the representations described below that:

•

we will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; and

•

each of our operating subsidiaries will be treated as a partnership or will be disregarded as an entity separate from us for federal income tax purposes.

In rendering its opinion, Baker Botts L.L.P. has relied on factual representations made by us and our general partner. The representations made by us and our general partner upon which Baker Botts L.L.P. has relied include:

•

neither we nor any of the operating subsidiaries has elected or will elect to be treated as a corporation; and

•

for each taxable year, more than 90% of our gross income has been and will be income of the type that Baker Botts L.L.P. has opined or will opine is “qualifying income” within the meaning of Section 7704(d) of the Code.

We believe these representations are true and expect that these representations will continue to be true in the future.

If we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery (in which case the IRS may also require us to make adjustments with respect to our unitholders or pay other amounts), we will be treated as if we had transferred all of our assets, subject to liabilities, to a newly formed corporation, on the first day of the year in which we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, in return for stock in that corporation, and then distributed that stock to the unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should be tax-free to unitholders and us so long as we, at that time, do not have liabilities in excess of the tax basis of our assets. Thereafter, we would be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes.

If we were treated as an association taxable as a corporation in any taxable year, either as a result of a failure to meet the Qualifying Income Exception or otherwise, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be reflected only on our tax return rather than being passed through to our unitholders, and our net income would be taxed to us at corporate rates. In addition, any distribution made to a unitholder would be treated as taxable dividend income, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, or, in the absence of earnings and profits, a nontaxable return of capital, to the extent of the unitholder’s tax basis in his common units, or taxable capital gain, after the unitholder’s tax basis in his common units is reduced to zero. Accordingly, taxation as a corporation would result in a material reduction in a unitholder’s cash flow and after-tax return and thus would likely result in a substantial reduction of the value of the units.

The discussion below is based on Baker Botts L.L.P.’s opinion that we will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.

Tax Treatment of Income Earned Through C Corporation Subsidiary

A portion of our taxable income is earned through Colonial, a C corporation. Such C corporations are subject to federal income tax on their taxable income at the corporate tax rate, which is currently a maximum of 35%, and will likely pay state (and possibly local) income tax at varying rates, on their taxable income. Any such entity-level taxes will reduce the cash available for distribution to our unitholders. Distributions from any such C corporation will generally be taxed again to unitholders as dividend income to the extent of current and accumulated earnings and profits of such C corporation. As of January 1, 2015, the maximum federal income tax rate applicable to such dividend income which is allocable to individuals is generally 20%. An individual unitholder’s share of dividend and interest income from Colonial or other C corporation subsidiaries would constitute portfolio income that could not be offset by the unitholder’s share of our other losses or deductions.

Limited Partner Status

Unitholders who are admitted as limited partners of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. will be treated as partners of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. for federal income tax purposes. Also, unitholders whose common units are held in street name or by a nominee and who have the right to direct the nominee in the exercise of all substantive rights attendant to the ownership of their common units will be treated as partners of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. for federal income tax purposes.

A beneficial owner of common units whose units have been transferred to a short seller to complete a short sale would appear to lose his status as a partner with respect to those units for federal income tax purposes. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales.”

Income, gains, losses or deductions would not appear to be reportable by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes, and any cash distributions received by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes would therefore appear to be fully taxable as ordinary income. These holders are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences to them of holding common units in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. The references to “unitholders” in the discussion that follows are to persons who are treated as partners in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. for federal income tax purposes.

Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership

Flow-through of Taxable Income

Subject to the discussion below under “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Collections” and “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Audits and Adjustments,” we will not pay any federal income tax. Instead, each unitholder will be required to report on his income tax return his share of our income, gains, losses and deductions without regard to whether we make cash distributions to him. Consequently,

we may allocate income to a unitholder even if he has not received a cash distribution. The income we allocate to unitholders will generally be taxable as ordinary income. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his allocable share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year ending with or within his taxable year. Our taxable year ends on December 31.

Treatment of Distributions

Distributions by us to a unitholder generally will not be taxable to the unitholder for federal income tax purposes, except to the extent the amount of any such cash distribution exceeds his tax basis in his common units immediately before the distribution. Our cash distributions in excess of a unitholder’s tax basis generally will be considered to be gain from the sale or exchange of the common units, taxable in accordance with the rules described under “—Disposition of Common Units.” Any reduction in a unitholder’s share of our liabilities for which no partner, including the general partner, bears the economic risk of loss, known as “nonrecourse liabilities,” will be treated as a distribution by us of cash to that unitholder. To the extent our distributions cause a unitholder’s “at-risk” amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year, he must recapture any losses deducted in previous years. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Limitations on Deductibility of Losses.”

A decrease in a unitholder’s percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional common units will decrease his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, and thus will result in a corresponding deemed distribution of cash. This deemed distribution may constitute a non-pro rata distribution. A non-pro rata distribution of money or property may result in ordinary income to a unitholder, regardless of his tax basis in his common units, if the distribution reduces the unitholder’s share of our “unrealized receivables,” including depreciation recapture and/or substantially appreciated “inventory items,” each as defined in the Code, and collectively, “Section 751 Assets.” To that extent, the unitholder will be treated as having been distributed his proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and then having exchanged those assets with us in return for the non-pro rata portion of the actual distribution made to him. This latter deemed exchange will generally result in the unitholder’s realization of ordinary income, which will equal the excess of (i) the non-pro rata portion of that distribution over (ii) the unitholder’s tax basis (generally zero) for the share of Section 751 Assets deemed relinquished in the exchange.

Basis of Common Units

A unitholder’s initial tax basis for his common units will be the amount he paid for the common units plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be increased by his share of our income and by any increases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be decreased, but not below zero, by distributions from us, by the unitholder’s share of our losses, by any decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities and by his share of our expenditures that are not deductible in computing taxable income and are not required to be capitalized. A unitholder will have no share of our debt that is recourse to our general partner to the extent of the general partner’s “net value” as defined in Treasury Regulations under Section 752 of the Code, but will have a share, generally based on his share of profits, of our nonrecourse liabilities. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

Limitations on Deductibility of Losses

The deduction by a unitholder of his share of our losses will be limited to the tax basis in his units and, in the case of an individual unitholder, estate, trust, or corporate unitholder (if more than 50% of the value of the corporate unitholder’s stock is owned directly or indirectly by or for five or fewer individuals or some tax-exempt organizations) to the amount for which the unitholder is considered to be “at risk” with respect to our activities, if that is less than his tax basis. A common unitholder subject to these limitations must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions cause his at-risk amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year. Losses disallowed to a unitholder or recaptured as a result of these limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction to the extent that his at-risk amount is subsequently increased,

provided such losses do not exceed such common unitholder’s tax basis in his common units. Upon the taxable disposition of a unit, any gain recognized by a unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at-risk limitation but may not be offset by losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any loss previously suspended by the at-risk limitation in excess of that gain would no longer be utilizable.

In general, a unitholder will be at risk to the extent of the tax basis of his units, excluding any portion of that basis attributable to his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, reduced by (i) any portion of that basis representing amounts otherwise protected against loss because of a guarantee, stop loss agreement or other similar arrangement and (ii) any amount of money he borrows to acquire or hold his units, if the lender of those borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to the unitholder or can look only to the units for repayment. A unitholder’s at-risk amount will increase or decrease as the tax basis of the unitholder’s units increases or decreases, other than tax basis increases or decreases attributable to increases or decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities.

In addition to the basis and at-risk limitations on the deductibility of losses, the passive loss limitations generally provide that individuals, estates, trusts and some closely-held corporations and personal service corporations can deduct losses from passive activities, which are generally trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate, only to the extent of the taxpayer’s income from those passive activities. The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly traded limited partnership. Consequently, any passive losses we generate will only be available to offset our passive income generated in the future and will not be available to offset income from other passive activities or investments, including our investments or a unitholder’s investments in other publicly traded limited partnerships, or the unitholder’s salary, active business or other income. Passive losses that are not deductible because they exceed a unitholder’s share of income we generate may be deducted in full when he disposes of his entire investment in us in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. The passive loss limitations are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at-risk rules and the basis limitation.

A unitholder’s share of our net income may be offset by any of our suspended passive losses, but it may not be offset by any other current or carryover losses from other passive activities, including those attributable to other publicly traded limited partnerships.

Limitations on Interest Deductions

The deductibility of a non-corporate taxpayer’s “investment interest expense” is generally limited to the amount of that taxpayer’s “net investment income.” Investment interest expense includes:

•

interest on indebtedness properly allocable to property held for investment;

•

our interest expense attributed to portfolio income; and

•

the portion of interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an interest in a passive activity to the extent attributable to portfolio income.

The computation of a unitholder’s investment interest expense will take into account interest on any margin account borrowing or other loan incurred to purchase or carry a unit. Net investment income includes gross income from property held for investment and amounts treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules, less deductible expenses, other than interest, directly connected with the production of investment income, but generally does not include gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment or (if applicable) qualified dividend income. The IRS has indicated that the net passive income earned by a publicly traded limited partnership will be treated as investment income to its unitholders. In addition, the unitholder’s share of our portfolio income will be treated as investment income.

Entity-level Collections

If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any federal, state, local or foreign income tax on behalf of any unitholder or our general partner or any former unitholder, we are authorized to pay those taxes

from our funds. That payment, if made, will be treated as a distribution of cash to the unitholder on whose behalf the payment was made. If the payment is made on behalf of a person whose identity cannot be determined, we are authorized to treat the payment as a distribution to all current unitholders. We are authorized to amend our partnership agreement in the manner necessary to maintain uniformity of intrinsic tax characteristics of units and to adjust later distributions, so that after giving effect to these distributions, the priority and characterization of distributions otherwise applicable under our partnership agreement is maintained as nearly as is practicable. Payments by us as described above could give rise to an overpayment of tax on behalf of an individual unitholder in which event the unitholder would be required to file a claim in order to obtain a credit or refund. Please Read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Audits and Adjustments.”

Entity-level Audits and Adjustments

Pursuant to this new legislation, we will designate a person (our general partner) to act as the partnership representative who shall have the sole authority to act on behalf of the partnership with respect to dealings with the IRS under these new audit procedures.

Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction

In general, if we have a net profit, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated among our general partner and the unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. At any time that distributions are made to the common units in excess of distributions to the subordinated units, or incentive distributions are made to our general partner, gross income will be allocated to the recipients to the extent of these distributions. If we have a net loss, that loss will be allocated first to our general partner and the unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us to the extent of their positive capital accounts, as adjusted to take into account the unitholders’ share of nonrecourse debt, and, second, to our general partner.

Section 704(c) of the Code and related Treasury Regulations require us to adjust the “book” basis of all assets held by us prior to an issuance of additional units to equal their fair market values at the time of a unit issuance. Purchasers of units in an offering are entitled to calculate tax depreciation and amortization deductions and other relevant tax items with respect to our assets based upon that “book” basis, which effectively puts purchasers in that offering in the same position as if our assets had a tax basis equal to their fair market value at the time of unit issuance. This may have the effect of decreasing the amount of our tax depreciation or amortization deductions thereafter allocated to purchasers of units in an earlier offering or of requiring purchasers of units in an earlier offering to thereafter recognize “remedial income” rather than depreciation and amortization deductions. In this context, we use the term “book” as that term is used in Treasury Regulations under Section 704 of the Code. The “book” basis assigned to our assets for this purpose may not be the same as the book value of our property for financial reporting purposes.

In addition, items of recapture income will be allocated to the extent possible to the unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to the treatment of that gain as recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by some unitholders. Finally, although we do not expect that our operations will result in the creation of negative capital accounts, if negative capital accounts nevertheless result, items of our income and gain will be allocated in an amount and manner sufficient to eliminate the negative balance as quickly as possible.

An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required under the Section 704(c) principles described above, will generally be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a partner’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has “substantial economic effect.” In any other case, a partner’s share of an item will be determined on the basis of his interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including:

•

his relative contributions to us;

•

the interests of all the partners in profits and losses;

•

the interests of all the partners in cash flows; and

•

the rights of all the partners to distributions of capital upon liquidation.

Baker Botts L.L.P. is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issues described in “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” and “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees,” and “—Uniformity of Units,” allocations under our partnership agreement will be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a partner’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction.

Treatment of Short Sales

A unitholder whose units are loaned to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those units. If so, he would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition. As a result, during this period:

•

any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those units would not be reportable by the unitholder;

•

any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those units would be fully taxable; and

•

while not entirely free from doubt, all of these distributions would appear to be ordinary income.

Because there is no direct or indirect controlling authority on the issue relating to partnership interests, Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion regarding the tax treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units; therefore, unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to consult a tax advisor to discuss whether it is advisable to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from borrowing and loaning their units. The IRS has previously announced that it is studying issues relating to the tax treatment of short sales of partnership interests. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

Alternative Minimum Tax

Each unitholder will be required to take into account his distributive share of any items of our income, gain, loss or deduction for purposes of the alternative minimum tax. The current minimum tax rate for non-corporate taxpayers is 26% on the first $185,400 of alternative minimum taxable income in excess of the exemption amount and 28% on any additional alternative minimum taxable income. Prospective unitholders are urged to consult with their tax advisors as to the impact of an investment in units on their liability for the alternative minimum tax.

Tax Rates

The highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to ordinary income of individuals is 39.6% and the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains (generally, capital gains

on certain assets held for more than twelve months) of individuals is 20%. Such rates are subject to change by new legislation at any time.

In addition, a 3.8% Medicare tax, or NIIT, applies to certain net investment income earned by individuals, estates and trusts. For these purposes, net investment income generally includes a unitholder’s allocable share of our income and gain realized by a unitholder from a sale of units. In the case of an individual, the tax is imposed on the lesser of (i) the unitholder’s net investment income and (ii) the amount by which the unitholder’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing jointly or a surviving spouse), $125,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing separately) or $200,000 (in any other case). In the case of an estate or trust, the tax is imposed on the lesser of (i) undistributed net investment income and (ii) the excess adjusted gross income over the dollar amount at which the highest income tax bracket applicable to an estate or trust begins.

Section 754 Election

We have made an election permitted by Section 754 of the Code. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS unless there is a constructive termination of the partnership. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Constructive Termination.” The election will generally permit us to adjust a common unit purchaser’s tax basis in our assets (“inside basis”) under Section 743(b) of the Code to reflect his purchase price. This election does not apply with respect to a person who purchases common units directly from us. The Section 743(b) adjustment belongs to the purchaser and not to other unitholders. For purposes of this discussion, the inside basis in our assets with respect to a unitholder will be considered to have two components: (i) his share of our tax basis in our assets, or common basis, and (ii) his Section 743(b) adjustment to that basis.

The timing of deductions attributable to a Section 743(b) adjustment to our common basis will depend upon a number of factors, including the nature of the assets to which the adjustment is allocable, the extent to which the adjustment offsets any Section 704(c) type gain or loss with respect to an asset and certain elections we make as to the manner in which we apply Section 704(c) principles with respect to an asset with respect to which the adjustment is allocable. Please read “—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction.” The timing of these deductions may affect the uniformity of our units. Please read “—Uniformity of Units.”

A Section 754 election is advantageous if the transferee’s tax basis in his units is higher than the units’ share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. In that case, as a result of the election, the transferee would have, among other items, a greater amount of depreciation deductions and his share of any gain or loss on a sale of our assets would be less. Conversely, a Section 754 election is disadvantageous if the transferee’s tax basis in his units is lower than those units’ share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. Thus, the fair market value of the units may be affected either favorably or unfavorably by the election. A basis adjustment is required regardless of whether a Section 754 election is made in the case of a transfer of an interest in us if we have a substantial built-in loss immediately after the transfer, or if we distribute property and have a substantial basis reduction. Generally a built-in loss or a basis reduction is substantial if it exceeds $250,000.

The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and will be made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. For example, the allocation of the Section 743(b) adjustment among our assets must be made in accordance with the Code. The IRS could seek to reallocate some or all of any Section 743(b) adjustment allocated by us to our tangible assets to goodwill instead. Goodwill, as an intangible asset, is generally nonamortizable or amortizable over a longer period of time or under a less accelerated method than our tangible assets. We cannot assure you that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS and that the deductions resulting from them will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different basis adjustment to be made, and should, in our opinion, the expense of compliance exceed the benefit of the election, we may seek permission from the IRS to revoke our Section 754 election. If permission is granted, a subsequent purchaser of units may be allocated more income than he would have been allocated had the election not been revoked.

Tax Treatment of Operations

Accounting Method and Taxable Year

We use the year ending December 31 as our taxable year and the accrual method of accounting for federal income tax purposes. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our taxable year ending within or with his taxable year. In addition, a unitholder who has a taxable year ending on a date other than December 31 and who disposes of all of his units following the close of our taxable year but before the close of his taxable year must include his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction in income for his taxable year, with the result that he will be required to include in income for his taxable year his share of more than twelve months of our income, gain, loss and deduction. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees.”

Tax Basis, Depreciation and Amortization

The tax basis of our assets will be used for purposes of computing depreciation and cost recovery deductions and, ultimately, gain or loss on the disposition of these assets. The federal income tax burden associated with the difference between the fair market value of our assets and their tax basis immediately prior to an offering will be borne by our general partner and all of our unitholders as of that time. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction.”

To the extent allowable, we may elect to use the depreciation and cost recovery methods, including bonus depreciation to the extent available, that will result in the largest deductions being taken in the early years after assets subject to these allowances are placed in service. Part of or all of the goodwill, going concern value and other intangible assets we have acquired or will acquire in connection with an offering may not produce any amortization deductions because of the application of the anti-churning restrictions of Section 197 of the Code. Please read “—Uniformity of Units.” Property we subsequently acquire or construct may be depreciated using accelerated methods permitted by the Code.

If we dispose of depreciable property by sale, foreclosure or otherwise, all or a portion of any gain, determined by reference to the amount of depreciation previously deducted and the nature of the property, may be subject to the recapture rules and taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gain. Similarly, a unitholder who has taken cost recovery or depreciation deductions with respect to property we own will likely be required to recapture some or all of those deductions as ordinary income upon a sale of his interest in us. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction” and “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

The costs we incur in selling our units (called “syndication expenses”) must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably or upon our termination. There are uncertainties regarding the classification of costs as organization expenses, which may be amortized by us, and as syndication expenses, which may not be amortized by us. The underwriting discounts and commissions we incur will be treated as syndication expenses.

Valuation and Tax Basis of Our Properties

The federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values, and the initial tax bases, of our assets. Although we may from time to time consult with professional appraisers regarding valuation matters, we will make many of the relative fair market value estimates ourselves. These estimates and determinations of basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deductions previously reported by unitholders might change, and unitholders might be required to adjust their tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.

Disposition of Common Units

Recognition of Gain or Loss

Gain or loss will be recognized on a sale of units equal to the difference between the amount realized and the unitholder’s tax basis for the units sold. A unitholder’s amount realized will be measured by the sum of the cash or the fair market value of other property received by him plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. Because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale of units could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from the sale.

Prior distributions from us that in the aggregate were in excess of cumulative net taxable income for a common unit and, therefore, decreased a unitholder’s tax basis in that common unit will, in effect, become taxable income if the common unit is sold at a price greater than the unitholder’s tax basis in that common unit, even if the price received is less than his original cost.

Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder, other than a “dealer” in units, on the sale or exchange of a unit will generally be taxable as capital gain or loss. Capital gain recognized by an individual on the sale of units held for more than twelve months will generally be taxed at the U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains. However, a portion of this gain or loss, which will likely be substantial, will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Code to the extent attributable to assets giving rise to depreciation recapture or other “unrealized receivables” or to “inventory items” we own. The term “unrealized receivables” includes potential recapture items, including depreciation recapture. Ordinary income attributable to unrealized receivables, inventory items and depreciation recapture may exceed net taxable gain realized upon the sale of a unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale of a unit. Thus, a unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and a capital loss upon a sale of units. Capital losses may offset capital gains and no more than $3,000 of ordinary income, in the case of individuals, and may only be used to offset capital gains in the case of corporations. Both ordinary income and capital gain recognized on a sale of units may be subject to the NIIT in certain circumstances. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Tax Rates.”

The IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all those interests. Upon a sale or other disposition of less than all of those interests, a portion of that tax basis must be allocated to the interests sold using an “equitable apportionment” method, which generally means that the tax basis allocated to the interest sold equals an amount that bears the same relation to the partner’s tax basis in his entire interest in the partnership as the value of the interest sold bears to the value of the partner’s entire interest in the partnership. Treasury Regulations under Section 1223 of the Code allow a selling unitholder who can identify common units transferred with an ascertainable holding period to elect to use the actual holding period of the common units transferred. Thus, according to the ruling discussed above, a common unitholder will be unable to select high or low basis common units to sell as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the Treasury Regulations, he may designate specific common units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of common units transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of common units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional units or a sale of common units purchased in separate transactions is urged to consult his tax advisor as to the possible consequences of this ruling and application of the Treasury Regulations.

Specific provisions of the Code affect the taxation of some financial products and securities, including partnership interests, by treating a taxpayer as having sold an “appreciated” partnership interest, one in which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value, if the taxpayer or related persons enter(s) into:

•

a short sale;

•

an offsetting notional principal contract; or

•

a futures or forward contract;

in each case, with respect to the partnership interest or substantially identical property.

Moreover, if a taxpayer has previously entered into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest, the taxpayer will be treated as having sold that position if the taxpayer or a related person then acquires the partnership interest or substantially identical property. The Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized to issue regulations that treat a taxpayer that enters into transactions or positions that have substantially the same effect as the preceding transactions as having constructively sold the financial position.

Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees

In general, our taxable income or loss will be determined annually, will be prorated on a monthly basis and will be subsequently apportioned among the unitholders in proportion to the number of units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month, which we refer to in this prospectus as the “Allocation Date.” However, gain or loss realized on a sale or other disposition of our assets or, in the discretion of the general partner, any other extraordinary item of income, gain, loss or deduction will be allocated among the unitholders on the Allocation Date in the month in which such income, gain, loss or deduction is recognized. As a result, a unitholder transferring units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.

Although simplifying conventions are contemplated by the Code and most publicly traded partnerships use similar simplifying conventions, the use of this method may not be permitted or authorized under existing Treasury Regulations. Recently, however, the Department of the Treasury and the IRS issued Treasury Regulations pursuant to which a publicly traded partnership may use a similar monthly simplifying convention to allocate tax items among transferor and transferee unitholders although such tax items must be prorated on a daily basis. The Partnership is currently evaluating these regulations, which will apply beginning with our taxable year that begins on January 1, 2016. The Treasury Regulations do not specifically authorize the use of the proration method we have currently adopted. Accordingly, Baker Botts L.L.P. is unable to opine on the validity of this method of allocating income and deductions between transferee and transferor unitholders. If this method is not allowed under the final Treasury Regulations, or only applies to transfers of less than all of the unitholder’s interest, our taxable income or losses could be reallocated among our unitholders. We are authorized to revise our method of allocation between transferee and transferor unitholders, as well as among unitholders whose interests vary during a taxable year, to conform to a method permitted under future Treasury Regulations.

A unitholder who disposes of units prior to the record date set for a cash distribution for that quarter will be allocated items of our income, gain, loss and deduction attributable to the month of disposition but will not be entitled to receive a cash distribution for that period.

Notification Requirements

A unitholder who sells any of his units is generally required to notify us in writing of that sale within 30 days after the sale (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the sale). A purchaser of units who purchases units from another unitholder is also generally required to notify us in writing of that purchase within 30 days after the purchase. Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the IRS of that transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a purchase may, in some cases, lead to the imposition of penalties. However, these reporting requirements do not apply to a sale by an individual who is a citizen of the U.S. and who effects the sale or exchange through a broker who will satisfy such requirements.

Constructive Termination

We will be considered to have technically terminated our partnership for federal income tax purposes if there is a sale or exchange of 50% or more of the total interests in our capital and profits within a twelve-month period. For purposes of determining whether the 50% threshold has been met, multiple sales of the same interest will be counted only once. Our technical termination would, among other things, result in the closing of our taxable year for all unitholders, which would result in us filing two tax returns (and our unitholders could receive two schedules K-1 if relief was not available, as described below) for one fiscal year and could result in a deferral of depreciation deductions allowable in computing our taxable income. A sale or exchange of 50% or more of the total interests in the capital and profits of any entity in which we own an interest that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes within a twelve-month period will result in a technical termination of such entity and could also result in a deferral of depreciation deductions allowable in computing our taxable income. In the case of a unitholder reporting on a taxable year other than a fiscal year ending December 31, the closing of our taxable year caused by our technical termination may also result in more than twelve months of our taxable income or loss being includable in his taxable income for the year of termination. Our termination currently would not affect our classification as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, but instead we would be treated as a new partnership for federal income tax purposes. If treated as a new partnership, we must make new tax elections, including a new election under Section 754 of the Code, and could be subject to penalties if we are unable to determine that a termination occurred. The IRS has recently announced a publicly traded limited partnership technical termination relief program whereby, if a publicly traded limited partnership that technically terminated requests publicly traded limited partnership technical termination relief and such relief is granted by the IRS, among other things, the partnership will only have to provide one Schedule K-1 to unitholders for the year notwithstanding two partnership tax years.

Uniformity of Units

Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of units, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the units to a purchaser of these units. In the absence of uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of federal income tax requirements, both statutory and regulatory. Any non-uniformity could have an impact upon the value of our units. The timing of deductions attributable to Section 743(b) adjustments to the common basis of our assets with respect to persons purchasing units from another unitholder may affect the uniformity of our units. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election.”

For example, some types of depreciable assets are not subject to the typical rules governing depreciation (under Section 168 of the Code) or amortization (under Section 197 of the Code). If we were to acquire any assets of that type, the timing of a unit purchaser’s deductions with respect to Section 743(b) adjustments to the common basis of those assets might differ depending upon when and to whom the unit he purchased was originally issued. We do not currently expect to acquire any assets of that type. However, if we were to acquire a material amount of assets of that type, we intend to adopt tax positions as to those assets that will not result in any such lack of uniformity. Any such tax positions taken by us might result in allocations to some unitholders of smaller depreciation deductions than they would otherwise be entitled to receive. Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion with respect to those types of tax positions. Moreover, the IRS might challenge those tax positions. If we took such a tax position and the IRS successfully challenged the position, the uniformity of our units might be affected, and the gain from the sale of our units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors

Ownership of units by employee benefit plans, other tax-exempt organizations, non-resident aliens, foreign corporations and other foreign persons raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below to a limited extent, may have substantially adverse tax consequences to them. If you are a tax-exempt entity or a non-U.S.

person, you should consult your tax advisor before investing in our common units. Employee benefit plans and most other organizations exempt from federal income tax, including individual retirement accounts and other retirement plans, are subject to federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Virtually all of our income allocated to a unitholder that is a tax-exempt organization will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to it.

Non-resident aliens and foreign corporations, trusts or estates that own units will be considered to be engaged in business in the U.S. because of the ownership of units. As a consequence, they will be required to file federal tax returns to report their share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay federal income tax at regular rates on their share of our net income or gain. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly traded limited partnerships, our quarterly distribution to foreign unitholders will be subject to withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Each foreign unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on a Form W-8BEN or applicable substitute form in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes. A change in applicable law may require us to change these procedures.

In addition, because a foreign corporation that owns units will be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business, that corporation may be subject to the U.S. branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, in addition to regular federal income tax, on its share of our earnings and profits, as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation’s “U.S. net equity,” that is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the U.S. and the country in which the foreign corporate unitholder is a “qualified resident.” In addition, this type of unitholder is subject to special information reporting requirements under Section 6038C of the Code.

A foreign unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a common unit will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized from the sale or disposition of that unit to the extent the gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the foreign unitholder. Under a ruling published by the IRS, interpreting the scope of “effectively connected income,” a foreign unitholder would be considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the U.S. by virtue of the U.S. activities of the partnership, and part or all of that unitholder’s gain would be effectively connected with that unitholder’s indirect U.S. trade or business. Moreover, under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, a foreign common unitholder generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax upon the sale or disposition of a common unit if (i) he owned (directly or constructively applying certain attribution rules) more than 5% of our common units at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of such disposition and (ii) 50% or more of the fair market value of all of our assets consisted of U.S. real property interests at any time during the shorter of the period during which such unitholder held the common units or the five-year period ending on the date of disposition. Currently, more than 50% of our assets consist of U.S. real property interests and we do not expect that to change in the foreseeable future. Therefore, foreign unitholders may be subject to federal income tax on gain from the sale or disposition of their units.

Administrative Matters

Information Returns and Audit Procedures

We intend to furnish to each unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each calendar year, specific tax information, including a Schedule K-1, which describes his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our preceding taxable year. In preparing this information, which will not be reviewed by counsel, we will take various accounting and reporting positions, some of which have been mentioned earlier, to determine each unitholder’s share of income, gain, loss and deduction. We cannot assure you that those positions will yield a result that conforms to the requirements of the Code, Treasury Regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS. Neither we nor Baker Botts L.L.P. can assure prospective unitholders that the IRS will not successfully contend in court that those positions are impermissible. Any challenge by the IRS could negatively affect the value of the units.

The IRS may audit our federal income tax information returns. Adjustments resulting from an IRS audit may require each unitholder to adjust a prior year’s tax liability, and possibly may result in an audit of his return. Any audit of a unitholder’s return could result in adjustments not related to our returns as well as those related to our returns.

Partnerships generally are treated as separate entities for purposes of federal tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS and tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss and deduction are determined in a partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings with the partners. The Code requires that one partner be designated as the “Tax Matters Partner” for these purposes. Our partnership agreement names our general partner as our Tax Matters Partner. The Tax Matters Partner will make some elections on our behalf and on behalf of unitholders. In addition, the Tax Matters Partner can extend the statute of limitations for assessment of tax deficiencies against unitholders for items in our returns. The Tax Matters Partner may bind a unitholder with less than a 1% profits interest in us to a settlement with the IRS unless that unitholder elects, by filing a statement with the IRS, not to give that authority to the Tax Matters Partner. The Tax Matters Partner may seek judicial review, by which all the unitholders are bound, of a final partnership administrative adjustment and, if the Tax Matters Partner fails to seek judicial review, judicial review may be sought by any unitholder having at least a 1% interest in profits or by any group of unitholders having in the aggregate at least a 5% interest in profits. However, only one action for judicial review will go forward, and each unitholder with an interest in the outcome may participate.

A unitholder must file a statement with the IRS identifying the treatment of any item on his federal income tax return that is not consistent with the treatment of the item on our return. Intentional or negligent disregard of this consistency requirement may subject a unitholder to substantial penalties.

Due to the recent enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the audit procedures discussed above will change for partnership taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Audits and Adjustments.”

Additional Withholding Requirements

Withholding taxes may apply to certain types of payments made to “foreign financial institutions” (as specially defined in the Code) and certain other non-U.S. entities. Specifically, a 30% withholding tax may be imposed on interest, dividends and other fixed or determinable annual or periodical gains, profits and income from sources within the U.S. (“FDAP Income”), or gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of any property of a type which can produce interest or dividends from sources within the U.S. (“Gross Proceeds”) paid to a foreign financial institution or to a “non-financial foreign entity” (as specially defined in the Code), unless (i) the foreign financial institution undertakes certain diligence and reporting, (ii) the non-financial foreign entity either certifies it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or furnishes identifying information regarding each substantial U.S. owner or (iii) the foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity otherwise qualifies for an exemption from these rules. If the payee is a foreign financial institution and is subject to the diligence and reporting requirements in clause (i) above, it must enter into an agreement with the U.S. Treasury requiring, among other things, that it undertake to identify accounts held by certain U.S. persons or U.S.-owned foreign entities, annually report certain information about such accounts, and withhold 30% on payments to noncompliant foreign financial institutions and certain other account holders. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country, or future Treasury Regulations, may modify these requirements.

These rules generally will apply to payments of FDAP Income made on or after July 1, 2014 and to payments of relevant Gross Proceeds from sales or dispositions occurring after December 31, 2018. Thus, to the extent we have FDAP Income or Gross Proceeds after these dates that are not treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (please read “—Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors”), unitholders who are foreign financial institutions or certain other non-US entities may be subject to withholding on distributions they receive from us, or their distributive share of our income, pursuant to the rules described above.

Prospective investors should consult their own tax advisors regarding the potential application of these withholding provisions to their investment in our common units.

Nominee Reporting

Persons who hold an interest in us as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us:

•

the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee;

•

whether the beneficial owner is:

•

a person that is not a U.S. person;

•

a foreign government, an international organization or any wholly owned agency or instrumentality of either of the foregoing; or

•

a tax-exempt entity;

•

the amount and description of units held, acquired or transferred for the beneficial owner; and

•

specific information including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers, and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from dispositions.

Brokers and financial institutions are required to furnish additional information, including whether they are U.S. persons and specific information on units they acquire, hold or transfer for their own account. A penalty of $100 per failure, up to a maximum of $1.5 million per calendar year, is imposed by the Code for failure to report that information to us. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of the units with the information furnished to us.

Accuracy-Related Penalties

An additional tax equal to 20% of the amount of any portion of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to one or more specified causes, including negligence or disregard of rules or regulations, substantial understatements of income tax and substantial valuation misstatements, is imposed by the Code. No penalty will be imposed, however, for any portion of an underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding that portion.

For individuals, a substantial understatement of income tax in any taxable year exists if the amount of the understatement exceeds the greater of 10% of the tax required to be shown on the return for the taxable year or $5,000 ($10,000 for most corporations). The amount of any understatement subject to penalty generally is reduced if any portion is attributable to a position adopted on the return:

•

for which there is, or was, “substantial authority”; or

•

as to which there is a reasonable basis and the pertinent facts of that position are disclosed on the return.

If any item of income, gain, loss or deduction included in the distributive shares of unitholders might result in that kind of an “understatement” of income for which no “substantial authority” exists, we must disclose the pertinent facts on our return. In addition, we will make a reasonable effort to furnish sufficient information for unitholders to make adequate disclosure on their returns and to take other actions as may be appropriate to permit unitholders to avoid liability for this penalty. More stringent rules apply to “tax shelters,” which we do not believe includes us, or any of our investments, plans or arrangements.

A substantial valuation misstatement exists if (a) the value of any property, or the adjusted basis of any property, claimed on a tax return is 150% or more of the amount determined to be the correct amount of the

valuation or adjusted basis, (b) the price for any property or services (or for the use of property) claimed on any such return with respect to any transaction between persons described in Code Section 482 is 200% or more (or 50% or less) of the amount determined under Section 482 to be the correct amount of such price, or (c) the net Code Section 482 transfer price adjustment for the taxable year exceeds the lesser of $5.0 million or 10% of the taxpayer’s gross receipts. No penalty is imposed unless the portion of the underpayment attributable to a substantial valuation misstatement exceeds $5,000 ($10,000 for most corporations). If the valuation claimed on a return is 200% or more than the correct valuation or certain other thresholds are met, the penalty imposed increases to 40%. We do not anticipate making any valuation misstatements.

In addition, the 20% accuracy-related penalty also applies to any portion of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to transactions lacking economic substance. To the extent that such transactions are not disclosed, the penalty imposed is increased to 40%. Additionally, there is no reasonable cause defense to the imposition of this penalty to such transactions.

Reportable Transactions

If we were to engage in a “reportable transaction,” we (and possibly you and others) would be required to make a detailed disclosure of the transaction to the IRS. A transaction may be a reportable transaction based upon any of several factors, including the fact that it is a type of tax avoidance transaction publicly identified by the IRS as a “listed transaction” or that it produces certain kinds of losses for partnerships, individuals, S corporations, and trusts in excess of $2.0 million in any single year, or $4.0 million in any combination of six successive tax years. Our participation in a reportable transaction could increase the likelihood that our federal income tax information return (and possibly your tax return) would be audited by the IRS. Please read “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures” and “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Audits and Adjustments.”

Moreover, if we were to participate in a reportable transaction with a significant purpose to avoid or evade tax, or in any listed transaction, you may be subject to the following additional consequences:

•

accuracy-related penalties with a broader scope, significantly narrower exceptions, and potentially greater amounts than described above at “—Administrative Matters—Accuracy-Related Penalties”;

•

for those persons otherwise entitled to deduct interest on federal tax deficiencies, non-deductibility of interest on any resulting tax liability; and

•

in the case of a listed transaction, an extended statute of limitations.

We do not expect to engage in any “reportable transactions.”

Recent Legal Developments

The present federal income tax treatment of publicly traded limited partnerships, including us, or an investment in our common units may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. For example, from time to time, members of Congress propose and consider substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws that affect publicly traded limited partnerships. Additionally, on May 6, 2015, the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury published proposed regulations that provide industry-specific guidance regarding whether income earned from certain activities will constitute qualifying income. Any modification to the federal income tax laws and interpretations thereof may or may not be retroactively applied and could make it more difficult or impossible to meet the exception for us to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. Please read “—Partnership Status.” We are unable to predict whether any such changes will ultimately be enacted, or whether proposed regulations, once issued in final form, will materially change interpretations of the current law. However, it is possible that a change in law could affect us, and any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units.

Due to the recent enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the audit procedures for large partnerships will change for partnership taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Audits and Adjustments.”

State, Local, Foreign and Other Tax Considerations

In addition to federal income taxes, you likely will be subject to other taxes, such as state, local and foreign income taxes, unincorporated business taxes, and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property or in which you are a resident. We currently do business or own property in multiple states, at least one of which imposes income taxes on individuals and corporations. Moreover, in the future we may also own property or do business in other states that impose income or similar taxes on non-resident individuals and corporations. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not presented here, each prospective unitholder should consider their potential impact on his investment in us. Although you may not be required to file a return and pay taxes in some jurisdictions if your income from that jurisdiction falls below the filing and payment requirement, you may be required to file income tax returns and to pay income taxes in other jurisdictions in which we do business or own property and may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. In some jurisdictions, tax losses may not produce a tax benefit in the year incurred and may not be available to offset income in subsequent taxable years. Some of the jurisdictions may require us, or we may elect, to withhold a percentage of income from amounts to be distributed to a unitholder who is not a resident of the jurisdiction. Withholding, the amount of which may be greater or less than a particular unitholder’s income tax liability to the jurisdiction, generally does not relieve a nonresident unitholder from the obligation to file an income tax return. Amounts withheld will be treated as if distributed to unitholders for purposes of determining the amounts distributed by us. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Collections.” Based on current law and our estimate of our future operations, our general partner anticipates that any amounts required to be withheld will not be material.

It is the responsibility of each unitholder to investigate the legal and tax consequences, under the laws of pertinent states, localities and foreign jurisdictions, of his investment in us. Accordingly, each prospective unitholder is urged to consult his own tax counsel or other advisor with regard to those matters. Further, it is the responsibility of each unitholder to file all state, local and foreign, as well as U.S. federal tax returns, that may be required of him. Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion on the state, local or foreign tax consequences of an investment in us.

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

We will set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement a description of the plan of distribution of our securities that may be offered pursuant to this prospectus.

LEGAL MATTERS

Certain legal matters in connection with our common units offered hereby will be passed upon for us by our outside counsel, Baker Botts L.L.P., Houston, Texas.

EXPERTS

The consolidated financial statements of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. incorporated in this Prospectus by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

The financial statements of Poseidon Oil Pipeline Company, L.L.C. as of and for the year ended December 31, 2014, incorporated in this prospectus by reference, from Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on July 2, 2015, have been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, independent auditors, as stated in their report which is incorporated herein by reference. Such financial statements have been so incorporated in reliance upon the report of such firm upon their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.

The financial statements of Mars Oil Pipeline Company incorporated in this Prospectus by reference to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.’s Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 17, 2015 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

The financial statements of Bengal Pipeline Company LLC as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, and for the years then ended, appearing in this prospectus and registration statement have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent auditors, as set forth in their report thereon appearing elsewhere herein, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-3 regarding our common units. This prospectus does not contain all of the information found in the registration statement. For further information regarding us and the common units offered by this prospectus, you may desire to review the full registration statement, including its exhibits and schedules, filed under the Securities Act. The registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, including its exhibits and schedules, may be inspected and copied at the public reference room maintained by the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of the materials may also be obtained from the SEC at prescribed rates by writing to the public reference room maintained by the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. You may obtain information on the operation of the public reference room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.

The SEC maintains a website on the internet at www.sec.gov. Our registration statement, of which this prospectus constitutes a part, can be downloaded from the SEC’s website and can also be inspected and copied at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., 20 Broad Street, New York, New York 10005.

We file with or furnish to the SEC periodic reports and other information. These reports and other information may be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC or obtained from the SEC’s website as provided above. Our website on the Internet is located at www.shellmidstreampartners.com and we make our periodic reports and other information filed with or furnished to the SEC available, free of charge, through our website, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports

and other information are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and does not constitute a part of this prospectus.

We furnish or make available to our unitholders annual reports containing our audited financial statements and furnish or make available to our unitholders quarterly reports containing our unaudited interim financial information, including the information required by Form 10-Q, for the first three fiscal quarters of each fiscal year.

The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” into this prospectus the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents. Information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus, except for any information that is superseded by information included directly in this prospectus. Any statement contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement or a document incorporated by reference in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus or in any other subsequently filed document that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus modifies or superseded the statement. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below (excluding any portions of such documents that have been “furnished” but not “filed” for purposes of the Exchange Act):

•

our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014;

•

our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2015 and June 30, 2015;

•

our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2015, May 13, 2015, May 20, 2015, July 2, 2015, July 20, 2015, November 2, 2015 and November 2, 2015; and

•

the description of our common units in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (Registration No. 001-36710) filed on October 28, 2014.

All filings made by us with the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act after the date of this registration statement and prior to the effectiveness of this registration statement shall also be deemed incorporated by reference into this prospectus.

We will provide a copy of any and all of the information that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus to any person, including a beneficial owner, to whom a prospectus is delivered, without charge, upon written or oral request. You may obtain a copy of these filings by writing or telephoning:

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.

Attention: Investor Relations

One Shell Plaza

910 Louisiana Street

Houston, Texas 77002

(832) 337-2034.