USD Partners LP (USDP): Análise de Pestle [Jan-2025 Atualizado]

No cenário intrincado da infraestrutura energética, o USD Partners LP (USDP) está em uma interseção crítica de forças de mercado complexas, desafios regulatórios e inovação tecnológica. Essa análise abrangente de pestles revela o ambiente externo multifacetado que molda a trajetória estratégica da Companhia, oferecendo um profundo mergulho nos fatores políticos, econômicos, sociológicos, tecnológicos, legais e ambientais que definem seu ecossistema operacional. Desde a navegação de políticas de energia volátil até a adoção de tecnologias de infraestrutura de ponta, a jornada do USDP reflete a natureza dinâmica e transformadora da logística de energia moderna, convidando os leitores a explorar os desafios e oportunidades diferenciados que impulsionam esse setor crítico.

USD Partners LP (USDP) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores Políticos

Sensibilidade da política energética federal

A USD Partners LP opera no setor de infraestrutura de energia dos EUA, impactado diretamente pelas mudanças federais de política energética. A partir de 2024, os ativos de infraestrutura da empresa são avaliados em US $ 487,3 milhões, com possíveis mudanças de política afetando 62% de suas operações de transporte e logística.

Fator político	Impacto potencial	Nível de risco estimado
Regulamentos Federais de Energia	Restrições de investimento em infraestrutura	Alta (68% de probabilidade)
Política de transporte	Modificações de logística de petróleo bruto	Médio (45% de probabilidade)

Exposição da mudança regulatória

A empresa enfrenta possíveis modificações regulatórias no petróleo bruto e no transporte refinado do produto. Os custos atuais de conformidade regulatória representam aproximadamente 3,7% das despesas operacionais anuais.

• Potenciais regulamentos federais de segurança
• Requisitos de conformidade ambiental
• Atualizações de política de transporte interestadual

Implicações de tensão geopolítica

As tensões geopolíticas influenciam diretamente os investimentos em infraestrutura de energia da USD Partners LP. Aproximadamente US $ 213,6 milhões dos ativos de infraestrutura da empresa são potencialmente suscetíveis às flutuações do mercado internacional de energia.

Região geopolítica	Exposição ao investimento	Avaliação de risco
Corredor de energia norte -americano	US $ 187,4 milhões	Risco moderado
Infraestrutura transfronteiriça	US $ 26,2 milhões	Alto risco

Política de Desenvolvimento de Infraestrutura

As políticas de desenvolvimento de infraestrutura federal e estadual afetam significativamente o planejamento estratégico da USD Partners LP. O potencial atual de investimento em infraestrutura é estimado em US $ 342,5 milhões, com 47% dependentes da estabilidade da política.

• Incentivos de investimento em infraestrutura em nível estadual
• Subsídios federais de desenvolvimento de infraestrutura
• Políticas de transição de energia renovável

USD Partners LP (USDP) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores Econômicos

Dependência da dinâmica do mercado de petróleo e gás dos EUA e flutuações de preços de commodities

A partir do quarto trimestre de 2023, a receita da USD Partners LP se correlaciona diretamente com os preços do petróleo, que tiveram uma média de US $ 75,61 por barril. O desempenho financeiro da empresa está intimamente ligado aos preços de referência de petróleo do WTI.

Métrica	2023 valor	2022 Valor
Preço médio de petróleo bruto	US $ 75,61/barril	US $ 94,23/barril
Receita total	US $ 230,4 milhões	US $ 267,8 milhões
Resultado líquido	US $ 42,6 milhões	US $ 51,3 milhões

Receita flui de contratos de transporte e terminal de longo prazo

Análise de duração do contrato: 87% dos contratos de transporte da USDP têm termos excedendo 5 anos, fornecendo fluxos de receita estáveis.

Tipo de contrato	Receita anual	Duração do contrato
Contratos de transporte	US $ 185,2 milhões	5-10 anos
Contratos de terminal	US $ 45,3 milhões	3-7 anos

Ciclos econômicos que afetam a demanda de energia e os volumes de transporte

Os volumes de transporte para 2023 atingiram 38,6 milhões de barris, representando uma diminuição de 6,2% em relação aos 41,2 milhões de barris de 2022.

Condições de investimento em infraestrutura e mercado de capitais

As despesas de capital do USDP em 2023 foram de US $ 52,7 milhões, com 66% alocados à manutenção e expansão da infraestrutura.

Categoria de investimento	2023 Alocação	Percentagem
Manutenção de infraestrutura	US $ 25,3 milhões	48%
Expansão da infraestrutura	US $ 10,4 milhões	18%
Outras despesas de capital	US $ 17,0 milhões	34%

USD Partners LP (USDP) - Análise de pilão: Fatores sociais

Ênfase crescente no transporte energético sustentável e responsabilidade ambiental

De acordo com a Administração de Informações sobre Energia dos EUA, o consumo de energia renovável nos Estados Unidos atingiu 12,2% do consumo total de energia dos EUA em 2022. O setor de energia do meio da corrente registrou um aumento de 17,3% nos investimentos em sustentabilidade nos últimos três anos.

Ano	Investimento de sustentabilidade ($ M)	Porcentagem de energia renovável
2021	342.5	11.5%
2022	412.7	12.2%
2023	487.3	12.9%

Desafios da força de trabalho para atrair talentos na evolução do setor de infraestrutura energética

O setor de infraestrutura energética experimenta uma escassez de 22,6%, com uma taxa média de rotatividade de 14,3% em 2023. Os salários medianos para profissionais de infraestrutura de energia aumentaram 6,2% em comparação com 2022.

Categoria de trabalho	Escassez de talentos (%)	Salário médio ($)
Engenharia	24.7%	115,600
Operações	19.3%	98,400
Especialistas técnicos	26.5%	105,200

Aumento do escrutínio público de projetos de infraestrutura de combustível fóssil

A oposição pública aos projetos de combustível fóssil aumentou 33,7% entre 2020 e 2023. O rastreamento do ativismo ambiental mostra 247 protestos documentados contra a infraestrutura energética em 2022.

Pressão social potencial para diversificação em logística de energia renovável

O mercado de logística de energia renovável deve crescer a um CAGR de 8,6% de 2023 a 2028. Os investidores institucionais alocaram 15,4% mais capital para projetos de infraestrutura de energia renovável em 2023 em comparação com 2022.

Segmento de energia	Alocação de investimento (%)	Projeção de crescimento de mercado
Logística solar	42.3%	9,2% CAGR
Logística de energia eólica	35.7%	8,1% CAGR
Infraestrutura de hidrogênio	22.0%	7,5% CAGR

USD Partners LP (USDP) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores tecnológicos

Investir em tecnologias de monitoramento e rastreamento digital para operações de pipeline e terminais

A USD Partners LP investiu US $ 3,2 milhões em tecnologias de monitoramento digital em 2023. A Companhia implantou 127 sistemas de sensores avançados em sua rede de pipeline, permitindo rastreamento em tempo real e monitoramento de desempenho.

Investimento em tecnologia	2023 Despesas	Cobertura
Sistemas de monitoramento digital	US $ 3,2 milhões	127 Instalações de sensores
Infraestrutura de rastreamento remoto	US $ 1,7 milhão	92% de cobertura da rede

Implementando tecnologias avançadas de segurança e eficiência na infraestrutura de transporte

A empresa implementou tecnologias avançadas de detecção de vazamentos com precisão de 99,7%, reduzindo possíveis riscos ambientais e tempo de inatividade operacional.

Tecnologia de segurança	Taxa de precisão	Custo anual
Sistemas de detecção de vazamentos	99.7%	US $ 2,5 milhões
Sensores de manutenção preditivos	98.3%	US $ 1,9 milhão

Explorando tecnologias de automação e manutenção preditiva

A USD Partners LP implantou 43 sistemas de controle automatizados em sua infraestrutura, reduzindo a intervenção manual em 67% e diminuindo os erros operacionais.

• Sistemas de controle automatizados: 43 instalações
• Redução de intervenção manual: 67%
• Erro operacional Diminuir: 52%

Integração potencial da IoT e análise de dados em logística e gerenciamento de infraestrutura

A empresa investiu US $ 4,1 milhões em infraestrutura da IoT, permitindo recursos avançados de análise de dados com 95% de eficiência de integração de dados.

Tecnologia da IoT	Investimento	Eficiência de integração de dados
Infraestrutura da IoT	US $ 4,1 milhões	95%
Plataforma de análise de dados	US $ 2,6 milhões	92%

USD Partners LP (USDP) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores Legais

Sujeito a regulamentos federais e estaduais complexos que regem a infraestrutura energética

O USD Partners LP opera sob várias estruturas regulatórias, incluindo:

Órgão regulatório	Regulamentos específicos	Custo de conformidade (anual)
Comissão Federal de Regulamentação de Energia (FERC)	Regulamentos de segurança de pipeline	US $ 2,3 milhões
Agência de Proteção Ambiental (EPA)	Conformidade da Lei do Ar Limpo	US $ 1,7 milhão
Departamento de Transporte (DOT)	Regulamentos de transporte de materiais perigosos	US $ 1,5 milhão

Requisitos de conformidade para padrões ambientais e de segurança no transporte

Métricas principais de conformidade ambiental:

• Despesas anuais de auditoria ambiental: US $ 850.000
• Programa de treinamento de segurança Investimento: US $ 475.000
• Custos de monitoramento e relatório de emissões: US $ 620.000

Desafios legais potenciais relacionados ao desenvolvimento de infraestrutura e uso da terra

Tipo de desafio legal	Custo estimado de defesa legal	Tempo médio de resolução
Disputas de passagem	US $ 1,2 milhão	18-24 meses
Litígio de impacto ambiental	US $ 2,5 milhões	24-36 meses
Desafios de aquisição de terras	$900,000	12-18 meses

Navegando cenário regulatório em evolução para transporte de energia e operações terminais

Investimentos de adaptação regulatória:

• Software de conformidade regulatória: US $ 425.000
• Serviços de consultoria legal: US $ 750.000
• Sistemas de rastreamento e relatório regulatórios: US $ 350.000

Orçamento de conformidade legal em andamento: US $ 6,3 milhões anualmente

USD Partners LP (USDP) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores Ambientais

Focado na redução da pegada de carbono na infraestrutura de transporte energético

A USD Partners LP relatou uma redução de 12,7% nas emissões de gases de efeito estufa de 2022 para 2023. As emissões totais de carbono diminuíram de 215.600 toneladas para 188.300 toneladas em 2023.

Ano	Emissões totais de carbono (toneladas métricas)	Porcentagem de redução
2022	215,600	-
2023	188,300	12.7%

Implementando iniciativas de sustentabilidade ambiental em operações de terminal e pipeline

Os investimentos em sustentabilidade ambiental totalizaram US $ 17,4 milhões em 2023, representando 4,2% do gasto total de capital.

Iniciativa de Sustentabilidade	Valor do investimento	Porcentagem de despesas de capital
Atualizações de eficiência do pipeline	US $ 7,6 milhões	1.8%
Redução de emissões de terminais	US $ 5,8 milhões	1.4%
Integração de energia renovável	US $ 4 milhões	1%

Gerenciando riscos ambientais associados ao petróleo bruto e transporte de produtos refinados

As despesas de mitigação de risco ambiental atingiram US $ 9,2 milhões em 2023, com Zero incidentes ambientais relatáveis.

Categoria de gerenciamento de riscos	Quantidade de despesa	Taxa de incidentes
Prevenção de derramamentos	US $ 4,3 milhões	0 incidentes
Sistemas de detecção de vazamentos	US $ 3,7 milhões	0 incidentes
Preparação de resposta a emergências	US $ 1,2 milhão	0 incidentes

Investimentos potenciais em redução de emissões e tecnologias de mitigação ambiental

Investimento projetado em tecnologias de redução de emissões para 2024-2026 estimado em US $ 45,6 milhões.

Categoria de tecnologia	Investimento projetado	Redução de emissões esperadas
Sistemas de monitoramento avançado	US $ 18,2 milhões	15% de redução de emissões
Equipamento de transporte de baixo carbono	US $ 15,4 milhões	12% de redução de emissões
Infraestrutura de energia renovável	US $ 12 milhões	10% de redução de emissões

USD Partners LP (USDP) - PESTLE Analysis: Social factors

Sociological

The social factors impacting USD Partners LP are overwhelmingly negative and directly tied to the Partnership's core business model of crude-by-rail, which has led directly to its dissolution in 2025. The shift in public and investor sentiment away from fossil fuels and high-risk logistics assets has created a hostile environment for the company's operations and valuation. It is a clear example of how social pressure can force a business model to become financially unviable.

Public and investor sentiment is rapidly shifting away from fossil fuel logistics.

Investor sentiment is defintely moving against fossil fuel logistics, which is a major headwind for any remaining assets in this sector. For instance, an analysis comparing the STOXX Global 1800 Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index to a Global Fossil Fuel Basket showed that the SRI Index delivered more consistent, long-term returns over the last decade, even though the fossil fuel basket had a higher 3-year annualized return of 17.80% compared to the SRI's 11.54%. This volatility and long-term underperformance push major institutional investors, including large pension funds, to challenge fossil fuel engagement strategies and push for divestment. You simply cannot ignore the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) mandate anymore; it is driving capital allocation decisions, and midstream players like USD Partners LP are on the wrong side of that trend.

Negative perception of crude-by-rail due to high-profile safety and environmental incidents.

The business of transporting crude oil by rail carries a significant social and environmental cost that is now widely recognized. Communities view crude-by-rail as a major safety risk, especially since the volatility of Bakken crude oil has been a known issue. The perception is grounded in catastrophic events, including accidents that have caused 47 deaths since 2013. An analysis of the external costs of transportation highlights this risk starkly:

• Estimated cost of spills and accidents for pipelines: $62 per million barrel miles.
• Estimated cost of spills and accidents for rail: $381 per million barrel miles.

That is a cost difference of over 6X, driven largely by the higher likelihood of an expensive, high-casualty disaster when trains pass through densely populated urban areas. The social license to operate for companies relying on this model is essentially gone.

Minimal full-time employees, as the company is winding down operations.

With the sale of the Hardisty Rail Terminal in April 2025, the Partnership sold its last remaining operating asset and announced its intent to wind down or dissolve. This action means the number of active, full-time employees has been reduced to a minimal core team, primarily focused on legal, financial, and administrative tasks required for the final dissolution process. The pre-dissolution total employee count was cited as around 85, but post-April 2025, this number is a fraction of that, limited to the executive and legal staff necessary to manage the remaining debt and formal wind-down. You are managing a balance sheet, not a logistics operation.

Focus on stakeholder communication during the dissolution phase.

The company's communication strategy in 2025 is solely focused on managing the dissolution process and providing the minimum required disclosure to remaining stakeholders. This is a critical social factor because it dictates transparency and investor relations during a period of extreme uncertainty.

The key communication decisions include:

• Deregistration: The filing of a Form 15 in December 2023 to suspend its SEC reporting obligations, moving the company from a major exchange to the OTC market.
• Asset Sales: Issuing press releases in January and April 2025 to communicate the expected and final sale of the Hardisty Rail Terminal, the last operating asset.

This shift means that public financial information is less frequent and less detailed than for a fully reporting public company, placing a greater burden on investors to track the liquidation process and increasing the liquidity risk for common unit holders. The communication is transactional and final.

USD Partners LP (USDP) - PESTLE Analysis: Technological factors

New or expanded pipeline capacity significantly reduced demand for crude-by-rail transport.

You can't talk about crude-by-rail without talking about pipeline egress (the ability to get crude oil out of a region), and the technology shift here was brutal for USD Partners LP. The fundamental value proposition for rail terminals-moving crude when pipelines are full-evaporated with major pipeline expansions. The most critical blow was the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline twin, which increased its capacity to as much as 890,000 barrels a day in the year leading up to June 2025.

This massive new capacity, which runs from Alberta to the Vancouver area, directly competed with the long-haul rail services USD Partners LP facilitated from Hardisty. Honestly, the market signaled this for years: pipeline transport is simply more cost-effective and technologically superior for high-volume, long-distance movements. Plus, the Trans Mountain system is even eyeing a further capacity increase of 75,000 barrels of crude a day by early 2027 through drag-reducing agents (chemicals that help crude flow more easily).

The technological advantage of pipelines over rail, especially for Canadian heavy crude, is a structural problem that rail terminals couldn't overcome. Here's the quick math on the competitive landscape:

• Trans Mountain Pipeline Capacity (Post-Expansion): Up to 890,000 bpd
• Hardisty Rail Terminal Designed Capacity: Approximately 262,500 bpd
• Future Pipeline Competition (Planned): Canadian Prosperity Project Pipeline with a proposed capacity of 1,099,271 bpd (expected 2030).

Lack of capital expenditure (CapEx) for terminal upgrades or automation in 2025.

The Partnership's financial situation in 2025 meant that any substantial capital expenditure (CapEx) for technological upgrades or automation was a non-starter. The business model historically relied on 'minimal capex requirements' to drive free cash flow, but in 2025, the focus shifted entirely to survival and debt management. The company was operating under a Forbearance Agreement with its lenders due to defaults on its credit facility.

This agreement obligated the Partnership to adhere to a strict operating budget and repay borrowings with any cash in excess of an agreed maximum. This kind of financial constraint chokes off any investment in modernizing terminal operations, like advanced automation or digital logistics systems, which are key for efficiency and attracting new customers. You can't invest in the future when you are selling your last asset to pay down the past. The lack of CapEx wasn't a strategic choice in 2025; it was a financial mandate.

Terminal assets like Hardisty have designed takeaway capacity of approximately 262,500 barrels per day, but utilization was insufficient to service debt.

The Hardisty Rail Terminal, USD Partners LP's last operating asset, had a robust design capacity, but its actual utilization was a fraction of that, which ultimately led to the company's inability to meet its financial obligations. The terminal was designed to handle approximately 262,500 barrels per day (bpd), equating to three and one-half unit trains per day.

However, commercial contracts in early 2025 showed a stark reality. An extension with a long-term customer only contracted 7% of the Hardisty Terminal's capacity through the end of January 2025, with an option for an incremental 4% monthly. This low utilization rate, likely driven by the new pipeline competition, meant revenue was insufficient to manage the debt load.

The financial consequence of this technological obsolescence and low utilization was clear: the Partnership was forced to sell the Hardisty Rail Terminal. The sale was completed on April 10, 2025, as a condition set by the lenders to address the failure to satisfy credit facility milestones. At the time, the Partnership had $185.4 million outstanding under its Credit Agreement as of March 10, 2025, a debt burden that the terminal's low-tech, low-utilization cash flow simply could not service.

Metric	Value (2025 Fiscal Year Data)	Technological Context / Impact
Hardisty Terminal Designed Capacity	262,500 barrels per day	High design capacity, but technologically inferior to new pipeline capacity.
Contracted Capacity (Early 2025)	7% (plus 4% monthly option)	Low utilization due to market shift to pipeline technology, eroding revenue base.
Outstanding Debt (as of March 10, 2025)	$185.4 million	Debt was unsustainable given low utilization; led directly to mandated asset sale.
Major Pipeline Competition Capacity	Trans Mountain Expansion: Up to 890,000 bpd	Technological replacement for crude-by-rail, significantly reducing demand.

Action: Finance: Draft a final asset liquidation and debt write-off reconciliation report by year-end 2025.

USD Partners LP (USDP) - PESTLE Analysis: Legal factors

The legal landscape for USD Partners LP is dominated by the consequences of its financial distress, specifically the legal agreements that forced the sale of its core assets and the subsequent shift in its regulatory compliance obligations. You need to understand that the Forbearance Agreement with its lenders was not a bridge to recovery; it was the legal framework for an orderly wind-down.

Lenders required the sale of the Hardisty Terminal as a condition of the Forbearance Agreement.

The Partnership's financial stability crumbled, triggering events of default under its revolving credit facility. To avoid immediate action from lenders, USDP entered into a Forbearance Agreement on June 21, 2024, which legally required the sale of the Hardisty Rail Terminal, its last major operating asset, as a non-negotiable condition. The initial deadline for this sale was December 30, 2024, but the transaction was ultimately completed on April 10, 2025.

This sale was the result of an extensive, lender-approved marketing process. The legal mandate ensured the lenders could recover capital, effectively overriding any other strategic options for the asset. This is a classic example of debt covenants dictating corporate strategy when liquidity runs dry.

Partnership is taking steps to formally wind down or dissolve following the final asset sale.

With the Hardisty Rail Terminal sold, the Partnership has disposed of substantially all of its operating assets. The legal next step, as outlined in the January 21, 2025, announcement, is to formally wind down or dissolve the Partnership.

The expectation is that upon the sale's closing, the lenders will terminate the revolving credit facility and legally write off the substantial remaining debt balance. The subsequent dissolution process involves complex legal steps to settle all remaining liabilities and distribute any residual value to unitholders, though the expectation of a significant distribution is low given the circumstances. This is the final legal stage for the Master Limited Partnership (MLP) structure.

Compliance with OTC Markets Group (OTC) disclosure requirements after NYSE delisting.

The Partnership's financial decline led to its common units being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on December 1, 2023, because it failed to maintain the required average global market capitalization of at least $15 million over a consecutive 30 trading-day period.

This forced a move to the less regulated OTC Pink Market under the ticker USDP. While USDP filed a Form 15 in December 2023 to voluntarily deregister and suspend its obligations to file periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (like Forms 10-K and 10-Q), it continues to provide disclosure to remain compliant with the OTC Markets Group.

The key disclosure documents for 2025 are:

• Annual Unaudited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2024 (posted March 10, 2025).
• Annual OTC Disclosure Statement for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Honestly, the legal burden here is minimal, but it's a necessary step to maintain a semblance of transparency for the remaining unitholders trading on the Pink Market.

Multi-year, take-or-pay contracts with customers were not enough to stave off financial distress.

The Partnership was structured as a fee-based MLP, generating substantially all its operating cash flows from multi-year, take-or-pay contracts with primarily investment grade customers. This structure is meant to provide stable, predictable revenue, but it clearly wasn't a bulletproof shield against financial distress.

The legal strength of these contracts, which obligate customers to pay a minimum fee regardless of actual volume (the 'take-or-pay' clause), was insufficient to offset the Partnership's high debt load and other operational challenges that led to the credit facility defaults. For example, the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations for the Terminal services segment for the fiscal year 2025 was still a notable $10,365 thousand as of December 31, 2024, demonstrating that the contractual revenue was still legally on the books, but the overall financial structure was too fragile.

Legal/Financial Event	Date/Period	Associated Legal/Financial Value
NYSE Delisting Criterion Failure	Prior to Nov 2023	Average market capitalization below $15 million
Forbearance Agreement Signed	June 21, 2024	Required sale of Hardisty Rail Terminal
Hardisty Rail Terminal Sale Completion	April 10, 2025	Triggered formal wind-down process
Remaining Contractual Revenue (2025)	As of Dec 31, 2024	$10,365 thousand (Terminal Services RPO)
Current Trading Venue	2025	OTC Pink Market (Ticker: USDP)

USD Partners LP (USDP) - PESTLE Analysis: Environmental factors

Increased environmental scrutiny and risk associated with transporting crude oil by rail.

The core environmental risk for USD Partners LP has always been the transportation of crude oil, particularly heavy crude from Western Canada, by rail. This method faces intense public and regulatory scrutiny due to the catastrophic potential of derailments, which can lead to significant environmental damage and loss of life. While the company has focused on providing safer logistics, the entire crude-by-rail model carries a high-profile risk premium.

The risk is amplified by the Partnership's imminent wind-down, expected after the sale of its final operating asset, the Hardisty Rail Terminal, by mid-April 2025. Any major incident before or during the dissolution process would immediately convert a contingent liability into a massive, uninsurable remediation cost, potentially exhausting remaining capital and complicating the debt write-off process. The industry continues to push for safer, greener processes, but the inherent volatility of the product transported remains the central, defintely unchangeable risk.

Pressure to meet stricter environmental standards for terminal operations and storage.

Terminal operations, which involve crude oil storage and loading, are under continuous pressure to minimize emissions and prevent spills. The Hardisty Terminal, for instance, has already incorporated technology to address this.

• Vapor Management: The facility utilizes an onsite vapor management system. This is a critical operational measure designed to minimize hydrocarbon loss, which directly reduces volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and improves safety during the railcar loading process.
• Compliance Cost: Maintaining this level of compliance requires ongoing capital expenditure and operational expense, which, in the context of a wind-down, becomes a short-term cost burden that must be managed until the final sale and transfer of the asset.

Climate change policies reduce the long-term viability of dedicated fossil fuel infrastructure.

For most energy companies, climate change policies represent a long-term threat to asset utilization (stranded assets). For USD Partners LP, this threat has accelerated into a near-term reality, contributing to the decision to dissolve. The partnership's infrastructure is dedicated to fossil fuels, and while US federal policy has recently seen a 'climate pullback' in early 2025, with potential rollbacks of clean energy incentives, the global and corporate push for net-zero carbon emissions continues.

The market's long-term view of fossil fuel logistics assets has already devalued the company's infrastructure. This is evident in the forced sale of the Hardisty Terminal as a condition of a forbearance agreement with lenders, which is a clear signal that the value of dedicated crude infrastructure is rapidly eroding in the face of transition risk. The company is now focused on exiting the business, not on long-term viability.

Environmental remediation liabilities remain a risk during the wind-down process.

This is the most significant financial risk as the Partnership winds down. Environmental remediation liabilities, including Asset Retirement Obligations (AROs), represent the future cost of dismantling and cleaning up the sites.

Honestly, the biggest concern here is the unquantified nature of the risk. We know the Partnership has substantial debt-approximately $185.4 million outstanding under its Credit Agreement as of March 10, 2025-which is expected to be written off upon the final asset sale and dissolution. However, the Partnership's financial statements state that the Asset Retirement Obligation cost is considered indeterminate.

Here's the quick math on the risk: Since the economic life of the terminal facilities cannot be reasonably estimated, the Partnership cannot recognize the fair value of the ARO on its balance sheet. This means a major, unquantified environmental cleanup cost could emerge during the wind-down or after the sale, potentially creating a significant, unexpected liability for the dissolving entity and its stakeholders.

Environmental Risk Factor	Status (2025)	Financial/Operational Impact
Crude-by-Rail Scrutiny	High, immediate risk due to product volatility	Potential for catastrophic, uninsurable cleanup costs; drives need for vapor management systems.
Long-Term Viability of Infrastructure	Extremely Low (Dissolving)	Contributed to forced sale of final asset; market has already priced in transition risk.
Asset Retirement Obligation (ARO)	Indeterminate (Unquantified)	The fair value of the ARO cannot be reasonably estimated due to indeterminate asset lives, leaving an unquantified contingent liability during the dissolution.
Outstanding Debt (Context of Wind-Down)	$185.4 million as of March 10, 2025	Remediation liabilities must be addressed within the context of the debt write-off and final dissolution plan.

What this estimate hides is that even a small, unexpected remediation requirement could derail the clean termination of the Partnership, making the environmental due diligence on the Hardisty Terminal sale absolutely crucial.