Item 1.
Business
OUR PARTNERSHIP
DCP Midstream Partners, LP along with its consolidated subsidiaries, or we, us, our, or the partnership, is
a Delaware limited partnership formed in August 2005 by DCP Midstream, LLC to own, operate, acquire and
develop a diversified portfolio of complementary midstream energy assets. We completed our initial public
offering on December 7, 2005. We are currently engaged in the business of gathering, compressing, treating,
processing, transporting, storing and selling natural gas; transporting, storing and selling propane in wholesale
markets; and producing, fractionating, transporting, storing and selling NGLs and condensate. Supported by our
relationship with DCP Midstream, LLC and its parents, Spectra Energy Corp, or Spectra Energy, and
ConocoPhillips, we have a management team dedicated to executing our growth strategy by acquiring and
constructing additional assets. During the third quarter of 2011, ConocoPhillips announced plans to separate its
business into two stand-alone publicly traded companies, and anticipates completing the proposed separation
during the first half of 2012. As a result of this potential transaction, DCP Midstream, LLC would no longer be
owned 50% by ConocoPhillips. ConocoPhillips’ 50% ownership interest in DCP Midstream, LLC will be
transferred to the new downstream company, Phillips 66. We do not anticipate that the change in ownership
will have a material impact on our business or operations.
Our operations are organized into three business segments, Natural Gas Services, NGL Logistics and
Wholesale Propane Logistics. A map representing the geographic location and type of our assets for all
segments is set forth below. Additional maps detailing the individual assets can be found on our website at
www.dcppartners.com
. Our website and the information contained on that site, or connected to that site, are not
incorporated by reference into this report. For more information on our segments, see the
“Our Operating
Segments
” discussion below.
OVERVIEW AND STRATEGIES
Our Business Strategies
Our primary business objectives are to have sustained company profitability, a strong balance sheet and
profitable growth thereby increasing our cash distribution per unit over time. We intend to accomplish these
objectives by executing the following business strategies:
Co-investment with DCP Midstream, LLC: maximize opportunities provided by our partnership
with DCP Midstream, LLC.
We plan to execute and fund our growth in part through co-investing with
DCP Midstream, LLC, which can take numerous forms: (1) We pursue direct investments or third party
acquisitions of assets with characteristics that are suited to our master limited partnership where those
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