we believe we are well positioned to manage through these constraints as a large , integrated midstream company , but growth of our business could be dampened in the near term while more industry wide pipeline and fractionation facilities are developed . although there may be infrastructure constraints in the near term , we believe our growth projects and other industry wide projects coming on-line over the next two years will help mitigate those constraints . we believe these projects being developed will enable us to meet the demand of our customers . we believe our contract structure with our producers provides us with significant protection from credit risk since we generally hold the product , sell it and withhold our fees prior to remittance of payments to the producer . currently , our top 20 producers account for a majority of the total natural gas that we gather and process and of these top 20 producers , 9 have investment grade credit ratings while the remainder do not . in addition to the u.s. financial markets , many businesses and investors continue to monitor global economic conditions . uncertainty abroad may contribute to volatility in domestic financial and commodity markets . we believe we are positioned to withstand current and future commodity price volatility as a result of the following : our growing fee-based business represents a significant portion of our margins . we have positive operating cash flow from our well-positioned and diversified assets . we have a well-defined and targeted hedging program . we manage our disciplined capital growth program with a significant focus on fee-based agreements and projects with long term volume outlooks . we believe we have a solid capital structure and balance sheet . we believe we have access to sufficient capital to fund our growth . during 2019 , our strategic objectives will continue to focus on maintaining stable distributable cash flows from our existing assets and executing on opportunities to sustain and ultimately grow our long-term distributable cash flows . we believe the key elements to stable distributable cash flows are the diversity of our asset portfolio , our fee-based business which represents a significant portion of our estimated margins , plus our hedged commodity position , the objective of which is to protect against downside risk in our distributable cash flows . we have engaged in a disciplined growth strategy in recent years focusing on our key areas of operations . our targeted strategy may take numerous forms such as organic build opportunities within our footprint , joint venture opportunities , and acquisitions . growth opportunities will be evaluated in cooperation with producers and customers based on the expected level of drilling activity in these geographic regions and the impacts of higher costs of capital . some of our growth projects include the following : within our logistics and marketing segment , we increased the capacity of the sand hills pipeline to 485 mbbls/d during the fourth quarter of 2018 . 52 we increased the capacity of the southern hills pipeline at the end of the third quarter to approximately 190 mbbls/d . we are participating in the front range 100 mbls/d and texas express 90 mbls/d expansions adding ngl takeaway from the dj basin . both expansions are expected to go into service in the third quarter of 2019. we have a 33 % ownership option in the cheyenne connector pipeline . the cheyenne connector pipeline will have an initial capacity of at least 600 mmcf/day and is expected to be in service in the fourth quarter of 2019 , subject to certain conditions , including required approvals from the federal energy regulatory commission . we are adding ngl takeaway to the dj basin with our southern hills pipeline extension via the white cliffs pipeline , with capacity of 90 mbls/d , expandable to 120 mbls/d . expected completion is in the fourth quarter of 2019. we have a 25 % ownership interest in the gulf coast express pipeline , or `` gcx `` . the gcx project is designed to transport approximately 2 bcf/d of natural gas , and is fully subscribed . the natural gas takeaway pipeline is under construction and is anticipated to be in-service in the fourth quarter of 2019. we hold an option to acquire a 30 % ownership interest in two 150 mbbls/d fractionators to be constructed within phillips 66 's sweeny hub , exercisable at the in-service date , which is expected to be in late 2020. within our gathering and processing segment , construction of our up to 300 mmcf/d o'connor 2 facility and associated gathering infrastructure , located in the dj basin , is progressing . o'connor 2 is comprised of 200 mmcf/d of processing capacity and up to 100 mmcf/d of bypass . we expect to place the plant into service in the second quarter of 2019 , and the bypass into service in the third quarter of 2019. we have secured land and filed permits for bighorn , a natural gas processing facility in the dj basin , with capacity of up to 1.0 bcf/d including bypass . the bighorn facility is expected to be placed into service in phases beginning in the second quarter of 2020. we incur capital expenditures for our consolidated entities and our unconsolidated affiliates . our 2019 plan includes maintenance capital expenditures of between $ 90 million and $ 110 million , and expansion capital expenditures of between $ 600 million and $ 800 million . expansion capital expenditures are expected to include the construction of the o'connor 2 plant in our dj basin as well as the construction of the gulf coast express pipeline , the front range and texas express expansions and the extension of southern hills into the dj basin via the white cliffs pipeline , which are shown as investments in unconsolidated affiliates in our consolidated statements of cash flows . story_separator_special_tag 57 year ended december 31 , 2018 vs. year ended december 31 , 2017 total operating revenues — total operating revenues increased $ 1,360 million in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of the following : $ 1,257 million increase for our logistics and marketing segment primarily due to higher ngl and crude prices , higher gas and ngl sales volumes which impacts both sales and purchases , partially offset by lower natural gas prices , unfavorable commodity derivative activity and the implementation of asc 606 ; and $ 376 million increase for our gathering and processing segment due to higher ngl and crude prices , higher gas and ngl sales volumes impacting both sales and purchases due to increased drilling activity in our eagle ford system and the impact of hurricane harvey in 2017 in the south region , growth projects primarily related to our dj basin system in the north region and increased volumes , improved operational performance in our midcontinent region and favorable commodity derivative activity . these increases were partially offset by lower natural gas prices , the sale of our douglas gathering system in june 2017 and the implementation of asc 606 ; these increases were partially offset by : $ 273 million change in inter-segment eliminations , which relate to sales of gas and ngl volumes from our gathering and processing segment to our logistics and marketing segment , primarily due to higher gas and ngl sales volume , higher commodity prices and the implementation of asc 606. total purchases — total purchases increased $ 1,134 million in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of the following : $ 1,232 million increase for our logistics and marketing segment for the reasons discussed above . $ 175 million increase for our gathering and processing segment for the reasons discussed above ; these increases were partially offset by : $ 273 million change in inter-segment eliminations , which relate to sales of gas and ngl volumes from our gathering and processing segment to our logistics and marketing segment , primarily due to higher gas and ngl sales volumes and higher commodity prices and the implementation of asc 606 ; operating and maintenance expense — operating and maintenance expense increased in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of increased reliability spending , planned maintenance spending associated with anticipated volume growth and costs associated with the ramp-up of our mewbourn 3 plant . general and administrative expense — general and administrative expense decreased in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of lower contract services . asset impairments — asset impairments in 2018 represent the impairment of property , plant and equipment in our midcontinent and south regions . asset impairments in 2017 represent the impairment of property , plant and equipment and intangible assets in our south region . gain on sale of assets , net — the gain on sale in 2017 represents the sale of our douglas gathering system . loss from financing activities — loss from financing activities in 2018 represents a loss on redemption of senior notes . earnings from unconsolidated affiliates — earnings from unconsolidated affiliates increased in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of the expansion and volume ramp up of the sand hills ngl pipeline and higher volumes on the southern hills ngl pipeline in our logistics and marketing segment partially offset by a decrease from discovery in our gathering and processing segment primarily due to lower production volumes from two offshore wells . interest expense - interest expense decreased in 2018 compared to 2017 as a result of higher capitalized interest and a lower effective interest rate . net income attributable to partners — net income attributable to partners increased in 2018 compared to 2017 for the reasons discussed above . gross margin — gross margin increased $ 226 million in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of the following : 58 $ 201 million increase for our gathering and processing segment primarily related to increased volumes from increased drilling activity in our eagle ford system and the impact of hurricane harvey in 2017 in the south region , growth projects primarily related to our dj basin system in the north region , increased volumes and improved operational performance in the midcontinent region , favorable commodity derivative activity and higher commodity prices . these increases were partially offset by lower volumes in our permian region due to weather impacting operations , a third-party line strike and operational factors and the sale of our douglas gathering system in june 2017 ; $ 25 million increase for our logistics and marketing segment primarily related to higher gas marketing margins due to favorable commodity spreads primarily associated with guadalupe and higher ngl marketing margins and transported volumes , partially offset by unfavorable commodity derivative activity , lower margins on wholesale propane and the expiration of a commercial arrangement . year ended december 31 , 2017 vs. year ended december 31 , 2016 total operating revenues — total operating revenues increased $ 1,569 million in 2017 compared to 2016 primarily as a result of the following : $ 1,571 million increase for our logistics and marketing segment primarily due to increased commodity prices and favorable commodity derivative activity , partially offset by lower gas and ngl sales volumes and the sale of our northern louisiana system ; $ 977 million increase for our gathering and processing segment primarily due to higher commodity prices , higher gas and ngl sales volumes primarily related to our north region which impacts both sales and purchases , and higher transportation , processing and other , primarily related to fee based contract realignment efforts . these increases were partially offset by lower gas and ngl sales volumes in the south , midcontinent and permian regions , unfavorable commodity derivative activity and the sale of our northern louisiana system and douglas gathering system ; these increases were partially

cash distributions to unitholders — our partnership agreement requires that , within 45 days after the end of each quarter , we distribute all available cash , as defined in the partnership agreement . we made cash distributions to our common unitholders and general partner of $ 658 million and $ 545 million during the years ended december 31 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . distributions paid during the years ended december 31 , 2018 reflect the distribution of $ 40 million of idr givebacks to the idr holders , in conjunction with the quarterly distribution , that were previously withheld in 2017 under the partnership agreement . we intend to continue making quarterly distribution payments to our unitholders and general partner to the extent we have sufficient cash from operations after the establishment of reserves . in accordance with our partnership agreement , distributions declared were $ 618 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 . during the years ended december 31 , 2018 , no idr giveback was withheld from the distribution declared . on january 23 , 2019 , we announced that the board of directors of the general partner declared a quarterly distribution on our common units of $ 0.78 per common unit . the distribution will be paid on february 14 , 2019 to unitholders of record on february 4 , 2019 . on the same date , the board of directors of the general partner declared a quarterly distribution on our series b and series c preferred units of $ 0.4922 and $ 0.4969 per unit , respectively . the series b distributions will be paid on march 15 , 2019 to unitholders of record on march 1 , 2019 . the series c distribution will be paid on april 15 , 2019 to unitholders of record on april 1 , 2019 . we expect to continue to use cash provided by operating activities for the payment of distributions to our unitholders and general partner . see note 14 . `` partnership equity and distributions '' in the notes to the consolidated financial statements in item 8 . “ financial statements.


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash distributions to unitholders — our partnership agreement requires that , within 45 days after the end of each quarter , we distribute all available cash , as defined in the partnership agreement . we made cash distributions to our common unitholders and general partner of $ 658 million and $ 545 million during the years ended december 31 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . distributions paid during the years ended december 31 , 2018 reflect the distribution of $ 40 million of idr givebacks to the idr holders , in conjunction with the quarterly distribution , that were previously withheld in 2017 under the partnership agreement . we intend to continue making quarterly distribution payments to our unitholders and general partner to the extent we have sufficient cash from operations after the establishment of reserves . in accordance with our partnership agreement , distributions declared were $ 618 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 . during the years ended december 31 , 2018 , no idr giveback was withheld from the distribution declared . on january 23 , 2019 , we announced that the board of directors of the general partner declared a quarterly distribution on our common units of $ 0.78 per common unit . the distribution will be paid on february 14 , 2019 to unitholders of record on february 4 , 2019 . on the same date , the board of directors of the general partner declared a quarterly distribution on our series b and series c preferred units of $ 0.4922 and $ 0.4969 per unit , respectively . the series b distributions will be paid on march 15 , 2019 to unitholders of record on march 1 , 2019 . the series c distribution will be paid on april 15 , 2019 to unitholders of record on april 1 , 2019 . we expect to continue to use cash provided by operating activities for the payment of distributions to our unitholders and general partner . see note 14 . `` partnership equity and distributions '' in the notes to the consolidated financial statements in item 8 . “ financial statements.
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 Suspicious Activity Report : we believe we are well positioned to manage through these constraints as a large , integrated midstream company , but growth of our business could be dampened in the near term while more industry wide pipeline and fractionation facilities are developed . although there may be infrastructure constraints in the near term , we believe our growth projects and other industry wide projects coming on-line over the next two years will help mitigate those constraints . we believe these projects being developed will enable us to meet the demand of our customers . we believe our contract structure with our producers provides us with significant protection from credit risk since we generally hold the product , sell it and withhold our fees prior to remittance of payments to the producer . currently , our top 20 producers account for a majority of the total natural gas that we gather and process and of these top 20 producers , 9 have investment grade credit ratings while the remainder do not . in addition to the u.s. financial markets , many businesses and investors continue to monitor global economic conditions . uncertainty abroad may contribute to volatility in domestic financial and commodity markets . we believe we are positioned to withstand current and future commodity price volatility as a result of the following : our growing fee-based business represents a significant portion of our margins . we have positive operating cash flow from our well-positioned and diversified assets . we have a well-defined and targeted hedging program . we manage our disciplined capital growth program with a significant focus on fee-based agreements and projects with long term volume outlooks . we believe we have a solid capital structure and balance sheet . we believe we have access to sufficient capital to fund our growth . during 2019 , our strategic objectives will continue to focus on maintaining stable distributable cash flows from our existing assets and executing on opportunities to sustain and ultimately grow our long-term distributable cash flows . we believe the key elements to stable distributable cash flows are the diversity of our asset portfolio , our fee-based business which represents a significant portion of our estimated margins , plus our hedged commodity position , the objective of which is to protect against downside risk in our distributable cash flows . we have engaged in a disciplined growth strategy in recent years focusing on our key areas of operations . our targeted strategy may take numerous forms such as organic build opportunities within our footprint , joint venture opportunities , and acquisitions . growth opportunities will be evaluated in cooperation with producers and customers based on the expected level of drilling activity in these geographic regions and the impacts of higher costs of capital . some of our growth projects include the following : within our logistics and marketing segment , we increased the capacity of the sand hills pipeline to 485 mbbls/d during the fourth quarter of 2018 . 52 we increased the capacity of the southern hills pipeline at the end of the third quarter to approximately 190 mbbls/d . we are participating in the front range 100 mbls/d and texas express 90 mbls/d expansions adding ngl takeaway from the dj basin . both expansions are expected to go into service in the third quarter of 2019. we have a 33 % ownership option in the cheyenne connector pipeline . the cheyenne connector pipeline will have an initial capacity of at least 600 mmcf/day and is expected to be in service in the fourth quarter of 2019 , subject to certain conditions , including required approvals from the federal energy regulatory commission . we are adding ngl takeaway to the dj basin with our southern hills pipeline extension via the white cliffs pipeline , with capacity of 90 mbls/d , expandable to 120 mbls/d . expected completion is in the fourth quarter of 2019. we have a 25 % ownership interest in the gulf coast express pipeline , or `` gcx `` . the gcx project is designed to transport approximately 2 bcf/d of natural gas , and is fully subscribed . the natural gas takeaway pipeline is under construction and is anticipated to be in-service in the fourth quarter of 2019. we hold an option to acquire a 30 % ownership interest in two 150 mbbls/d fractionators to be constructed within phillips 66 's sweeny hub , exercisable at the in-service date , which is expected to be in late 2020. within our gathering and processing segment , construction of our up to 300 mmcf/d o'connor 2 facility and associated gathering infrastructure , located in the dj basin , is progressing . o'connor 2 is comprised of 200 mmcf/d of processing capacity and up to 100 mmcf/d of bypass . we expect to place the plant into service in the second quarter of 2019 , and the bypass into service in the third quarter of 2019. we have secured land and filed permits for bighorn , a natural gas processing facility in the dj basin , with capacity of up to 1.0 bcf/d including bypass . the bighorn facility is expected to be placed into service in phases beginning in the second quarter of 2020. we incur capital expenditures for our consolidated entities and our unconsolidated affiliates . our 2019 plan includes maintenance capital expenditures of between $ 90 million and $ 110 million , and expansion capital expenditures of between $ 600 million and $ 800 million . expansion capital expenditures are expected to include the construction of the o'connor 2 plant in our dj basin as well as the construction of the gulf coast express pipeline , the front range and texas express expansions and the extension of southern hills into the dj basin via the white cliffs pipeline , which are shown as investments in unconsolidated affiliates in our consolidated statements of cash flows . story_separator_special_tag 57 year ended december 31 , 2018 vs. year ended december 31 , 2017 total operating revenues — total operating revenues increased $ 1,360 million in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of the following : $ 1,257 million increase for our logistics and marketing segment primarily due to higher ngl and crude prices , higher gas and ngl sales volumes which impacts both sales and purchases , partially offset by lower natural gas prices , unfavorable commodity derivative activity and the implementation of asc 606 ; and $ 376 million increase for our gathering and processing segment due to higher ngl and crude prices , higher gas and ngl sales volumes impacting both sales and purchases due to increased drilling activity in our eagle ford system and the impact of hurricane harvey in 2017 in the south region , growth projects primarily related to our dj basin system in the north region and increased volumes , improved operational performance in our midcontinent region and favorable commodity derivative activity . these increases were partially offset by lower natural gas prices , the sale of our douglas gathering system in june 2017 and the implementation of asc 606 ; these increases were partially offset by : $ 273 million change in inter-segment eliminations , which relate to sales of gas and ngl volumes from our gathering and processing segment to our logistics and marketing segment , primarily due to higher gas and ngl sales volume , higher commodity prices and the implementation of asc 606. total purchases — total purchases increased $ 1,134 million in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of the following : $ 1,232 million increase for our logistics and marketing segment for the reasons discussed above . $ 175 million increase for our gathering and processing segment for the reasons discussed above ; these increases were partially offset by : $ 273 million change in inter-segment eliminations , which relate to sales of gas and ngl volumes from our gathering and processing segment to our logistics and marketing segment , primarily due to higher gas and ngl sales volumes and higher commodity prices and the implementation of asc 606 ; operating and maintenance expense — operating and maintenance expense increased in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of increased reliability spending , planned maintenance spending associated with anticipated volume growth and costs associated with the ramp-up of our mewbourn 3 plant . general and administrative expense — general and administrative expense decreased in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of lower contract services . asset impairments — asset impairments in 2018 represent the impairment of property , plant and equipment in our midcontinent and south regions . asset impairments in 2017 represent the impairment of property , plant and equipment and intangible assets in our south region . gain on sale of assets , net — the gain on sale in 2017 represents the sale of our douglas gathering system . loss from financing activities — loss from financing activities in 2018 represents a loss on redemption of senior notes . earnings from unconsolidated affiliates — earnings from unconsolidated affiliates increased in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of the expansion and volume ramp up of the sand hills ngl pipeline and higher volumes on the southern hills ngl pipeline in our logistics and marketing segment partially offset by a decrease from discovery in our gathering and processing segment primarily due to lower production volumes from two offshore wells . interest expense - interest expense decreased in 2018 compared to 2017 as a result of higher capitalized interest and a lower effective interest rate . net income attributable to partners — net income attributable to partners increased in 2018 compared to 2017 for the reasons discussed above . gross margin — gross margin increased $ 226 million in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily as a result of the following : 58 $ 201 million increase for our gathering and processing segment primarily related to increased volumes from increased drilling activity in our eagle ford system and the impact of hurricane harvey in 2017 in the south region , growth projects primarily related to our dj basin system in the north region , increased volumes and improved operational performance in the midcontinent region , favorable commodity derivative activity and higher commodity prices . these increases were partially offset by lower volumes in our permian region due to weather impacting operations , a third-party line strike and operational factors and the sale of our douglas gathering system in june 2017 ; $ 25 million increase for our logistics and marketing segment primarily related to higher gas marketing margins due to favorable commodity spreads primarily associated with guadalupe and higher ngl marketing margins and transported volumes , partially offset by unfavorable commodity derivative activity , lower margins on wholesale propane and the expiration of a commercial arrangement . year ended december 31 , 2017 vs. year ended december 31 , 2016 total operating revenues — total operating revenues increased $ 1,569 million in 2017 compared to 2016 primarily as a result of the following : $ 1,571 million increase for our logistics and marketing segment primarily due to increased commodity prices and favorable commodity derivative activity , partially offset by lower gas and ngl sales volumes and the sale of our northern louisiana system ; $ 977 million increase for our gathering and processing segment primarily due to higher commodity prices , higher gas and ngl sales volumes primarily related to our north region which impacts both sales and purchases , and higher transportation , processing and other , primarily related to fee based contract realignment efforts . these increases were partially offset by lower gas and ngl sales volumes in the south , midcontinent and permian regions , unfavorable commodity derivative activity and the sale of our northern louisiana system and douglas gathering system ; these increases were partially

