Discontinued Operations

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Discontinued Operations [Abstract]

Discontinued Operations

Note 11   Discontinued Operations

We determined that the plan of sale criteria in the ASC Topic relating to the Presentation of Financial Statements for Assets Sold or Held for Sale had been met during the third quarter of 2010 for our oil and gas assets in the Horn River basin in Canada and in the Llanos basin in Colombia. At September 30, 2010, these assets also included our 49.7% and 50.0% ownership interests in our investments of Remora Energy International, LP (“Remora”) in Colombia and Stone Mountain Ventures Partnership (“SMVP”) in Canada, respectively, which we had accounted for using the equity method of accounting. All of these assets are included in our oil and gas operating segment. Accordingly, we reclassified wholly owned oil and gas assets from our property, plant and equipment, net, as well as our investment balances for Remora and SMVP from investments in unconsolidated affiliates to assets held for sale, in our consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2010.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, we sold some of our wholly owned oil and gas assets in Colombia to an unrelated third party. We received proceeds of $89.2 million from this sale and recognized a gain of approximately $39.9 million. Additionally, during the nine months ended September 30, 2011, Remora completed sales of their oil and gas assets in Colombia. Remora received gross proceeds of approximately $279.0 million from these sales and has made cash distributions to us in the amount of $143.0 million with a final distribution expected upon dissolution of the joint venture.

In June 2011, the equity owners of SMVP dissolved the partnership and a proportionate share of the assets and liabilities were conveyed to us in exchange for our ownership interest. The exchange was not a material transaction to us and we accounted for it as a business combination. We continue to market these assets for sale and believe that these assets are properly reflected in our assets held for sale balances at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010.

The operating results from our oil and gas assets in Canada and Colombia that we have classified as held for sale have been retroactively presented as discontinued operations in the accompanying unaudited consolidated balance sheets and statements of income (loss) and the respective accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements. Our condensed statements of income (loss) from discontinued operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 were as follows:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
Condensed Statements of Income (Loss) from Discontinued	September 30,						September 30,
Operations	2011			2010			2011			2010
	(In thousands)
Operating revenues and Earnings (losses) from unconsolidated affiliates	$	3,684		$	3,556		$	101,966	(1)	$	20,680
Income (loss) from discontinued operations:
Income (loss) from discontinued operations	$	(8,534	)	$	(8,864	)	$	71,039		$	(13,432	)
Gain (loss) on disposal of wholly owned assets		—			—			39,944			—
Less: income tax expense (benefit)		(1,294	)		(1,273	)		(3,513	)		(511	)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	$	(7,240	)	$	(7,591	)	$	114,496		$	(12,921	)

(1) Includes approximately $85 million of equity in earnings during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 for our proportionate share of Remora’s net income, inclusive of the gains recognized for asset sales during the first nine months of 2011.