DERIVATIVE AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

DERIVATIVE AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

DERIVATIVE AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

8. DERIVATIVE AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

The Company is exposed to certain risks relating to its ongoing business operations, such as commodity price risk and interest rate risk. In accordance with the Company’s policy and the requirements under the Term Loan Agreement, it generally hedges a substantial, but varying, portion of anticipated oil and natural gas production for future periods. Derivatives are carried at fair value on the consolidated balance sheets as assets or liabilities, with the changes in the fair value included in the consolidated statements of operations for the period in which the change occurs. The Company has elected not to designate any of its derivative contracts for hedge accounting. Accordingly, the Company records the net change in the mark-to-market valuation of these derivative contracts, as well as all payments and receipts on settled derivative contracts, in “Net gain (loss) on derivative contracts” on the consolidated statements of operations. The Company’s hedge policies and objectives may change significantly as its operational profile changes. The Company does not enter into derivative contracts for speculative trading purposes.

It is the Company’s policy to enter into derivative contracts only with counterparties that are creditworthy financial or commodity hedging institutions deemed by management as competent and competitive market makers. As of December 31, 2023, the Company did not post collateral under any of its derivative contracts as they are secured under the Company’s Amended Term Loan Agreement.

The Company’s crude oil and natural gas derivative positions at any point in time may consist of fixed-price swaps, costless put/call collars, basis swaps and WTI NYMEX rolls further described as follows:

● Fixed-price swaps are designed so that the Company receives or makes payments based on a differential between fixed and variable prices for crude oil and natural gas.

● Costless collars consist of a sold call, which establishes a maximum price the Company will receive for the volumes under contract and a purchased put that establishes a minimum price and are generally utilized less frequently by the Company than fixed-price swaps.

● Basis swaps effectively lock in a price differential between regional prices (i.e. Midland) where the product is sold and the relevant pricing index under which the oil production is hedged (i.e. Cushing).

● WTI NYMEX roll agreements account for pricing adjustments to the trade month versus the delivery month for contract pricing.

The following table summarizes the location and fair value amounts of all derivative contracts in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,					Years Ended December 31,
Balance sheet location	2023		2022		Balance sheet location	2023		2022
Current assets	$	8,992	$	16,244	Current liabilities	$	(17,191)	$	(29,286)
Other noncurrent assets		4,877		5,379	Other noncurrent liabilities		(16,058)		(33,649)
	$	13,869	$	21,623		$	(33,249)	$	(62,935)

The following table summarizes the location and amounts of the Company’s realized and unrealized gains and losses on derivative contracts in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):

	Location of gain or (loss)
	on derivative contracts on	Years Ended December 31,
Type	Statement of Operations	2023		2022
Commodity contracts:
Unrealized gain (loss)	Other income (expenses)	$	21,934	$	20,256
Realized gain (loss)	Other income (expenses)		(9,245)		(130,262)
Total net gain (loss)		$	12,689	$	(110,006)

At December 31, 2023, the Company had the following open crude oil and natural gas derivative contracts:

Instrument		2024		2025		2026		2027
Crude oil:
Fixed-price swap:
Total volumes (Bbls)		1,834,924		1,405,463		1,016,641		620,387
Weighted average price	$	63.62	$	61.59	$	63.50	$	61.38
Basis swap:
Total volumes (Bbls)		1,834,321		1,430,806		1,023,669		682,265
Weighted average price	$	0.27	$	0.24	$	0.04	$	0.44
WTI NYMEX roll:
Total volumes (Bbls)		1,814,073		1,430,806		1,023,669		682,265
Weighted average price	$	0.27	$	0.13	$	(0.01)	$	(0.02)
Natural gas:
Fixed-price swap:
Total volumes (MMBtu)		4,452,855		4,284,179		2,357,998		1,587,636
Weighted average price	$	3.54	$	3.40	$	3.96	$	3.68
Two-way collar:
Total volumes (MMBtu)		2,610,639		1,651,321		2,063,812		1,355,000
Weighted average price (call)	$	5.08	$	5.12	$	5.26	$	5.57
Weighted average price (put)	$	3.67	$	3.72	$	3.70	$	3.66
Basis swap:
Total volumes (MMBtu)		7,052,822		5,834,257		4,382,626		2,653,497
Weighted average price	$	(0.87)	$	(0.68)	$	(0.77)	$	(0.71)

The Company presents the fair value of its derivative contracts at the gross amounts in the consolidated balance sheets. The following table shows the potential effects of master netting arrangements on the fair value of the Company’s derivative contracts at December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):

	Derivative Assets				Derivative Liabilities
	Years Ended December 31,				Years Ended December 31,
Offsetting of Derivative Assets and Liabilities	2023		2022		2023		2022
Gross Amounts - Consolidated Balance Sheet	$	13,869	$	21,623	$	(33,249)	$	(62,935)
Amounts Not Offset - Consolidated Balance Sheet		(13,218)		(20,997)		13,218		20,997
Net amount	$	651	$	626	$	(20,031)	$	(41,938)

The Company enters into an International Swap Dealers Association Master Agreement (ISDA) with each counterparty prior to a derivative contract with such counterparty. The ISDA is a standard contract that governs all derivative contracts entered into between the Company and the respective counterparty. The ISDA allows for offsetting of amounts payable or receivable between the Company and the counterparty, at the election of both parties, for transactions that occur on the same date and in the same currency.