NOTE 12 - LONG-TERM DEFERRED REVENUE LIABILITIES AND OTHER LONG-TERM LIABILITIES



	December 31,
	2019		2018
	(in thousands)
Long-term deferred revenue liabilities	$	36,920	$	52,500
Long-term deferred proceeds, WLR agreement	13,061		—
Long-term deferred proceeds, WLWI agreement	23,768		—
Other	—		13
Total long-term deferred revenue liabilities and other long-term liabilities	$	73,749	$	52,513

SCM Water LLC’s Option to Exercise Purchase of Salt Water Disposal Assets

In July 2018, the Company entered into a water gathering and disposal agreement and a contract operating and right of first refusal agreement with SCM Water, LLC (“SCM Water”), a subsidiary of Salt Creek Midstream, LLC (“SCM”). The water gathering agreement complements the Company’s existing water disposal infrastructure, and the Company has reserved the right to recycle its produced water. SCM Water will commence, upon receipt of regulatory approval, to build out new gathering and disposal infrastructure to all of the Company’s current and future well locations in Lea County, New Mexico, and Winkler County, Texas. All future capital expenditures to construct, maintain and operate the water gathering system will be fully funded by SCM Water and will be designed to accommodate all water produced by the Company’s operations. Pursuant to the contract operating agreement, the Company will act as contract operator of SCM Water’s salt water disposal wells.

Additionally, the Company sold to SCM Water an option to acquire the Company’s existing water infrastructure, a system which is comprised of approximately 14 miles of pipeline and one SWD well, for cash consideration upon closing, with additional payments based on reaching certain milestones.

On March 7, 2019, SCM Water exercised its option to purchase the Company’s existing water infrastructure. The Company determined that approximately $11.7 million of the upfront payments were attributable to the sale of the water infrastructure and right-of-way/easement, and recorded the exercise of the option as a reduction of deferred liabilities and a reduction of oil and natural gas properties.

The Company is actively working on permitting additional SWD well locations. The Company anticipates that the majority of its water will eventually be disposed of through the future SCM Water system at a competitive gathering rate under the agreement. Total cash consideration for the water gathering and disposal infrastructure is $20.0 million. On July 25, 2018, the Company received an upfront non-refundable payment of $10.0 million for the option to acquire its existing water infrastructure and $5.0 million for a prefunded drilling bonus. Additionally, the Company received $2.5 million on October 1, 2018 as a bonus for the grant of an area right-of-way/easement, and the water gathering agreement provided that the Company would receive an additional $2.5 million bonus upon hitting the target of 40,000 barrels per day of produced water. The Company completed its drilling obligation and recognized the prefunded drilling bonus of $5.0 million as a reduction of deferred liabilities and a reduction of oil and natural gas properties as the deferred payment was attributable to the sale of the water infrastructure.

On March 11, 2019, the Company, SCM Water, and ARM Energy Management, LLC (“ARM”), a related company to SCM Water, agreed to amend the terms of the previously negotiated water gathering and disposal agreement and entered into a new crude oil sales contract (See Note 7 - Revenue and Note 21 - Commitments and Contingencies). Under the terms of such agreements, the Company agreed to an increase in salt water disposal rates in exchange for more favorable pricing differentials on the crude oil sales contract, modification on the minimum quantities of crude oil required under the crude oil sales contract, an upfront payment of $2.5 million and the elimination of the potential bonus for hitting a target of 40,000 barrels of produced water per day. The Company determined that the upfront $2.5 million payment was primarily attributable to the crude oil sales contract, and the Company recorded the $2.5 million payment as deferred revenues and will recognize it in income ratably as the crude oil is sold.

Crude Oil Gathering Agreement and Option Agreement

On May 21, 2018, the Company entered into a crude oil gathering agreement and option agreement with SCM. The crude oil gathering agreement (the “Gathering Agreement”) enables SCM to (i) design, engineer, and construct a gathering system which will provide gathering services for the Company’s crude oil under a tariff arrangement and (ii) gather the Company’s crude oil on the gathering system in certain production areas located in Winkler and Loving Counties, Texas and Lea County, New Mexico. Construction of the gathering system has commenced. The Gathering Agreement has a term of 12 years that automatically renews on a year to year basis until terminated by either party.

SCM and the Company also entered into an option agreement (the “Option Agreement”) whereby the Company granted an option to SCM to provide certain midstream services related to natural gas in Winkler and Loving Counties, Texas and Lea County, New Mexico, subject to the expiration and terms of the Company’s existing gas agreement. The Option Agreement has a term commencing May 21, 2018 and terminating January 1, 2027, pursuant to its one-time option. As consideration for this option, the Company received a one-time payment of $35.0 million, which was recorded in long-term deferred revenue.

Asset Disposition Accounted for as a Financing Arrangement

As a result of certain repurchase rights, as discussed more fully in Note 5 - Acquisitions and Divestitures, the agreements with WLR and WLWI do not meet the criteria for a sale and are accounted for as a financing arrangement under ASC 470. The net proceeds of the transaction of $39.0 million are included in long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019. As a result of the transaction, the net revenue payments of $0.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 are included in interest expense on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations (see Note 5 - Acquisitions and Divestitures).