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Derivative instruments
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Derivative instruments  
Derivative instruments

Note 10. Derivative instruments

We use derivative financial instruments in the management of our interest rate exposure. Our strategy is to eliminate the cash flow risk on a portion of the variable rate debt caused by changes in the designated benchmark interest rate, LIBOR. The Company does not enter into or hold derivative financial instruments for speculative trading purposes.

On May 4, 2017, we entered into two identical pay-fixed, receive-variable, interest rate swaps with two different counter parties, to hedge the variability in the LIBOR interest payments on an aggregate notional value of $100.0 million of our Second Amended Term Loan Facility beginning May 31, 2017, through the expiration of the swaps on June 30, 2022. At inception, these interest rate swaps were designated as cash flow hedges of interest rate risk, and as such, the effective portion of unrealized changes in market value is recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”). Any losses from hedge ineffectiveness will be recognized in current operations.

The change in the fair value of the interest rate swap agreements for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, resulted in an unrealized gain of $0.8 million, respectively, and was included in AOCI net of taxes. The Company received $0.1 million of net interest on the settlement of the interest rate swap agreements for the year ended December 31, 2018. The Company paid $0.4 million of net interest on the settlement of the interest rate swap agreements for the year ended December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2018, the Company estimates that none of the unrealized gain included in AOCI related to these interest rate swap agreements will be realized and reported in operations within the next twelve months. No gain or loss was recorded in operations for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The aggregate fair value of the interest rate swaps was $1.6 million and $0.8 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. These were recorded in Swap assets in non-current assets on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

By entering into derivative instrument contracts, we are exposed to counterparty credit risk. Counterparty credit risk is the failure of the counterparty to perform under the terms of the derivative contract. When the fair value of a derivative contract is in an asset position, the counterparty has a liability to us, which creates credit risk for us. We attempt to minimize this risk by selecting counterparties with investment grade credit ratings and regularly monitoring our market position with each counterparty. Our derivative instruments do not contain any credit-risk related contingent features.