Asset Retirement Obligations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

The ARO liability reflects the present value of estimated costs of dismantlement, removal, site reclamation, and similar activities associated with the Partnership’s working interest oil and natural gas properties. The Partnership utilizes current retirement costs to estimate the expected cash outflows for retirement obligations. The Partnership estimates the ultimate productive life of the properties, a credit-adjusted risk-free rate, and an inflation factor in order to determine the current present value of this obligation. To the extent future revisions to these assumptions impact the present value of the existing ARO liability, a corresponding adjustment is made to the oil and natural gas property balance.

The following table describes changes to the Partnership’s ARO liability for the periods presented:


	For the year ended December 31,
	2019		2018
	(in thousands)
Beginning asset retirement obligations	$	15,475	$	14,509
Liabilities incurred	209		245
Liabilities settled	(1,073)		(129)
Accretion expense	1,117		1,103
Revisions in estimated costs	976		(16)
Dispositions	(620)		(237)
Ending asset retirement obligations	$	16,084	$	15,475
Current asset retirement obligations	$	431	$	527
Non-current asset retirement obligations	$	15,653	$	14,948