Note 5. Revenue Recognition

Operating revenues are comprised of sales of crude oil, NGLs and natural gas.

	Three Months Ended March 31,
In thousands (unaudited)	2018		2017
Oil	$	33,152	$	14,489
NGLs		1,734		1,671
Natural gas		1,806		1,456
Total operating revenues	$	36,692	$	17,616

Accounting Policies

Revenue is recognized when performance obligations under the terms of a contract with a customer are satisfied. The Company recognizes revenue when control has been transferred to the customer, generally at the time commodities reach an agreed-upon delivery point. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring products and is generally based upon a negotiated formula, list or fixed price. Typically, the Company sells its products directly to customers generally under agreements with payment terms typically less than 30 days.

Oil Revenues

The Company’s crude oil sales contracts are generally structured such that Lonestar commits and dedicates for sale a specified volume of oil production from agreed-upon leases to a purchaser. Oil is sold at a contractually-specified index price plus or minus a differential, and title and control of the product generally transfers at the delivery point specified in the contract, at which point related revenue is recognized. For those leases in which Lonestar operates with other working interest owners, the Company recognizes oil revenue proportionate to its entitled share of volumes sold. Currently, all of Lonestar’s oil production comes from the Eagle Ford play in South Texas, and direct sales to four purchasers account for the majority of its oil sales.

The Company’s oil purchase contracts are generally written to provide month-to-month terms with a 30-day cancellation notice. Sales of Lonestar’s oil production are typically invoiced monthly based on actual volumes measured at the agreed-upon delivery point and stated contract pricing for the month.

NGLs and Natural Gas Revenues

The Company’s NGL and natural gas purchase contracts are generally structured such that Lonestar commits and dedicates for sale a specified volume of NGL and/or natural gas production per day from agreed-upon leases to a purchaser. NGLs and natural gas are sold at a percentage of index prices of each component less any stated deductions. Control transfers at the delivery point specified in the contract, which typically is stated as the inlet or tailgate of a plant where the produced NGLs and natural gas are processed for subsequent transportation and consumption. In certain situations, Lonestar takes processed natural gas in-kind from a processing plant for sale under a separate purchase agreement with a different delivery point. The stated delivery point determines whether certain conditioning, treating, transportation and fractionation fees associated with the sold NGLs and natural gas are treated as operating expenses (occurring before the delivery point) or as deductions to revenues (occurring after the delivery point).

For those leases in which Lonestar operates with other working interest owners, the Company recognizes NGL and natural gas revenue proportionate to its entitled share of volumes sold. Currently, all of Lonestar’s NGL and natural gas production comes from the Eagle Ford play in South Texas. Sales of Lonestar’s NGL and natural gas production is typically invoiced monthly based on actual volumes at the agreed-upon delivery point and stated contract pricing and allocations for the month.

Lonestar uses a third-party broker for its NGL and natural gas marketing. In this capacity, the third-party is responsible for carrying out marketing activities such as submission of nominations, receipt of payments, submission of invoices and negotiation of contracts. In this agreement, Lonestar retains final approval of contracts and is not entitled to sales proceeds from the third-party until they are collected from the related purchasers. Commissions payable to the third-party broker for these services are treated as operating expenses in the financial statements.

Production Imbalances

The Company follows the sales method of accounting for natural gas imbalances, whereby revenue is recorded based on the Company’s share of volumes sold, regardless of whether the Company has taken its proportional share of volumes produced. A receivable or liability is recognized only to the extent that the Company has an imbalance on a specific property greater than the expected remaining proved reserves. There were no imbalances at March 31, 2018 and 2017.

Significant Judgements

As noted above, the Company engages in various types of transactions in which midstream entities process its gas and subsequently market resulting NGLs and residue gas to third-party customers on Lonestar’s behalf. These types of transactions require judgement to determine whether Lonestar is the principal or the agent in the contract and, as a result, whether revenues are recorded gross or net.

The Company has determined that each unit of product represents a separate performance obligation under the terms of its purchase contracts, and therefore, future volumes are wholly unsatisfied. Therefore, the Company has utilized the practical expedient exempting a Company from disclosure of the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations if the variable consideration is allocated entirely to a wholly unsatisfied performance obligation.

Prior-Period Performance Obligations

The Company records revenue in the month production is delivered to the purchaser. As noted above, settlement statements for certain NGL and natural gas sales may not be received for 30 to 60 days after the date production is delivered, and as a result, Lonestar is required to estimate the amount of production that was delivered to the purchaser and the price that will be received for the sale of the product.

The Company records the differences between its estimates and the actual amounts received for product sales in the month that payment is received from the purchaser. Lonestar has existing internal controls in place for its estimation process, and any identified differences between its revenue estimates and actual revenue received historically have not been significant. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, revenue recognized in the reporting period related to performance obligations satisfied in prior reporting periods was not material.

Accounts Receivable and Other

Accounts receivable – Oil, natural gas liquid and natural gas sales on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets consist of amounts due from purchasers for commodity sales from our Eagle Ford fields. Payments from purchasers are typically due by the last day of the month following the month of delivery. There was no bad debt expense for any period presented, and we do not provide an allowance for uncollectible accounts. The Company’s operations do not result in any contract assets or liabilities on the balance sheets.