SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Schedule of Other Current Assets

Other current assets at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 consisted of the following:

	As of
	March 31, 2024		December 31, 2023
	(In thousands)
Prepaid drilling costs	$	66,892	$	70,124
Income tax receivable		4,625		8,312
Production tax refunds receivable		3,999		5,745
Prepaid expenses		2,295		2,438
	$	77,811	$	86,619

Capitalized Exploratory Well Costs

The changes in capitalized exploratory well costs are as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024			2023
	(In thousands)
Beginning capitalized exploratory well costs	$	96,233		$	867
Additions to exploratory well costs pending the determination of proved reserves		106,456			29,690
Determined to have found proved reserves		(144,655	)		—
Ending capitalized exploratory well costs	$	58,034		$	30,557

Summary of Lease Cost Recognized

Lease costs recognized during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 were as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024		2023
	(In thousands)
Operating lease cost included in general and administrative expense	$	419	$	445
Operating lease cost included in lease operating expense		521		508
Operating lease cost included in natural gas and oil properties		7,133		9,450
Variable lease cost (drilling rig and completion costs included in natural gas and oil properties)		2,516		1,761
Short-term lease cost (drilling rig and completion costs included in natural gas and oil properties)		11,272		29,392
	$	21,861	$	41,556

Summary of Liabilities Under Contracts That Contain Operating Leases

As of March 31, 2024, expected future payments related to contracts that contain operating leases were as follows:

	(In thousands)
April 1 to December 31, 2024	$	30,035
2025		39,616
2026		33,546
2027		3,617
2028		1,560
Total lease payments		108,374
Imputed interest		(10,639	)
Total lease liability	$	97,735

Summary of Accrued Costs

Accrued costs at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 consisted of the following:

	As of
	March 31, 2024		December 31, 2023
	(In thousands)
Accrued transportation costs	$	29,902	$	32,294
Accrued interest payable		20,010		54,912
Accrued drilling costs		15,401		35,876
Accrued income and other taxes		10,323		1,894
Accrued lease operating expenses		2,395		2,299
Accrued employee compensation		2,333		6,700
Other		499		491
	$	80,863	$	134,466

Summary of Changes in Total Estimated Asset Retirement Obligation Liability

The following table summarizes the changes in Comstock's total estimated liability for such obligations during the periods presented:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024			2023
	(In thousands)
Reserve for future abandonment costs at beginning of period	$	30,773		$	29,114
New wells placed on production		53			30
Liabilities settled		(13	)		—
Accretion expense		436			409
Reserve for future abandonment costs at end of period	$	31,249		$	29,553

Schedule of Natural Gas Price Derivative

The Company had the following natural gas price derivative financial instruments at March 31, 2024:

	Future Production Period
	Nine Months Ending December 31, 2024	Year Ending December 31, 2025	Year Ending December 31, 2026	Total
Natural Gas Price Swap Contracts:
Volume (MMBtu)	137,600,000	109,500,000	109,500,000	356,600,000
Average Price per MMBtu	$3.55	$3.51	$3.51	$3.52

Schedule of Derivative Instruments

The classification of derivative financial instruments of assets or liabilities, consists of the following:

		As of
Type	Consolidated Balance Sheet Location	March 31, 2024		December 31, 2023
		(In thousands)
Asset Derivative Financial Instruments:
Natural gas price derivatives	Derivative Financial Instruments – current	$	141,821	$	126,775
Liability Derivative Financial Instruments:
Natural gas price derivatives	Derivative Financial Instruments – long-term	$	23,734	$	—

Schedule of Gains and Losses from Derivative Contracts

Gains and losses related to cash settlements and changes in the fair value recognized on the Company's derivative contracts recognized in the consolidated statement of operations were as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
Gain on Derivatives Recognized in Earnings	2024		2023
	(In thousands)
Natural gas price derivatives	$	39,307	$	66,409
	$	39,307	$	66,409

Consolidated Income Tax Benefit (Provision)

The following is an analysis of the consolidated income tax provision (benefit):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024			2023
	(In thousands)
Current - State	$	—		$	536
Deferred - Federal		(4,995	)		36,765
Deferred - State		(3,297	)		2,415
	$	(8,292	)	$	39,716

Difference Between Federal Statutory Rate and Effective Tax Rate

The difference between the federal statutory rate of 21% and the effective tax rate is due to the following:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024			2023
Tax at statutory rate		21.0	%		21.0	%
Tax effect of:
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets		0.5			0.5
State income taxes, net of federal benefit		14.9			1.0
Nondeductible stock-based compensation		(1.9	)		0.4
Other		1.9			—
Effective tax rate		36.4	%		22.9	%

Summary of Carrying Amounts and Fair Values of Financial Instruments

The following presents the carrying amounts and the fair values of the Company's financial instruments as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023:

	As of
	March 31, 2024				December 31, 2023
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
	(In thousands)
Assets:
Commodity-based derivatives (1)	$	141,821	$	141,821	$	126,775	$	126,775
Liabilities:
Commodity-based derivatives (1)	$	23,734	$	23,734	$	—	$	—
Bank credit facility (2)	$	540,000	$	540,000	$	480,000	$	480,000
6.75% senior notes due 2029 (3)	$	1,228,806	$	1,164,216	$	1,229,018	$	1,138,208
5.875% senior notes due 2030 (3)	$	965,000	$	870,913	$	965,000	$	849,200

(1)The Company's commodity-based derivatives are classified as Level 2 and measured at fair value using third party pricing services and other active markets or broker quotes that are readily available in the public markets.

(2)The carrying value of our floating rate debt outstanding approximates fair value.

(3)The fair value of the Company's fixed rate debt was based on quoted prices as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, a Level 1 measurement.

Weighted Average Shares of Unvested Restricted Stock

Weighted average shares of unvested restricted stock outstanding were as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024		2023
	(In thousands)
Unvested restricted stock		2,017		960

Common Stock and Convertible Stock Dilutive in Weighted average unearned PSUs outstanding

The treasury stock method is used to measure the dilutive effect of PSUs.

Weighted average unearned PSUs outstanding were as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024	2023
	(In thousands, except per unit amounts)
Weighted average PSUs	1,087	548
Weighted average grant date fair value per unit	$12.59	$14.76

Schedule of Basic and Diluted Income (Loss) Per Share

Basic and diluted income (loss) per share for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 were determined as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024								2023
	Loss			Shares		Per Share			Income			Shares		Per Share
	(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Net income (loss) attributable to common stock	$	(14,474	)						$	134,503
Income allocable to unvested restricted shares		—								(345	)
Basic income (loss) attributable to common stock		(14,474	)		277,962	$	(0.05	)		134,158			276,551	$	0.49
Diluted income (loss) attributable to common stock	$	(14,474	)		277,962	$	(0.05	)	$	134,158			276,551	$	0.49

Cash Payments Made for Interest and Income Taxes

Cash payments made for interest and income taxes and other non-cash investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, were as follows:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024			2023
	(In thousands)
Cash payments for:
Interest payments	$	82,475		$	71,443
Income tax payments	$	36		$	184
Non-cash investing activities include:
Decrease in accrued capital expenditures	$	(20,475	)	$	(1,009	)
Liabilities assumed in exchange for right-of-use lease assets	$	32,876		$	1,417