Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Rental and lease expenses were $16.8 million, $21.0 million and $20.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The rental and lease expenses primarily relate to compressor rentals during the year and the lease of our office space in Houston, Texas. During 2015 the Company entered into a new eleven year lease agreement for office space in Houston, Texas. The operating lease commenced on March 1, 2015 and may be terminated after seven years. The operating lease may be subject to reinstatement, renegotiation or amendment, or rejection in connection with our Chapter 11 proceedings. As of December 31, 2015, the minimum contractual obligations were approximately $23 million in the aggregate. Our policy is to amortize the total payments under the lease agreement on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Any reinstatement, renegotiation, amendment or rejection of this agreement in the bankruptcy proceedings could have a material impact on the timing and magnitude of amounts recognized within our financial statements in future periods.

Our minimum annual obligations under non-cancelable operating lease commitments were $4.1 million for 2016, $3.3 million for 2017, $3.7 million for 2018, $3.9 million for 2019, $5.5 million for 2020 and approximately $24.1 million in the aggregate. The minimum annual obligations under non-cancelable operating lease commitments primarily relate to office space for the Houston office.

Our employment agreement liabilities for certain named executive officers are recorded in "Liabilities subject to compromise" on the balance sheet at December 31, 2015, and are recorded in "Other long-term liabilities" on the balance sheet at December 31, 2014.

Our remaining gas transportation and processing minimum obligations were $14.5 million for 2016, $17.7 million for 2017, $17.2 million for 2018, $16.9 million for 2019, $14.3 million for 2020 and $80.7 million in the aggregate.

In the ordinary course of business, we are party to various legal actions, which arise primarily from our activities as operator of oil and natural gas wells. Most of our pending legal proceedings have been stayed by virtue of our voluntary petition filed on December 31, 2015 seeking relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In management's opinion, the outcome of any such currently pending legal actions will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.