XML 34 R16.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.22.4
Asset Retirement Obligations
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]  
Asset Retirement Obligations
8.  Asset Retirement Obligations
The following table describes the changes in our asset retirement obligations for the years ended December 31:
 20222021
 (In millions)
Balance at January 1$1,190 $999 
Liabilities incurred126 229 
Liabilities settled or disposed of(213)(207)
Accretion expense48 44 
Revisions of estimated liabilities92 126 
Foreign currency remeasurement(2)(1)
Balance at December 31$1,241 $1,190 
Total Asset Retirement Obligations at December 31:
Current portion of asset retirement obligations$207 $185 
Long-term asset retirement obligations1,034 1,005 
Total at December 31$1,241 $1,190 
The liabilities incurred in 2022 primarily relate to operations in Guyana and Malaysia while liabilities incurred in 2021 primarily relate to operations in the U.S. and Guyana.  In June 2021, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the bankruptcy plan of Fieldwood Energy LLC (Fieldwood), which included the abandonment of certain assets, including seven offshore Gulf of Mexico leases and related facilities in the West Delta Field that were formerly owned by us and sold to a Fieldwood predecessor in 2004, and the discharge of Fieldwood’s obligation to decommission these facilities. Our decommissioning obligation derived from our former ownership of the facilities. Liabilities incurred in 2021 include $147 million representing the estimated abandonment obligations for the West Delta Field.
The liabilities settled or disposed of in 2022 primarily result from abandonment activity completed in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bakken. Liabilities settled or disposed of in 2021 primarily result from the sale of our interests in Denmark and abandonment activity completed in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bakken.  Revisions of estimated liabilities in 2022 primarily reflect changes in service and equipment rates while revisions of estimated liabilities in 2021 primarily reflect an acceleration of planned abandonment activity in the Gulf of Mexico and changes in service and equipment rates.
Sinking fund deposits that are legally restricted for purposes of settling asset retirement obligations, which are reported in non-current Other assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheet, were $261 million at December 31, 2022 (2021: $233 million).