Income Taxes

The income tax provision (benefit) consists of the following:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
(millions)	2017			2016
Current	$	12		$	20
Deferred	—			(186		)
Total Income Tax Provision (Benefit)	$	12		$	(166	)
Effective Tax Rate	20.3		%	36.6		%

Effective Tax Rate (ETR) At the end of each interim period, we apply a forecasted annualized effective tax rate (ETR) to current year earnings or loss before tax, which can result in significant interim ETR fluctuations. Our ETR for the three months ended March 31, 2017, varied as compared with the three months ended March 31, 2016, primarily due to:


•	income before income taxes for first quarter 2017 as compared with a loss before income taxes for first quarter 2016; and


•	discrete items with a disproportionate impact to the rate due to lower earnings during first quarter 2017.

Our deferred income tax provision for first quarter 2017 had a de minimis impact which was attributable to the deferred tax expense created by non-cash increases in the fair value of our commodity derivative instruments, offset by the expected deferred tax benefit.

In our major tax jurisdictions, the earliest years remaining open to examination are as follows: US – 2013, Equatorial Guinea – 2011 and Israel – 2015.