Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Components of Income Before Income Taxes Table

Components of income (loss) from operations before income taxes are as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
(millions)	2017			2016			2015
Domestic	$	(2,831	)	$	(1,859	)	$	(2,338	)
Foreign	640			87			119
Total	$	(2,191	)	$	(1,772	)	$	(2,219	)

Components of Income Tax Provision Table

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

	Year Ended December 31,
(millions)	2017			2016			2015
Current Taxes
Federal	$	(11	)	$	(4	)	$	(1	)
State	1			5			—
Foreign	96			196			107
Total Current	$	86		$	197		$	106
Deferred Taxes
Federal	$	(1,258	)	$	(784	)	$	216
State	(8		)	(24		)	(5		)
Foreign	39			(176		)	(95		)
Total Deferred	$	(1,227	)	$	(984	)	$	116
Total Income Tax (Benefit) Provision Attributable to Noble Energy	$	(1,141	)	$	(787	)	$	222
Effective Tax Rate	52.1		%	44.4		%	(10.0		)%

Tax Rate Reconciliation Table

A reconciliation of the federal statutory tax rate to the effective tax rate is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
(percentages)	2017		2016		2015
Federal Statutory Rate (1)	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Effect of
Earnings of Equity Method Investees	1.9		1.0		0.6
Noncontrolling Interests	1.1		0.4		—
US and Foreign Statutory Rate Change (1)	23.5		1.6		—
Transition Tax (1)	(4.8	)	—		—
State Taxes, Net of Federal Benefit	0.3		1.3		0.3
Difference Between US and Foreign Rates	1.8		(0.1	)	2.6
Foreign Exploration Loss	—		0.1		2.7
Change in Valuation Allowance (1)	(17.4	)	(2.0	)	—
Oil Profits Tax - Israel	(0.1	)	—		0.1
Tax Contingency	0.1		0.2		0.4
Accumulated Undistributed Foreign Earnings (1)	11.0		7.2		(37.7	)
Goodwill Impairment	—		—		(12.3	)
Other, Net	(0.3	)	(0.3	)	(1.7	)
Effective Rate	52.1	%	44.4	%	(10.0	)%

⁽¹⁾ See Recent Changes in US Tax Law, above. Rate will decrease to 21.0% for fiscal year 2018. In addition, see discussion regarding accumulated undistributed foreign earnings above.

Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

Deferred tax assets and liabilities resulted from the following:

	December 31,
(millions)	2017			2016
Deferred Tax Assets
Loss Carryforwards	$	902		$	474
Employee Compensation and Benefits	97			150
Mark to Market of Commodity Derivative Instruments	7			44
Foreign Tax Credits	366			—
Other	104			49
Total Deferred Tax Assets	$	1,476		$	717
Valuation Allowance - Foreign Loss Carryforwards and Foreign Tax Credits	(549		)	(242		)
Net Deferred Tax Assets	$	927		$	475
Deferred Tax Liabilities
Accumulated Undistributed Foreign Earnings (1)	—			(240		)
Property, Plant and Equipment, Principally Due to Differences in Depreciation, Amortization, Lease Impairment and Abandonments	(2,029		)	(2,054		)
Total Deferred Tax Liability	$	(2,029	)	$	(2,294	)
Net Deferred Tax Liability	$	(1,102	)	$	(1,819	)

⁽¹⁾ At December 31, 2017, we reversed the deferred tax liability associated with the removal of the assertion of indefinitely reinvested earnings, resulting in recognition of a deferred tax benefit of $240 million.

Deferred Tax Liability Balance Sheet Classifcation

Net deferred tax assets and liabilities were classified in the consolidated balance sheets as follows:

	December 31,
(millions)	2017			2016
Deferred Income Tax Asset - Noncurrent	$	25		$	—
Deferred Income Tax Liability - Noncurrent	(1,127		)	(1,819		)
Net Deferred Tax Liability	$	(1,102	)	$	(1,819	)

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of our beginning and ending amounts of unrecognized tax benefits follows:

(millions)	Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2017
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Beginning Balance	$	3
Reductions for Tax Positions of Prior Years	(3		)
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Ending Balance	$	—