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Retirement and Employee Benefit Plans
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Retirement and Employee Benefit Plans RETIREMENT AND EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
401(k) Defined Contribution Plan
The Company has a 401(k) defined contribution plan covering eligible employees. The Company expensed $4 million of contribution expense in 2023, and $2 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Additionally, the Company capitalized $4 million of contributions in 2023, and $2 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively, directly related to the acquisition, exploration and development activities of the Company’s natural gas and oil properties.
Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans
Prior to January 1, 2021, substantially all of the Company’s employees were covered by the defined benefit pension plan, a cash balance plan that provided benefits based upon a fixed percentage of an employee’s annual compensation (the “Plan”). As part of an ongoing effort to reduce costs, the Company elected to freeze the Plan effective January 1, 2021. Employees that were participants in the Plan prior to January 1, 2021 will no longer receive an increased benefit based on service after December 31, 2020 but will continue to receive an increased benefit based on the interest component of the Plan until such time as they receive a lump sum distribution payment or their balance is converted into an annuity payment agreement as elected by the Plan participant. On September 13, 2021, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors approved terminating the Plan, effective December 31, 2021. This decision, among other benefits, provided Plan participants quicker access to, and greater flexibility in, the management of participants’ respective benefits due under the Plan.
The Company commenced the Plan termination process, and, on April 6, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service issued a favorable determination letter, concurring that the Plan has met all of the qualification requirements under the Internal Revenue Code. In December 2022, the Company distributed approximately $38 million of the Plan’s assets to participants in the form of lump sum payments in connection with a limited distribution window provided to all active and former employee participants as part of the Plan termination process.
In March 2023, the Company entered into a group annuity contract with a qualified insurance company relating to the Plan. Under the group annuity contract, the Company purchased an irrevocable nonparticipating single premium group annuity contract from the insurer and transferred to the insurer the future benefit obligations and annuity administration for remaining retirees and beneficiaries under the Plan.
Upon issuance of the group annuity contract, the pension benefit obligations and annuity administration for the remaining participants was irrevocably transferred from the Plan to the insurer. By transferring these obligations through the payment to the insurer in March 2023, the Company has no remaining obligations under the Plan or any other U.S. tax-qualified defined benefit pension plan. The purchase of the group annuity contract was funded directly by the assets of the Plan. The Company recognized
a pre-tax non-cash pension settlement charge of approximately $2 million during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 as a result of the settlement of the Plan.
The Company transferred the remaining residual Plan assets balance of approximately $14 million to a qualified replacement plan in September 2023 and closed the Plan during the fourth quarter of 2023.
The postretirement benefit plan provides contributory health care and life insurance benefits. Employees become eligible for these benefits if they meet age and service requirements. Generally, the benefits paid are a stated percentage of medical expenses reduced by deductibles and other coverages.
Substantially all of the Company’s employees continue to be covered by the postretirement benefit plans. The Company accounts for its defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans by recognizing the funded status of each defined pension benefit plan and other postretirement benefit plan on the Company’s balance sheet. In the event a plan is overfunded, the Company recognizes an asset. Conversely, if a plan is underfunded, the Company recognizes a liability.
The following provides a reconciliation of the changes in the plans’ benefit obligations, fair value of assets and funded status as of December 31, 2023 and 2022:
Pension BenefitsOther Postretirement Benefits
(in millions)2023202220232022
Change in benefit obligations:    
Benefit obligation at January 1$57 $126 $9 $13 
Service cost— — 2 2 
Interest cost— 3 1 — 
Actuarial gain— (29)(7)(5)
Benefits paid— (2)— (1)
Plan amendments— (2)— — 
Settlements(57)(39)— — 
Benefit obligation at December 31$— $57 $5 $9 
Pension BenefitsOther Postretirement Benefits
(in millions)2023202220232022
Change in plan assets:    
Fair value of plan assets at January 1$72 $114 $— $— 
Actual return on plan assets— — — — 
Employer contributions— — — 1 
Benefits paid— (2)— (1)
Settlements(58)(40)— — 
Transfer to qualified replacement plan (1)
(14)— — — 
Fair value of plan assets at December 31$— $72 $— $— 
Funded status of plans at December 31$— $15 $(5)$(9)
(1)Funds in the qualified replacement plan are presented as cash and cash equivalents on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023.
The Company uses a December 31 measurement date for all of its plans and had assets recorded for the overfunded status and liabilities recorded for the underfunded status for each period as presented above.
The pension plans’ projected benefit obligation, accumulated benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 are as follows:
(in millions)2023
(1)
2022
Projected benefit obligation$— $57 
Accumulated benefit obligation— 57 
Fair value of plan assets— 72 
(1)The Company completed the termination of the Plan in 2023.
Pension and other postretirement benefit costs include the following components for 2023, 2022 and 2021:
Pension BenefitsOther Postretirement Benefits
(in millions)202320222021202320222021
Service cost (1)
$— $— $— $2 $2 $2 
Interest cost— 3 4 1 — — 
Expected return on plan assets— — (4)— — — 
Amortization of prior service cost— (1)— — — — 
Amortization of net loss— — — — — — 
Net periodic benefit cost— 2 — 3 2 2 
Settlement (gain) loss2 (1)2 — — — 
Total benefit cost$2 $1 $2 $3 $2 $2 
(1)The Company froze the Plan effective January 1, 2021, resulting in no service cost for the years ended December 31, 2023, December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021.
Service cost is classified as general and administrative expenses on the consolidated statements of operations. All other components of total benefit cost (benefit) are classified as other income (loss), net on the consolidated statements of operations. The Company froze the Plan effective January 1, 2021, resulting in no service cost for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Amounts recognized in other comprehensive income for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 were as follows:
Pension BenefitsOther Postretirement Benefits
(in millions)2023202220232022
Net actuarial gain arising during the year$— $30 $7 $4 
Amortization of prior service cost— (2)— — 
Tax valuation allowance release impact on pension settlements(14)— — — 
Settlements(2)(1)— — 
Less: Tax effect (1)
— — — — 
Amounts recognized in other comprehensive income$(16)$27 $7 $4 
(1)Other postretirement benefit tax effects of approximately $1 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 were netted against a valuation allowance and therefore included in accumulated other comprehensive income.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, $9 million current period other comprehensive loss was classified from accumulated other comprehensive income, primarily driven by the impact of the tax valuation allowance release on pension settlements offset by actuarial gains on the Company’s other postretirement benefits. 
The assumptions used in the measurement of the Company’s benefit obligations as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 are as follows:
Pension Benefits (1)
Other Postretirement Benefits
2023202220232022
Discount raten/a5.60 %5.20 %5.50 %
Rate of compensation increase (2)
n/an/an/an/a
(1)The Company completed the termination of its pension plan in 2023.
(2)Rate of compensation increase for other postretirement benefits is disclosed as “n/a” as the benefit is the same for all employees and not based on compensation.
The assumptions used in the measurement of the Company’s net periodic benefit cost for 2023, 2022 and 2021 are as follows:
Pension Benefits (1)
Other Postretirement Benefits
202320222021202320222021
Discount raten/a5.60 %3.20 %5.50 %3.10 %2.80 %
Expected return on plan assetsn/a0.10 %0.10 %n/an/an/a
Rate of compensation increase (2)
n/an/a3.50 %n/an/an/a
(1)The Company completed the termination of the Plan in 2023.
(2)Rate of compensation increase for other postretirement benefits is disclosed as “n/a” as the benefit is the same for all employees and not based on compensation.
The expected return on plan assets for the various benefit plans is based upon a review of the historical returns experienced, combined with the future expected returns based upon the asset allocation strategy employed. The plans seek to achieve an adequate return to fund the obligations in a manner consistent with the federal standards of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and with a prudent level of diversification.
For measurement purposes, the following trend rates were assumed for 2023 and 2022:
20232022
Health care cost trend assumed for next year7.0 %7.0 %
Rate to which the cost trend is assumed to decline5.0 %5.0 %
Year that the rate reaches the ultimate trend rate20412040
Pension Payments and Asset Management
In 2023, the Company made no contributions to the Plan and less than $1 million to its other postretirement benefit plan and did not make any additional contributions to the Plan through the completion of the Plan termination.
As of December 31, 2023, the Company expects to make benefit payments, including projected future interest costs, related to its Other Postretirement Benefits of $3 million from 2029 through 2033.
The Company had no Plan assets as of December 31, 2023. Utilizing the fair value hierarchy described in Note 8, the Company’s fair value measurement of Plan assets at December 31, 2022 was as follows:
(in millions)TotalQuoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)
Significant Observable Inputs
(Level 2)
Significant Unobservable Inputs
(Level 3)
Measured within fair value hierarchy
Fixed income (1)
69 69 — — 
Cash and cash equivalents2 2 — — 
Total plan assets at fair value$71 $71 $— $— 
(1)U.S. Treasury Notes
The Company’s Plan assets that were classified as Level 1 were the investments comprised of either cash or investments in open-ended mutual funds which produce a daily net asset value that is validated with a sufficient level of observable activity to support classification of the fair value measurement as Level 1. No concentration of risk arising within or across categories of Plan assets existed due to any significant investments in a single entity, industry, country or investment fund.