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Suspended Exploratory Well Costs
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Capitalized Exploratory Well Costs [Abstract]  
Suspended Exploratory Well Costs
6. Suspended Exploratory Well Costs

The following summarizes the changes in suspended exploratory well costs at December 31 for each of the last three years. Additions pending the determination of proved reserves excludes amounts capitalized and subsequently charged to expense within the same year.
millions
2014
 
2013
 
2012
Balance at January 1
$
2,232

 
$
2,062

 
$
1,353

Additions pending the determination of proved reserves
421

 
848

 
960

Divestitures (1)
(913
)
 
(48
)
 

Reclassifications to proved properties
(100
)
 
(507
)
 
(129
)
Charges to exploration expense
(118
)
 
(123
)
 
(122
)
Balance at December 31
$
1,522

 
$
2,232

 
$
2,062


__________________________________________________________________
(1) 
Includes $(744) million related to the Company’s sale of a 10% working interest in Offshore Area 1 in Mozambique during 2014.

The following summarizes an aging of suspended exploratory well costs by geographic area and the year the costs were suspended at December 31, 2014:
 
 
 
Year Costs Incurred(1)
millions
Total
 
2014
 
2013
 
2012
 
2011 and
prior
United States—Onshore
$
164

 
$
131

 
$
17

 
$
5

 
$
11

United States—Offshore
314

 
78

 
80

 
63

 
93

International
1,044

 
179

 
271

 
184

 
410

 
$
1,522

 
$
388

 
$
368

 
$
252

 
$
514

__________________________________________________________________
(1) 
Excludes additions subsequently reclassified to proved properties within the same year.

Suspended exploratory well costs capitalized for a period greater than one year after completion of drilling were associated with 24 projects at December 31, 2014, primarily located in Brazil, Ghana, and the Gulf of Mexico. Project costs suspended for longer than one year were primarily suspended pending the completion of economic evaluations including, but not limited to, results of additional appraisal drilling, well-test analysis, additional geological and geophysical data, facilities and infrastructure development options, development plan approval, and permitting. Projects with suspended exploratory well costs are those identified by management as exhibiting sufficient quantities of hydrocarbons to justify potential development and where management is actively pursuing efforts to assess whether reserves can be attributed to these projects. If additional information becomes available that raises substantial doubt as to the economic or operational viability of any of these projects, the associated costs will be expensed at that time.