Other Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Accrued Liabilities and Other Liabilities [Abstract]

Other Income and Other Expense Disclosure [Text Block]

OTHER ACCRUED EXPENSES AND OTHER LIABILITIES

Other Accrued Expenses. The following table presents the components of other accrued expenses as of:

	September 30, 2020		December 31, 2019
	(in thousands)
Employee benefits	$	19,833	$	21,611
Asset retirement obligations	30,348		32,200
Environmental expenses	11,988		2,256
Operating and finance leases	8,809		5,926
Other	10,914		8,469
Other accrued expenses	$	81,892	$	70,462

Other Liabilities. The following table presents the components of other liabilities as of:

	September 30, 2020		December 31, 2019
	(in thousands)
Production taxes	$	46,500	$	68,020
Deferred oil gathering credits	18,593		20,100
Deferred midstream gathering credits	170,508		175,897
Operating and finance leases	12,494		15,779
Other	2,440		3,337
Other liabilities	$	250,535	$	283,133

Deferred Oil Gathering Credits. In 2018, we entered into an agreement that dedicates crude oil production from the majority of our Wattenberg Field acreage to the midstream provider's gathering lines and extends the term of the agreement through December 2029. The acreage dedication agreement resulted in an initial cash receipt and is being amortized over the life of the agreement. Amortization charges related to this deferred oil gathering credit totaling approximately $0.5 million for each of the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 and $1.5 million for each of the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, are included as a reduction to transportation, gathering and processing expenses.

Deferred Midstream Gathering Credits. In the second quarter of 2019, concurrent with the sale of our Delaware Basin midstream assets, we entered into agreements with the purchasers that dedicated the gathering of certain of our production and all water gathering and disposal volumes in the Delaware Basin. The terms of these agreements range from 10 to 22 years. The acreage dedication agreements resulted in initial cash receipts and are being amortized on a units-of-production basis. The amortization rates are assessed on an annual basis for changes in estimated future production.

The following table presents the amortization charges recognized in the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the periods indicated:

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020		2019		2020		2019
	(in thousands)
Crude oil, natural gas and NGL sales (1)	$	—	$	201	$	368	$	259
Transportation, gathering and processing expenses	1,535		711		2,991		914
Lease operating expenses	686		373		1,458		557