Exploratory Well Costs

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Notes To Financial Statements [Abstract]

Exploratory Well Costs

8.      Exploratory Well Costs

EOG's net changes in capitalized exploratory well costs for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2011 are presented below (in thousands):

			Nine Months Ended
			September 30, 2011
Balance at December 31, 2010		$	99,801
	Additions Pending the Determination of Proved Reserves		49,617
	Reclassifications to Proved Properties		(28,568)
	Charged to Dry Hole Costs		(40,189)
	Foreign Currency Translations		(72)
Balance at September 30, 2011		$	80,589

The following table provides an aging of capitalized exploratory well costs at September 30, 2011 (in thousands, except well count):

		At
		September 30,
		2011
Capitalized exploratory well costs that have been capitalized for a period less than one year	$	36,557
Capitalized exploratory well costs that have been capitalized for a period greater than one year		44,032	(1)
Total	$	80,589
Number of exploratory wells that have been capitalized for a period greater than one year		4

(1) Consists of costs related to an outside operated, offshore Central North Sea project in the United Kingdom (U.K.) ($20 million), an East Irish Sea project in the U.K. ($9 million), a project in the Sichuan Basin, Sichuan Province, China ($9 million), and a shale project in British Columbia, Canada (B.C.) ($6 million).  In the Central North Sea project, the operator and partners are currently negotiating processing and transportation terms with export infrastructure owners.  The operator has submitted a field development plan to the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and anticipates receiving approval of this plan by the end of the first quarter of 2012.  In the East Irish Sea project, EOG submitted its field development plan to the DECC during the first quarter of 2011 with regulatory approval expected by the end of 2011.  In addition, EOG is in the process of designing and constructing the infrastructure for the project in anticipation of final regulatory approval.  The evaluation of the Sichuan Basin project is expected to be completed in early 2012.  In the B.C. shale project, EOG drilled four additional wells during the first half of 2011 to further evaluate the project.  The related well completion activities are expected to commence in 2013.