Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

SWR is a defendant in a suit filed in April 2011 in the Circuit Court of Union County, Arkansas where the plaintiffs are suing for the costs of environmental remediation to a lease on which operations were commenced in the 1930s. The plaintiffs are seeking in excess of $8 million. In June 2013, the plaintiffs, SWR and the remaining defendants agreed to a settlement of $0.8 million, of which SWR would pay $0.7 million. To accomplish the settlement, the case would be converted to a class action, and each member of the class would be offered the right to either participate or opt out of the class and continue a separate action for damages. If more than 25% of the plaintiffs were to opt out of the settlement, SWR would have the right to terminate the settlement. Any plaintiffs opting out would be subject to all previous rulings of the court, including an order dismissing a significant number of the plaintiffs’ claims on the basis that such claims were time barred. SWR believes that the judge will approve the settlement and the number of the plaintiffs opting out of the settlement, if any, will be insignificant. We recorded a loss on settlement of $0.7 million in June 2013 in connection with this proposed settlement. We are now awaiting finalization of the settlement by the court.

In February 2012, BMT O&G TX, L.P. filed a suit in the 143rd Judicial District in Reeves County, Texas to terminate a lease under our farm-in agreement with Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C. (“Chesapeake”). Plaintiffs are the lessors and claim a breach of the lease which they allege gives rise to termination of the lease. CWEI denies a breach and argues in the alternative that (i) any breach was cured in accordance with the lease and (ii) a breach will not give rise to lease termination. The case was tried to the judge in October 2013 who ruled that CWEI and Chesapeake are jointly and severally liable for damages to plaintiffs in the amount of approximately $2.9 million and attorney fees of $0.8 million. We recorded a loss of $1.4 million in December 2013 in connection with the judgment. As a prerequisite for appeal, CWEI filed a motion with the trial court for a new trial. In March 2014, rather than ruling on the motion, the trial court ordered the parties to a mediation. In April 2014, an attempt to mediate this dispute was unsuccessful, and we have filed a Notice of Appeal.

We are also a defendant in several other lawsuits that have arisen in the ordinary course of business. While the outcome of these lawsuits cannot be predicted with certainty, management does not expect any of these to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations.