Asset Retirement Obligations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]

Note 14 – Asset Retirement Obligations

Please refer to Asset Retirement Obligations in Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies for a discussion of the initial and subsequent measurements of asset retirement obligation liabilities and the significant assumptions used in the estimates.

A reconciliation of the Company’s total asset retirement obligation liability is as follows:



	As of December 31,
	2019			2018
	(in thousands)
Beginning asset retirement obligations	$	94,194		$	114,470
Liabilities incurred ⁽¹⁾	3,927			4,054
Liabilities settled ⁽²⁾	(4,105		)	(33,024		)
Accretion expense	4,016			4,438
Revision to estimated cash flows	(11,186		)	4,256
Ending asset retirement obligations ⁽³⁾	$	86,846		$	94,194

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⁽¹⁾	Reflects liabilities incurred through drilling activities and acquisitions of drilled wells.


⁽²⁾	Reflects liabilities settled through plugging and abandonment activities and divestitures of properties.

⁽³⁾

Balances as of December 31, 2019, and 2018, included $2.7 million and $2.3 million, respectively, related to the Company’s current asset retirement obligation liability, which is recorded in the accounts payable and accrued expenses line item on the accompanying balance sheets.