Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities [Abstract]

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES:

NOTE 7 — DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES:

Our hedging strategy is designed to protect our near and intermediate term cash flow from future declines in oil and natural gas prices. This protection is essential to capital budget planning which is sensitive to expenditures that must be committed to in advance such as rig contracts and the purchase of tubular goods. We enter into hedging transactions to secure a commodity price for a portion of future production that is acceptable at the time of the transaction. These hedges are designated as cash flow hedges upon entering into the contract. We do not enter into hedging transactions for trading purposes. We have no fair value hedges.

The nature of a derivative instrument must be evaluated to determine if it qualifies for hedge accounting treatment. If the instrument qualifies for hedge accounting treatment, it is recorded as either an asset or liability measured at fair value and subsequent changes in the derivative’s fair value are recognized in equity through other comprehensive income (loss), net of related taxes, to the extent the hedge is considered effective. Additionally, monthly settlements of effective hedges are reflected in revenue from oil and gas production and cash flows from operations. Instruments not qualifying for hedge accounting are recorded in the balance sheet at fair value and changes in fair value are recognized in earnings through derivative expense (income). Typically, a small portion of our derivative contracts are determined to be ineffective. This is because oil and natural gas price changes in the markets in which we sell our products are not 100% correlative to changes in the underlying price basis indicative in the derivative contract. Monthly settlements of ineffective hedges are recognized in earnings through derivative expense (income) and cash flows from operations.

We have entered into fixed-price swaps with various counterparties for a portion of our expected 2012, 2013 and 2014 oil and natural gas production from the Gulf Coast Basin. Some of our fixed-price oil swap settlements are based on an average of the New York Mercantile Exchange (“NYMEX”) closing price for West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) during the entire calendar month and some are based on the average of the Intercontinental Exchange (“ICE”) closing price for Brent crude oil during the entire calendar month. Our fixed-price gas swap settlements are based on the NYMEX price for the last day of a respective month. Swaps typically provide for monthly payments by us if prices rise above the swap price or to us if prices fall below the swap price. Our fixed-price swap contracts for 2012, 2013 and 2014 are with J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., The Toronto-Dominion Bank, Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, the Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of America and Natixis.

During 2009, a portion of our oil and natural gas production was hedged with zero-premium collars. The natural gas collar settlements were based on an average of NYMEX prices for the last three days of a respective month. The oil collar settlements were based on an average of the NYMEX closing price for WTI during the entire calendar month. The collar contracts required payments to the counterparties if the average price was above the ceiling price or payment from the counterparties if the average price was below the floor price.

All of our derivative instruments at December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 were designated as effective cash flow hedges; however, during the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, certain of our derivative contracts were determined to be partially ineffective. The following tables disclose the location and fair value amounts of derivative instruments reported in our balance sheet at December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010.

Fair Value of Derivative Instruments at December 31, 2011
	Asset Derivatives			Liability Derivatives
Description	Balance Sheet Location	Fair Value		Balance Sheet Location	Fair Value
Commodity contracts	Current assets: Fair value of hedging contracts	$	25,177	Current liabilities: Fair value of hedging contracts	($	11,122	)
	Long-term assets: Fair value of hedging contracts		22,543	Long-term liabilities: Fair value of hedging contracts		(815	)
		$	47,720		($	11,937	)

Fair Value of Derivative Instruments at December 31, 2010
	Asset Derivatives			Liability Derivatives
Description	Balance Sheet Location	Fair Value		Balance Sheet Location	Fair Value
Commodity contracts	Current assets: Fair value of hedging contracts	$	12,955	Current liabilities: Fair value of hedging contracts	($	32,144	)
	Long-term assets: Fair value of hedging contracts		—	Long-term liabilities: Fair value of hedging contracts		(3,606	)
		$	12,955		($	35,750	)

The following table discloses the effect of derivative instruments in the statement of operations for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009.

The Effect of Derivative Instruments on the Statement of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009
Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationships	Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in OCI on Derivative (a)			Gain (Loss) Reclassified from Accumulated OCI into Income (Effective Portion) (b)				Gain Recognized in Income on Derivative (Ineffective Portion)
				Location				Location
	2011				2011				2011
Commodity contracts	$	36,072		Operating revenue - oil/gas production	($	13,274	)	Derivative income, net	$	1,418
Total	$	36,072			($	13,274	)		$	1,418
	2010				2010				2010
Commodity contracts	$	1,176		Operating revenue - oil/gas production	$	9,631		Derivative income, net	$	3,265
Total	$	1,176			$	9,631			$	3,265
	2009				2009				2009
Commodity contracts	($	100,292	)	Operating revenue - oil/gas production	$	163,176		Derivative income, net	$	3,061
Total	($	100,292	)		$	163,176			$	3,061

(a) Net of related tax effect.

(b) For the year ended December 31, 2011, effective hedging contracts decreased oil revenue by $32,706 and increased gas revenue by $19,432. For the year ended December 31, 2010, effective hedging contracts decreased oil revenue by $29,047 and increased gas revenue by $38,678. For the year ended December 31, 2009, effective hedging contracts increased oil revenue by $61,747 and increased gas revenue by $101,429.

On March 3, 2009, we unwound all of our then existing crude oil hedges for the period from April 2009 through December 2009, resulting in proceeds of approximately $59,007. On March 6, 2009, we unwound two of our natural gas hedges for the period from April 2009 through December 2009, resulting in proceeds of approximately $53,814. These amounts (net of the ineffective portion and related deferred income tax effect) were recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income in 2009. As the original time periods for these contracts expired, applicable amounts were reclassified into earnings.

At December 31, 2011, we had accumulated other comprehensive income of $21,868, net of tax, which related to the fair value of our swap contracts that were outstanding as of December 31, 2011. We believe that approximately $7,303 of the accumulated other comprehensive income will be reclassified into earnings in the next twelve months.

The following table illustrates our hedging positions for calendar years 2012, 2013 and 2014 as of February 21, 2012:

	Fixed-Price Swaps NYMEX (except where noted)
	Natural Gas				Oil
	Daily Volume (MMBtus/d)		Swap Price ($)		Daily Volume (Bbls/d)			Swap Price ($)
2012		10,000		5.035		1,000			90.30
2012		10,000		5.040		1,000			90.41
2012		10,000		5.050		1,000			90.45
2012						1,000			95.50
2012						2,000			97.60
2012						1,000			98.15
2012						1,000			100.00
2012						1,000			101.55
2012						1,000			104.25
2012						1,000	†		111.02
2013		10,000		5.270		1,000			94.45
2013		10,000		5.320		1,000			94.60
2013						1,000			97.15
2013						1,000			101.53
2013						1,000			103.00
2013						1,000			104.50
2013						1,000	†		107.30
2014						1,000	†		103.30

† Brent oil contract