Asset Retirement Obligations

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending aggregate carrying amounts of the asset retirement obligations for the period from December 31, 2012 to June 30, 2013 is as follows (in thousands):



Asset retirement obligations at December 31, 2012	$	498,410
Liability incurred upon acquiring and drilling wells	2,421
Liability settled or disposed in current period	(75,060		)
Accretion	19,579
Asset retirement obligations at June 30, 2013	445,350
Less: current portion	79,953
Asset retirement obligations, net of current	$	365,397

Liability settled or disposed during the six-month period ended June 30, 2013 includes $22.7 million for the settlement of a plugging and abandonment obligation associated with the Company’s Bullwinkle platform in the Gulf of Mexico and $15.2 million disposed in conjunction with the sale of the Permian Properties in February 2013.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for an asset retirement obligation and the associated long-lived asset. An asset retirement obligation is a legal obligation associated with the disposal or retirement from service of a tangible long-lived asset that results from the acquisition, construction or development, or the normal operations of a long-lived asset, except for certain obligations of lessees.

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