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Asset Retirement Obligations

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]

Asset Retirement Obligations

11. ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

The Company has asset retirement obligations (“ARO”) associated with the future plugging and abandonment of proved properties. Initially, the fair value of a liability for an ARO is recorded in the period in which the ARO is incurred with a corresponding increase in the carrying amount of the related asset. The liability is accreted to its present value each period and the capitalized cost is depleted over the life of the related asset. If the liability is settled for an amount other than the recorded amount, an adjustment to the full-cost pool is recognized. The Company had no assets that are restricted for the purpose of settling AROs.

In the fair value calculation for the ARO there are numerous assumptions and judgments including the ultimate retirement cost, inflation factors, credit-adjusted risk-free discount rates, timing of retirement and changes in legal, regulatory, environmental and political environments. To the extent future revisions to assumptions and judgments impact the present value of the existing ARO, a corresponding adjustment is made to the oil and natural gas property balance.

The following is a reconciliation of the changes in the Company’s liabilities for asset retirement obligations as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019:

		Three Months Ended March 31, 2020				Year Ended December 31, 2019
			(in thousands)
Balance, beginning of year		$	819			$	939
Accretion			6				22
Sold/Plugged			-				(130	)
New drilled wells			-				2
Change in discount rate			-				(14	)
Liabilities incurred for acquisition of New Horizon wells			163				-
Balance, end of period		$	988			$	819