Share Based Compensation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Stock Based Compensation [Abstract]

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Text Block]

4. SHARE BASED COMPENSATION:
Valuation and Expense Information
			Three Months
			Ended March 31,
			2013		2012
	Total cost of share-based payment plans	$	4,502	$	3,681
	Amounts capitalized in oil and gas properties
	and equipment	$	1,494	$	1,225
	Amounts charged against income, before
	income tax benefit	$	3,008	$	2,456
	Amount of related income tax benefit recognized
	in income before valuation allowance	$	1,238	$	1,011

Changes in Stock Options and Stock Options Outstanding

The following table summarizes the changes in stock options for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and the year ended December 31, 2012:

		Weighted
	Number of	Average
	Options	Exercise Price
	(000's)	(US$)
Balance, December 31, 2011	1,459	$	16.97	to	$	98.87
Forfeited	(68)	$	25.08	to	$	75.18
Exercised	(34)	$	16.97	to	$	19.18
Balance, December 31, 2012	1,357	$	16.97	to	$	98.87
Forfeited	-	$	0.00	to	$	0.00
Exercised	-	$	0.00	to	$	0.00
Balance, March 31, 2013	1,357	$	16.97	to	$	98.87

Performance Share Plans:

Long Term Incentive Plans.The Company offers a Long Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) in order to further align the interests of key employees with shareholders and to give key employees the opportunity to share in the long-term performance of the Company when specific corporate financial and operational goals are achieved. Each LTIP covers a performance period of three years. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, the Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) approved an award consisting of performance-based restricted stock units to be awarded to each participant.

For each LTIP award, the Committee establishes performance measures at the beginning of each performance period. Under each LTIP, the Committee also establishes a percentage of base salary for each participant which is multiplied by the participant's base salary and individual performance level to derive a Long Term Incentive Value as a “target” value. This “target” value corresponds to the number of shares of the Company's common stock the participant is eligible to receive if the participant is employed by the Company through the date the award vests and if the target level for all performance measures is met. In addition, each participant is assigned threshold and maximum award levels in the event the Company's actual performance is below or above the target levels. For the LTIP awards in 2011 and 2012, the Committee established the following performance measures: return on equity, reserve replacement ratio, and production growth.  For the LTIP awards in 2013, the Committee established the following performance measures:  return on capital employed, debt level, reserve replacement ratio, and total shareholder return (officers only).

For the three months ended March 31,2013, the Company recognized $2.3 million in pre-tax compensation expense related to the 2011, 2012and 2013LTIP awards of restricted stock units as compared to $1.7million during the three months ended March 31, 2012 related to the 2010, 2011 and 2012 LTIP awards of restricted stock units. The amounts recognized during the three months ended March 31, 2013 assume that maximum performance objectives are attained under each plan. If the Company ultimately attains these performance objectives, the associated total compensation, estimated at March 31, 2013, for each of the three year performance periods is expected to be approximately $12.2 million, $12.5 million, and $15.5million related to the 2011, 2012 and 2013 LTIP awards of restricted stock units, respectively. The 2010 LTIP award of restricted stock units was paid in shares of the Company's stock to employees during the first quarter of 2013 and totaled $11.7 million (153,511net shares).