Asset Retirement Obligations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Asset Retirement Obligations Disclosure [Abstract]

2. ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS:

The Company is required to record the fair value of an asset retirement obligation as a liability in the period in which it incurs a legal obligation associated with the retirement of tangible long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or normal use of the assets. The following table summarizes the activities for the Company’s asset retirement obligations for the years ended:

		December 31,
		2014		2013

Asset retirement obligations at beginning of period	$	72,807	$	60,814
Accretion expense		6,571		5,171
Liabilities incurred		10,242		7,730
Liabilities acquired(1)		53,270		-
Liabilities divested(1)		(15,760)		-
Liabilities settled		(336)		(2,334)
Revisions of estimated liabilities		446		1,426
Asset retirement obligations at end of period		127,240		72,807
Less: current asset retirement obligations		(417)		(96)
Long-term asset retirement obligations	$	126,823	$	72,711

⁽¹⁾On September 25, 2014, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ultra Petroleum Corp. completed the acquisition of all producing and non-producing properties in the Pinedale field in Sublette County, Wyoming in exchange for certain of the Company’s producing and non-producing properties in Pennsylvania and a cash payment (See Note 13 for further details).