Share Based Compensation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

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,
			2017		2016
	Total cost of share-based payment plans	$	1,211	$	2,728
	Amounts capitalized in oil and gas properties
	and equipment	$	360	$	931
	Amounts charged against income, before
	income tax benefit	$	851	$	1,797
	Amount of related income tax benefit
	recognized in income before valuation allowance	$	339	$	751

Changes in Stock Options and Stock Options Outstanding

The following table summarizes the changes in stock options for the three months ended March 31,2017 and the year ended December 31,2016:

		Weighted
	Number of	Average
	Options	Exercise Price
	(000's)	(US Dollars)
Balance, December 31, 2015	519	$	49.05	to	$	98.87
Expired or forfeited	(173)	$	50.15	to	$	75.18
Balance, December 31, 2016	346	$	49.05	to	$	98.87
Expired or forfeited	(121)	$	49.05	to	$	75.18
Balance, March 31, 2017	225	$	52.77	to	$	98.87

Performance Share Plans:

Long Term Incentive Plans.Historically the Company has offered a Long Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) to key employees in order to further align the interests of such key employees with shareholders and to give such 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 historically covered a performance period of three years. Because of the chapter 11 filings, the Company did not establish an LTIP beginning January 1, 2016 or January 1, 2017.

Under each historical LTIP, the Compensation Committee established a percentage of base salary for each participant that was multiplied by the participant’s base salary at the beginning of the performance period and individual performance level to derive a Long Term Incentive Value as a “target” value. This “target” value corresponded to the number of shares of the Company’s common stock the participant was eligible to receive if the participant was employed by the Company through the date the award vests and if the target level for all performance measures were met. In addition, each participant was assigned threshold and maximum award levels in the event the Company’s actual performance is below or above the target levels.

Time-Based Measure and Performance-Based Measures.For each LTIP award, the Committee establishes time-based and performance-based measures at the beginning of each three-year performance period. For the LTIP award established in 2015, the Committee established the following performance-based measures:  return on capital employed, debt level, and reserve replacement ratio.The fair value of the time-based and performance-based component of the LTIP award is based on the average high and low market price of the Company’s common stock on the date of award.

Market-Based Measure.LTIP awards granted to officers during 2015, included an additional performance metric, Total Shareholder Return. The grant-date fair value related to the market-based condition was calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation.

Valuation Assumptions
The Company estimates the fair value of the market condition related to the LTIP awards on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo simulation with the following assumptions:
	2015 LTIP
Volatility of common stock	40.1%
Average volatility of peer companies	46.5%
Average correlation coefficient of peer companies	0.454
Risk-free interest rate	1.02%

Stock-Based Compensation Cost:

For the three months ended March 31,2017, the Company recognized $0.7 million in pre-tax compensation expense related to the 2015 LTIP award of restricted stock units as compared to $1.4 million during the three months ended March 31,2016 related to the 2014 and 2015 LTIP awards of restricted stock units. The amount recognized during the three months ended March 31,2017 assumed that performance objectives between less than threshold and up to maximum would have been attained for the 2015 LTIP plan.

On the Effective Date, as provided in the Plan, all outstanding LTIPs established prior to the Effective Date were cancelled and extinguished, and participants in the LTIPs received no payment or other distribution on account of the LTIPs.