Discontinued Operations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Discontinued Operations [Abstract]

Discontinued Operations

NOTE U.     Discontinued Operations

The following lists the divestitures that have been reflected as discontinued operations in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and statements of operations:

• During December 2011, the Company committed to a plan to divest Pioneer South Africa. The plan is expected to result in the sale of Pioneer South Africa during 2012;

• During December 2010, the Company committed to a plan to sell Pioneer Tunisia and in February 2011 completed a sale to an unaffiliated third party for cash proceeds of $853.6 million, including normal closing adjustments. Associated therewith, the Company recognized a pretax gain of $645.2 million;

• During the fourth quarter of 2009, the Company recorded a $119.3 million receivable from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement ("BOEMRE") for the recovery of excess royalties paid by the Company on qualifying leases in the Gulf of Mexico. During 2010, the BOEMRE paid the Company the $119.3 million receivable plus an additional $35.3 million of associated interest on the excess royalty payments. The properties that were the source of these royalty and interest recoveries were sold by the Company and classified as discontinued operations during 2006;

• The Company sold substantially all of its Mississippi assets and shelf properties in the Gulf of Mexico during 2009.

See Note B for additional information about the presentation of the Company's discontinued operations in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and statements of operations.

The following table summarizes the components of the Company's discontinued operations (principally related to the divestitures of Pioneer South Africa and Pioneer Tunisia) for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2011			2010			2009
	(in thousands)
Revenues and other income:
Oil and gas	$	100,275		$	236,343		$	221,279
Interest and other (a)		6,193			49,076			120,062
Gain on disposition of assets, net (b)		645,241			36			17,491
		751,709			285,455			358,832
Costs and expenses:
Oil and gas production		5,519			14,754			39,621
Production and ad valorem taxes		—			—			(27	)
Depletion, depreciation and amortization (b)		41,916			98,495			91,273
Exploration and abandonments (b)		4,268			15,908			19,240
General and administrative		10,286			5,697			9,647
Accretion of discount on asset retirement obligations (b)		2,686			2,923			3,517
Interest		773			—			8
Other		5,159			13,898			10,310
		70,607			151,675			173,589
Income from discontinued operations before income taxes		681,102			133,780			185,243
Income tax benefit (provision):
Current		(43,897	)		(25,486	)		(20,057	)
Deferred (b)		(214,053	)		25,756			(65,470	)
Income from discontinued operations	$	423,152		$	134,050		$	99,716

(a) Primarily comprised of (i) $119.3 million receivable from the BOEMRE recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009 for the recovery of excess royalties paid by the Company on qualifying deepwater leases in the Gulf of Mexico, (ii) $35.3 million of associated interest on the aforementioned excess royalty payments received from BOEMRE during the second quarter of 2010, (iii) $2.8 million of legal settlements paid to the Company during the third quarter of 2010 on Gulf of Mexico discontinued operations sold during 2006, (iv) $2.1 million of Canadian sales tax refunds paid to the Company during the second quarter of 2010 attributable Canadian discontinued operations sold during 2007, (v) $3.8 million of Argentine value added tax contingency charge reversals recorded during 2010 on Argentine discontinued operations sold during 2006, (vi) $2.0 million of interest received during the first quarter of 2011 associated with the 2010 recovery of excess royalties paid by the Company on qualifying deepwater leases in the Gulf of Mexico and (vii) $2.8 million of interest income associated with Pioneer Tunisia operations recorded during the first quarter of 2011.

(b) Represents the significant noncash components of discontinued operations.

As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, the carrying values of Pioneer South Africa and Pioneer Tunisia assets and liabilities, respectively, were included in discontinued operations held for sale in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet and are comprised of the following (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2011		2010
Composition of assets included in discontinued operations held for sale:
Current assets (excluding cash and cash equivalents)	$	10,465	$	43,500
Property, plant and equipment		53,025		184,357
Deferred tax assets		9,816		14,731
Other assets, net		43		39,153
Total assets	$	73,349	$	281,741

Composition of liabilities included in discontinued operations held for sale:
Current liabilities	$	11,689	$	30,148
Deferred tax liabilities		—		72,663
Deferred revenue		34,320		—
Other liabilities		29,892		5,781
Total liabilities	$	75,901	$	108,592