Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Summary Of Open Tax Years, By Jurisdiction


United States			2010
Various U.S. states			2007
Tunisia			2006
South Africa			2006

Schedule Of Income Tax (Provision) Benefit Allocation


	Year Ended December 31,
	2011			2010			2009
	(in thousands)
Income from continuing operations	$	(197,644	)	$	(269,627	)	$	83,195
Income from discontinued operations		(257,950	)		270			(85,527	)
Changes in goodwill – tax benefits related to stock-based compensation		40			453			124
Changes in stockholders' equity:
Net deferred hedge gains		8,407			23,648			50,059
Tax benefits related to stock-based compensation		31,087			(153	)		1
Tax on Pioneer Southwest common units sold by the Company on December 12, 2011		(15,381	)		—			—

Income Tax (Provision) Benefit Attributable To Income From Continuing Operations


	Year Ended December 31,
	2011			2010			2009
	(in thousands)
Current:
U.S. federal	$	—		$	—		$	21,714
U.S. state		(9,065	)		(9,864	)		(10,010	)
Foreign		—			—			(551	)

		(9,065	)		(9,864	)		11,153

Deferred:
U.S. federal		(207,146	)		(263,063	)		63,970
U.S. state		18,567			3,300			8,072

		(188,579	)		(259,763	)		72,042


Income tax (provision) benefit	$	(197,644	)	$	(269,627	)	$	83,195

Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes


	Year Ended December 31,
	2011		2010		2009
	(in thousands)
U.S. federal	$	608,981	$	740,785	$	(234,860	)
Foreign		—		—		(157	)

	$	608,981	$	740,785	$	(235,017	)

Schedule Of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation


	Year Ended December 31,
	2011			2010		2009
	(in percentages)
U.S. federal statutory tax rate		35.0			35.0		35.0
State income taxes (net of federal benefit)		(0.9	)		0.5		(0.4	)
Other		(1.6	)		0.9		0.8

Consolidated effective tax rate		32.5			36.4		35.4

Schedule Of Deferred Tax Assets And Deferred Tax Liabilities


	December 31,
	2011			2010
	(in thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Foreign tax credit carryforward	$	—		$	174,054
Asset retirement obligations		47,860			50,886
Other		82,828			78,014

Total deferred tax assets		130,688			302,954
Valuation allowances		—			(6,632	)

Net deferred tax assets		130,688			296,322
Deferred tax liabilities:
Oil and gas properties, principally due to differences in basis, depletion and the deduction of intangible drilling costs for tax purposes		(1,692,317	)		(1,663,343	)
Other property and equipment, principally due to the deduction of bonus depreciation for tax purposes		(102,351	)		(58,866	)
State taxes and other		(191,621	)		(117,685	)
Net deferred hedge gains		(144,558	)		(52,232	)

Total deferred tax liabilities		(2,130,847	)		(1,892,126	)

Net deferred tax liability	$	(2,000,159	)	$	(1,595,804	)


Reflected in accompanying consolidated balance sheets as:
Current deferred income tax asset	$	77,005		$	156,650
Current deferred income tax liability		—			(1,144	)
Non-current deferred income tax liability		(2,077,164	)		(1,751,310	)

Total	$	(2,000,159	)	$	(1,595,804	)

Discontinued Operations


	Year Ended December 31,
	2011			2010			2009
	(in thousands)
Current:
U.S. state	$	(4,354	)	$	(538	)	$	(1,300	)
Foreign		(39,543	)		(24,948	)		(18,757	)

		(43,897	)		(25,486	)		(20,057	)

Deferred:
U.S. federal		(227,385	)		42,155			(48,879	)
U.S. state		(1,836	)		3			—
Foreign		15,168			(16,402	)		(16,591	)

		(214,053	)		25,756			(65,470	)


Income tax (provision) benefit	$	(257,950	)	$	270		$	(85,527	)

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of tax positions taken in the tax returns filed or to be filed for which it is more likely than not that the tax position will not be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities (i.e., uncertain tax positions) and other types of income tax contingencies, including: (1) the policy on classification of interest and penalties; (2) a tabular reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits at the beginning and end of the period; the total amount(s) of: (3) unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate, and (4) interest and penalties recognized in each of the income statement and balance sheet; (5) for positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts unrecognized will significantly change within 12 months of the reporting date the: (i) nature of the uncertainty, (ii) nature of the event that could occur that would cause the change, and (iii) an estimate of the range of the reasonably possible change or a statement that an estimate of the range cannot be made; and (6) a description of tax years that remain subject to examination by major tax jurisdictions.

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