Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Table Text Block]

Details of income tax provisions and deferred income taxes from continuing operations are provided in the following tables.

The components of income tax provisions and benefits were as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
Federal income tax provision (benefit)	(in millions)
Current	$	(55.5	)	$	(112.3	)	$	(324.0	)
Deferred	(614.3		)	34.5			110.3
State income tax provision (benefit)
Current	(1.5		)	(6.6		)	(15.5		)
Deferred	(36.9		)	(9.2		)	(3.3		)
Total income tax provision (benefit)	$	(708.2	)	$	(93.6	)	$	(232.5	)

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation [Table Text Block]

The difference between the statutory federal income tax rate and the Company's effective income tax rate is explained as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014
Federal income taxes statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increase (decrease) in rate as a result of:
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	2.4	%	4.2	%	(1.5	)%
State rate change	(1.1	)%	—	%	3.4	%
Penalties	—	%	(0.3	)%	—	%
Return to provision adjustment	—	%	(0.3	)%	(0.4	)%
Other	—	%	(0.1	)%	(0.3	)%
Effective income tax rate	36.3	%	38.5	%	36.2	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Table Text Block]

	December 31,
	2016		2015
Deferred tax liabilities	(in millions)
Property, plant and equipment	$	1,135.0	$	1,531.0
Commodity price derivatives	—		60.4
Total deferred tax liabilities	1,135.0		1,591.4
Deferred tax assets
Net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards	$	161.6	$	51.9
Employee benefits and compensation costs	49.0		43.6
Bonus and vacation accrual	11.4		7.0
Commodity price derivatives	74.3		—
Other	12.8		9.1
Total deferred tax assets	309.1		111.6
Net deferred income tax liability	$	825.9	$	1,479.8
Balance sheet classification
Deferred income tax liability – noncurrent	825.9		1,479.8
Net deferred income tax liability	$	825.9	$	1,479.8

Summary of Operating Loss Carryforwards [Table Text Block]

The amounts and expiration dates of net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards at December 31, 2016, are as follows:

	Expiration Dates	Amounts
		(in millions)
State net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards	2017-2033	$	53.6
State net operating loss valuation allowance		(20.6		)
U.S. net operating loss	2036	109.1
U.S. alternative minimum tax credit	Indefinite	19.5
Total		$	161.6

Summary of Positions for which Significant Change in Unrecognized Tax Benefits is Reasonably Possible [Table Text Block]

The following is a reconciliation of our beginning and ending amounts of unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015:

	Unrecognized Tax Benefits
	2016		2015
	(in millions)
Balance as of January 1,	$	15.6	$	—
Additions for tax positions taken during the current period	—		15.6
Balance as of December 31,	$	15.6	$	15.6

As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, QEP had approximately $15.6 million of unrecognized tax benefit that would impact its effective tax rate if recognized.