Fair Value Measurements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

The Company reports certain assets and liabilities at fair value, which is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). Under the accounting guidance for fair value measurements, inputs used to measure fair value are classified in one of three levels:

Level 1: Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2: Observable market-based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data.

Level 3: Unobservable inputs that are not corroborated by market data.

The following tables summarize, by level within the fair value hierarchy, the Company's assets and liabilities that were accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis:



	September 30, 2015
	Level 1			Level 2			Total
Derivative instruments
Risk management assets—Commodity forward contracts	$	4,700		$	39		$	4,739
Risk management liabilities—Commodity forward contracts	(8,395		)	(6,872		)	(15,267		)
Marketable securities
Available-for-sale securities	57,733			232,091			289,824

	December 31, 2014
	Level 1			Level 2			Total
Derivative instruments
Risk management assets—Commodity forward contracts	$	3,143		$	2		$	3,145
Risk management liabilities—Commodity forward contracts	—			(10,108		)	(10,108		)
Marketable securities
Available-for-sale securities	15,414			—			15,414

The Level 2 measurements for the Company's commodity contracts are derived using forward curves supplied by industry-recognized and unrelated third-party services. The Level 2 measurements for the Company's available-for-sale securities are derived using market-based pricing provided by unrelated third-party services.

There were no transfers in or out of Levels 1 and 2 of the fair value hierarchy for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014.

In addition to the financial assets and liabilities above, the Company has other financial assets and liabilities subject to fair value measures. These financial assets and liabilities include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, net, accounts and notes payable and long-term debt, all of which are recorded at carrying value. The amounts reported in the consolidated balance sheets for cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, net and accounts and notes payable approximate their fair value due to the short maturities of these instruments. The carrying and fair values of the Company's long-term debt are summarized in the table below. The Company's long-term debt instruments are publicly-traded. A market approach, based upon quotes from financial reporting services, is used to measure the fair value of the Company's long-term debt. Because the Company's long-term debt instruments may not be actively traded, the inputs used to measure the fair value of the Company's long-term debt are classified as Level 2 inputs within the fair value hierarchy.



	September 30, 2015				December 31, 2014
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
3.60% senior notes due 2022	$	249,197	$	246,843	$	249,108	$	248,630
6 ½% senior notes due 2029	100,000		116,663		100,000		116,384
6 ¾% senior notes due 2032	250,000		273,655		250,000		285,545
6 ½% GO Zone Senior Notes Due 2035	89,000		103,740		89,000		106,504
6 ½% IKE Zone Senior Notes Due 2035	65,000		74,719		65,000		77,784
Loan related to tax-exempt waste disposal revenue bonds due 2027	10,889		10,889		10,889		10,889

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

+ References + Details