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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Processing, Transportation and Salt Water Disposal Commitments
Eagle Ford
Effective September 1, 2012, the Company entered into a firm five-year natural gas processing and transportation agreement whereby the Company committed to transport the anticipated natural gas production from a significant portion of its Eagle Ford acreage in South Texas through the counterparty’s system for processing at the counterparty’s facilities. The agreement also includes firm transportation of the natural gas liquids extracted at the counterparty’s processing plant downstream for fractionation. After processing, the residue natural gas is purchased by the counterparty at the tailgate of its processing plant and further transported under its natural gas transportation agreements. The arrangement contains fixed processing and liquids transportation and fractionation fees, and the revenue the Company receives varies with the quality of natural gas transported to the processing facilities and the contract period.
Under this agreement, if the Company does not meet 80% of the maximum thermal quantity transportation and processing commitments in a contract year, it will be required to pay a deficiency fee per MMBtu of natural gas deficiency. Any quantity in excess of the maximum MMBtu delivered in a contract year can be carried over to the next contract year for purposes of calculating the natural gas deficiency. During certain prior periods, the Company had an immaterial natural gas deficiency, and the counterparty to this agreement waived the deficiency fee. The Company paid $0.5 million and $0.8 million in processing and transportation fees under this agreement during the three months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and $1.0 million and $1.7 million in processing and transportation fees under this agreement during the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The future undiscounted minimum payment under this agreement as of June 30, 2017 was $0.2 million.
Delaware Basin — Loving County, Texas Natural Gas Processing
In late 2015, the Company entered into a 15-year, fixed-fee natural gas gathering and processing agreement whereby the Company committed to deliver the anticipated natural gas production from a significant portion of its Loving County, Texas acreage in West Texas through the counterparty’s gathering system for processing at the counterparty’s facilities. Under this agreement, if the Company does not meet the volume commitment for transportation and processing at the facilities in a contract year, it will be required to pay a deficiency fee per MMBtu of natural gas deficiency. At the end of each year of the agreement, the Company can elect to have the previous year’s actual transportation and processing volumes be the new minimum commitment for each of the remaining years of the contract. As such, the Company has the ability to unilaterally reduce the gathering and processing commitment if the Company’s production in the Loving County area is less than the Company’s currently projected production. If the Company ceased operations in this area at June 30, 2017, the total deficiency fee required to be paid would be approximately $11.6 million. In addition, if the Company elects to reduce the gathering and processing commitment in any year, the Company has the ability to elect to increase the committed volumes in any future year to the originally agreed gathering and processing commitment. Any quantity in excess of the volume commitment delivered in a contract year can be carried over to the next contract year for purposes of calculating the natural gas deficiency. The Company paid approximately $3.7 million and $2.8 million in natural gas processing and gathering fees under this agreement during the three months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and $6.8 million and $4.7 million in natural gas processing and gathering fees under this agreement during the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The Company can elect to either sell the residue gas to the counterparty at the tailgate of its processing plants or have the counterparty deliver to the Company the residue gas in-kind to be sold to third parties downstream of the plants.
Delaware Basin — San Mateo
In connection with the Joint Venture, effective as of February 1, 2017, the Company dedicated its current and future leasehold interests in the Rustler Breaks and Wolf asset areas pursuant to 15-year, fixed-fee natural gas, oil and salt water gathering agreements and salt water disposal agreements. In addition, the Company dedicated its current and future leasehold interests in the Rustler Breaks asset area pursuant to a 15-year, fixed-fee natural gas processing agreement (collectively with the gathering and salt water disposal agreements, the “Operational Agreements”). The Joint Venture will provide the Company with firm service under each of the Operational Agreements in exchange for certain minimum volume commitments. The minimum contractual obligation under the Operational Agreements at June 30, 2017 was approximately $256.4 million.
Beginning in May 2017, a subsidiary of San Mateo entered into certain agreements with third parties for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of an expansion of the Black River Processing Plant, including required compression. The expansion is expected to be placed into service in 2018. San Mateo’s total commitments under these agreements are $56.9 million. The subsidiary of San Mateo paid approximately $7.9 million and $9.9 million under these agreements during the three and six months ended June 30, 2017. As of June 30, 2017, the remaining obligations under these agreements were $47.0 million, which are expected to be incurred within the next year.
Other Commitments
The Company does not own or operate its own drilling rigs, but instead enters into contracts with third parties for such drilling rigs. These contracts establish daily rates for the drilling rigs and the term of the Company’s commitment for the drilling services to be provided, which have typically been for two years or less. The Company would incur a termination obligation if the Company elected to terminate a contract and if the drilling contractor were unable to secure replacement work for the contracted drilling rigs or if the drilling contractor were unable to secure replacement work for the contracted drilling rigs at the same daily rates being charged to the Company prior to the end of their respective contract terms. The Company’s undiscounted minimum outstanding aggregate termination obligations under its drilling rig contracts were approximately $42.0 million at June 30, 2017.
At June 30, 2017, the Company had outstanding commitments to participate in the drilling and completion of various non-operated wells. If all of these wells are drilled and completed as proposed, the Company’s minimum outstanding aggregate commitments for its participation in these non-operated wells were approximately $19.7 million at June 30, 2017. The Company expects these costs to be incurred within the next year.
Legal Proceedings
The Company is a party to several lawsuits encountered in the ordinary course of its business. While the ultimate outcome and impact to the Company cannot be predicted with certainty, in the opinion of management, it is remote that these lawsuits will have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.