SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Interim Financial Statements, Basis of Presentation, Consolidation and Significant Estimates

Interim Financial Statements, Basis of Presentation, Consolidation and Significant Estimates

The interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) but do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on February 28, 2022 (the “Annual Report”). The Company consolidates certain subsidiaries and joint ventures that are less than wholly-owned and are not involved in oil and natural gas exploration, including San Mateo, and the net income and equity attributable to the non-controlling interest in these subsidiaries have been reported separately as required by Accounting Standards Codification, Consolidation (Topic 810). The Company proportionately consolidates certain joint ventures that are less than wholly-owned and are involved in oil and natural gas exploration. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. In management’s opinion, these interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all normal, recurring adjustments that are necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2022. Amounts as of December 31, 2021 are derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included in the Annual Report.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates and assumptions may also affect disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The Company’s interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are based on a number of significant estimates, including oil and natural gas revenues, accrued assets and liabilities, stock-based compensation, valuation of derivative instruments, deferred tax assets and liabilities and oil and natural gas reserves. The estimates of oil and natural gas reserves quantities and future net cash flows are the basis for the calculations of depletion and impairment of oil and natural gas properties, as well as estimates of asset retirement obligations and certain tax accruals. While the Company believes its estimates are reasonable, changes in facts and assumptions or the discovery of new information may result in revised estimates. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Property and Equipment

Property and Equipment

The Company uses the full-cost method of accounting for its investments in oil and natural gas properties. Under this method, the Company is required to perform a ceiling test each quarter that determines a limit, or ceiling, on the capitalized costs of oil and natural gas properties based primarily on the after-tax estimated future net cash flows from oil and natural gas properties using a 10% discount rate and the arithmetic average of first-day-of-the-month oil and natural gas prices for the prior 12-month period. For both the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, the cost center ceiling was higher than the capitalized costs of oil and natural gas properties, and, as a result, no impairment charge was necessary.

Earnings Per Common Share

Earnings Per Common Share

The Company reports basic earnings attributable to Matador shareholders per common share, which excludes the effect of potentially dilutive securities, and diluted earnings attributable to Matador shareholders per common share, which includes the effect of all potentially dilutive securities unless their impact is anti-dilutive.

Fair Value Measurements

The Company measures and reports certain financial and non-financial assets and liabilities on a fair value basis. Fair value is 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). Fair value measurements are classified and disclosed in one of the following categories.

Level 1    Unadjusted quoted prices for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities in active markets.

Level 2    Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs that are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability. This category includes those derivative instruments that are valued with industry standard models that consider various inputs, including: (i) quoted forward prices for commodities, (ii) time value of money and (iii) current market and contractual prices for the underlying instruments, as well as other relevant economic measures. Substantially all of these inputs are observable in the marketplace throughout the full term of the derivative instrument and can be derived from observable data or supported by observable levels at which transactions are executed in the marketplace.

Level 3    Unobservable inputs that are not corroborated by market data that reflect a company’s own market assumptions.

Financial and non-financial assets and liabilities are classified based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement requires judgment, which may affect the valuation of the fair value of assets and liabilities and their placement within the fair value hierarchy levels.