Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations

Income tax (benefit) expense from continuing operations is summarized as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
	(Thousands)
Current:
Federal	$	(82,905	)	$	85,696		$	164,935
State	(298		)	1,103			17,136
Subtotal	(83,203		)	86,799			182,071
Deferred:
Federal	(117,155		)	(109,642		)	38,357
State	(63,106		)	127,518			(6,336		)
Subtotal	(180,261		)	17,876			32,021
Total income taxes	$	(263,464	)	$	104,675		$	214,092

Schedule of reconciliation of income tax expense to amount computed at the federal statutory rate

Income tax expense differed from amounts computed at the federal statutory rate of 35% on pre-tax income as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
	(Thousands)
Tax at statutory rate	$	(138,084	)	$	149,296		$	253,299
State income taxes	(71,613		)	(7,566		)	(2,992		)
Valuation allowance	23,808			91,144			10,012
Noncontrolling partners’ share of EQGP and EQM earnings	(112,672		)	(82,850		)	(43,409		)
Regulatory asset	35,438			(35,438		)	—
Research and experimentation credit	(4,539		)	(7,243		)	(468		)
Other	4,198			(2,668		)	(2,350		)
Income tax (benefit) expense	$	(263,464	)	$	104,675		$	214,092
Effective tax rate	66.8		%	24.5		%	29.6		%

Schedule of reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of reserve for uncertain tax positions(excluding interest and penalties)

The following table reconciles the beginning and ending amount of reserve for uncertain tax positions (excluding interest and penalties): 

	2016			2015			2014
	(Thousands)
Balance at January 1	$	259,301		$	56,957		$	57,087
Additions based on tax positions related to current year	23,978			152,983			1,195
Additions for tax positions of prior years	20,336			50,688			93
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(51,181		)	(1,327		)	(1,418		)
Lapse of statute of limitations	—			—			—
Balance at December 31	$	252,434		$	259,301		$	56,957

Summary of source and tax effects of temporary differences between financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities

The following table summarizes the source and tax effects of temporary differences between financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities:

	As of December 31,
	2016			2015
	(Thousands)
Deferred income taxes:
Total deferred income tax assets	$	(875,407	)	$	(826,764	)
Total deferred income tax liabilities	2,635,411			2,798,934
Total net deferred income tax liabilities	1,760,004			1,972,170
Total deferred income tax liabilities (assets):
Drilling and development costs expensed for income tax reporting	1,473,459			1,473,551
Tax depreciation in excess of book depreciation	1,161,952			1,172,331
Incentive compensation and deferred compensation plans	(77,743		)	(74,746		)
Net operating loss carryforwards	(282,943		)	(214,714		)
Investment in EQGP and EQM	(386,676		)	(426,343		)
Alternative minimum tax credit carryforward	(224,428		)	(267,045		)
Unrealized hedge (losses) gains	(101,430		)	107,854
Other	(3,609		)	45,198
Total excluding valuation allowances	1,558,582			1,816,086
Valuation allowances	201,422			156,084
Total net deferred income tax liabilities	$	1,760,004		$	1,972,170