Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020		2021 - 2025
	(in thousands)
Forest Pension Plan (1)	$	2,220	$	2,206	$	2,178	$	2,118	$	2,079	$	9,317
Wiser Pension Plan (1)		874		865		846		830		812		3,843
Postretirement Benefits Plan		551		563		544		529		510		2,356

(1)

Benefit payments expected to be made to participants in the Forest Pension Plan and Wiser Pension Plan are expected to be paid out of funds held in trusts established for each plan.

Schedule of benefit obligation


	Year Ended				Year Ended
	December 31, 2015				December 31, 2014
			Postretirement				Postretirement
	Pension Plans		Benefits Plan		Pension Plans		Benefits Plan
	(in thousands)				(in thousands)
Benefit obligation at the beginning of the year	$	44,400	$	18,052	$	—	$	—
Service cost		—		74		—		—
Interest cost		1,479		273		—		—
Amendments		—		90		—		—
Actuarial (gain)/loss		(3,061)		(413)		—		—
Benefits paid		(3,172)		(584)		—		—
Business combination		(440)		(10,383)		44,400		18,052
Benefit obligation at the end of the year	$	39,206	$	7,109	$	44,400	$	18,052

Schedule of fair value of plan assets


	December 31, 2015
	Using Quoted		Using Significant
	Prices in Active		Other		Using Significant
	Markets for		Observable		Unobservable
	Identical Assets		Inputs		Inputs
	(Level 1)		(Level 2)		(Level 3)		Total (1)
	(in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents	$	183	$	64	$	—	$	247
Investment funds—equities:
Research equity portfolio(1)		—		9,778		—		9,778
International stock funds(2)		11,086		—		—		11,086
Investment funds—fixed income:
Short-term fund(3)		1,985		—		—		1,985
Bond fund(4)		6,078		—		—		6,078
Oil and gas royalty interests(5)		—		—		172		172
	$	19,332	$	9,842	$	172	$	29,346

(1)

This investment fund’s assets are primarily large capitalization U.S. equities. The investment approach of this fund, which held approximately 224 different securities at December 31, 2015, focuses on diversifying the investment portfolio by delegating the equity selection process to research analysts with expertise in their respective industries. Industry weights are kept similar to those of the S&P 500 Index. As of December 31, 2015, the approximate sector weighting of this fund was comprised of the following: financials (18%), information technology (18%), health care (16%), consumer discretionary (13%), consumer staples (12%), industrials (11%), and other (12%). The fair value of this investment fund was determined based on the net asset value per unit provided by the fund. Sabine performs procedures to validate the net asset value per unit provided by the fund. Such procedures include verifying the pricing of a sample of the underlying securities, with such pricing being directly observable in the marketplace.

(2)

These three investment funds seek long-term growth of principal and income by investing primarily in diversified portfolios of equity securities issued by foreign, medium-to-large companies in international markets including emerging markets. The first fund, which comprises $6.4 million of the international stock funds, seeks to invest in solid, well-established global leaders with emphasis on strong corporate governance, positive future growth opportunities, and growing return on capital. As of December 31, 2015, the approximate sector weighting of this fund, which seeks diversification across regions, countries, and market sectors, was comprised of the following: financials (23%), information technology (23%), health care (14%), consumer discretionary (10%), and other (30%). The second fund, which comprises $3.4 million of the international stock funds, seeks to obtain growth through long-term appreciation of its holdings, selecting investments based upon their current fundamentals. As of December 31, 2015, the approximate sector weighting of this fund, which invests in Asian (excluding Japanese) growth equities with a focus on domestic demand growth rather than an export orientation, was comprised of the following: consumer staples (20%), financials (18%), information technology (16%), consumer discretionary (11%), healthcare (11%) and other (24%). The third fund, which comprises $1.3 million of the international stock funds, seeks to deliver equity-like returns with significantly less volatility by investing in emerging markets equity securities, with country allocations not exceeding 25%. As of December 31, 2015, the approximate sector weighting of this fund was comprised of the following: Short-term securities (26%), information technology (11%), financials (10%), industrials (10%), and other (43%). The fair value of these investment funds was determined based on the funds’ net asset values per unit, which are directly observable in the marketplace.

(3)

This investment fund’s assets are high-quality short-term fixed income securities. This fund generally limits its foreign currency exposure to 20% of its total assets and is actively managed as an enhanced cash strategy, seeking to derive excess returns versus money market fund indices by capturing term, transactional liquidity, credit, and volatility premiums. As of December 31, 2015, the approximate sector weighting of this fund was comprised of the following: cash and cash equivalents (31%), corporate (29%), government related (18%), derivative (13%) and other (9%). The fair value of this investment fund was determined based on the fund’s net asset value per unit, which is directly observable in the marketplace.

(4)

These two investment funds consist of diversified portfolios of bonds. The main investments of the first fund, which comprises $4.9 million of the bond fund, are intermediate maturity fixed income securities with a duration between three and six years, with a maximum of 10% of the portfolio being invested in securities below Baa grade, and up to 30% of the portfolio being invested in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities. As of December 31, 2015, the approximate sector weighting of this fund was comprised of the following: government-related (38%), cash and cash equivalents (27%), securitized (18%), derivative (10%) and other (7%). The second fund, which comprises $1.2 million of the bond fund, seeks to deliver equity-like returns with significantly less volatility by investing in emerging markets debt securities, with country allocations not exceeding 25%. As of December 31, 2015, the approximate sector weighting of this fund was comprised of the following: government related (74%), energy (10%) and other (16%). The fair value of these investment funds was determined based on the funds’ net asset values per unit, which are directly observable in the marketplace.

(5)

The oil and gas royalty interests are valued at their estimated discounted future cash flows, which approximate fair value.

Schedule of fair value of plan assets roll forward


	Year Ended				Year Ended
	December 31, 2015				December 31, 2014
			Postretirement				Postretirement
	Pension Plans		Benefits Plan		Pension Plans		Benefits Plan
	(in thousands)				(in thousands)
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of the year	$	31,395	$	—	$	—	$	—
Actual return on plan assets		(556)		—		—		—
Employer contributions		1,679		494		—		—
Participant contributions		—		90		—		—
Benefits paid		(3,172)		(584)		—		—
Business combination		—		—		31,395		—
Fair value of plan assets at the end of the year	$	29,346	$	—	$	31,395	$	—

Schedule of fair value of Level 3 plan assets roll forward


	Year Ended		Year Ended
	December 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
	Oil and Gas		Oil and Gas
	Royalty Interests		Royalty Interests
	(in thousands)		(in thousands)
Balance at beginning of period	$	199	$	—
Actual return on plan assets		(27)		—
Purchases, sales, and settlements (net)		—		199
Transfers in and/or out of Level 3		—		—
Balance at end of period	$	172	$	199

Schedule of allocation of plan assets


	December 31, 2015				December 31, 2014
	Forest		Wiser		Forest		Wiser
	Pension Plan		Pension Plan		Pension Plan		Pension Plan
Fixed income securities	28	%	28	%	26	%	26	%
Equity securities	71	%	72	%	73	%	74	%
Other	1	%	—	%	1	%	—	%
	100	%	100	%	100	%	100	%

Schedule of the funded status of the plan


	December 31, 2015				December 31, 2014
			Postretirement				Postretirement
	Pension Plans		Benefits Plan		Pension Plans		Benefits Plan
	(in thousands)				(in thousands)
Excess of benefit obligation over plan assets	$	9,860	$	7,109	$	13,004	$	18,052
Unrecognized actuarial gain (loss)		(1,517)		413		—		—
Net amount recognized	$	8,343	$	7,522	$	13,004	$	18,052
Amounts recognized in the balance sheet consist of:
Accrued benefit liability—current	$	—	$	466	$	128	$	628
Accrued benefit liability—noncurrent		9,860		6,643		12,876		17,424
Accumulated other comprehensive		(1,517)		413		—		—
Net amount recognized	$	8,343	$	7,522	$	13,004	$	18,052

Schedule of projected and accumulated benefit obligations and fair value of the plan assets


	December 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
	(in thousands)		(in thousands)
Projected benefit obligation	$	39,206	$	44,400
Accumulated benefit obligation		39,206		44,400
Fair value of plan assets		29,346		31,395

Schedule of net periodic cost


	December 31, 2015
				Postretirement
	Pension Plans			Benefits Plan
	(in thousands)
Service cost	$	—		$	74
Interest cost		1,479			273
Expected return on plan assets		(2,157)			—
Settlement (gain)/loss		(1,854)			—
Recognized actuarial loss		—			—
Total net periodic expense	$	(2,532)		$	347

Assumptions used to determine net periodic expense:
Discount rate		3.49	%		3.66	%
Expected return on plan assets		7.00	%		n/a

Assumptions used to determine benefit obligations:
Discount rate		3.78	%		3.98	%

Schedule of one-percentage-point change in assumed health care cost trend rates


	December 31, 2015
	Postretirement Benefits Plan
	1% Increase		1% Decrease
	(in thousands)
Effect on postretirement benefit obligation	$	1,288	$	(934)