Financial Instruments

Long-Term Debt. The fair market value of the Company’s debt, as presented in the table below, was determined using a discounted cash flow model, which incorporates the Company’s credit ratings and current market conditions in determining the yield, and subsequently, the fair market value of the debt. Based on these criteria, the fair market value of long-term debt, including current portion, was as follows (in thousands):



	March 31, 2016				September 30, 2015
	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
Long-Term Debt	$	2,085,123	$	2,026,988	$	2,084,009	$	2,129,558

The fair value amounts are not intended to reflect principal amounts that the Company will ultimately be required to pay. Carrying amounts for other financial instruments recorded on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets approximate fair value. The fair value of long-term debt was calculated using observable inputs (U.S. Treasuries/LIBOR for the risk free component and company specific credit spread information – generally obtained from recent trade activity in the debt). As such, the Company considers the debt to be Level 2.

Any temporary cash investments, notes payable to banks and commercial paper are stated at cost. Temporary cash investments are considered Level 1, while notes payable to banks and commercial paper are considered to be Level 2. Given the short-term nature of the notes payable to banks and commercial paper, the Company believes cost is a reasonable approximation of fair value.

Other Investments. Investments in life insurance are stated at their cash surrender values or net present value as discussed below. Investments in an equity mutual fund, a fixed income mutual fund and the stock of an insurance company (marketable equity securities), as discussed below, are stated at fair value based on quoted market prices.

Other investments include cash surrender values of insurance contracts (net present value in the case of split-dollar collateral assignment arrangements) and marketable equity and fixed income securities. The values of the insurance contracts amounted to $38.9 million at March 31, 2016 and $45.3 million at September 30, 2015. The fair value of the equity mutual fund was $36.3 million at March 31, 2016 and $34.9 million at September 30, 2015. The gross unrealized gain on this equity mutual fund was $6.2 million at March 31, 2016 and $6.5 million at September 30, 2015. The fair value of the fixed income mutual fund was $25.1 million at March 31, 2016 and $8.0 million at September 30, 2015. The gross unrealized loss on this fixed income mutual fund was $0.1 million at March 31, 2016. The fair value of the stock of an insurance company was $3.9 million at March 31, 2016 and $4.3 million at September 30, 2015. The gross unrealized gain on this stock was $2.2 million at March 31, 2016 and $2.6 million at September 30, 2015. The insurance contracts and marketable equity securities are primarily informal funding mechanisms for various benefit obligations the Company has to certain employees.

Derivative Financial Instruments. The Company uses derivative financial instruments to manage commodity price risk in the Exploration and Production segment as well as the Energy Marketing segment. The Company enters into futures contracts and over-the-counter swap agreements for natural gas and crude oil to manage the price risk associated with forecasted sales of gas and oil. In addition, the Company also enters into foreign exchange forward contracts to manage the risk of currency fluctuations associated with transportation costs denominated in Canadian currency in the Exploration and Production segment. These instruments are accounted for as cash flow hedges. The Company also enters into futures contracts and swaps, which are accounted for as cash flow hedges, to manage the price risk associated with forecasted gas purchases. The Company enters into futures contracts and swaps to mitigate risk associated with fixed price sales commitments, fixed price purchase commitments, and the decline in value of natural gas held in storage. These instruments are accounted for as fair value hedges. The duration of the Company’s combined cash flow and fair value commodity hedges does not typically exceed 5 years while the foreign currency forward contracts do not exceed ten years. The Exploration and Production segment holds the majority of the Company’s derivative financial instruments. The derivative financial instruments held by the Energy Marketing segment are not considered to be material to the Company.

The Company has presented its net derivative assets and liabilities as “Fair Value of Derivative Financial Instruments” on its Consolidated Balance Sheets at March 31, 2016 and September 30, 2015. Substantially all of the derivative financial instruments reported on those line items relate to commodity contracts and a small portion relates to foreign currency forward contracts.

Cash Flow Hedges

For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative is reported as a component of other comprehensive income and reclassified into earnings in the period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. Gains and losses on the derivative representing either hedge ineffectiveness or hedge components excluded from the assessment of effectiveness are recognized in current earnings.

As of March 31, 2016, the Company had the following commodity derivative contracts (swaps and futures contracts) outstanding:



Commodity	Units
Natural Gas	139.5	Bcf (short positions)
Natural Gas	3.1	Bcf (long positions)
Crude Oil	1,467,000	Bbls (short positions)

As of March 31, 2016, the Company was hedging a total of $84.5 million of forecasted transportation costs denominated in Canadian dollars with foreign currency forward contracts (long positions).

As of March 31, 2016, the Company had $252.9 million ($146.7 million after tax) of net hedging gains included in the accumulated other comprehensive income balance. It is expected that $180.3 million ($104.6 million after tax) of such unrealized gains will be reclassified into the Consolidated Statement of Income within the next 12 months as the underlying hedged transaction are recorded in earnings.

Refer to Note 1, under Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), for the after-tax gain (loss) pertaining to derivative financial instruments.



The Effect of Derivative Financial Instruments on the Statement of Financial Performance for the
Three Months Ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 (Thousands of Dollars)
Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationships	Amount of Derivative Gain or (Loss) Recognized in Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) on the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Effective Portion) for the Three Months Ended March 31,					Location of Derivative Gain or (Loss) Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) on the Consolidated Balance Sheet into the Consolidated Statement of Income (Effective Portion)	Amount of Derivative Gain or (Loss) Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) on the Consolidated Balance Sheet into the Consolidated Statement of Income (Effective Portion) for the Three Months Ended March 31,					Location of Derivative Gain or (Loss) Recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Ineffective Portion and Amount Excluded from Effectiveness Testing)	Derivative Gain or (Loss) Recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Ineffective Portion and Amount Excluded from Effectiveness Testing) for the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2015			2016			2015			2016		2015
Commodity Contracts	$	30,876		$	60,571	Operating Revenue	$	57,914		$	53,471	Operating Revenue	$	31	$	1,469
Commodity Contracts	$	(214	)	$	594	Purchased Gas	$	3,530		$	659	Not Applicable	$	—	$	—
Foreign Currency Contracts	$	3,106		$	—	Operation and Maintenance Expense	$	(209	)	$	—	Not Applicable	$	—	$	—
Total	$	33,768		$	61,165		$	61,235		$	54,130		$	31	$	1,469



The Effect of Derivative Financial Instruments on the Statement of Financial Performance for the
Six Months Ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 (Thousands of Dollars)
Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationships	Amount of Derivative Gain or (Loss) Recognized in Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) on the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Effective Portion) for the Six Months Ended March 31,				Location of Derivative Gain or (Loss) Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) on the Consolidated Balance Sheet into the Consolidated Statement of Income (Effective Portion)	Amount of Derivative Gain or (Loss) Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) on the Consolidated Balance Sheet into the Consolidated Statement of Income (Effective Portion) for the Six Months Ended March 31,					Location of Derivative Gain or (Loss) Recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Ineffective Portion and Amount Excluded from Effectiveness Testing)	Derivative Gain or (Loss) Recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Ineffective Portion and Amount Excluded from Effectiveness Testing) for the Six Months Ended March 31,
	2016		2015			2016			2015			2016		2015
Commodity Contracts	$	96,217	$	300,594	Operating Revenue	$	114,242		$	73,508	Operating Revenue	$	168	$	2,929
Commodity Contracts	$	1,999	$	4,400	Purchased Gas	$	4,450		$	4,887	Not Applicable	$	—	$	—
Foreign Currency Contracts	$	923	$	—	Operation and Maintenance Expense	$	(287	)	$	—	Not Applicable	$	—	$	—
Total	$	99,139	$	304,994		$	118,405		$	78,395		$	168	$	2,929

Fair Value Hedges

The Company utilizes fair value hedges to mitigate risk associated with fixed price sales commitments, fixed price purchase commitments, and the decline in the value of certain natural gas held in storage. With respect to fixed price sales commitments, the Company enters into long positions to mitigate the risk of price increases for natural gas supplies that could occur after the Company enters into fixed price sales agreements with its customers. With respect to fixed price purchase commitments, the Company enters into short positions to mitigate the risk of price decreases that could occur after the Company locks into fixed price purchase deals with its suppliers. With respect to storage hedges, the Company enters into short positions to mitigate the risk of price decreases that could result in a lower of cost or market writedown of the value of natural gas in storage that is recorded in the Company’s financial statements. As of March 31, 2016, the Company’s Energy Marketing segment had fair value hedges covering approximately 13.8 Bcf (13.2 Bcf of fixed price sales commitments, 0.1 Bcf of fixed price purchase commitments and 0.5 Bcf of commitments related to the withdrawal of storage gas). For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a fair value hedge, the gain or loss on the derivative as well as the offsetting gain or loss on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk completely offset each other in current earnings, as shown below.



Derivatives in Fair Value Hedging Relationships	Location of Gain or (Loss) on Derivative and Hedged Item Recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Income	Amount of Gain or (Loss) on Derivative Recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Income for the Six Months Ended March 31, 2016 (In Thousands)			Amount of Gain or (Loss) on the Hedged Item Recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Income for the Six Months Ended March 31, 2016 (In Thousands)
Commodity Contracts	Operating Revenues	$	5,557		$	(5,557	)
Commodity Contracts	Purchased Gas	$	(154	)	$	154
		$	5,403		$	(5,403	)

Credit Risk

The Company may be exposed to credit risk on any of the derivative financial instruments that are in a gain position. Credit risk relates to the risk of loss that the Company would incur as a result of nonperformance by counterparties pursuant to the terms of their contractual obligations. To mitigate such credit risk, management performs a credit check, and then on a quarterly basis monitors counterparty credit exposure. The majority of the Company’s counterparties are financial institutions and energy traders. The Company has over-the-counter swap positions and applicable foreign currency forward contracts with sixteen counterparties of which fifteen are in a net gain position. On average, the Company had $16.8 million of credit exposure per counterparty in a gain position at March 31, 2016. The maximum credit exposure per counterparty in a gain position at March 31, 2016 was $43.2 million. The Company’s gain position on such derivative financial instruments for certain counterparties exceeded the established thresholds at which the counterparties would be required to post collateral. At March 31, 2016, collateral deposits from counterparties of $24.2 million were posted. These collateral deposits are recorded as a component of Accounts Payable on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

As of March 31, 2016, twelve of the sixteen counterparties to the Company’s outstanding derivative instrument contracts (specifically the over-the-counter swaps and applicable foreign currency forward contracts) had a common credit-risk related contingency feature. In the event the Company’s credit rating increases or falls below a certain threshold (applicable debt ratings), the available credit extended to the Company would either increase or decrease. A decline in the Company’s credit rating, in and of itself, would not cause the Company to be required to increase the level of its hedging collateral deposits (in the form of cash deposits, letters of credit or treasury debt instruments). If the Company’s outstanding derivative instrument contracts were in a liability position (or if the liability were larger) and/or the Company’s credit rating declined, then additional hedging collateral deposits may be required. At March 31, 2016, the fair market value of the derivative financial instrument assets with a credit-risk related contingency feature was $162.9 million according to the Company’s internal model (discussed in Note 2 — Fair Value Measurements). For its over-the-counter swap agreements and foreign currency forward contracts, no hedging collateral deposits were required to be posted by the Company at March 31, 2016.

For its exchange traded futures contracts, the Company was required to post $10.0 million in hedging collateral deposits as of March 31, 2016. As these are exchange traded futures contracts, there are no specific credit-risk related contingency features. The Company posts hedging collateral based on open positions and margin requirements it has with its counterparties.

The Company’s requirement to post hedging collateral deposits and the Company's right to receive hedging collateral deposits is based on the fair value determined by the Company’s counterparties, which may differ from the Company’s assessment of fair value. Hedging collateral deposits may also include closed derivative positions in which the broker has not cleared the cash from the account to offset the derivative liability. The Company records liabilities related to closed derivative positions in Other Accruals and Current Liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. These liabilities are relieved when the broker clears the cash from the hedging collateral deposit account. This is discussed in Note 1 under Hedging Collateral Deposits.