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):

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.

Investments in life insurance contracts are stated at their cash surrender values or net present value. Investments in an equity mutual fund, a fixed income mutual fund and the stock of an insurance company (marketable equity securities) are stated at fair value based on quoted market prices with changes in fair value recognized in net income. The insurance contracts and marketable equity and fixed income 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 7 years. The Exploration and Production segment holds the majority of the Company’s derivative financial instruments.

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, 2019 and September 30, 2018. 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.

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 (loss) 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, 2019, the Company had $6.4 million ($4.6 million after tax) of net hedging gains included in the accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) balance. It is expected that $1.7 million ($1.2 million after tax) of unrealized gains will be reclassified into the Consolidated Statement of Income within the next 12 months as the underlying hedged transactions are recorded in earnings.



The Effect of Derivative Financial Instruments on the Statement of Financial Performance for the
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 (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,
	2019			2018				2019			2018				2019			2018
Commodity Contracts	$	(27,228	)	$	(10,514	)	Operating Revenue	$	(4,260	)	$	(3,467	)	Operating Revenue	$	(6,742	)	$	335
Commodity Contracts	(54		)	(344		)	Purchased Gas	(280		)	750			Not Applicable	—			—
Foreign Currency Contracts	1,282			(1,724		)	Operating Revenue	(199		)	(482		)	Not Applicable	—			—
Total	$	(26,000	)	$	(12,582	)		$	(4,739	)	$	(3,199	)		$	(6,742	)	$	335



The Effect of Derivative Financial Instruments on the Statement of Financial Performance for the
Six Months Ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 (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,
	2019			2018				2019			2018				2019			2018
Commodity Contracts	$	22,825		$	(16,463	)	Operating Revenue	$	(22,782	)	$	9,375		Operating Revenue	$	(237	)	$	(98	)
Commodity Contracts	(1,333		)	613			Purchased Gas	(1,182		)	947			Not Applicable	—			—
Foreign Currency Contracts	(2,102		)	(2,231		)	Operating Revenue	(420		)	(973		)	Not Applicable	—			—
Total	$	19,390		$	(18,081	)		$	(24,384	)	$	9,349			$	(237	)	$	(98	)

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 net realizable value writedown of the value of natural gas in storage that is recorded in the Company’s financial statements. As of March 31, 2019, the Company’s Energy Marketing segment had fair value hedges covering approximately 23.5 Bcf (23.3 Bcf of fixed price sales commitments and 0.2 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, 2019 (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, 2019 (In Thousands)
Commodity Contracts	Operating Revenues	$	1,645	$	(1,645	)
Commodity Contracts	Purchased Gas	$	94	$	(94	)
		$	1,739	$	(1,739	)

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 eighteen counterparties of which ten are in a net gain position. On average, the Company had $1.1 million of credit exposure per counterparty in a gain position at March 31, 2019. The maximum credit exposure per counterparty in a gain position at March 31, 2019 was $4.0 million. As of March 31, 2019, no collateral was received from the counterparties by the Company. The Company's gain position on such derivative financial instruments had not exceeded the established thresholds at which the counterparties would be required to post collateral, nor had the counterparties' credit ratings declined to levels at which the counterparties were required to post collateral.

As of March 31, 2019, fifteen of the eighteen 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, 2019, the fair market value of the derivative financial instrument assets with a credit-risk related contingency feature was $7.6 million according to the Company’s internal model (discussed in Note 3 — Fair Value Measurements). At March 31, 2019, the fair market value of the derivative financial instrument liabilities with a credit-risk related contingency feature was $5.7 million according to the Company's internal model. 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, 2019.

For its exchange traded futures contracts, the Company was required to post $2.0 million in hedging collateral deposits as of March 31, 2019. As these are exchange traded futures contracts, there are no specific credit-risk related contingency features. The Company posts or receives hedging collateral based on open positions and margin requirements it has with its counterparties.