Fair Value Measurements on a Recurring Basis

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Fair Value Measurements on a Recurring Basis

The Company accounts for its commodity derivatives at fair value (see Note 7) on a recurring basis. The Company determines the fair value of its oil and natural gas derivatives utilizing pricing models that use a variety of techniques, including market quotes and pricing analysis. Inputs to the pricing models include publicly available prices and forward price curves generated from a compilation of data gathered from third parties. Company management validates the data provided by third parties by understanding the pricing models used, obtaining market values from other pricing sources, analyzing pricing data in certain situations and confirming that those instruments trade in active markets. Assumed credit risk adjustments, based on published credit ratings, public bond yield spreads and credit default swap spreads are applied to the Company’s commodity derivatives.

Fair Value Hierarchy

In accordance with applicable accounting standards, the Company has categorized its financial instruments, based on the priority of inputs to the valuation technique, into a three-level fair value hierarchy. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3).

Financial assets and liabilities recorded in the balance sheets are categorized based on the inputs to the valuation techniques as follows:


Level 1	Financial assets and liabilities for which values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in an active market that management has the ability to access.


Level 2	Financial assets and liabilities for which values are based on quoted prices in markets that are not active or model inputs that are observable either directly or indirectly for substantially the full term of the asset or liability (commodity derivatives).


Level 3	Financial assets and liabilities for which values are based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. These inputs reflect management’s own assumptions about the assumptions a market participant would use in pricing the asset or liability.

When the inputs used to measure fair value fall within different levels of the hierarchy in a liquid environment, the level within which the fair value measurement is categorized is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The Company conducts a review of fair value hierarchy classifications on a quarterly basis. Changes in the observability of valuation inputs may result in a reclassification for certain financial assets or liabilities.

The following presents the fair value hierarchy for assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis:



	December 31, 2015
	Level 2		Netting ⁽¹⁾			Total
	(in thousands)
Assets:
Commodity derivatives	$	13,807	$	(589	)	$	13,218
Liabilities:
Commodity derivatives	$	2,830	$	(589	)	$	2,241



	December 31, 2014
	Level 2		Netting ⁽¹⁾			Total
	(in thousands)
Assets:
Commodity derivatives	$	60,843	$	(17,149	)	$	43,694
Liabilities:
Commodity derivatives	$	17,149	$	(17,149	)	$	—


⁽¹⁾	Represents counterparty netting under agreements governing such derivatives.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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