Decommissioning and Other Asset Retirement Obligations

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Notes to Financial Statements [Abstract]

Decommissioning and Other Asset Retirement Obligations

NOTE D – DECOMMISSIONING AND OTHER ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

The large majority of our asset retirement obligations consists of the future well abandonment and decommissioning costs for offshore oil and gas properties and platforms owned by our Maritech subsidiary, including the decommissioning and debris removal costs associated with its remaining offshore platforms previously destroyed by hurricanes. The amount of decommissioning liabilities recorded by Maritech is reduced by amounts allocable to joint interest owners. We also have asset retirement obligations associated with operated facilities in various U.S. and foreign locations that are used in the manufacture, storage, and sale of our products, inventories, and equipment. These facilities are a combination of owned and leased assets. The value of our asset retirement obligations for non-Maritech properties was approximately $8.3 million and $7.6 million as of September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively. The changes in consolidated asset retirement obligations during the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2014, are as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30, 2014			Nine Months Ended September 30, 2014
	(In Thousands)
Beginning balance for the period, as reported	$	42,188		$	50,904
Activity in the period:
Accretion of liability	199			570
Revisions in estimated cash flows	22,942			43,622
Settlement of retirement obligations	(10,542		)	(40,309		)
Ending balance as of September 30	$	54,787		$	54,787

Revisions in estimated cash flows during the first nine months of 2014 resulted primarily from changes that arose during the three and nine month periods for additional workincurred and estimates for additional workanticipated to be required on Maritech’s offshore oil and gas properties, including unanticipated remediation work required on certain wells that had been previously plugged. The increased decommissioning liabilities also reflect the revised cost and timing of third-party equipment that will be required to perform the decommissioning work.