Note 10 — Income Taxes

We and our subsidiaries, including acquired companies from their respective dates of acquisition, file a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return.

We conduct our international operations in a number of locations that have varying laws and regulations with regard to taxes. Management believes that adequate provisions have been made for all taxes that will ultimately be payable. Income taxes have been provided based on the U.S. statutory rate of 35% and at the local statutory rate for each foreign jurisdiction adjusted for items which are allowed as deductions for federal and foreign income tax reporting purposes, but not for book purposes. The primary differences between the statutory rate and our effective rate were as follows:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2011			2010			2009

Statutory rate		35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
Foreign provision		(2.0	)		(4.3	)		(1.1	)
Effect of Australian reorganization	(21.2		)	—				—
IRC Section 199 deduction	—			—				(1.2	)
CDI equity pick up in excess of tax basis	—			—				3.0
Nondeductible goodwill impairment (Note 2)	—				(4.4	)	—
Valuation allowance on certain deferred tax assets	—				(3.1	)	—
Other		(1.7	)		1.0			0.9
Effective rate		10.1	%		24.2	%		36.6	%

In 2011, we reorganized our Australian operating companies. The reorganization resulted in a recorded net tax benefit of $31.3 million associated with the impairment of our U.S. investment in the Australian subsidiaries.

Components of the provision (benefit) for income taxes reflected in the statements of operations consisted of the following (in thousands):


			Year Ended December 31,
		2011			2010			2009

Current	$	16,306		$	7,238		$	160,829
Deferred		(1,403	)		(46,836	)		(65,007	)
	$	14,903		$	(39,598	)	$	95,822

Domestic	$	119	$	(57,165	)	$	94,388
Foreign		14,784		17,567			1,434
	$	14,903	$	(39,598	)	$	95,822

Deferred income taxes result from the effect of transactions that are recognized in different periods for financial and tax reporting purposes. The nature of these differences and the income tax effect of each as of December 31, 2011 and 2010 were as follows (in thousands):

		2011			2010

Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation and depletion	$	396,355		$	384,313
OID on Convertible Notes		37,067			34,169
Equity investments in production facilities		76,911			69,495
Prepaid and other		14,779			15,616
Total deferred tax liabilities	$	525,112		$	503,593

Deferred tax assets:
Net operating loss carryforward	$	(34,987	)	$	(38,718	)
Asset retirement obligations		(88,279	)		(81,345	)
Reserves, accrued liabilities and other		(39,995	)		(27,588	)
Total deferred tax assets	$	(163,261	)	$	(147,651	)
Valuation allowance		14,310			8,497

Net deferred tax liability	$	376,161		$	364,439

Deferred income tax is presented as:
Current deferred tax asset	$	(41,449	)	$	(49,200	)
Noncurrent deferred tax liabilities		417,610			413,639
Net deferred tax liability	$	376,161		$	364,439

At December 31, 2011, our federal net operating loss carryforward totaled $17.6 million and our foreign tax credit carryforward totaled $9.7 million. The net operating loss carryforward will expire in 2030, while the foreign tax credit carryforward will expire in 2020. At this time, we anticipate utilizing these tax attributes before the statute of limitations expires. At December 31, 2011, we had a $14.3 million valuation allowance related to certain non-U.S. deferred assets, primarily net operating losses generated in Australia, as management believed it is more likely than not that we will not be able to utilize the tax benefit. Additional valuation allowances may be made in the future if in management's opinion it is more likely than not that the tax benefit will not be utilized. Any limitations on our ability to utilize our tax benefit carryforward could result in an increase in our federal income tax liability in future taxable periods.

We consider the undistributed earnings of our principal non-U.S. subsidiaries to be permanently reinvested. At December 31, 2011 and 2010, our principal non-U.S. subsidiaries had accumulated earnings and profits of approximately $113.4 million and $28.2 million, respectively. We have not provided deferred U.S. income tax on the accumulated earnings and profits.

We have $7.1 million related to uncertain tax positions, of which $0.9 million is accrued interest and penalties. We account for tax related interest in interest expense and tax penalties in operating expenses. During 2011, we recorded a $2.8 million long term liability related to an uncertain tax position and a $0.2 million long term liability for interest and penalties. As of December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009 there were $6.2 million, $3.4 million and $3.4 million of unrecognized tax benefits that if recognized would affect the annual effective rate. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (in thousands):


	2011		2010		2009

Balance at January 1,	$	4,085	$	3,417	$	5,183
Additions based on tax positions related to current year		2,785	—		—
Additions for tax positions of prior years		215		668		773
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	—		—			(2,539	)
Balance at December 31,	$	7,085	$	4,085	$	3,417

We file tax returns in the U.S. and in various state, local and non-U.S. jurisdictions. We anticipate that any potential adjustments to our state, local and non-U.S. jurisdiction tax returns by tax authorities would not have a material impact on our financial position. The tax periods ending December 31, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 are under examination by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). The tax periods ended December 31, 2010 and 2011 remain open to future review and examination by the IRS. In non-U.S. jurisdictions, the open tax periods include 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.