Note 3 — Oil and Gas Properties

Results of Discontinued Operations

In December 2012, we announced a definitive agreement for the sale of ERT. On February 6, 2013, we sold ERT for $624 million plus additional consideration in the form of overriding royalty interests in ERT’s Wang well and certain exploration prospects. As a result, we have presented the assets and liabilities included in the sale of ERT and the historical operating results of our former Oil and Gas segment as discontinued operations in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

The following summarized financial information relates to ERT, which is reported as “Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax” in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):


		Year Ended December 31,
		2013 (1)		2012		2011

Revenues	$	48,847	$	557,231	$	696,607
Costs:
Production (lifting) costs		16,017		164,663		176,269
Hurricane repair expense		-		662		(4,838)
Exploration expenses		3,514		3,295		10,914
Depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion		1,226		158,284		219,915
Proved property impairment and abandonment (2)		(152)		151,045		113,439
(Gain) loss on sale of oil and gas properties		-		1,714		(4,531)
Hedge ineffectiveness and non-hedge gain on commodity derivative contracts		-		(5,550)		-
Selling, general and administrative expenses		1,229		17,823		12,951
Net interest expense and other (3)		2,732		28,191		25,558
Total costs		24,566		520,127		549,677
Pretax income from discontinued operations		24,281		37,104		146,930
Income tax provision		8,499		13,420		51,709
Income from operations of discontinued operations		15,782		23,684		95,221
Loss on sale of business, net of tax		(14,709)		-		-
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	$	1,073	$	23,684	$	95,221

(1) Results for 2013 reflect the operating results from January 1, 2013 through February 6, 2013 when ERT was sold. There were no material results of operations for our former oil and gas segment subsequent to the sale of ERT.

(2) Results for 2012 include a charge of $138.6 million to reduce our carrying value of ERT to its estimated fair value less costs to sell.

(3) Net interest expense of $2.7 million, $27.7 million and $25.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively, was allocated to ERT and primarily consisted of interest associated with indebtedness directly attributed to the substantial oil and gas acquisition made in 2006. This includes interest related to debt required to be repaid upon the disposition of ERT.

Revenue Recognition for Royalty Interests

Revenues from royalty interests are recognized according to monthly oil and gas production on an entitlement basis. Revenues for royalty interests are reflected in “Other income – oil and gas” in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

United Kingdom Property

Since 2006, we have maintained an ownership interest in the Camelot field, located offshore in the North Sea. Modifications to U.K. regulations governing such operations required us to reassess our existing abandonment plan and cost estimates in 2011. The results of this review concluded that the scope of work to be performed in the abandoning of the wells in the field would be significantly expanded and as a result our cost estimates significantly increased. Based on our abandonment plan, we increased the asset retirement obligation by recording a corresponding $20.0 million charge to expense. At December 31, 2011, the remaining asset retirement obligation for the Camelot field was $27.3 million and our plan was to fully abandon the field in 2012 in accordance with applicable regulations in the United Kingdom.

During 2012, we recorded $15.5 million of additional charges to expense to reflect further increases in our estimated costs to complete our abandonment activities at Camelot, including the removal of certain environmentally sensitive materials. At December 31, 2012, the recorded asset retirement obligation for the Camelot field was $2.9 million.

During 2013, we recorded a $1.6 million charge reflecting the estimated final costs to complete our abandonment activities at Camelot. We completed the reclamation activities for this offshore property in 2013, including removing and appropriately disposing of all the related structures, and the plugging and abandoning of all the wells associated with the property. At December 31, 2013, the recorded asset retirement obligation was $1.1 million.

Separately, we retained the reclamation obligations associated with one property located in the Gulf of Mexico pursuant to the terms of the ERT sale transaction. During 2013, we paid $5.2 million for our pro-rata share of the costs to complete the reclamation of this property.

The operating results and financial position associated with our U.K. property do not qualify for discontinued operations accounting treatment as this property was not classified as held for sale, and thus are reflected as continuing operations in our consolidated financial statements for all periods presented. Other than the impairment charges and asset retirement costs described above, the operating results associated with the Camelot field were immaterial for all periods presented in this Annual Report.