Asset Retirement Obligation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

9. Asset Retirement Obligation

The Company records a liability for the estimated costs to be incurred in connection with the abandonment of oil and natural gas properties in the future. This liability is included in the caption “other” in the liabilities section of the consolidated balance sheet. The following table describes the changes to the Company’s asset retirement obligations during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 (in thousands):


	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2011			2010
Balance at beginning of year	$	3,063		$	2,955
Liabilities incurred		223			279
Liabilities settled		(80	)		(331	)
Accretion expense		106			83
Revision in estimated costs of plugging oil and natural gas wells		(2	)		—

Asset retirement obligation at end of period	$	3,310		$	2,986