INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Analysis of Deferred Taxes

An analysis of our deferred taxes follows (in thousands):

	Successor			Predecessor
	As of December 31,			As of December 31,
	2017			2016
Tax effect of temporary differences:
Net operating loss carryforwards	$	66,304		$	201,557
Oil and gas properties	12,035			85,772
Asset retirement obligations	44,751			85,312
Stock compensation	278			3,294
Derivatives	3,110			—
Accrued incentive compensation	2,269			954
Debt issuance costs	644			7,480
Other	1,600			441
Total deferred tax assets (liabilities)	130,991			384,810
Valuation allowance	(130,991		)	(384,810		)
Net deferred tax assets (liabilities)	$	—		$	—

Reconciliation Between Statutory Federal Income Tax Rate and Effective Income Tax Rate as a Percentage of Income Before Income Taxes

The following table provides a reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective income tax rate as a percentage of income before income taxes for the indicated periods:

	Successor	Predecessor
	Period from March 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017	Period from January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017	Year Ended December 31,
			2016	2015
Income tax expense computed at the statutory federal income tax rate	35.0%	35.0%	35.0%	35.0%
Tax Act rate change	(32.8)	—	—	—
State taxes	(0.7)	0.3	0.2	0.6
Change in valuation allowance	5.3	(37.8)	(35.0)	(12.8)
IRC Sec. 162(m) limitation	0.4	—	(0.3)	(0.1)
Tax deficits on stock compensation	(0.6)	0.6	(0.7)	(0.1)
Reorganization fees	0.3	2.5	(0.3)	—
Other	—	—	(0.2)	(0.1)
Effective income tax rate	6.9%	0.6%	(1.3)%	22.5%

Summary of Income Tax Contingencies

A reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits follows (in thousands):

	Successor		Predecessor
	Period from March 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017		Period from January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017
Total unrecognized tax benefits, beginning balance	$	491	$	491
Increases (decreases) in unrecognized tax benefits as a result of:
Tax positions taken during a prior period	—		—
Tax positions taken during the current period	—		—
Settlements with taxing authorities	—		—
Lapse of applicable statute of limitations	—		—
Total unrecognized tax benefits, ending balance	$	491	$	491