Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 9 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sep. 30, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| OrganizationandSummaryofSignificantAccountingPolicies [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 1. Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies:
Organization and Principles of Consolidation
We are an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and acquisition of oil and gas properties. Our domestic areas of operation include the Anadarko and Arkoma basins of the Mid-Continent, the Rocky Mountains, onshore Texas, Appalachia and the Gulf of Mexico. Internationally, we are active in Malaysia and China.
Our financial statements include the accounts of Newfield Exploration Company, a Delaware corporation, and its subsidiaries. We proportionately consolidate our interests in oil and gas exploration and production ventures and partnerships in accordance with industry practice. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. Unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, all references in these notes to “Newfield,” “we,” “us” or “our” are to Newfield Exploration Company and its subsidiaries.
These unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect, in the opinion of our management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal and recurring adjustments, necessary to state fairly our financial position as of, and results of operations for, the periods presented. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and, therefore, do not include all disclosures required for financial statements prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Interim period results are not necessarily indicative of results of operations or cash flows for a full year.
These financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.
Dependence on Oil and Gas Prices
As an independent oil and gas producer, our revenue, profitability and future rate of growth are substantially dependent on prevailing prices for oil and gas. Historically, the energy markets have been very volatile, and there can be no assurance that oil and gas prices will not be subject to wide fluctuations in the future. A substantial or extended decline in oil or gas prices could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, cash flows and access to capital and on the quantities of oil and gas reserves that we can economically produce.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires our management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period and the reported amounts of proved oil and gas reserves. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Our most significant financial estimates are associated with our estimated proved oil and gas reserves and the fair value of our derivative positions. Investments
Investments consist primarily of debt and equity securities, as well as auction rate securities, a majority of which are classified as “available-for-sale” and stated at fair value. Accordingly, unrealized gains and losses and the related deferred income tax effects are excluded from earnings and reported as a separate component of stockholders' equity. Realized gains or losses are computed based on specific identification of the securities sold. We regularly assess our investments for impairment and consider any impairment to be other than temporary if we intend to sell the security, it is more likely than not that we will be required to sell the security, or we do not expect to recover our cost of the security. We realized interest income and net gains on our investment securities of approximately $0.3 million and $0.4 million for the three-month periods ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively, and $1 million for each of the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2011 and 2010. Inventories
Inventories primarily consist of tubular goods and well equipment held for use in our oil and gas operations and oil produced in our operations offshore Malaysia and China but not sold. Inventories are carried at the lower of cost or market. Substantially all of the crude oil from our operations offshore Malaysia and China is produced into FPSOs and sold periodically as barge quantities are accumulated. The product inventory consisted of approximately 384,000 barrels and 277,000 barrels of crude oil valued at cost of $29 million and $15 million at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively. Cost for purposes of the carrying value of oil inventory is the sum of production costs and depletion expense.
Oil and Gas Properties
We use the full cost method of accounting for our oil and gas producing activities. Under this method, all costs incurred in the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and gas properties, including salaries, benefits and other internal costs directly attributable to these activities, are capitalized into cost centers that are established on a country-by-country basis. We capitalized $30 million and $17 million of internal costs during the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively, and $81 million and $53 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively. Interest expense related to unproved properties is also capitalized into oil and gas properties.
Capitalized costs and estimated future development costs are amortized on a unit-of-production method based on proved reserves associated with the applicable cost center. For each cost center, the net capitalized costs of oil and gas properties are limited to the lower of the unamortized cost or the cost center ceiling. A particular cost center ceiling is equal to the sum of:
the present value (10% per annum discount rate) of estimated future net revenues from proved reserves using oil and gas reserve estimation requirements, which require use of the unweighted average first-day-of-the-month commodity prices for the prior twelve months, adjusted for market differentials applicable to our reserves; plus the lower of cost or estimated fair value of properties not included in the costs being amortized, if any; less related income tax effects. Proceeds from the sale of oil and gas properties are applied to reduce the costs in the applicable cost center unless the reduction would significantly alter the relationship between capitalized costs and proved reserves, in which case a gain or loss is recognized.
If net capitalized costs of oil and gas properties exceed the cost center ceiling, we are subject to a ceiling test writedown to the extent of such excess. If required, a ceiling test writedown reduces earnings and stockholders' equity in the period of occurrence and, holding other factors constant, results in lower depreciation, depletion and amortization expense in future periods.
The risk that we will be required to writedown the carrying value of our oil and gas properties increases when oil and gas prices decrease significantly or if we have substantial downward revisions in our estimated proved reserves. At September 30, 2011, the ceiling value of our reserves was calculated based upon the unweighted average first-day-of-the-month commodity prices for the prior twelve months of $4.16 per MMBtu for natural gas and $94.48 per barrel for oil, adjusted for market differentials. Using these prices, the cost center ceilings with respect to our properties in the U.S., Malaysia and China exceeded the net capitalized costs of the respective properties. As such, no ceiling test writedowns were required at September 30, 2011. Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations
If a reasonable estimate of the fair value of an obligation to perform site reclamation, dismantle facilities or plug and abandon wells can be made, we record a liability (an asset retirement obligation or ARO) on our consolidated balance sheet and capitalize the present value of the asset retirement cost in oil and gas properties in the period in which the retirement obligation is incurred. In general, the amount of an ARO and the costs capitalized will be equal to the estimated future cost to satisfy the abandonment obligation assuming the normal operation of the asset, using current prices that are escalated by an assumed inflation factor up to the estimated settlement date, which is then discounted back to the date that the abandonment obligation was incurred using an assumed cost of funds for our company. After recording these amounts, the ARO is accreted to its future estimated value using the same assumed cost of funds and the additional capitalized costs are depreciated on a unit-of-production basis within the related full cost pool. Both the accretion and the depreciation are included in depreciation, depletion and amortization expense on our consolidated statement of income.
The change in our ARO for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 is set forth below (in millions):
Income Taxes
We use the liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined by applying tax regulations existing at the end of a reporting period to the cumulative temporary differences between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their reported amounts in our financial statements. A valuation allowance is established to reduce deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that the related tax benefits will not be realized.
Derivative Financial Instruments
We account for our derivative activities by applying authoritative accounting and reporting guidance, which requires that every derivative instrument be recorded on the balance sheet as either an asset or a liability measured at its fair value and that changes in the derivative's fair value be recognized currently in earnings unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. All of the derivative instruments that we utilize are to manage the price risk attributable to our expected oil and gas production. We have elected not to designate price risk management activities as accounting hedges under the accounting guidance, and, accordingly, account for them using the mark-to-market accounting method. Under this method, the changes in contract values are reported currently in earnings. We also have utilized derivatives to manage our exposure to variable interest rates.
The related cash flow impact of our derivative activities are reflected as cash flows from operating activities. See Note 5, “Derivative Financial Instruments,” for a more detailed discussion of our derivative activities.
New Accounting Requirements In January 2010, the FASB issued additional disclosure requirements related to fair value measurements. The guidance requires disclosure of transfers of assets and liabilities between Level 1 and Level 2 in the fair value measurement hierarchy, including the reasons for the transfers and disclosure of major purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements on a gross basis in the reconciliation of the assets and liabilities measured under Level 3 of the fair value measurement hierarchy. The guidance was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for the Level 3 reconciliation disclosures, which were effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2010. We adopted the provisions for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, except for the Level 3 reconciliation disclosures, which we adopted for the quarter ended March 31, 2011. Adopting the disclosure requirements did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.
In May 2011, the FASB issued additional guidance regarding fair value measurement and disclosure requirements. The most significant change will require us, for Level 3 fair value measurements, to disclose quantitative information about unobservable inputs used, a description of the valuation processes used, and a qualitative discussion about the sensitivity of the measurements. The guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011. We do not expect adoption of the additional fair value measurement and disclosure requirements to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.
In June 2011, the FASB issued guidance impacting the presentation of comprehensive income. The guidance eliminates the current option to report components of other comprehensive income in the statement of changes in equity. The guidance is intended to provide a more consistent method of presenting non-owner transactions that affect an entity's equity. The guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011. We do not expect adoption of the comprehensive income presentation to have an impact on our financial position or results of operations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||