Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Asset Retirement Obligations

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Asset Retirement Obligations
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Asset Retirement Obligation [Abstract]  
Asset Retirement Obligations
Asset Retirement Obligations

The following table summarizes the activity for the Company’s asset retirement obligations:
 
For the Year Ended December 31,
 
2013
 
2012
Asset retirement obligations at beginning of the period
$
13,301

 
$
13,938

Accretion expense
1,785

 
2,253

Liabilities incurred
679

 
205

Liabilities settled
(457
)
 
(1,073
)
Liabilities related to oil and gas properties sold
(4,765
)
 
(877
)
Revisions to estimate
(3,811
)
 
(1,145
)
Asset retirement obligations at end of period
6,732

 
13,301

Less: current asset retirement obligations
(4,120
)
 
(2,336
)
Long-term asset retirement obligations at the end of the period
$
2,612

 
$
10,965



Certain of the Company’s operating agreements require that assets be restricted for future abandonment obligations. Amounts recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2013 as long-term restricted investments were $3,806. These assets, which primarily include short-term U.S. Government securities, are held in abandonment trusts dedicated to pay future abandonment costs for several of the Company’s oil and natural gas properties.

On December 5, 2013, the Company closed on its agreement to sell its interest in the Medusa field, Medusa Spar LLC, and substantially all of its Gulf of Mexico shelf properties to W&T Offshore, Inc. (“W&T”). Under the agreement, W&T will assume an estimated $4,765 of the ARO related to these offshore assets.

The Company’s total revisions to estimates of $3,811 for the year ended December 31, 2013 relate to downward revisions related to the changes in the expecting timing of the abandonment.