Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Asset Retirement Obligations

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Asset Retirement Obligations
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2011
Asset Retirement Obligations [Abstract]  
Asset Retirement Obligations
Note 9 — Asset Retirement Obligations
          The following table summarizes the Company’s asset retirement obligations activity for the six-months ended June 30, 2011:
         
Asset retirement obligations at January 1, 2011
  $ 15,925  
Accretion expense
    1,198  
Liabilities incurred
    17  
Liabilities settled
    (2,356 )
Revisions to estimate
    (421 )
 
     
Asset retirement obligations at end of period
    14,363  
Less: current asset retirement obligations
    (1,538 )
 
     
Long-term asset retirement obligations at June 30, 2011
  $ 12,825  
 
     
          Liabilities settled relate to properties sold during the period for which the related asset retirement obligations were assumed by the purchaser, and also includes individual properties, primarily located in the Gulf of Mexico, plugged and abandoned during the period.
          Certain of the Company’s operating agreements require that assets be restricted for future abandonment obligations. Amounts recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as restricted investments were $4,520 at June 30, 2011 and included $106 recorded as current and $4,414 recorded as long-term at quarter end. These investments include primarily U.S. Government securities, and are held in abandonment trusts dedicated to pay future abandonment costs for several of the Company’s oil and gas properties.