CONTINGENCIES

Liabilities and other contingencies are recognized upon determination of an exposure, which when analyzed indicates that it is both probable that an asset has been impaired or that a liability has been incurred and that the amount of such loss is reasonably estimable.

NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

In June 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued SFAS No. 143, "Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations." SFAS No. 143 requires that an asset retirement obligation (ARO) associated with the retirement of a tangible long-lived asset be recognized as a liability in the period in which a legal obligation is incurred and becomes determinable, with an offsetting increase in the carrying amount of the associated asset. The cost of the tangible asset, including the initially recognized ARO, is depleted such that the cost of the ARO is recognized over the useful life of the asset. The ARO is recorded at fair value, and accretion expense will be recognized over time as the discounted liability is accreted to its expected settlement value. The fair value of the ARO is measured using expected future cash outflows discounted at the company's credit-adjusted risk-free interest rate.

The Company adopted SFAS No. 143 on January 1, 2003, which resulted in an increase to net oil and natural gas properties of $0.4 million and additional liabilities related to asset retirement obligations of $0.6 million. These amounts reflect the ARO of the company had the provisions of SFAS No. 143 been applied since inception and resulted in a non-cash cumulative effect decrease to earnings of $0.1 million ($0.2 million pretax). In accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 143, the Company records an abandonment liability associated with its oil and natural gas wells when those assets are placed in service, rather than its past practice of accruing the expected undiscounted abandonment costs on a unit-of-production basis over the productive life of the associated full cost pool. Under SFAS No. 143, depletion expense is reduced since a discounted ARO is depleted in the property balance rather than the undiscounted value previously depleted under the old rules. The lower depletion expense under SFAS No. 143 is offset, however, by accretion expense, which is recognized over time as the discounted liability is accreted to its expected settlement value.

Inherent in the fair value calculation of ARO are numerous assumptions and judgments including the ultimate settlement amounts, inflation factors, credit adjusted discount rates, timing of settlement, and changes in the legal, regulatory, environmental and political environments. To the extent future revisions to these assumptions impact the fair value of the existing ARO liability, a corresponding adjustment is made to the oil and natural gas property balance.

The following table is a reconciliation of the asset retirement obligation liability since adoption (in thousands):

The pro forma asset retirement obligation would have been approximately $0.3 million at January 1, 2001 had the Company adopted the provisions of SFAS 143 on January 1, 2001. The following table shows the pro forma effect of the implementation on the Company's Net Income available to Common Shareholders before cumulative effect of change in account principle had SFAS No. 143 been adopted by the Company on January 1, 2001.

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