W&T Offshore, Inc. Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Fair Value Measurements

Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

3. Fair Value Measurements

Under GAAP, fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The fair value of an asset should reflect its highest and best use by market participants, whether using an in-use or an in-exchange valuation premise. The fair value of a liability should reflect the risk of nonperformance, which includes, among other things, the Company’s credit risk.

Valuation techniques are generally classified into three categories: the market approach; the income approach; and the cost approach. The selection and application of one or more of these techniques requires significant judgment and is primarily dependent upon the characteristics of the asset or liability, the principal (or most advantageous) market in which participants would transact for the asset or liability and the quality and availability of inputs. Inputs to valuation techniques are classified as either observable or unobservable within the following hierarchy:

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Level 1 – quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

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Level 2 – inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for an asset or liability. These include: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability; and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means (market-corroborated inputs).

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Level 3 – unobservable inputs that reflect our expectations about the assumptions that market participants would use in measuring the fair value of an asset or liability.

The following table presents the fair value of our long-term debt (in thousands):

		December 31,
	Hierarchy	2016		2015
11.00% 1.5 Lien Term Loan, due November 2019	Level 2	$	75,000	$	—
9.00 % Second Lien Term Loan, due May 2020	Level 2		255,000		217,500
9.00%/10.75% Second Lien PIK Toggle Notes, due May 2020	Level 2		122,255		—
8.50%/10.00% Third Lien PIK Toggle Notes due June 2021	Level 2		80,243		—
8.50% Unsecured Senior Notes, due June 2019	Level 2		123,389		324,000

The fair value of long-term debt is based on quoted prices, although the market is not an active market; therefore, the fair value is classified within Level 2. An exception is the fair value of the 1.5 Lien Term Loan, which is held by one entity, and was not traded since its inception in September 2016. As the 1.5 Lien Term Loan was recently executed, the fair value was assumed to be the carrying value, excluding amounts recorded for future interest payments.

As of December 31, 2016, there were no open derivatives financial instruments. As of December 31, 2015, the carrying value of our open derivative financial instruments equaled the estimated fair value. We measure the fair value of our derivative financial instruments by applying the income approach, using models with inputs that are classified within Level 2 of the valuation hierarchy. The inputs used for the fair value measurement of our derivative financial instruments are the exercise price, the expiration date, the settlement date, notional quantities, the implied volatility, the discount curve with spreads and published commodity futures prices.

The carrying value of our long-term debt is disclosed in Note 2 above. For additional information about our derivative financial instruments, refer to Note 8.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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