Item 1A.     Risk Factors

  Our business involves a high degree of risk. If any of the following risks, or any risks described elsewhere in this Annual Report, were actually to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected and the trading price of our shares could decline resulting in the loss of part or all of your investment. The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks not presently known to us or which we currently consider immaterial may also adversely affect us.

Risks related to our business

Oil, NGL and natural gas prices are volatile. The continuing and extended volatility in oil, NGL and natural gas prices has adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, our business, financial condition and results of operations and may in the future affect our ability to meet our capital expenditure obligations and financial commitments as well as negatively impact our stock price further.

The prices we receive for our oil, NGL and natural gas production heavily influence our revenue, profitability, access to capital and future rate of growth. Oil, NGL and natural gas are commodities, and therefore, their prices are subject to wide fluctuations in response to relatively minor changes in supply and demand. Historically, the market for oil, NGL and natural gas has been volatile, and this volatility exhibited a negative trend beginning in the second half of 2014. While prices have increased from recent lows, they are still significantly below previous highs and the market will likely continue to be volatile in the future. The prices we receive for our production, and the levels of our production, depend on numerous factors beyond our control. These factors include the following:

Lower oil, NGL and natural gas prices have in the past and may in the future reduce our cash flows and borrowing ability. We may be unable to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms, which could lead to a decline in our oil, NGL and natural gas reserves as existing reserves are depleted. A further decrease in oil, NGL and natural gas prices could render uneconomic a large portion of our exploration, development and exploitation projects. This has already resulted in us, in recent years, having to make significant downward adjustments to our estimated proved reserves, and we may need to make further downward adjustments in the future. Furthermore, under our Senior Secured Credit Facility, scheduled borrowing base redeterminations occur on each May 1 and November 1, and the lenders have the right to call for an interim redetermination of the borrowing base one time between any two scheduled redetermination dates and in other specified circumstances. A reduced borrowing base could trigger repayment obligations under our Senior Secured Credit Facility. Also, lower oil, NGL and natural gas prices would likely cause a decline in our stock price.

The potential drilling locations that we have tentatively internally identified for our future wells will be drilled, if at all, over many years. This makes them susceptible to uncertainties that could materially alter the occurrence or timing of their drilling.

Although our management team has established certain potential drilling locations as a part of our long-range planning related to future drilling activities on our existing acreage, our ability to drill and develop these locations depends on a number of uncertainties, including oil, NGL and natural gas prices, the availability and cost of capital, drilling and production costs, our ability to leverage our data and development experience to drill wells in multi-well packages with tighter spacing, including the impact on longer laterals, the availability of drilling services and equipment, lease expirations, gathering systems, marketing and pipeline transportation constraints, regulatory approvals and other factors. Because of these uncertain factors, we do not know if the numerous potential drilling locations we have currently identified will ever be drilled or if we will be able to produce oil, NGL or natural gas from these or any other potential drilling locations. As such, it is likely that our actual drilling activities, especially in the long term, could materially differ from those presently anticipated.

There is no guarantee that we will be successful in optimizing our spacing, drilling and completions techniques in order to maximize our inventory and net asset value.

As we accumulate and process geological and production data, we attempt to create a development plan, including well spacing and completion design, that maximizes our inventory and other factors such as oil as a percentage of overall production, which impact net asset value. However, due to many factors, including some beyond our control, there is no guarantee that we will be able to find the optimal plan or one that provides continuous improvement. If we are unable to design and implement an effective spacing, drilling and completions strategy, it may have a material adverse effect on our production results, financial performance, stock price and net asset value.

The unavailability or high cost of additional oilfield services, including personnel, drilling rigs, equipment and supplies, as well as fees for the cancellation of such services, could adversely affect our ability to execute our exploration and development plans within our budget and on a timely basis.

The demand for and availability of qualified and experienced personnel to drill and complete wells and conduct field operations (including, but not limited to, frac crews), geologists, geophysicists, engineers and other professionals in the oil and natural gas industry can fluctuate significantly, often in correlation with oil, NGL and natural gas prices, causing periodic shortages. From time to time, there have also been shortages of drilling and workover rigs, pipe, sand, water and equipment as demand for rigs, crews, supplies and equipment has increased along with the number of wells being drilled. In particular, in recent months, the high level of drilling activity in the Permian Basin has resulted in equipment and crew shortages in completions. We have committed in the past, and we may in the future commit, to drilling contracts with various third parties that contain penalties for early terminations. These penalties could negatively impact our financial statements upon contract termination. Rig shortages, shortages in completions equipment and crews as well as related fees could result in delays or cause us to incur significant expenditures that are not provided for in our capital budget, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If we are unable to drill new allocation wells, it could have a material adverse impact on our future production results.

In the State of Texas, allocation wells allow an oil and gas producer to drill a horizontal well under two or more leaseholds that are not pooled. We are active in drilling and producing allocation wells. If there are regulatory changes with regard to allocation wells, the RRC denies or significantly delays the permitting of allocation wells or if legislation is enacted that negatively impacts the current process under which allocation wells are permitted, it could have an adverse impact on our ability to drill long horizontal lateral wells on some of our leases, which in turn could have a material adverse impact on our anticipated future production, rates of return and other projected capital efficiencies.

Currently, we receive a level of cash flow stability as a result of our hedging activity. To the extent we are unable to obtain future hedges at attractive prices or our derivative activities are not effective, our cash flows and financial condition may be adversely impacted.

To achieve more predictable cash flows and reduce our exposure to adverse fluctuations in the prices of oil, NGL and natural gas, we enter into derivative instrument contracts for a portion of our oil, NGL and natural gas production, including swaps, collars, puts and basis swaps and, in the past, call spreads. In accordance with applicable accounting principles, we are required to record our derivatives at fair market value, and they are included in our consolidated balance sheet as assets or liabilities and in our consolidated statements of operations as gain (loss) on derivatives. Gain (loss) on derivatives are included in our cash flows from operating activities. Accordingly, our earnings may fluctuate significantly as a result of changes in the fair market value of our derivative instruments, including a decrease in earnings if the price of commodities increases above the price of hedges that we have in place. As our current hedges expire, there is a significant uncertainty that we will be able to put new hedges in place that satisfy our hedge philosophy.

Derivative instruments also expose us to the risk of financial loss in some circumstances, including when:

In addition, recent government regulation may adversely impact our ability to hedge these risks.

For additional information regarding our hedging activities, please see "Item 7. Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations."

Our business requires significant capital expenditures and we may be unable to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms or at all.

Our exploration, development, marketing, transportation and acquisition activities require substantial capital expenditures. Historically, we have funded our capital expenditures through a combination of cash flows from operations, borrowings on our Senior Secured Credit Facility, equity offerings and proceeds from the sale of our Senior Unsecured Notes. We do not have commitments from anyone to contribute capital to us. Future cash flows are subject to a number of variables, including the level of production from existing wells, prices of oil, NGL and natural gas and our success in developing and producing new reserves. If our cash flow from operations is not sufficient to fund our capital expenditure budget, we may have limited ability to obtain the additional capital necessary to sustain our operations at current levels. We may not be able to obtain debt or equity financing on terms favorable to us or at all. The failure to obtain additional capital could result in a curtailment of our operations relating to exploration and development of our prospects, which in turn could lead to a decline in our oil, NGL and natural gas production or reserves and, in some areas, a loss of properties.

We may incur significant additional amounts of debt.

As of February 13, 2018, we had total long-term indebtedness of $800.0 million. We may be able to incur substantial additional indebtedness, including secured indebtedness, in the future. The restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness contained in the indentures governing our Senior Unsecured Notes and in our Senior Secured Credit Facility are subject to a number of significant qualifications and exceptions, and under certain circumstances, the amount of indebtedness that could be incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. If new debt is added to our existing debt levels, the related risks that we face would increase and may make it more difficult to satisfy our existing financial obligations. In addition, the restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness contained in the indentures governing the Senior Unsecured Notes apply only to debt that constitutes indebtedness under the indentures.

Our use of 2D and 3D seismic, analytics and other data is subject to interpretation and may not accurately identify the presence of oil, NGL and natural gas, which could adversely affect the results of our drilling operations.

Even when properly used and interpreted, 2D and 3D seismic data, analytics and other data that provide either visualization techniques and/or statistical analyses are only tools used to assist geoscientists in identifying subsurface structures and hydrocarbon indicators and do not enable geoscientists to know whether hydrocarbons are, in fact, present in those structures or the amount of hydrocarbons. We employ 3D seismic technology with respect to certain of our projects. The implementation and practical use of 3D seismic technology is relatively unproven, which can lessen its effectiveness, at least in the near term, and increase our costs. In addition, the use of 3D seismic and other advanced technologies requires greater pre-drilling expenditures than traditional drilling strategies, and we could incur greater drilling and exploration expenses as a result of such expenditures, which may result in a reduction in our returns. As a result, our drilling activities may not be successful or economical, and our overall drilling success rate or our drilling success rate for activities in a particular area could decline.

We often gather 3D seismic data over large areas. Our interpretation of seismic data delineates those portions of an area that we believe are desirable for drilling. Therefore, we may choose not to acquire option or lease rights prior to acquiring seismic data, and in many cases, we may identify hydrocarbon indicators before seeking option or lease rights in the location. If we are not able to lease those locations on acceptable terms, we will have made substantial expenditures to acquire and analyze 3D data without having an opportunity to attempt to benefit from those expenditures.

The inability of our significant customers to meet their obligations to us may materially adversely affect our financial results.

In addition to credit risk related to receivables from commodity derivative contracts, our principal exposure to credit risk is through (i) the sale of our oil, NGL and natural gas production ( $67.1 million in receivables as of December 31, 2017),

which we market to energy marketing companies, refineries and affiliates, (ii) the sale of purchased oil and other products ( $19.5 million in receivables as of December 31, 2017) and (iii) net joint operations receivables ( $8.8 million as of December 31, 2017). Joint interest receivables arise from billing entities who own partial interests in the wells we operate. These entities participate in our wells primarily based on their ownership in leases on which we wish to drill. We are generally unable to control which co-owners participate in our wells. We are also subject to credit risk due to the concentration of our oil, NGL and natural gas production receivables with several significant customers. The four largest purchasers of our oil, NGL and natural gas production accounted for 39.3% , 26.1% , 17.4% and 12.6% , respectively, of our total oil, NGL and natural gas revenues for the year ended December 31, 2017. We had one customer that accounted for 97.5% of our sales of purchased oil for the year ended December 31, 2017. See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for additional information. The inability or failure of our significant customers or joint working interest owners to meet their obligations to us or their insolvency or liquidation may materially adversely affect our financial results. Current economic circumstances may further increase these risks.

Our oil, NGL and natural gas is sold to a limited number of geographic markets so an oversupply in any of those areas could have a material negative effect on the price we receive.

Our oil, NGL and natural gas is sold to a limited number of geographic markets that each have a fixed amount of storage and processing capacity. As a result, if such markets become oversupplied with oil, NGL and/or natural gas, it could have a material negative effect on the price we receive for our products and therefore an adverse effect on our financial condition. There is a risk that refining capacity in the U.S. Gulf Coast may be insufficient to refine all of the light sweet crude oil being produced in the United States. If light sweet crude oil production remains at current levels or continues to increase, demand for our light crude oil production could result in widening price discounts to the world oil prices and potential shut-in of production due to a lack of sufficient markets despite the lift on prior restrictions on the exporting of oil and natural gas.

Our business could be negatively impacted by disruption of electronic systems, security threats, including cyber-security threats, and other disruptions.

We are heavily dependent on our information systems and computer-based programs, including our well operations information, seismic data, electronic data processing and accounting data. If any of such programs or systems were to fail or create erroneous information in our hardware or software network infrastructure or we were subject to cyberspace breaches or attacks, possible consequences include our loss of communication links, inability to find, produce, process and sell oil, NGL and natural gas and inability to automatically process commercial transactions or engage in similar automated or computerized business activities. Any such consequence could have a material adverse effect on our business.

As an oil and natural gas producer, we face various security threats, including cyber-security threats to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or to render data or systems unusable, threats to the safety of our employees, threats to the security of our facilities and infrastructure or third-party facilities and infrastructure, such as processing plants and pipelines, and threats from terrorist acts. In particular, cyber-security attacks are evolving and include, but are not limited to, malicious software, attempts to gain unauthorized access to data, and other electronic security breaches that could lead to disruptions in critical systems, unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information and corruption of data. Although we utilize various procedures and controls to monitor and protect against these threats and to mitigate our exposure to such threats, there can be no assurance that these procedures and controls will be sufficient in preventing security threats from materializing. If any of these events were to materialize, they could lead to losses of sensitive information, critical infrastructure, personnel or capabilities essential to our operations and could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Increases in interest rates could adversely affect our business.

Our business and operating results can be harmed by factors such as the availability, terms of and cost of capital, increases in interest rates or a reduction in credit rating. These changes could cause our cost of doing business to increase, limit our ability to pursue acquisition opportunities, reduce our cash flow and/or liquidity available for drilling and place us at a competitive disadvantage. For example, as of February 13, 2018 we had a $1.0 billion borrowing base with no amounts outstanding on our Senior Secured Credit Facility, subject to compliance with financial covenants. The impact of a 1.0% increase in interest rates on an assumed borrowing of the full $1.0 billion would result in increased annual interest expense of $10.0 million and a decrease in our income before income taxes. Disruptions and volatility in the global financial markets may lead to a contraction in credit availability impacting our ability to finance our operations. We require continued access to capital. A significant reduction in our cash flows from operations or the availability of credit could materially and adversely affect our ability to achieve our planned growth and operating results.

We require a significant amount of cash to service our indebtedness. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control.

Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our indebtedness and to fund planned capital expenditures depends on our ability to generate cash in the future. This, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that we will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future funding will be available to us under our Senior Secured Credit Facility, equity offerings or other actions in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. We may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness at or before maturity. We cannot assure you that we will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

We may be unable to quickly adapt to changes in market/investor priorities.

Historically, one of the key drivers in the unconventional resource industry has been growth in production and reserves. With the continued downturn and volatility in oil and natural gas prices, and the possibility that interest rates will rise in the near term, increasing the cost of borrowing, the market and investor emphasis has elevated capital efficiency and free cash flow from earnings as potentially the key drivers for energy companies, especially those primarily focused in the shale play arena. Shifts in focus such as these sometimes require changes in planning and resource management, which cannot necessarily occur instantaneously. Any delay in responding to such changes in market sentiment or perception can result in the investment community in general having a negative sentiment regarding our business plan, potential profitability and our ability to operate in a manner deemed "efficient," which can have a negative impact on the price of our common stock.

The loss of senior management or technical personnel and the failure to attract, train and retain qualified personnel could adversely affect our operations.

We have historically depended on our senior management for the general supervision of the Company. As senior management has aged, we have attempted to hire, train and retain younger management personnel, including technical personnel, with the view toward business growth and succession planning. Effective succession planning, which we have recently become more focused on, is important to our long-term success. Failure to ensure effective transfer of knowledge and smooth transitions involving senior management and technical personnel could hinder our strategic planning and execution and could have a material adverse impact on our operations. We do not maintain any key-man or similar insurance for any officer or other employee.

We may not always foresee new operational/technical issues as new technology enables greater operational capabilities.

The unconventional oil and natural gas industry has seen a large increase in new technologies to enhance all aspects of operations. This boon has arguably accelerated as a result of the recent and extended downturn in commodity prices, forcing companies to find new ways to efficiently produce oil and natural gas. While such technologies can and often ultimately enhance operations, production and profitability, the utilization of such technologies, especially in their early phases, may result in unforeseen consequences and operational issues, resulting in negative consequences. As an example, new technologies have resulted in the ability to drill longer horizontal laterals than previously envisioned; however, in certain instances such longer laterals may initially take a longer than projected time to begin flow-back of production, thereby causing us to fail to meet short-term projections, with a resulting negative impact on our stock price.

The marketability of our production is dependent upon transportation and other facilities, certain of which we do not control. If these facilities are unavailable, our operations could be interrupted and our revenues reduced.

The marketability of our oil, NGL and natural gas production depends on a variety of factors, including the availability, proximity, capacity and quality constraints of transportation and storage facilities owned by us or third parties. We do not control many of the trucks and other third-party transportation facilities necessary for the transportation of our products and our access to them may be limited or denied. Our failure to provide or obtain such services on acceptable terms could materially harm our business.

Insufficient production from our wells to support the construction of pipeline facilities by our purchasers or a significant disruption in the availability of our or third-party transportation facilities or other production facilities could adversely impact our ability to deliver to market or produce our oil, NGL and natural gas and thereby cause a significant interruption in our operations. The oil pipelines that transport our oil to market have quality specifications, including a Reid Vapor Pressure ("RVP") specification. While our tank batteries and equipment are designed to deliver oil that meets all pipeline specifications, including RVP, there is a risk that our oil production at any of our tank batteries could have an RVP that exceeds the pipeline specifications. The pipelines have the right under their tariffs to request that oil that does not meet their quality specifications, including RVP, be shut in until such oil is brought within quality specifications. If, in the future, we are unable, for any sustained period, to implement acceptable delivery or transportation arrangements or specifications or encounter

production-related difficulties, we may be required to shut in or curtail production. Any such shut-in or curtailment, or an inability to obtain favorable terms for delivery of the oil, NGL and natural gas produced from our fields, could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our operations are substantially dependent on the availability, use and disposal of water. New legislation and regulatory initiatives or restrictions relating to water disposal wells could have a material adverse effect on our future business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

Water is an essential component of both the drilling and hydraulic fracturing processes. Historically, we have been able to purchase water from local land owners and other sources for use in our operations. Texas has previously experienced, and may experience again, low inflows of water. As a result of these conditions, some local water districts may begin restricting the use of water subject to their jurisdiction for drilling and hydraulic fracturing in order to protect the local water supply. If we are unable to obtain water to use in our operations from local sources, we may be unable to economically produce oil, NGL and natural gas, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

Additionally, our drilling procedures produce large volumes of water that we must properly dispose. The Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act, and comparable state laws impose restrictions and strict controls regarding the discharge of pollutants, including produced waters and other natural gas wastes, into federal and state waters. The discharge of pollutants into regulated waters is prohibited, except in accordance with the terms of a permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") or the state. Furthermore, the State of Texas maintains groundwater protection programs that require permits for discharges or operations that may impact groundwater conditions. The underground injection of fluids is subject to permitting and other requirements under state laws and regulation. Obtaining permits has the potential to delay the development of oil, NGL and natural gas projects. These same regulatory programs also limit the total volume of water that can be discharged, hence limiting the rate of development, and require us to incur compliance costs. The RRC adopted new regulations effective in November 2014 that require additional supporting documentation, including records from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding previous seismic events in the area, as part of applications for new disposal wells. The new regulations also clarify the RRC's ability to modify, suspend or terminate a disposal well permit if scientific data indicates it is likely to contribute to seismic activity. The RRC has used this authority to deny permits for waste disposal sites.

Moreover, the EPA is examining regulatory requirements for "indirect dischargers" of wastewater - i.e., those that send their discharges to private or publicly owned treatment facilities, which treat the wastewater before discharging it to regulated waters. On June 28, 2016, the EPA published a final rule prohibiting the discharge of wastewater from onshore unconventional oil and gas extraction facilities to publicly owned wastewater treatment plants. The EPA is also conducting a study of private wastewater treatment facilities (also known as centralized waste treatment, or CWT, facilities) accepting oil and gas extraction wastewater. The EPA is collecting data and information related to the extent to which CWT facilities accept such wastewater, available treatment technologies (and their associated costs), discharge characteristics, financial characteristics of CWT facilities, and the environmental impacts of discharges from CWT facilities.

Because of the necessity to safely dispose of water produced during drilling and production activities, these regulations, or others like them, could have a material adverse effect on our future business, financial condition, operating results and prospects. See "Item 1. Business—Regulation of environmental and occupational health and safety matters" for a further description of the laws and regulations that affect us.

Any significant reduction in our borrowing base under our Senior Secured Credit Facility as a result of a periodic borrowing base redetermination or otherwise will negatively impact our liquidity and, consequently, our ability to fund our operations, and we may not have sufficient funds to repay borrowings under our Senior Secured Credit Facility or any other obligation if required as a result of a borrowing base redetermination.

Availability under our Senior Secured Credit Facility is currently subject to a borrowing base of $1.0 billion. The borrowing base is subject to scheduled semiannual (May 1 and November 1) and other elective borrowing base redeterminations based upon, among other things, projected revenues from, and asset values of, the oil and natural gas properties securing the Senior Secured Credit Facility. The lenders under our Senior Secured Credit Facility can unilaterally adjust the borrowing base and the borrowings permitted to be outstanding under our Senior Secured Credit Facility. Reductions in estimates of our oil, NGL and natural gas reserves will result in a reduction in our borrowing base (if prices are kept constant). Reductions in our borrowing base could also arise from other factors, including but not limited to:

As of February 13, 2018, we had no borrowings outstanding under our Senior Secured Credit Facility. We anticipate borrowing under our Senior Secured Credit Facility in the future. Any significant reduction in our borrowing base as a result of such borrowing base redeterminations or otherwise will negatively impact our liquidity and our ability to fund our operations and, as a result, would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operation and cash flow. Further, if the outstanding borrowings under our Senior Secured Credit Facility were to exceed the borrowing base as a result of any such redetermination, we could be required to repay the excess. We may not have sufficient funds to make such repayments. If we do not have sufficient funds and we are otherwise unable to negotiate renewals of our borrowings or arrange new financing, we may have to sell significant assets. Any such sale could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Unless we replace our oil, NGL and natural gas production, our reserves and production will continue to decline, which would adversely affect our future cash flows and results of operations.

Producing oil, NGL and natural gas reservoirs are generally characterized by declining production rates that vary depending upon reservoir characteristics and other factors. Unless we conduct successful ongoing exploration, development and exploitation activities or continually acquire properties containing proved reserves, our proved reserves will continue to decline as those reserves are produced. Our future oil, NGL and natural gas reserves and production, and therefore our future cash flow and results of operations, are highly dependent on our success in efficiently developing and exploiting our current reserves and economically finding or acquiring additional recoverable reserves. We may not be able to develop, exploit, find or acquire sufficient additional reserves to replace our current and future production. If we are unable to replace our current and future production, the value of our reserves will decrease, and our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

A decrease in our production of oil, NGL and natural gas could negatively impact our ability to meet our contractual obligations to deliver oil, NGL and natural gas and our ability to retain our leases.

A portion of our oil, NGL and gas production in any region may be interrupted, or shut in, from time to time for numerous reasons, including as a result of weather conditions, accidents, loss or unavailability of pipeline or gathering system access and capacity, field labor issues or strikes, or we might voluntarily curtail production in response to market conditions, including low oil, NGL and gas prices. If a substantial amount of our production is interrupted at the same time, it could temporarily adversely affect our cash flow. Furthermore, if we were required to shut in wells, we might also be obligated to pay shut-in royalties to certain mineral interest owners to maintain our leases.

In addition, we have entered into agreements with third party shippers, including Medallion, and purchasers that require us to deliver minimum amounts of oil and natural gas. Pursuant to these agreements, we must deliver specific amounts, either from our own production or from oil we acquire, over the next twelve years. If we are unable to fulfill all of our contractual delivery obligations from our own production, we may be required to pay penalties or damages pursuant to these agreements or we may have to purchase oil from third parties to fulfill our delivery obligations. This could adversely impact our cash flows, profit margins and net income.

We have incurred losses from operations for various periods since our inception and may do so in the future.

We incurred net losses from our inception to December 31, 2006 of $1.8 million and for each of the years ended December 31, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015 and 2016 of $6.1 million, $192.0 million, $184.5 million, $2.2 billion and $260.7 million , respectively. Our development of and participation in an increasingly larger number of locations has required and will continue to require substantial capital expenditures. The uncertainty and factors described throughout this section may impede our ability to economically find, develop, exploit and acquire oil, NGL and natural gas reserves. As a result, we may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability or positive cash flows from operating activities in the future. See "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical accounting policies and estimates."

Our debt agreements contain restrictions that limit our flexibility in operating our business.

Our Senior Secured Credit Facility and the indentures governing our Senior Unsecured Notes each contain, and any future indebtedness we incur may contain, various covenants that limit our ability to engage in specified types of transactions. These covenants limit our ability to, among other things:

As a result of these covenants and a covenant in our Senior Secured Credit Facility that limits our ability to hedge, we are limited in the manner in which we may conduct our business and we may be unable to engage in favorable business activities or finance future operations or our capital needs. In addition, the covenants in our Senior Secured Credit Facility require us to maintain a minimum current ratio and maximum leverage ratio and also limit our capital expenditures. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under one or more of these agreements, including as a result of cross-default provisions and, in the case of our Senior Secured Credit Facility, permit the lenders to cease making loans to us. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under our Senior Secured Credit Facility, the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under our Senior Secured Credit Facility to be immediately due and payable and terminate all commitments to extend further credit. Such actions by those lenders could cause cross defaults under our other indebtedness, including the Senior Unsecured Notes. If we were unable to repay those amounts, the lenders under our Senior Secured Credit Facility could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness. We pledged a significant portion of our assets as collateral under our Senior Secured Credit Facility. If the lenders under our Senior Secured Credit Facility accelerate the repayment of the borrowings thereunder, the proceeds from the sale or foreclosure upon such assets will first be used to repay debt under our Senior Secured Credit Facility, and we may not have sufficient assets to repay our unsecured indebtedness thereafter. Our Senior Secured Credit Facility terminates in May 2022, provided that if the January 2022 Notes have not been redeemed or refinanced on or prior to the Early Maturity Date, the Senior Secured Credit Facility will terminate on the Early Maturity Date.

Estimating reserves and future net revenues involves uncertainties. Decreases in oil, NGL and natural gas prices, increases in service costs or negative revisions to reserve estimates or assumptions as to future oil, NGL and natural gas prices, may lead to decreased earnings and losses or impairment of oil, NGL and natural gas assets.

The reserve data included in this Annual Report represent estimates. Reserves estimation is a subjective process of evaluating underground accumulations of oil, NGL and natural gas that cannot be measured in an exact manner. Reserves that are "proved reserves" are those estimated quantities of oil, NGL and natural gas that geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty are recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions and that relate to specific locations for which the extraction of hydrocarbons must have commenced or the operator must be reasonably certain will commence within a five-year period.    

The estimation process relies on interpretations of available geological, geophysical, engineering and production data. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of proved reserves and in projecting future rates of production and timing of developmental expenditures, including higher decline curves in the first year of production and many other factors beyond the control of the operator. In addition, the estimates of future net revenues from our proved reserves and the present value of such estimates are based upon certain assumptions about future production levels, prices and costs that may not prove to be correct. Further, initial production rates reported by us or other operators may not be indicative of future or long-term production rates. A production decline may be rapid and irregular when compared to a well's initial production.

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company's positive revision of 35,351 MBOE of previously estimated quantities is primarily attributable to the combination of positive performance, price increases and other changes to proved developed producing wells. However, in both 2014 and 2015 the Company had negative revisions of estimated quantities primarily due to a sharp decline in commodity prices. Although the Company had positive revisions in 2016 and 2017, it is possible that the Company will have negative revisions in the future.

    

Negative revisions in the estimated quantities of proved reserves have the effect of increasing the rates of depletion on the affected properties, which decrease earnings or result in losses through higher depletion expense. These revisions, as well as revisions in the assumptions of future cash flows of these reserves, may also trigger impairment losses on certain properties, which would result in a non-cash charge to earnings. See Note 18.d to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

As a result of the volatility in prices for oil, NGL and natural gas, we have taken and may be required to take further write-downs of the carrying values of our properties.

Accounting rules require that we periodically review the carrying value of our properties for possible impairment. Based on prevailing commodity prices and specific market factors and circumstances at the time of prospective impairment reviews, and the continuing evaluation of development plans, production data, economics and other factors, we have been required to, and may be required to further, write-down the carrying value of our properties. A write-down constitutes a non-cash charge to earnings.

Oil, NGL and natural gas prices significantly declined starting in mid-2014 and have not regained previous highs. Primarily as a result of these lower prices, our December 31, 2015 estimated proved reserves decreased 171 MMBOE from our December 31, 2014 reserves, converted to three streams. Our net book value of evaluated oil and natural gas properties exceeded the full cost ceiling amount as of March 31, 2016 and each of the last three quarters of 2015, and as a result, we recorded non-cash full cost ceiling impairments of  $161.1 million and $2.4 billion for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. If prices decline below current levels and all other factors remain the same, we may incur further charges in the future. Such charges could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for the periods in which they are taken. See Note 2.h to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for additional information.

Our producing properties are in a concentrated geographic area, making us vulnerable to risks associated with operating in one major geographic area.

Our producing properties are geographically concentrated in the Permian Basin. At December 31, 2017, all of our total estimated proved reserves were attributable to properties located in this area. As a result of this concentration, we may be disproportionately exposed to the impact of regional supply and demand factors, delays or interruptions of production from wells in this area caused by governmental regulation, processing or transportation capacity constraints, market limitations, water shortages, interruption of the processing or transportation of oil or natural gas, as well as impacts from extreme weather or other natural disasters impacting the Permian Basin.

We may incur substantial losses and be subject to substantial liability claims as a result of our operations. Additionally, we may not be insured for, or our insurance may be inadequate to protect us against, these risks.

We could be impacted by the outcome of pending litigation as well as unexpected litigation or proceedings. Certain litigation claims may not be covered under our insurance policies, or our insurance carriers may seek to deny coverage. Because we cannot accurately predict the outcome of any action, it is possible that, as a result of pending and/or unexpected litigation, we will be subject to adverse judgments or settlements that could significantly reduce our earnings or result in losses. See "Item 3. Legal Proceedings" for a description of our pending litigation.

We are not insured against all risks. Losses and liabilities arising from uninsured and underinsured events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Our oil, NGL and natural gas exploration and production activities are subject to all of the operating risks associated with drilling for and producing oil, NGL and natural gas, including the possibility of:

    

Any of these risks could adversely affect our ability to conduct operations or result in substantial losses to us as a result of:

We may elect not to obtain insurance if we believe that the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the risks presented. In addition, pollution and environmental risks generally are not fully insurable. The impact of litigation as well as the occurrence of an event that is not fully covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Federal and state legislation and regulatory initiatives relating to hydraulic fracturing and water disposal wells could prohibit projects or result in materially increased costs and additional operating restrictions or delays because of the significance of hydraulic fracturing and water disposal wells in our business.

Hydraulic fracturing is a practice that is used to stimulate production of oil and/or natural gas from tight formations. The process, which involves the injection of water, proppants and chemicals under pressure into the formation to fracture the surrounding rock and stimulate production, is typically regulated by state oil and natural gas commissions. However, legislation has been proposed in recent sessions of Congress to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal the exemption for hydraulic fracturing from the definition of "underground injection," to require federal permitting and regulatory control of hydraulic fracturing, and to require disclosure of the chemical constituents of the fluids used in the fracturing process. Furthermore, several federal agencies have asserted regulatory authority over certain aspects of the process. For example, the EPA has taken the position that hydraulic fracturing with fluids containing diesel fuel is subject to regulation under the Underground Injection Control program, specifically as "Class II" Underground Injection Control wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The EPA has also published air emission standards for certain equipment, processes and activities across the oil and natural gas sector. In addition, the BLM previously published final rules governing hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands, which rules have been rescinded or suspended, but litigation is ongoing regarding the rules. See "Item 1. Business—Regulation of environmental and occupational health and safety matters—Hydraulic fracturing" for a further description of federal and state regulations addressing hydraulic fracturing.

Some states have adopted, and other states are considering adopting, regulations that could restrict hydraulic fracturing in certain circumstances, impose additional requirements on hydraulic fracturing activities or otherwise require the public disclosure of chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process. For example, pursuant to legislation adopted by the State of Texas in June 2011, the chemical components used in the hydraulic fracturing process, as well as the volume of water used, must be disclosed to the RRC and the public beginning February 1, 2012. Furthermore, on May 23, 2013, the RRC issued the "well integrity rule," which updates the RRC's Rule 13 requirements for drilling, putting pipe down and cementing wells. The rule also includes new testing and reporting requirements, such as (i) the requirement to submit to the RRC cementing reports after well completion or after cessation of drilling, whichever is later, and (ii) the imposition of additional testing on wells less than 1,000 feet below usable groundwater. The "well integrity rule" took effect in January 2014. Additionally, in 2014 the RRC adopted disposal well rule amendments designed, among other things, to require applicants for new disposal wells that will receive non-hazardous produced water and hydraulic fracturing flowback fluid to conduct seismic activity searches utilizing the U.S. Geological Survey. The searches are intended to determine the potential for earthquakes within a circular area of 100 square miles around a proposed, new disposal well. The disposal well rule amendments, which became effective in November 2014, also clarify the RRC's authority to modify, suspend or terminate a disposal well permit if scientific data indicates a disposal well is likely to contribute to seismic activity. The RRC has used this authority to deny permits for waste disposal wells. In addition to state law, local land use restrictions, such as city ordinances, may restrict or prohibit the performance of well drilling in general and/or hydraulic fracturing in particular.

A number of lawsuits and enforcement actions have been initiated across the country alleging that hydraulic fracturing practices have induced seismic activity and adversely impacted drinking water supplies, use of surface water and the environment generally. Several states and municipalities have adopted, or are considering adopting, regulations that could restrict or prohibit hydraulic fracturing in certain circumstances. If these or any other new laws or regulations that significantly restrict hydraulic fracturing are adopted or laws or regulations are adopted to restrict water disposal wells, such laws could make it more difficult or costly for us to drill and produce from conventional or tight formations as well as make it easier for third parties opposing the oil, NGL and natural gas industry to initiate legal proceedings. In addition, if these matters are

regulated at the federal level, fracturing and disposal activities could become subject to additional permitting and financial assurance requirements, more stringent construction specifications, increased monitoring, reporting and recordkeeping obligations, plugging and abandonment requirements and also result in permitting delays and potential other increases in costs. These developments, as well as new laws or regulations, could cause us to incur substantial compliance costs, and compliance or the consequences of failure to comply by us could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. At this time, it is not possible to estimate the potential impact on our business that may arise if federal or state legislation or regulations governing hydraulic fracturing or water disposal wells are enacted into law.

Legislation or regulatory initiatives intended to address seismic activity could restrict our drilling and production activities, as well as our ability to dispose of produced water gathered from such activities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

State and federal regulatory agencies have recently focused on a possible connection between hydraulic fracturing-related activities, particularly the underground injection of wastewater into disposal wells, and the increased occurrence of seismic activity, and regulatory agencies at all levels are continuing to study the possible linkage between oil and gas activity and induced seismicity. In addition, a number of lawsuits have been filed in some states, most recently in Oklahoma, alleging that disposal well operations have caused damage to neighboring properties or otherwise violated state and federal rules regulating waste disposal. In response to these concerns, regulators in some states are seeking to impose additional requirements, including requirements regarding the permitting of produced water disposal wells or otherwise to assess the relationship between seismicity and the use of such wells. See "Item 1. Business—Regulation of environmental and occupational health and safety matters—Hydraulic fracturing" for a further description of local regulations addressing seismic activity.

We dispose of large volumes of produced water gathered from our drilling and production operations by injecting it into wells pursuant to permits issued to us by governmental authorities overseeing such disposal activities. While these permits are issued pursuant to existing laws and regulations, these legal requirements are subject to change, which could result in the imposition of more stringent operating constraints or new monitoring and reporting requirements, owing to, among other things, concerns of the public or governmental authorities regarding such gathering or disposal activities. The adoption and implementation of any new laws or regulations that restrict our ability to use hydraulic fracturing or dispose of produced water gathered from our drilling and production activities by owned disposal wells could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to other complex federal, state, local and other laws and regulations that could adversely affect the cost, manner or feasibility of conducting our operations or expose us to significant liabilities.

In addition to the specific laws and regulations discussed elsewhere herein, our oil, NGL and natural gas exploration, production and gathering operations are subject to numerous other complex and stringent laws and regulations. In order to conduct our operations in compliance with these laws and regulations, we must obtain and maintain numerous permits, approvals and certificates from various federal, state and local governmental authorities. We may incur substantial costs in order to maintain compliance with these existing laws and regulations. In addition, our costs of compliance may increase if existing laws and regulations are revised or reinterpreted, or if new laws and regulations become applicable to our operations. Such costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Failure to comply with laws and regulations applicable to our operations, including any evolving interpretation and enforcement by governmental authorities, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

See "Item 1. Business—Regulation of the oil and natural gas industry" and other risk factors described in this "Item 1A. Risk Factors" for a further description of the laws and regulations that affect us.

A change in the jurisdictional characterization of some of our assets by federal, state or local regulatory agencies or a change in policy by those agencies may result in increased regulation of our assets, which may cause our revenues to decline and operating expenses to increase.

Section 1(b) of the Natural Gas Act of 1938 (the "NGA") exempts natural gas gathering facilities from regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC"). We believe that the natural gas pipelines in our gathering systems meet the traditional tests FERC has used to establish whether a pipeline performs a gathering function and, therefore, is exempt from the FERC's jurisdiction under the NGA. However, the distinction between FERC-regulated transmission services and federally unregulated gathering services is a fact-based determination. The classification of facilities as unregulated gathering is the subject of ongoing litigation, so the classification and regulation of our gathering facilities are subject to change based on future determinations by FERC, the courts or Congress, which could cause our revenues to decline and operating expenses to increase and may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, FERC has adopted

regulations that may subject certain of our otherwise non-FERC jurisdictional facilities to FERC annual reporting and daily scheduled flow and capacity posting requirements. Additional rules and legislation pertaining to those and other matters may be considered or adopted by FERC from time to time. Failure to comply with those regulations in the future could subject us to civil penalty liability, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The adoption of climate change legislation or regulations restricting emissions of "greenhouse gases" could result in increased operating costs and reduced demand for the oil, NGL and natural gas we produce.

In recent years, federal, state and local governments have taken steps to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The EPA has finalized a series of greenhouse gas monitoring, reporting and emission control rules for the oil and natural gas industry, and Congress has, from time to time, considered adopting legislation to reduce emissions. Almost one-half of the states have already taken measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases primarily through the development of greenhouse gas emission inventories and/or regional greenhouse gas cap-and-trade programs. See "Item 1. Business—Regulation of environmental and occupational health and safety matters—Regulation of 'greenhouse gas' emissions" for a further description of federal and state regulations addressing greenhouse gases.

In December 2015, the United States participated in the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, France. The resulting Paris Agreement calls for the parties to undertake "ambitious efforts" to limit the average global temperature and to conserve and enhance sinks and reservoirs of GHGs. The Paris Agreement went into effect on November 4, 2016. The Paris Agreement establishes a framework for the parties to cooperate and report actions to reduce GHG emissions. However, on June 1, 2017, President Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and begin negotiations to either re-enter or negotiate an entirely new agreement with more favorable terms for the United States. The Paris Agreement sets forth a specific exit process, whereby a party may not provide notice of its withdrawal until three years from the effective date, with such withdrawal taking effect one year from such notice. It is not clear what steps the Trump Administration plans to take to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, whether a new agreement can be negotiated, or what terms would be included in such an agreement. Furthermore, in response to the announcement, many state and local leaders have stated their intent to intensify efforts to uphold the commitments set forth in the international accord.

Restrictions on GHG emissions that may be imposed could adversely affect the oil and gas industry. The adoption of legislation or regulatory programs to reduce GHG emissions could require us to incur increased operating costs, such as costs to purchase and operate emissions control systems, to acquire emissions allowances or comply with new regulatory requirements. Any GHG emissions legislation or regulatory programs applicable to power plants or refineries could also increase the cost of consuming, and thereby reduce demand for, the oil, NGL and natural gas we produce. Consequently, legislation and regulatory programs to reduce GHG emissions could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, there have also been efforts in recent years to influence the investment community, including investment advisors and certain sovereign wealth, pension and endowment funds promoting divestment of fossil fuel equities and pressuring lenders to limit funding to companies engaged in the extraction of fossil fuel reserves. Such environmental activism and initiatives aimed at limiting climate change and reducing air pollution could interfere with our business activities, operations and ability to access capital. Furthermore, claims have been made against certain energy companies alleging that GHG emissions from oil, NGL and natural gas operations constitute a public nuisance under federal and/or state common law. As a result, private individuals or public entities may seek to enforce environmental laws and regulations against us and could allege personal injury, property damages or other liabilities. While we are currently not a party to any such litigation , we could be named in actions making similar allegations. An unfavorable ruling in any such case could significantly impact our operations and could have an adverse impact on our financial condition.

Moreover, there has been public discussion that climate change may be associated with extreme weather conditions such as more intense hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes and snow or ice storms, as well as rising sea levels. Another possible consequence of climate change is increased volatility in seasonal temperatures. Some studies indicate that climate change could cause some areas to experience temperatures substantially hotter or colder than their historical averages. Extreme weather conditions can interfere with our production and increase our costs and damage resulting from extreme weather may not be fully insured. However, at this time, we are unable to determine the extent to which climate change may lead to increased storm or weather hazards affecting our operations.

Our operations may be exposed to significant delays, costs and liabilities as a result of environmental, health and safety requirements applicable to our business activities.

We may incur significant delays, costs and liabilities as a result of federal, state and local environmental, health and safety requirements applicable to our exploration, development, marketing, transportation and production activities. These laws

and regulations may require us to obtain a variety of permits or other authorizations governing our air emissions, water discharges, waste disposal or other environmental impacts associated with drilling, production and transporting product pipelines or other operations; regulate the sourcing and disposal of water used in the drilling, fracturing and completion processes; limit or prohibit drilling activities in certain areas and on certain lands lying within wilderness, wetlands, frontier, seismically active areas and other protected areas; require remedial action to prevent or mitigate pollution from former operations such as plugging abandoned wells or closing earthen pits; and/or impose substantial liabilities for spills, pollution or failure to comply with regulatory filings. In addition, these laws and regulations may restrict the rate of oil or natural gas production. These laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become increasingly stringent over time. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in the assessment of administrative, civil and criminal penalties, imposition of cleanup and site restoration costs and liens, the suspension or revocation of necessary permits, licenses and authorizations, the requirement that additional pollution controls be installed and, in some instances, the issuance of orders or injunctions limiting or requiring discontinuation of certain operations.

Under certain environmental laws that impose strict as well as joint and several liability, we may be required to remediate contaminated properties currently or formerly operated by us or facilities of third parties that received waste generated by our operations regardless of whether such contamination resulted from the conduct of others or from consequences of our own actions that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time those actions were taken. In addition, claims for damages to persons or property, including natural resources, may result from the environmental, health and safety impacts of our operations. In addition, accidental spills or releases from our operations could expose us to significant liabilities under environmental laws. Moreover, public interest in the protection of the environment has tended to increase over time. The trend of more expansive and stringent environmental legislation and regulations applied to the oil, NGL and natural gas industry could continue, resulting in increased costs of doing business and consequently affecting profitability. To the extent laws are enacted or other governmental actions are taken that restricts drilling or imposes more stringent and costly operating, waste handling, disposal and cleanup requirements, our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

See "Item 1. Business—Regulation of environmental and occupational health and safety matters" for a further description of the laws and regulations that affect us.

Derivatives reform legislation and related regulations could have an adverse effect on our ability to hedge risks associated with our business.

The July 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act") provides for federal oversight of the over-the-counter derivatives market and entities that participate in that market and mandates that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC"), the SEC, and federal regulators of financial institutions (the "Prudential Regulators") adopt rules or regulations implementing the Dodd-Frank Act and providing definitions of terms used in the Dodd-Frank Act. The Dodd-Frank Act establishes margin requirements and requires clearing and trade execution practices for certain market participants and may result in certain market participants needing to curtail or cease their derivatives activities.

Although some of the rules necessary to implement the Dodd-Frank Act remain to be adopted, the CFTC, the SEC and the Prudential Regulators have issued many rules to implement the Dodd-Frank Act, including a rule, which we refer to as the "Mandatory Clearing Rule," requiring clearing of hedges, or swaps, that are subject to it (currently, only certain interest rate and credit default swaps, which we do not presently have), a rule, which we refer to as the "End User Exception," establishing an "end user" exception to the Mandatory Clearing Rule, a rule, which we refer to as the "Margin Rule," setting forth collateral requirements in connection with swaps that are not cleared and also an exception to the Margin Rule for end users that are not financial end users, which exception we refer to as the "Non-Financial End User Exception," and a rule, subsequently vacated by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and remanded to the CFTC for further proceedings, imposing position limits. The CFTC proposed a new version of this rule, with respect to which the comment period closed but the rule was not adopted, and another new version of this rule, which we refer to as the "Re-Proposed Position Limit Rule," with respect to which the comment period has closed but a final rule has not been issued. The Re-Proposed Position Limit Rule provides an exemption from the position limits for swaps that constitute "bona fide hedging positions" within the definition of such term under the Re-Proposed Position Limit Rule, subject to the party claiming the exemption complying with the applicable filing, recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Re-Proposed Position Limit Rule.

We qualify for the End User Exception and will utilize it if the Mandatory Clearing Rule is expanded to cover swaps in which we participate, we qualify for the Non-Financial End User Exception and will not be required to post margin in connection with uncleared swaps under the Margin Rule, and our existing and anticipated hedging positions constitute "bona fide hedging positions" under the Re-Proposed Position Limit Rule and we intend to undertake the filing, recordkeeping and reporting necessary to utilize the bona fide hedging position exemption under the Re-Proposed Position Limit Rule if and when it becomes effective, so we do not expect to be directly affected by any of such rules. However, most if not all of our hedge

counterparties will be subject to mandatory clearing in connection with their hedging activities with parties who do not qualify for the End User Exception and will be required to post margin in connection with their hedging activities with other swap dealers, major swap participants, financial end users and other persons that do not qualify for the Non-Financial End User Exception. In addition, the European Union and other non-U.S. jurisdictions have enacted laws and regulations (including laws and regulations giving the European Union financial authorities the power to write down amounts we may be owed on hedging agreements with counterparties subject to such laws and regulations and/or require that we accept equity interests in such counterparties in lieu of cash in satisfaction of such amounts), which we refer to collectively as "Foreign Regulations," which may apply to our transactions with counterparties subject to such Foreign Regulations, which we refer to as "Foreign Counterparties." The Dodd-Frank Act, the rules which have been adopted and not vacated, and, to the extent that the Re-Proposed Position Limit Rule is effected, such proposed rule could significantly increase the cost of our derivative contracts, materially alter the terms of our derivative contracts, reduce the availability of derivatives to us that we have historically used to protect against risks that we encounter in our business, reduce our ability to monetize or restructure our existing derivative contracts and increase our exposure to less creditworthy counterparties. The Foreign Regulations could have similar effects. We have stopped entering into new hedging transactions with Foreign Counterparties and do not currently intend to resume hedging with Foreign Counterparties. If we reduce our use of derivatives as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act and regulations and Foreign Regulations, our results of operations may become more volatile and our cash flows may be less predictable, which could adversely affect our ability to plan for and fund capital expenditures. Finally, the Dodd-Frank Act was intended, in part, to reduce the volatility of oil and natural gas prices, which some legislators attributed to speculative trading in derivatives and commodity contracts related to oil and natural gas. Our revenues could therefore be adversely affected if a consequence of the Dodd-Frank Act and regulations is to lower commodity prices. Any of these consequences could have a material adverse effect on us, our financial condition and our results of operations.

Competition in the oil and natural gas industry is intense, making it difficult for us to acquire properties, market oil, NGL and natural gas and secure trained personnel.

Our ability to acquire additional locations and to find and develop reserves in the future may depend on our ability to evaluate and select suitable properties and to consummate transactions in a highly competitive environment for acquiring properties, marketing oil, NGL and natural gas and securing trained personnel. Also, there is substantial competition for capital available for investment in the oil, NGL and natural gas industry, especially in our focus areas. Many of our competitors possess and employ financial, technical and personnel resources substantially greater than ours. Those companies may be able to pay more for productive oil, NGL and natural gas properties and exploratory locations and to evaluate, bid for and purchase a greater number of properties and locations than our financial or personnel resources permit. In addition, other companies may be able to offer better compensation packages to attract and retain qualified personnel than we are able to offer. We may not be able to compete successfully in the future in acquiring prospective reserves, developing reserves, marketing hydrocarbons, attracting and retaining quality personnel and raising additional capital, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

A significant reduction by Warburg Pincus of its ownership interest in us could adversely affect us.

Warburg Pincus is our largest stockholder and two members of our board of directors are affiliates of Warburg Pincus. As of December 31, 2017, Warburg Pincus owned 32.0% of our outstanding common stock. We believe that Warburg Pincus' substantial ownership interest in us provides them with an economic incentive to assist us to be successful. However, Warburg Pincus is not obligated to maintain its ownership interest in us and may elect at any time to change its ownership position in our stock. If Warburg Pincus sells all or a substantial portion of its ownership interest in us, Warburg Pincus may have less incentive to assist in our success and its affiliates that are members of our board of directors may resign. Such actions could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our business strategies, which could adversely affect our cash flows or results of operations.

We may be subject to risks in connection with acquisitions and disposition of assets.

The successful acquisition of producing properties requires an assessment of several factors, including: