Company: BSM
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001628280-25-007730
Chunk: 214

Company: Black Stone Minerals, L.P.
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 214
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 impaired. As future commodity prices cannot be predicted accurately, actual results could differ significantly from estimates.

Oil and Natural Gas Properties

We follow the successful efforts method of accounting for oil and natural gas operations. Under this method, costs to acquire mineral and royalty interests and working interests in oil and natural gas properties, property acquisitions, successful exploratory wells, development costs, and support equipment and facilities are capitalized when incurred.

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The costs of unproved leaseholds and non-producing mineral interests are capitalized as unproved properties pending the results of exploration and leasing efforts. As unproved properties are determined to be productive, the related costs are transferred to proved oil and natural gas properties. The costs related to exploratory wells are capitalized pending determination of whether proved commercial reserves exist. If proved commercial reserves are not discovered, such drilling costs are expensed. In some circumstances, it may be uncertain whether proved commercial reserves have been discovered when drilling has been completed. Such exploratory well drilling costs may continue to be capitalized if the reserve quantity is sufficient to justify completion as a producing well and sufficient progress in assessing the reserves and the economic and operating viability of the project is ongoing. Other exploratory costs, including annual delay rentals and geological and geophysical costs, are expensed when incurred.

Oil and natural gas properties are grouped in accordance with the Extractive Industries – Oil and Gas Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification. The basis for grouping is a reasonable aggregation of properties with a common geographic location, which we also refer to as a depletable unit.

As exploration and development work progresses and the reserves associated with our oil and natural gas properties become proved, capitalized costs attributed to the properties are charged as an operating expense through DD&A. DD&A of producing oil and natural gas properties is recorded based on the units-of-production method. Capitalized development costs are amortized on the basis of proved developed reserves while leasehold acquisition costs and the costs to acquire proved properties are amortized on the basis of all proved reserves, both developed and undeveloped. Proved reserves are estimated quantities of oil and natural gas which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions. DD&A expense related to our producing oil and natural gas properties was $44.8 million, $45.0 million, and $47.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively.

We evaluate impairment of producing properties whenever