{"pre_text": ["the principal components of eog's rollforward of valuation allowances for deferred income tax assets were as follows ( in thousands ) : ."], "post_text": ["( 1 ) increase in valuation allowance related to the generation of tax nols and other deferred tax assets .", "( 2 ) decrease in valuation allowance associated with adjustments to certain deferred tax assets and their related allowance .", "( 3 ) represents dispositions/revisions/foreign exchange rate variances and the effect of statutory income tax rate changes .", "as of december 31 , 2017 , eog had state income tax nols being carried forward of approximately $ 1.7 billion , which , if unused , expire between 2018 and 2036 .", "during 2017 , eog's united kingdom subsidiary incurred a tax nol of approximately $ 72 million which , along with prior years' nols of $ 857 million , will be carried forward indefinitely .", "eog also has united states federal and canadian nols of $ 335 million and $ 158 million , respectively , with varying carryforward periods .", "eog's remaining amt credits total $ 798 million , resulting from amt paid with respect to prior years and an increase of $ 41 million in 2017 .", "as described above , these nols and credits , as well as other less significant future income tax benefits , have been evaluated for the likelihood of utilization , and valuation allowances have been established for the portion of these deferred income tax assets that t do not meet the \"more likely than not\" threshold .", "as further described above , significant changes were made by the tcja to the corporate amt that are favorable to eog , including the refunding of amt credit carryovers .", "due to these legislative changes , eog intends to settle certain uncertain tax positions related to amt credits for taxable years 2011 through 2015 , resulting in a decrease of uncertain tax positions of $ 40 million .", "the amount of unrecognized tax benefits at december 31 , 2017 , was $ 39 million , resulting from the tax treatment of its research and experimental expenditures related to certain innovations in its horizontal drilling and completion projects , which ish not expected to have an earnings impact .", "eog records interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits to its income tax provision .", "eog does not anticipate that the amount of the unrecognized tax benefits will increase during the next twelve months .", "eog and its subsidiaries file income tax returns and are subject to tax audits in the united states and various state , local and foreign jurisdictions .", "eog's earliest open tax years in its principal jurisdictions are as follows : united states federal ( 2011 ) , canada ( 2014 ) , united kingdom ( 2016 ) , trinidad ( 2011 ) and china ( 2008 ) .", "eog's foreign subsidiaries' undistributed earnings are no longer considered to be permanently reinvested outside the u.s .", "and , accordingly , eog has cumulatively recorded $ 20 million of foreign and state deferred income taxes as of december 31 , 2017 .", "7 .", "employee benefit plans stock-based compensation during 2017 , eog maintained various stock-based compensation plans as discussed below .", "eog recognizes compensation expense on grants of stock options , sars , restricted stock and restricted stock units , performance units and grants made under the eog resources , inc .", "employee stock purchase plan ( espp ) .", "stock-based compensation expense is calculated based upon the grant date estimated fair value of the awards , net of forfeitures , based upon eog's historical employee turnover rate .", "compensation expense is amortized over the shorter of the vesting period or the period from date of grant until the date the employee becomes eligible to retire without company approval. ."], "table": [["", "2017", "2016", "2015"], ["beginning balance", "$ 383221", "$ 506127", "$ 463018"], ["increase ( 1 )", "67333", "37221", "146602"], ["decrease ( 2 )", "-13687 ( 13687 )", "-12667 ( 12667 )", "-4315 ( 4315 )"], ["other ( 3 )", "29554", "-147460 ( 147460 )", "-99178 ( 99178 )"], ["ending balance", "$ 466421", "$ 383221", "$ 506127"]], "table_ori": [["", "2017", "2016", "2015"], ["Beginning Balance", "$383,221", "$506,127", "$463,018"], ["Increase<sup>(1)</sup>", "67,333", "37,221", "146,602"], ["Decrease<sup>(2)</sup>", "(13,687)", "(12,667)", "(4,315)"], ["Other<sup>(3)</sup>", "29,554", "(147,460)", "(99,178)"], ["Ending Balance", "$466,421", "$383,221", "$506,127"]]}

Question: considering the eog's roll forward of valuation allowances for deferred income tax assets during 2015-2017 , what was the lowest value registered in the beginning balance?
Evidence:
table_1: the beginning balance of 2017 is $ 383221 ; the beginning balance of 2016 is $ 506127 ; the beginning balance of 2015 is $ 463018 ;
Program: table_min(beginning balance, none)
Answer:
str_answer: 383221
exe_answer: 383221