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Earnings before interest, income tax, depreciation, and depletion and amortization, as described in the statements of income included below ("EBITDA"), was $93.0 million, or $2.34 and $2.32 per basic and diluted share, respectively, during the fourth quarter of 2012, as compared to $48.9 million, or $1.24 and $1.23 per basic and diluted share, respectively, during the fourth quarter of 2011.

Lease operating expenses were $8.9 million ($3.73 per Boe) for the three months ended December 31, 2012 as compared to lease operating expenses of $6.9 million ($3.48 per Boe) for the same period in 2011. The $2.0 million increase in lease operating expenses is primarily due to increased production from new wells partially offset by the sale of Barnett properties to Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. ("Atlas"). The increase in operating cost per Boe is primarily due to the higher operating cost per Boe associated with the increased oil production.

Production taxes were $3.9 million (or 3.6% of oil and gas revenues) for the three months ended December 31, 2012 as compared to $2.0 million (or 3.5% of oil and gas revenues) for the same period in 2011. The increase in production taxes is due primarily to increased oil production. The increase in production taxes as a percentage of oil and gas revenues was primarily due to increased oil production, which has a higher effective production tax rate as compared to our natural gas production.

Ad valorem taxes increased to $1.6 million ($0.66 per Boe) for the three months ended December 31, 2012 from $0.9 million ($0.47 per Boe) for the same period in 2011. The increase in ad valorem taxes is due primarily to new oil wells drilled in 2011. The increase in ad valorem taxes per Boe is due primarily to new oil wells drilled in 2011, which have higher property tax valuations as compared to our natural gas wells.

General and administrative expense was $9.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2012 as compared to $7.6 million during the same period in 2011. The increase was primarily due to compensation costs related to an increase in personnel in the fourth quarter of 2012 as compared to the same period of 2011.

Depreciation, depletion and amortization ("DD&A") expense for the fourth quarter of 2012 increased $17.2 million to $44.2 million ($18.56 per Boe) from the DD&A expense for the fourth quarter of 2011 of $27.0 million ($13.57 per Boe). The increase in DD&A is attributable to both the increase in production and an increase in the DD&A rate per Boe. The increase in the DD&A rate per Boe is largely due to the impact of the significant decrease in natural gas reserves in the Barnett as a result of the Atlas sale as well as the significant increase in crude oil reserves in the Eagle Ford that were added in 2012, which have a higher finding cost per Boe than our natural gas reserves.

Cash interest expense, net of amounts capitalized, increased to $13.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2012 as compared to $7.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase was primarily attributable to interest on the $200.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 8.625% Senior Notes issued in the fourth quarter of 2011 as well as interest on the $300.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 7.50% Senior Notes issued in the third quarter of 2012 partially offset by a decrease in interest expense attributable to reduced borrowings outstanding under the U.S. revolving credit facility during the fourth quarter of 2012.