b'other liabilities in connection with the acquisition. If we fail to realize the benefits we anticipate froman acquisition, our results of operations may be adversely affected.The adoption of financial reform legislation by the United States Congress in 2010, and its implementingregulations, could have an adverse effect on our ability to use derivative instruments to reduce the effect ofcommodity price and other risks associated with our business.We use derivative instruments to manage our commodity price and interest rate risk. The UnitedStates Congress adopted comprehensive financial reform legislation in 2010 that establishes federaloversight and regulation of the over-the-counter derivatives market and entities, such as ours, thatparticipate in that market. The Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law by the President on July 21, 2010.The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which has jurisdiction over derivativesinstruments that are swaps, has implemented many, but not all, of these provisions throughregulations; the SEC, which regulates security-based swaps has proposed but not finalized most of itsimplementing regulations.Of particular importance to us, the CFTC has the authority to, under certain findings, establishposition limits for certain futures, options on futures and swap contracts. Certain bona fide hedgingtransactions or positions would be exempt from these position limits. The CFTC has proposed rulesthat would place limits on positions in certain core futures and equivalent swaps contracts for or linkedto certain energy, metal, and agricultural physical commodities, subject to exceptions for certain bonafide hedging transactions. It is not possible at this time to predict when the CFTC will finalize theseregulations; therefore, the impact of those provisions on us is uncertain at this time.The CFTC has designated certain interest-rate swaps and index credit default swaps for mandatoryclearing and exchange trading. The CFTC has not yet proposed rules designating any other classes ofswaps, including physical commodity swaps, for mandatory clearing. The application of the mandatoryclearing and trade execution requirements to other market participants, such as swap dealers, maychange the cost and availability of the swaps that the Company uses for hedging.Derivatives dealers that we transact with will need to comply with new margin and segregationrequirements for uncleared swaps and security-based swaps. While it is expected that our unclearedderivatives transactions will not directly be subject to those margin requirements, due to the increasedcosts to dealers for transacting uncleared derivatives in general, our costs for these transactions mayincrease.The Dodd-Frank Act and its implementing regulations may also require the counterparties to ourderivative instruments to register with the CFTC and become subject to substantial regulation or evenspin off some of their derivatives activities to a separate entity, which may not be as creditworthy as thecurrent counterparty. These requirements and others could significantly increase the cost of derivativescontracts (including through requirements to clear swaps and to post collateral, each of which couldadversely affect our available liquidity), materially alter the terms of derivatives contracts, reduce theavailability of derivatives to protect against risks we encounter, reduce our ability to monetize orrestructure our existing derivative contracts, and increase our exposure to less creditworthycounterparties. If we reduce our use of derivatives as a result of the legislation and regulations, ourresults of operations may become more volatile and our cash flows may be less predictable, which couldadversely affect our ability to plan for and fund capital expenditures. Our revenues could also beadversely affected if a consequence of the legislation and regulations is to lower commodity prices.The European Union and other non-U.S. jurisdictions are also implementing regulations withrespect to the derivatives market. To the extent we transact with counterparties in foreign jurisdictions,we or our transactions may become subject to such regulations. At this time, the impact of suchregulations is not clear.66'