Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Contractual Commitments

Future minimum contractual commitments as of December 31, 2020 under non-cancelable agreements having initial or remaining terms in excess of one year are as follows:


	2021		2022		2023		2024		2025		Thereafter
Gas contract	$	680	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—
Office leases	791		696		595		605		152		—
Automobile leases	75		5		—		—		—		—
Total	$	1,546	$	701	$	595	$	605	$	152	$	—

The Company has a non-cancelable fixed cost agreement of $1.6 million per year through May 2021 to reserve pipeline capacity of 10,000 MMBtu per day for gathering and processing related to certain Eagle Ford assets in south Texas. As the operator of the properties dedicated to this contract, the gross amount of obligation is provided; however, the Company’s net share is approximately 31%.

Additionally, the Company leases corporate office space in The Woodlands, Texas and Midland, Texas. Rent expense was approximately $0.8 million and $0.8 million, for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Minimum lease payments under the terms of non-cancelable operating leases as of December 31, 2020 are shown in the table above.

Environmental

The Company’s operations are subject to risks normally associated with the drilling, completion and production of oil and gas, including blowouts, fires, and environmental risks such as oil spills or gas leaks that could expose the Company to liabilities associated with these risks.

In the Company’s acquisition of existing or previously drilled well bores, the Company may not be aware of prior environmental safeguards, if any, that were taken at the time such wells were drilled or during such time the wells were operated. The Company maintains comprehensive insurance coverage that it believes is adequate to mitigate the risk of any adverse financial effects associated with these risks.

However, should it be determined that a liability exists with respect to any environmental cleanup or restoration, the liability to cure such a violation could still fall upon the Company. No claim has been made, nor is the Company aware of any liability which the Company may have, as it relates to any environmental cleanup, restoration, or the violation of any rules or regulations relating thereto except for the matter discussed above.

Legal

From time to time, Earthstone and its subsidiaries may be involved in various legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business.

Olenik v. Lodzinski et al.: On June 2, 2017, Nicholas Olenik filed a purported shareholder class and derivative action in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Earthstone’s Chief Executive Officer, along with other members of the Board, EnCap Investments L.P. (“EnCap”), Bold, Bold Holdings and Oak Valley Resources, LLC. The complaint alleges that Earthstone’s directors breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the contribution agreement dated as of November 7, 2016 and as amended on March 21, 2017 (the “Bold Contribution Agreement”), by and among Earthstone, EEH, Lynden US, Lynden USA Operating, LLC, Bold Holdings and Bold. The Plaintiff asserts that the directors negotiated the business combination pursuant

to the Bold Contribution Agreement (the “Bold Transaction”) to benefit EnCap and its affiliates, failed to obtain adequate consideration for the Earthstone shareholders who were not affiliated with EnCap or Earthstone management, did not follow an adequate process in negotiating and approving the Bold Transaction and made materially misleading or incomplete proxy disclosures in connection with the Bold Transaction. The suit seeks unspecified damages and purports to assert claims derivatively on behalf of Earthstone and as a class action on behalf of all persons who held common stock up to March 13, 2017, excluding defendants and their affiliates. On July 20, 2018, the Delaware Court of Chancery granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss and entered an order dismissing the action in its entirety with prejudice. The Plaintiff filed an appeal with the Delaware Supreme Court. On April 5, 2019, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s dismissal of the proxy disclosure claims but reversed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s dismissal of the other claims, holding that the allegations with respect to those claims were sufficient for pleading purposes. After engaging in extensive pre-trial discovery, the parties engaged in a mediation process that resulted in a non-binding settlement term sheet on September 21, 2020. On January 4, 2021, the parties executed and filed a Stipulation of Settlement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with the Delaware Court of Chancery. The principal terms of the Settlement Agreement are as follows: (i) a $3.5 million all-in cash settlement payment (the “Fund”) to be funded by defendants and/or their insurers into an escrow account, (ii) a bi-lateral complete and full release of all claims against defendants and plaintiffs, and (iii) that 55% of the Fund (the derivative payment) be paid to Earthstone to be used as determined by management, according to their fiduciary duties and business judgment, 45% of the Fund (the class payment) be paid to members of the class or current stockholders of Earthstone. The Company expects court approval of the Settlement Agreement and in addition estimates the insurance carriers and related affiliates to reimburse the Company in the amount of $2.8 million and $0.1 million, respectively. There is no assurance, however, that the court will approve the settlement. As described above, the Company expects to receive a portion of the derivative payment, however, the amount cannot be reasonably determined at this time.

Through December 31, 2020, due to uncertainty of reimbursement, the Company recorded and accrued litigation costs when incurred and recorded insurance reimbursements as an offset only when proceeds were received in Transactions costs. In light of the Settlement Agreement, insurance carrier agreement on allocation of defense costs and settlement payment combined with the history of reimbursements from insurance carriers and related affiliate, a high probability of reimbursement exists. Accordingly, the Company has accrued $3.5 million related to the Settlement Agreement and estimated final defense costs associated with this legal action included in Accrued expenses in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, offset by an accrued $3.1 million of estimated reimbursements from insurance carriers and the majority shareholder which are included in Accounts receivable: Joint interest billings and other, net in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, with the impact of both items included in Transaction costs in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.