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2. Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The interim condensed financial statements included herein, presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles and stated in US dollars, have been prepared by the Company, without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations, although the Company believes that the disclosures are adequate to not make the information presented misleading.

These statements reflect all adjustments, which in the opinion of management, are necessary for fair presentation of the information contained therein. Except as otherwise disclosed, all such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. It is suggested that these interim condensed financial statements be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016, which were included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Company follows the same accounting policies in the preparation of interim reports.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the following entities, all of which are under common control and ownership:

Name of entity	State of Incorporation	Relationship
Black Ridge Oil and Gas, Inc.	Nevada	Parent
Black Ridge Acquisition Corp.	Delaware	Subsidiary⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾Wholly-owned subsidiary

The consolidated financial statements herein contain the operations of the wholly-owned subsidiary listed above. All significant inter-company transactions have been eliminated in the preparation of theses financial statements. The parent company, Black Ridge Oil & Gas, Inc. and subsidiary, Black Ridge Acquisition Corp. will be collectively referred to herein as the “Company” or “Black Ridge”. The Company’s headquarters is in Minneapolis, Minnesota and substantially all of its operations are in the United States.

Reclassifications

As discussed in Note 3 – Debt Restructuring, income, expense and cash flows from the restructured operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 have been reclassified as net loss and cash flows from discontinued operations.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Environmental Liabilities

The oil and gas industry is subject, by its nature, to environmental hazards and clean-up costs. At this time, management knows of no substantial losses from environmental accidents or events which would have a material effect on the Company.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash equivalents include money market accounts which have maturities of three months or less. For the purpose of the statements of cash flows, all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less are considered to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are stated at cost plus accrued interest, which approximates market value. No cash equivalents were on hand at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016.

Cash in Excess of FDIC Insured Limits

The Company maintains its cash in bank deposit accounts which, at times, may exceed federally insured limits. Accounts are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) up to $250,000 and $500,000, respectively, under current regulations. The Company had approximately $-0- and $-0- in excess of FDIC and SIPC insured limits at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts.

Website Development Costs

The Company accounts for website development costs in accordance with ASC 350-50, “Accounting for Website Development Costs” (“ASC 350-50”), wherein website development costs are segregated into three activities:

Initial stage (planning), whereby the related costs are expensed.

Development (web application, infrastructure, graphics), whereby the related costs are capitalized and amortized once the website is ready for use. Costs for development content of the website may be expensed or capitalized depending on the circumstances of the expenditures.

Post-implementation (after site is up and running: security, training, administration), whereby the related costs are expensed as incurred. Upgrades are usually expensed, unless they add additional functionality.

We have capitalized a total of $56,660 of website development costs from inception through June 30, 2017. We depreciate our website development costs on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of the assets, which is currently three years. We have recognized depreciation expense on these website costs of $-0- and $-0- for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, as all website development costs have been fully depreciated.

Income Taxes

The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities based on differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities using the enacted tax rates and laws that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to be recovered. The Company provides a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets for which it does not consider realization of such assets to be more likely than not.

Basic and Diluted Loss Per Share

The basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss (the numerator) by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period (the denominator). Diluted net loss per common share is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of common shares and potential common shares outstanding (if dilutive) during each period. Potential common shares include stock options, warrants and restricted stock. The number of potential common shares outstanding relating to stock options, warrants and restricted stock is computed using the treasury stock method.

The reconciliation of the denominators used to calculate basic EPS and diluted EPS for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 are as follows:

	Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
	June 30,				June 30,
	2017		2016		2017		2016
Weighted average common shares outstanding – basic		47,979,990		47,979,990		47,979,990		47,979,990
Plus: Potentially dilutive common shares:
Stock options and warrants		–		78,689		–		76,583
Weighted average common shares outstanding – diluted		47,979,990		48,058,679		47,979,990		48,056,573

Stock options and warrants excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS because their effect was anti-dilutive were 10,957,000 and 9,954,875 for the three months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and 10,957,000 and 9,954,875 for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Under FASB ASC 820-10-05, the Financial Accounting Standards Board establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. This Statement reaffirms that fair value is the relevant measurement attribute. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements as reflected herein. The carrying amounts of cash, accounts payable and accrued expenses reported on the balance sheets are estimated by management to approximate fair value primarily due to the short term nature of the instruments. The Company had no items that required fair value measurement on a recurring basis.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment that are not oil and gas properties are recorded at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives of three to seven years. Expenditures for replacements, renewals, and betterments are capitalized. Maintenance and repairs are charged to operations as incurred. Long-lived assets, other than oil and gas properties, are evaluated for impairment to determine if current circumstances and market conditions indicate the carrying amount may not be recoverable. The Company has not recognized any impairment losses on non-oil and gas long-lived assets. Depreciation expense was $5,734 and $7,364 for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes management fee income as services are provided.

The Company recognized oil and gas revenues from its former interests in producing wells when production was delivered to, and title was transferred to, the purchaser and to the extent the selling price is reasonably determinable. Oil and gas revenues are reflected as a component of discontinued operations on the statements of operations.

Asset Retirement Obligations

The Company records the fair value of a liability for an asset retirement obligation in the period in which the well is spud or the asset is acquired and a corresponding increase in the carrying amount of the related long-lived asset. The liability is accreted to its present value each period, and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the useful life of the related asset. If the liability is settled for an amount other than the recorded amount, a gain or loss is recognized. The expense related to accretion of the discount on the asset retirement liability is reflected as a component of discontinued operations on the statement of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2016.

Full Cost Method

The Company followed the full cost method of accounting for oil and gas operations in 2016 whereby all costs related to the exploration and development of oil and gas properties were initially capitalized into a single cost center ("full cost pool"). The Company had no oil and gas operations in 2017 as they were disposed as part of the debt restructuring transaction on June 21, 2016 described in Note 3 – Debt Restructuring. Capitalized costs included land acquisition costs, geological and geophysical expenses, carrying charges on non-producing properties, costs of drilling directly related to acquisition, and exploration activities. Internal costs that were capitalized were directly attributable to acquisition, exploration and development activities and did not include costs related to the production, general corporate overhead or similar activities. Costs associated with production and general corporate activities were expensed in the period incurred. Capitalized costs for the six month period ended June 30, 2016 are summarized as follows:

	Six Months Ended
	June 30, 2016
Capitalized Certain Payroll and Other Internal Costs	$	–
Capitalized Interest Costs		7,219
Total	$	7,219

Proceeds from sales of proved properties were credited to the full cost pool, with no gain or loss recognized, unless such a sale would significantly altered the relationship between capitalized costs and the proved reserves attributable to these costs. A significant alteration would typically involve a sale of 20% or more of the proved reserves related to a single full cost pool. The Company assessed all items classified as unevaluated property on a quarterly basis for possible impairment or reduction in value. The assessment included consideration of the following factors, among others: intent to drill; remaining lease term; geological and geophysical evaluations; drilling results and activity; the assignment of proved reserves; and the economic viability of development if proved reserves are assigned. During any period in which these factors indicate an impairment, the cumulative drilling costs incurred to date for such property and all or a portion of the associated leasehold costs were transferred to the full cost pool and were then subject to amortization.

Capitalized costs associated with impaired properties and properties having proved reserves, estimated future development costs, and asset retirement costs under FASB ASC 410-20-25 were depleted and amortized on the unit-of-production method based on the estimated gross proved reserves as determined by independent petroleum engineers. The costs of unproved properties were withheld from the depletion base until such time as they are either developed or abandoned.

Capitalized costs of oil and gas properties (net of related deferred income taxes) could not exceed an amount equal to the present value, discounted at 10% per annum, of the estimated future net cash flows from proved oil and gas reserves plus the cost of unproved properties (adjusted for related income tax effects). When capitalized costs exceeded this ceiling, impairment was recognized. The present value of estimated future net cash flows was computed by applying the arithmetic average first day price of oil and natural gas for the preceding twelve months to estimated future production of proved oil and gas reserves as of the end of the period, less estimated future expenditures to be incurred in developing and producing the proved reserves and assuming continuation of existing economic conditions. Such present value of proved reserves' future net cash flows excludes future cash outflows associated with settling asset retirement obligations. When this comparison indicated an excess carrying value, the excess was charged to earnings as an impairment expense. The Company recognized an impairment loss of $5,219,000 during the six months ended June 30, 2016. The impairment loss is reflected as a component of discontinued operations on the statement of operations for the period.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company adopted FASB guidance on stock based compensation upon inception at April 9, 2010. Under FASB ASC 718-10-30-2, all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, are recognized in the income statement based on their fair values. Expense related to common stock and stock options issued for services and compensation totaled $318,984 and $315,648 for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, using the Black-Scholes options pricing model and an effective term of 6 to 6.5 years based on the weighted average of the vesting periods and the stated term of the option grants and the discount rate on 5 to 7 year U.S. Treasury securities at the grant date.

Uncertain Tax Positions

Effective upon inception at April 9, 2010, the Company adopted standards for accounting for uncertainty in income taxes. These standards prescribe a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. These standards also provide guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure, and transition.

Various taxing authorities may periodically audit the Company’s income tax returns. These audits include questions regarding the Company’s tax filing positions, including the timing and amount of deductions and the allocation of income to various tax jurisdictions. In evaluating the exposures connected with these various tax filing positions, including state and local taxes, the Company records allowances for probable exposures. A number of years may elapse before a particular matter, for which an allowance has been established, is audited and fully resolved. Black Ridge Oil & Gas, Inc. has not yet undergone an examination by any taxing authorities.

The assessment of the Company’s tax position relies on the judgment of management to estimate the exposures associated with the Company’s various filing positions.

Derivative Instruments and Price Risk Management

During the 2016 period, while the Company had oil and gas operations, the Company entered into derivative contracts, including price swaps, caps and floors, which required payments to (or receipts from) counterparties based on the differential between a fixed price and a variable price for a fixed quantity of crude oil without the exchange of underlying volumes. The notional amounts of these financial instruments were based on a portion of the expected production from existing wells.

Any realized gains and losses were recorded to gain (loss) on settled derivatives and unrealized gains or losses as a result of mark-to market valuations were recorded to gain (loss) on the mark-to-market of derivatives and are included as a component of loss from discontinued operations on the statements of operations.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

New accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) that are adopted by the Company as of the specified effective date. If not discussed below, management believes there have been no developments to recently issued accounting standards, including expected dates of adoption and estimated effects on our financial statements, from those disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.