Related Party Transactions

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Related Party Transactions [Abstract]

Related Party Transactions

Note 12 – Related Party Transactions

Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable

The table below details amounts due from and due to related parties, including companies owned or controlled by Richard M. Osborne, father of the Company’s chief executive officer and the Company’s former chairman and chief executive officer, at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014. These amounts are presented on the balance sheet as Related parties under Accounts receivable and Accounts payable. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Company wrote-off $0 and $9,000, respectively, of related party receivables as uncollectable.

	Accounts Receivable				Accounts Payable
	September 30,		December 31,		September 30,		December 31,
	2015		2014		2015		2014
Cobra Pipeline	$	93,093	$	178,596	$	1,145	$	67,982
Orwell Trumbell Pipeline		100		-		12,437		102,231
Great Plains Exploration		452		959		4,839		9
Big Oats Oil Field Supply		30		4,752		-		-
John D. Oil and Gas Company		6,864		6,854		44,522		-
OsAir		41,271		35,329		-		97
Lake County Title		18,413		15,491		-		-
Other		4,079		8,120		-		-
Total related party balances	$	164,302	$	250,101	$	62,943	$	170,319

The tables below detail transactions with related parties, including companies owned or controlled by Richard M. Osborne, father of the Company’s chief executive officer and the Company’s former chairman and chief executive officer, for the three months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014.

	Three Months Ended September 30, 2015
	Natural Gas		Rent, Supplies,
	Purchases &		Consulting and				Rental Income
	Transportation		Other Purchases		Natural Gas Sales		and Other Sales
Cobra Pipeline	$	195,131	$	6,000	$	-	$	-
Orwell Trumbell Pipeline		48,423		-		57		-
Great Plains Exploration		15,232		-		20		-
Big Oats Oil Field Supply		-		-		19		-
John D. Oil and Gas Company		132,407		-		157		-
OsAir		-		-		265		-
Other		-		-		758		-
Total	$	391,193	$	6,000	$	1,276	$	-

	Three Months Ended September 30, 2014
	Natural Gas		Rent, Supplies,
	Purchases &		Consulting and				Rental Income
	Transportation		Other Purchases		Natural Gas Sales		and Other Sales
Cobra Pipeline	$	154,871	$	6,000	$	-	$	-
Orwell Trumbell Pipeline		46,125		-		140		35,549
Great Plains Exploration		120,707		-		599		1,700
Big Oats Oil Field Supply		-		-		29		-
John D. Oil and Gas Company		135,237		-		144		6,323
OsAir		32,984		-		44		17,079
Other		13,839		-		2,839		100
Total	$	503,763	$	6,000	$	3,795	$	60,751

The tables below detail transactions with related parties, including companies owned or controlled by Richard M. Osborne, father of the Company’s chief executive officer and the Company’s former chairman and chief executive officer, for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014.

	Nine Months Ended September 30, 2015
	Natural Gas		Rent, Supplies,
	Purchases &		Consulting and				Rental Income
	Transportation		Other Purchases		Natural Gas Sales		and Other Sales
Cobra Pipeline	$	838,154	$	20,000	$	-	$	-
Orwell Trumbell Pipeline		646,529		-		1,028		100
Great Plains Exploration		338,304		-		275		(500)
Big Oats Oil Field Supply		-		-		2,378		850
John D. Oil and Gas Company		-		-		474		-
OsAir		-		-		6,650		-
Lake County Title		-		-		-		7,241
Other		-		-		9,816		-
Total	$	1,822,987	$	20,000	$	20,621	$	7,691

	Nine Months Ended September 30, 2014
	Natural Gas		Pipeline		Rent, Supplies,
	Purchases &		Construction		Consulting and				Rental Income
	Transportation		Purchases		Other Purchases		Natural Gas Sales		and Other Sales
Cobra Pipeline	$	864,118	$	-	$	14,000	$	104,623	$	13,400
Orwell Trumbell Pipeline		562,728		-		-		1,595		37,124
Great Plains Exploration		611,187		-		-		12,735		4,700
Big Oats Oil Field Supply		-		254,752		93,741		4,482		850
John D. Oil and Gas Company		737,522		-		-		431		35,473
OsAir		176,116		-		6,001		2,889		39,945
Lake Shore Gas		162,360		-		-		-		-
Other		76,281		-		22,808		21,065		1,676
Total	$	3,190,312	$	254,752	$	136,550	$	147,820	$	133,168

In addition, the Company accrued a liability of approximately $99,150 and $69,253 payable to companies controlled by Richard M. Osborne, father of the Company’s chief executive officer and the Company’s former chairman and chief executive officer, for natural gas and natural gas transportation services used through September 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively, which had not yet been invoiced. The related expenses are included in the gas purchased line item in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

The Company had related party natural gas imbalances of $27,088 and $98,000 at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively, which were included in the Company’s natural gas inventory balance. These amounts represent quantities of natural gas due to the Company from natural gas transportation companies controlled by Richard M. Osborne, father of the Company’s chief executive officer and the Company’s former chairman and chief executive officer.

On April 6, 2015, the Company entered into a loan agreement and promissory note with NIL Funding Corporation (“NIL Funding”). Pursuant to the note and loan agreement, NIL Funding loaned Gas Natural $5.0 million, bearing an annual interest rate of 7.5%, and a maturity date of October 3, 2015. See Note 8 – Credit Facilities and Long-Term Debt for further detail regarding this loan. On July 27, 2015, the NIL Funding credit facility was paid off and extinguished.

NIL Funding is an affiliate of The InterTech Group, Inc. (“InterTech”). The Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of InterTech is Anita G. Zucker. Ms. Zucker, as trustee of the Article 6 Marital Trust, under the First Amended and Restated Jerry Zucker Revocable Trust dated April 2, 2007, beneficially owns 940,000 shares, or 8.96%, of the Company’s outstanding common stock, as of February 9, 2015. Two members of Gas Natural’s Board of Directors, Robert Johnston and Michael Bender, also currently serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer and Director, Corporate Secretary and Corporate Counsel, respectively, of InterTech.