22. Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

(22) Commitments and Contingencies

Management Agreement

See “Note (15) Accounts Payable, Related Party” of this report for additional disclosures related to the Management Agreement.

Genesis Agreements

We are highly dependent on our relationship with Genesis and its affiliates. Our relationship with Genesis is governed by three agreements:

● Crude Supply Agreement -- Pursuant to the Crude Supply Agreement, GEL is the exclusive supplier of crude oil to the Nixon Facility. We are not permitted to buy crude oil from any other source without GEL’s express written consent. GEL supplies crude oil to LE at cost plus freight expense and any costs associated with GEL’s hedging. All crude oil supplied to LE pursuant to the Crude Supply Agreement is paid for pursuant to the terms of the Joint Marketing Agreement as described below. In addition, GEL has a first right of refusal to use three storage tanks at the Nixon Facility during the term of the Crude Supply Agreement. Subject to certain termination rights, the Crude Supply Agreement has an initial term of three years, expiring on August 12, 2014. After the expiration of its initial term, the Crude Supply Agreement automatically renews for successive one year terms unless either party notifies the other party of its election to terminate the Crude Supply Agreement within 90 days of the expiration of the then current term.

● Construction and Funding Agreement -- Pursuant to the Construction and Funding Agreement, LE engaged Milam to provide construction services on a turnkey basis in connection with the construction, installation and refurbishment of certain equipment at the Nixon Facility (the “Project”). Milam has continued to make advances in excess of their obligation, for certain construction and operating costs at the Nixon Facility. All amounts advanced to LE pursuant to the terms of the Construction and Funding Agreement bear interest at a rate of 6% per annum. In March 2012 (the month after initial operation of the Nixon Facility occurred), LE began paying Milam, in accordance with the provisions of the Joint Marketing Agreement, a minimum monthly payment of $150,000 (the “Base Construction Payment”) as repayment of interest and amounts advanced to LE under the Construction and Funding Agreement. If, however, the Gross Profits of LE (as defined below) in any given month (calculated as the revenue from the sale of products from the Nixon Facility minus the cost of crude oil) are insufficient to make this payment, then there is a deficit amount, which shall accrue interest (the “Deficit Amount”). If there is a Deficit Amount, then 100% of the gross profits in subsequent calendar months will be paid to Milam until the Deficit Amount has been satisfied in full and all previous $150,000 monthly payments have been made.   The Construction and Funding Agreement places restrictions on LE, which prohibit LE from: incurring any debt (except debt that is subordinated to amounts owed to Milam or GEL); selling, discounting or factoring its accounts receivable or its negotiable instruments outside the ordinary course of business while no default exists; suffering any change of control or merging with or into another entity; and certain other conditions listed therein. As of the date hereof, Milam can terminate the Construction and Funding Agreement for a breach or upon termination of the Refinery Loan Forbearance Agreement. If Milam terminates the Construction and Funding Agreement, then: (i) Milam and LE are required to execute a forbearance agreement, the form of which has been previously agreed to, pursuant to which LE will pay Milam a fee of $150,000 per month in order to maintain the forbearance (such amount shall be credited against the amount owed) for a period of six months (during which time Milam will agree not to foreclose pursuant to the Construction and Funding Agreement and, thus, LE has the right to find financing to pay off such amounts), (ii) Milam shall be entitled to receive payment in full for all obligations owed under the Construction and Funding Agreement, (iii) all liens in favor of Milam will remain in full force and effect until released in accordance with the terms of the Construction and Funding Agreement and (iv) upon repayment of all obligations owed to Milam pursuant to the terms of the forbearance agreement executed by Milam and LE, LE shall have no further obligations to Milam or its affiliates under the Construction and Funding Agreement;

● Joint Marketing Agreement -- The Joint Marketing Agreement sets forth the terms of the agreement between LE and GEL pursuant to which the parties will market and sell the output produced at the Nixon Facility and share the Gross Profits (as defined below) from such sales. Pursuant to the Joint Marketing Agreement, GEL is responsible for all product transportation scheduling. LE is responsible for entering into contracts with customers for the purchase and sale of output produced at the Nixon Facility and handling all billing and invoicing relating to the same. However, all payments for the sale of output produced at the Nixon Facility will be made directly to GEL as collection agent and all customers must satisfy GEL’s customer credit approval process. Subject to certain amendments and clarifications (as described below), the Joint Marketing Agreement also provides for the sharing of “Gross Profits” (defined as the total revenue from the sale of output from the Nixon Facility minus the cost of crude oil pursuant to the Crude Supply Agreement) as follows:

(a) First, prior to the date on which Milam has recouped all amounts advanced to LE under the Construction and Funding Agreement (the “Investment Threshold Date”), the Base Construction Payment of $150,000 shall be paid to GEL (for remittance to Milam) each calendar month to satisfy amounts owed under the Construction and Funding Agreement, with a catch-up in subsequent months if there is a Deficit Amount until such Deficit Amount has been satisfied in full.

(b) Second, prior to and as of the Investment Threshold Date, LE is entitled to receive weekly payments to cover direct expenses in operating the Nixon Facility (the “Operations Payments”) in an amount not to exceed $750,000 per month plus the amount of any Accounting Fees. If Gross Profits are less than $900,000, then LE’s Operations Payments shall be reduced to equal to the difference between the Gross Profits for such monthly period and the proceeds discussed in (a) above; if Gross Profits are negative, then LE does not get an Operations Payment and the negative balance becomes a Deficit Amount which is added to the total due and owing under the Construction Funding Agreement and such Deficit Amount must be satisfied before any allocation of Gross Profit in the future may be made to LE.

(c)

Third, prior to the Investment Threshold Date and subject to the payment of the Base Construction Payment by LE and the Operations Payments by GEL, pursuant to (a) and (b) above, an amount shall be paid to GEL from Gross Profits equal to transportation costs, tank storage fees (if applicable), financial statement preparation fees (collectively, the “GEL Expense Items”), after which GEL shall be paid 80% of the remaining Gross Profits (any percentage of Gross Profits distributed to GEL, the “GEL Profit Share”) and LE shall be paid 20% of the remaining Gross Profits (any percentage of Gross Profits distributed to LE, the “LE Profit Share”); provided, however, that in the event that there is a forbearance payment of Gross Profits required by LE under a forbearance agreement with a bank, then 50% of the LE Profit Share shall be directly remitted by GEL to the bank on LE’s behalf until such forbearance amount is paid in full; and provided further that, if there is a Deficit Amount due under the Construction and Funding Agreement and a forbearance payment of Gross Profits that would otherwise be due and payable to the bank for such period, then GEL shall receive 80% of the Gross Profit and 10% shall be payable to the bank and LE shall not receive any of the LE Profit Share until such time as the Deficit Amount is reduced to zero.

(d)

Fourth, after the Investment Threshold Date and after the payment to GEL of the GEL Expense Items, 30% of the remaining Gross Profit up to $600,000 (the “Threshold Amount”) shall be paid to GEL as the GEL Profit Share and LE shall be paid 70% of the remaining Gross Profit as the LE Profit Share. Any amount of remaining Gross Profit that exceeds the Threshold Amount for such calendar month shall be paid to GEL and LE in the following manner: (i) GEL shall be paid 20% of the remaining Gross Profits over the Threshold Amount as the GEL Profit Share and (ii) LE shall be paid 80% of the remaining Gross Profits over the Threshold Amount as the LE Profit Share.

(e) After the Threshold Date, if GEL sustains losses, it can recoup those losses by a special allocation of 80% of Gross Profits until such losses are covered in full, after which the prevailing Gross Profits allocation shall be reinstated.

The Joint Marketing Agreement contains negative covenants that restrict LE’s actions under certain circumstances. For example, LE is prohibited from making any modification to the Nixon Facility or entering into any contracts with third-parties which would materially affect or impair GEL’s or its affiliates’ rights under the agreements set forth above. The Joint Marketing Agreement has an initial term of three years expiring on August 12, 2014. After the expiration of its initial term, the Joint Marketing Agreement shall be automatically renewed for successive one year terms unless either party notifies the other party of its election to terminate the Joint Marketing Agreement within 90 days of the expiration of the then current term. The Joint Marketing Agreement also provides that it may be terminated prior to the end of its then current term under certain circumstances.

● Amendments and Clarifications to the Joint Marketing Agreement -- The Joint Marketing Agreement was amended and clarified to allow GEL to provide LE with Operations Payments during months in which LE incurred Deficit Amounts.

(a) In July and August 2012, we entered into amendments to the Joint Marketing Agreement whereby GEL and Milam agreed that Deficit Amounts would be added to our obligation amount under the Construction and Funding Agreement. In addition, the parties agreed to amend the priority of payments to reflect that, to the extent that there are available funds in a particular month, AFNB shall be paid one-tenth of such funds, provided that we will not participate in available funds until Deficit Amounts added to the Construction and Funding Agreement are paid in full.

(b) In December 2012, GEL made Operations Payments and other payments to or on behalf of LE in which the aggregate amount exceeded the amount payable to LE in the month of December 2012 under the Joint Marketing Agreement (the “Overpayment Amount”). In December 2012, we entered into an amendment to the Joint Marketing Agreement whereby GEL and Milam agreed that Gross Profits payable to LE would be redirected to GEL as payment for the Overpayment Amount until such Overpayment Amount has been satisfied in full. Such redistributions shall not reduce the distributions of Gross Profit that GEL or Milam are otherwise entitled to under the Joint Marketing Agreement.

As of December 31, 2012, total advances under the Construction and Funding Agreement, including Deficit Amounts, were $5,206,175. As of December 31, 2012, pursuant to amendments and clarifications to the Joint Marketing Agreement, the net Deficit Amount added to our obligation amount under the Construction and Funding Agreement was $659,883.

As of December 31, 2012, the principal balance outstanding on the Refinery Loan, which is currently in default, was $9,298,183. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2012, payments made to AFNB under the Refinery Loan in respect of LE’s ratable share of Gross Profits were approximately $287,091.

Lazarus Texas Refinery I, LLC (“LTRI”) Option

In June 2012, we purchased an exclusive option, which expires on September 4, 2013, from LEH to acquire all of the issued and outstanding membership interests of LTRI, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of LEH.  LTRI’s assets include a refinery, located on a 104 acre site in Ingleside, San Patricio County, Texas (the “Ingleside Refinery”).  The Ingleside Refinery consists of crude oil and condensate processing equipment, pipeline connections, trucking terminals and related storage, storage tanks, a barge dock and receiving facility, pipelines, equipment, related loading and unloading facilities and utilities.

In the event we exercise the option to purchase the Ingleside Refinery, Blue Dolphin and LEH must enter into a definitive purchase and sale agreement. We paid LEH a fully refundable sum of $100,000 in cash as consideration to purchase the exclusive option.  Upon exercise of the option to purchase the Ingleside Refinery, we will assume all outstanding liabilities, including a note payable, and reimburse LEH for costs associated with the acquisition, refurbishment and environmental remediation of the site.  Remediation and refurbishment efforts at the site continue by LEH.  The parties continue to monitor such refurbishment and remediation efforts as a prerequisite to determining the purchase price. If there is a material difference between LEH’s expenditures for such remediation efforts and our desired purchase price, LEH has agreed to refund us the purchase price for the Ingleside Refinery option.

Lazarus Energy Development, LLC (“LED”) Option

In February 2012 we purchased an exclusive option, which expires on September 4, 2013, from LEH to acquire all of the issued and outstanding membership interests of LED, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of LEH.  LED owns approximately 46 acres of real property, which is located adjacent to the Nixon Facility in Nixon, Wilson County, Texas.  We paid LEH a fully refundable sum of $183,421 in cash as consideration to purchase this option.

Legal Matters

Pursuant to a Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release dated February 15, 2012 (the “Settlement Agreement”), by and among Blue Dolphin, LEH and Lazarus Louisiana Refinery II, LLC (“LLRII”), the parties agreed to settle and compromise all disputes between them in connection with closing of the LE Acquisition. LEH agreed to file a non-suit with prejudice of all pending claims against Blue Dolphin under Cause No. 210-32561, styled Blue Dolphin Energy Company v. Lazarus Energy Holdings, L.L.C. and Lazarus Louisiana Refinery II, L.L.C., in the 129th District Court of Harris County, Texas (the “Lawsuit”). Blue Dolphin agreed that it will not execute or attempt to execute on an order that was signed on May 16, 2011 in the Lawsuit severing LEH’s counterclaims into Cause No. 2010-32561-A, which resulted in a Partial Summary Judgment becoming a final judgment in Blue Dolphin’s favor. LEH’s claims and causes of action in the Lawsuit were dismissed on July 6, 2012.

From time to time we are subject to various lawsuits, claims, liens and administrative proceedings that arise out of the normal course of business. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2012, a vendor placed a mechanic’s lien on the Nixon Facility as protection during construction activities. Management does not believe that the lien will have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Environmental Matters

All of our operations and properties are subject to extensive federal, state, and local environmental, health, and safety regulations governing, among other things, the generation, storage, handling, use and transportation of petroleum and hazardous substances; the emission and discharge of materials into the environment; waste management; characteristics and composition of diesel and other fuels; and the monitoring, reporting and control of greenhouse gas emissions. Our operations also require numerous permits and authorizations under various environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. Failure to comply with these permits or environmental, health or safety laws generally could result in fines, penalties or other sanctions, or a revocation of our permits.