Going Concern Qualification, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Going Concern

Our present level of indebtedness and the recent commodity price environment present challenges to our ability to comply with certain covenants in our credit facilities, and under applicable auditing standards, the independent accountants' opinion on our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 contains an explanatory paragraph regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a “going concern” At December 31, 2020, we had a total of $95.0 million outstanding under our First Lien Credit Facility, $112.7 million under our Second Lien Credit Facility, and total indebtedness of $220.5 million including a $10.0 million exit fee. As of June 30, 2021, we had a total of $88.5 million outstanding under our First Lien Credit Facility, $132.1 million under our Second Lien Credit Facility, including a $10.0 million exit fee, and total indebtedness of $223.3 million. Additionally, we have a liability of approximately $9.9 million related to the termination of our hedging agreements. If interest expense increases as a result of higher interest rates or increased borrowings, more cash flow from operations would be used to meet debt service requirements.

Specifically, with regard to our credit agreements, we did not satisfy the first lien debt to consolidated EBITDAX ratio covenant under our First Lien Credit Facility as of the December 31, 2020 measurement date and such failure represented an event of default under our First Lien Credit Facility. In addition, we do not anticipate that we will maintain compliance with the Second Lien Credit Facility total leverage ratio covenant or the minimum asset coverage ratio (as defined in Note 5) both of which will be first tested as of September 30, 2021, over the next twelve months and, accordingly, the audit report prepared by our auditors with respect to the financial statements in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 included an explanatory paragraph expressing uncertainty as to our ability to continue as a “going concern”. The inability to maintain compliance with certain covenants of our Second Lien Credit Facility would represent an additional default under our First Lien Credit Facility as of the end of any such future fiscal quarters. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of the “going concern” uncertainty.

We are evaluating the available financial alternatives and are in discussion with our lenders seeking additional waivers or amendments to the covenants or other provisions of our credit facilities to address any current and future default relating to the covenants in question. The existing defaults at March 31, 2021 were subject to forbearance agreements with our lenders that expired on May 6, 2021. We are also in discussions with our lenders regarding further forbearance, but no assurance can be provided that we will be able to enter into any additional forbearance agreements. If, upon a future default, the Company is unable reach an agreement with its lenders or find acceptable alternative financing, the lenders under the Company’s First Lien Credit Facility may choose to accelerate repayment. If the Company’s lenders accelerate the payment of amounts outstanding under its credit facilities, the Company does not currently have sufficient liquidity to repay such indebtedness and would need additional sources of capital to do so. The Company could attempt to obtain additional sources of capital from asset sales, public or private issuances of debt, equity or equity-linked securities, debt for equity swaps, or any combination thereof. However, the Company cannot provide any assurances that it will be successful in obtaining capital from such transactions on acceptable terms, or at all.

Under applicable accounting principles these circumstances are deemed to create substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a “going concern”. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a “going concern” basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities and other commitments in the normal course of business for the twelve-month period following the date of issuance of these consolidated financial statements. As such, the accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of assets and their carrying amount, or the amount and classification of liabilities that may result should the Company be unable to continue as a “going concern”.

In April 2021, we received notice that certain of our hedging agreements were being terminated as a result of events of default under the First Lien Credit Facility, and we voluntarily terminated most of our other hedging arrangements. As a result of the settlement of the terminated hedges, we have outstanding obligations of $9.9 million. These obligations were added to the outstanding balance under our First Lien Credit Facility and will accrue interest at the default interest rate, currently 8.75%, until repaid. Our remaining hedging agreement may also be terminated as a result of such events of default. The settlement of terminated hedging agreements may result in losses and limit our ability to reduce exposure to adverse fluctuations in oil and gas prices. See Note 10 “Events of Default” for current information regarding non-compliance with certain covenants.

Rig Accounting [Policy Text Block]

Rig Accounting

In accordance with SEC Regulation S-X, no income is recognized in connection with contractual drilling services performed in connection with properties in which we or our affiliates hold an ownership, or other economic interest. Any income not recognized as a result of this limitation is credited to the full cost pool and recognized through lower amortization as reserves are produced.

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Policy Text Block]

Stock-Based Compensation, Option Plans and Warrants

Stock Options

We currently utilize a standard option-pricing model (i.e., Black-Scholes) to measure the fair value of stock options granted to employees and directors.

The following table summarizes our stock-based compensation expense related to stock options for the periods presented:

*Three Months Ended*					*Six Months Ended*
*June 30,*					*June 30,*
*2021*		*2020*			*2021*			*2020*
$	1	$	(5	)	$	(22	)	$	61

The following table summarizes our stock option activity for the six months ended June 30, 2021, (in thousands):

	*Number of Shares*			*Weighted Average Option Exercise Price Per Share*		*Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share*
Outstanding, December 31, 2020		196		$	49.69	$	35.03
Cancelled/Forfeited		(121	)	$	43.63	$	30.90
Expired		(15	)	$	84.34	$	62.02
Balance, June 30, 2021		60		$	53.50	$	36.81

As of June 30, 2021, there was no unamortized compensation expense related to outstanding stock options.

Restricted Stock Awards

Restricted stock awards are awards of common stock that are subject to restrictions on transfer and to a risk of forfeiture if the recipient of the award terminates employment with us prior to the lapse of the restrictions. The fair value of such stock was determined using the closing price on the grant date and compensation expense is recorded over the applicable vesting periods.

The following table summarizes our restricted stock activity for the six months ended June 30, 2021:

	*Number of Shares (thousands)*			*Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share*
Unvested, December 31, 2020		41		$	31.37
Vested/Released		(23	)	$	32.80
Cancelled/Forfeited		—			—
Unvested, June 30, 2021		18		$	31.17

The following table summarizes our stock-based compensation expense related to restricted stock for the periods presented:

*Three Months Ended*				*Six Months Ended*
*June 30,*				*June 30,*
*2021*		*2020*		*2021*		*2020*
$	116	$	312	$	315	$	472

As of June 30, 2021, there was approximately $0.3 million of unamortized compensation expense relating to outstanding restricted shares that will be recognized during the remainder of 2021 through June 2022.

Performance Based Restricted Stock

We issue performance-based shares of restricted stock to certain officers and employees under the Abraxas Petroleum Corporation Amended and Restated 2005 Employee Long-Term Equity Incentive Plan. The shares will vest in three years from the grant date upon the achievement of performance goals based on our Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”) as compared to a peer group of companies. The number of shares which would vest depends upon the rank of our TSR as compared to the peer group at the end of the three-year vesting period and can range from zero percent of the initial grant up to 200% of the initial grant.

The table below provides a summary of Performance Based Restricted Stock as of the date indicated:

	*Number of Shares (thousands)*			*Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share*
Unvested, December 31, 2020		44		$	33.73
Expired		(15	)	$	47.40
Unvested, June 30, 2021		29		$	26.80

Compensation expense associated with the performance based restricted stock is based on the grant date fair value of a single share as determined using a Monte Carlo Simulation model which utilizes a stochastic process to create a range of potential future outcomes given a variety of inputs. As the Compensation Committee intends to settle the performance based restricted stock awards with shares of our common stock, the awards are accounted for as equity awards and the expense is calculated on the grant date assuming a 100% target payout and amortized over the life of the awards.

The following table summarizes our stock-based compensation expense related to performance based restricted stock for the periods presented:

*Three Months Ended*				*Six Months Ended*
*June 30,*				*June 30,*
*2021*		*2020*		*2021*		*2020*
$	79	$	62	$	214	$	66

As of June 30, 2021, there was approximately $0.2 million of unamortized compensation expense relating to outstanding performance based restricted shares that will be recognized during the remainder of 2021 through April 1, 2022.

Warrants for Common Stock

As of June 30, 2021, outstanding warrants to purchase shares of common stock were as follows:

Issuance Date	*Exercisable for*	*Expiration Date*	*Exercise Price*		*Number of Shares*

August 11, 2020	Common Stock	August 11, 2025	$	0.20		1,672,290

In connection with the amended Second Lien Credit Agreement, on August 11, 2020, the Company issued a warrant to the lender to purchase a total of 33,445,792 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.01 per share. As a result of the October 19, 2020 a reverse stock split of the Company’s authorized, issued and outstanding shares of common stock at a ratio of 1-for-20, thus the warrant was adjusted to provide that the lender may purchase a total of 1,672,290 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.20 per share the warrant is exercisable immediately, in whole or in part, on or before five years from the issuance date. The fair value of the warrant was recorded as debt issuance costs, presented in the consolidated balance sheets as a deduction from the carrying amount of the note payable, and is being amortized over the loan term.

Asset Retirement Obligation and Environmental Cost [Policy Text Block]

Restoration, Removal and Environmental Liabilities

We are subject to extensive federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations. These laws regulate the discharge of materials into the environment and may require us to remove or mitigate the environmental effects of the disposal or release of petroleum substances at various sites. Environmental expenditures are expensed or capitalized depending on their future economic benefit. Expenditures that relate to an existing condition caused by past operations and that have no future economic benefit are expensed.

Liabilities for expenditures of a non-capital nature are recorded when environmental assessments and/or remediation is probable, and the costs can be reasonably estimated. Such liabilities are generally undiscounted unless the timing of cash payments for the liability or component is fixed or reliably determinable.

We account for future site restoration obligations based on the guidance of ASC 410 which addresses accounting and reporting for obligations associated with the retirement of tangible long-lived assets and the associated asset retirement costs. ASC 410 requires that the fair value of a liability for an asset’s retirement obligation be recorded in the period in which it is incurred and the corresponding cost capitalized by increasing the carrying amount of the related long-lived asset. The liability is accreted to its then present value each period, and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the estimated useful life of the related asset. For all periods presented, we have included estimated future costs of abandonment and dismantlement in our full cost amortization base and amortize these costs as a component of our depletion expense in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.

The following table summarizes our future site restoration obligation transactions for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and the year ended December 31, 2020:

	*June 30, 2021*			*December 31, 2020*
Beginning future site restoration obligation	$	7,360		$	7,420
New wells placed on production and other		-			43
Deletions related to property sales		(2,845	)		(216	)
Deletions related to plugging costs		(127	)		(235	)
Accretion expense		180			414
Revisions and other		203			(66	)
Ending future site restoration obligation	$	4,771		$	7,360

In April 2021, the Company divested various non-Bakken properties in North Dakota and Montana, primarily for plugging liability. The result of the transaction was a decrease of approximately $2.7 million in future site development liability, with a corresponding reduction in the full cost pool.