BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND GOING CONCERN

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND GOING CONCERN

1.       BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND GOING CONCERN

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Empire Petroleum Corporation ("Empire" or the "Company") have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the Company's financial position, the results of operations, and the cash flows for the interim period are included. All adjustments are of a normal, recurring nature. Operating results for the interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2021.

The information contained in this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and related notes for the year ended December 31, 2020 which are contained in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 31, 2021.

The Company has incurred significant losses in recent years. The continuation of the Company as a going concern is dependent upon the ability of the Company to attain future profitable operations and/or additional debt or equity financing until profitable operations are achieved. The ultimate recoverability of the Company's investment in oil and natural gas interests is dependent upon the existence and discovery of economically recoverable oil and natural gas reserves, the ability of the Company to obtain necessary financing to further develop the interests, and the ability of the Company to attain future profitable production.

As of June 30, 2021, the Company had $1,016,877 of cash and working capital deficit of $13,177,298. The Company has proved reserves which have been acquired within the last two years. The Company plans to continue to look for oil and natural gas investments and will use a combination of debt and equity financing to fund potential acquisitions. The Company expects to also incur costs related to evaluating and acquiring oil and natural gas acquisitions for the foreseeable future. It is expected that management will attempt to raise additional capital for future investment and working capital opportunities.

However, there can be no assurances the Company will be able to refinance or restructure its existing indebtedness, raise sufficient capital to fund its strategic development plans, and meet its various capital needs. As a result of these uncertainties, management has concluded there is substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

These financial statements have been prepared on the basis of United States generally accepted accounting principles applicable to a company with continuing operations, which assume that the Company will continue in operation for the foreseeable future and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its obligations in the normal course of operations. Management believes the going concern assumption to be appropriate for these financial statements. If the going concern assumption were not appropriate for these financial statements, then adjustments might be necessary to adjust the carrying value of assets and liabilities and reported expenses.

The Company’s impairment assessment of proved and unproved mineral properties is based on several factors including oil and gas spot market prices and estimated futures prices that existed at June 30, 2021. In2020, crude oil prices in both the spot market and futures market experienced significant volatility. For the year ended December 31, 2020 the Company recorded an impairment expense of $8,671,303 as a result of the decline in oil prices. Further, the effect of lower crude oil prices on the Company’s future financial position or results of operations is not currently determinable due to broader economic and industry uncertainties, including the impact to the operators and other working interest owners of the properties in which the Company owns mineral interests.

In the event crude oil or natural gas prices decline significantly, there is the risk that, among other things:

• the Company’s revenues, cash flows and profitability may decline substantially, which could also indirectly impact expected production by reducing the amount of funds available to acquire future mineral interests;

• reserves relating to the Company’s proved properties may become uneconomic to produce resulting in impairment of proved properties; and

• operators and other working interest owners are unable to execute their drilling and exploration programs resulting in lower production or inability to prove reserves on unproved properties

The occurrence of certain of these events may have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, results of operations and financial condition.

In early March 2020 there was a global outbreak of COVID-19 which has continued and resulted in changes in global supply and demand of certain mineral and energy products. These changes, including the magnitude and length of the economic downturn and any potential resulting direct and indirect negative impact to the Company cannot be determined, but they could have a prospective material impact to the Company’s acquisition and project development activities, and cash flows and liquidity.

As of June 30, 2021, the Company had twenty nine employees. No independent Board members received compensation from the Company in the first six months of 2020; in 2021 independent Board members were compensated $33,000 and $84,000 was accrued but unpaid as of June 30, 2021. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company paid its officers, Mr. Morrisett and Mr. Pritchard, $227,000 each for services rendered. For the six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company paid Mr. Morrisett and Mr. Pritchard $116,000 each for services rendered excluding the value of options awarded.