Asset Retirement Obligations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2025

Asset Retirement Obligations

Asset Retirement Obligations

Note 4 - Asset Retirement Obligations

The Company’s asset retirement obligations represent the estimated present value of the estimated cash flows the Company will incur to plug, abandon and remediate its producing properties at the end of their productive lives, in accordance with applicable state laws. Market risk premiums associated with asset retirement obligations are estimated to represent a component of the Company’s credit-adjusted risk-free rate that is utilized in the calculations of asset retirement obligations.

The Company’s asset retirement obligation activities are summarized in the following table:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2025		2024
Asset retirement obligations, beginning of period	$	30,188	$	28,168
Liabilities incurred from drilling activity and assumed in acquisitions		30		877
Revisions		—		—
Liabilities settled from plugging activity and disposals		(541)		(864)
Accretion expense		2,139		2,007
Asset retirement obligations, end of period	$	31,816	$	30,188
Less: current portion included in Accrued expenses		1,410		1,765
Asset retirement obligations, long-term	$	30,406	$	28,423

The liabilities incurred from drilling activity in 2025 and 2024 primarily relate to the completion of new wells as part of Empire’s North Dakota Starbuck Drilling Program. The liabilities assumed in acquisitions in 2024 relate to additional working interest acquired in New Mexico. (Note 3). The liabilities settled from disposals in 2025 relate to the divestiture of certain non-core oil and natural gas properties further described in Note 3. There were no liabilities settled from disposals in 2024.