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Commitment and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Legal Matters
The Company was named as a defendant in an adversary proceeding (the "Adversary Proceeding") commenced on October 25, 2021 in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division (the "Bankruptcy Court"), by the Trustee of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy of the Hoactzin Partners, L.P. ("Hoactzin"). The complaint in the Adversary Proceeding alleges that in October of 2018, one year prior to the Hoactzin bankruptcy filing in October of 2019, Peter Salas ("Salas"), Chairman of the Board of Tengasco during the period of the purported fraudulent transfers, caused Hoactzin to transfer its working interests in certain wells on its Kansas acreage (the “Kansas Working Interests”) to the Company for an amount the complaint alleges was purportedly less than the reasonable equivalent value of such Kansas Working Interests. The complaint includes avoidance actions and other causes of action in connection with the transfer of the Kansas Working Interests, as well as other causes of action alleged related to certain transactions to which the Company was not a party.
The complaint also alleges that Salas, Dolphin Direct Equity Partners, L.P. ("DDEP"), an entity substantially owned by Salas, and the Company are jointly and severally liable for the damages incurred by Hoactzin. In connection with the Company’s merger in February 2021, Salas resigned his position from the Company’s Board and no longer holds any position as an officer or director of the Company. On April 2, 2021, the Company closed on the sale of all the assets it held in Kansas (of which the Kansas Working Interests were a small part) to a third party for an agreed upon purchase price of $3.3 million.
On October 13, 2022, the Company entered into a Compromise Settlement Agreement and Mutual General Release (the “Settlement Agreement”) with the Trustee for the bankruptcy estate for Hoactzin to resolve certain claims against the Company in the Adversary Proceeding. Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the Company will pay $80 thousand to the Trustee in full settlement and satisfaction of (a) all claims, causes of action, and damages that have been asserted against the Company or could be asserted against the Company in the Adversary Proceeding; and (b) all claims which might arise from or relate to any actions taken by the Company while acting in connection with Debtor.
The effectiveness of the Settlement Agreement is contingent upon its approval by the Bankruptcy Court. On October 13, 2022, the Trustee filed a motion to approve the Settlement Agreement with the Bankruptcy Court (the “Settlement Motion”). A hearing will be held on November 16, 2022 on the Settlement Motion. Should the Court decline to approve the proposed settlement, the Trustee's claims against Riley Permian would proceed to trial, absent a subsequent settlement approved by the Court. If the Bankruptcy Court grants the Settlement Motion, after Riley Permian makes the settlement payment contemplated under the Settlement Agreement, Riley Permian and the Trustee intend to file a joint motion requesting dismissal of the Adversary Proceeding with prejudice, as contemplated by the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement will have no effect on the Trustee’s claims against any of the other defendants in the Adversary Proceeding, including without limitation, those claims against Peter Salas, our former Chief Executive Officer.
Environmental Matters
The Company is subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment. These laws, which are often changing, regulate the discharge of materials into the environment and may require the Company to remove or mitigate the environmental effects of the disposal or release of petroleum or chemical substances at various sites. The Company had no material environmental liabilities as of September 30, 2022 or December 31, 2021.
Contractual Commitments
In October 2021, the Company executed two agreements related to its EOR project. The first agreement is a CO2 purchase agreement with Kinder Morgan CO2 Company, LLC that has a primary term extending through the earlier of the total contract quantity delivered or December 31, 2025. The agreement also has a daily contract quantity for Kinder Morgan to deliver CO2 to the Company. The second agreement is a connection agreement that also established a delivery point for the purchased CO2 with the Cortez Pipeline Company.
In April 2022, the Company entered into a purchase agreement for pipe related to its 2023 drilling program. Under the agreement, the Company has commitments to purchase an additional approximately $10.1 million of pipe by first quarter of 2023.
In August 2022, the Company entered into a second amendment on its gas gathering and processing agreement with its primary midstream counterparty, Stakeholder Midstream LLC (“Stakeholder”). Stakeholder committed to expand their gathering and processing system with a commitment from the Company to deliver an annual minimum volume to Stakeholder’s gathering system for a minimum of seven years beginning on the in-service date of the expanded plant.