Stock-Based Compensation

Stock Options:

A summary of option activity under our 1998 Stock Option Plan as of December 31, 2017, and changes during the three months ended March 31, 2018 is presented below.



	Number of Stock Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in thousands)
Outstanding, December 31, 2017	327,270		$	20.21	4.28	$	2,255
Exercised	(8,500	)	18.51			86
Outstanding, March 31, 2018	318,770		$	20.25	4.07	$	1,638
Exercisable, March 31, 2018	296,738		$	19.67	3.72	$	1,638

The following table summarizes information about our stock options outstanding at March 31, 2018:



Range of Exercise Prices	Options Outstanding				Options Exercisable
Range of Exercise Prices	Shares	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (years)	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price
$0.01-15.70	65,852	1.31	$	9.82	65,852	$	9.82
$15.71-17.81	67,750	1.62	17.53		67,750	17.53
$17.82-20.48	54,250	3.22	19.39		54,250	19.39
$20.49-33.36	130,918	7.09	27.27		108,886	27.09
	318,770	4.07	$	20.25	296,738	$	19.67

The summary of the status of our unvested stock options as of December 31, 2017 and changes during the three months ended March 31, 2018 is presented below.



Unvested stock options:	Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share
Unvested at December 31, 2017	48,581		$	11.41
Vested	(26,549	)	10.97
Unvested at March 31, 2018	22,032		$	11.93

As of March 31, 2018, there was $223,511 of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested options. Such cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of two years. Total compensation expense for stock options was $66,625 and $124,331 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Restricted Shares/Units:

In accordance with the Company's employment agreement with Stephen Taylor, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, the Compensation Committee reviewed his performance in determining the issuance of restricted common stock. Based on this review which included consideration of the Company's 2017 performance, Mr. Taylor, was awarded 84,700 restricted shares/units on March 15, 2018, which vest over three years, in equal installments, beginning March 15, 2019. On March 15, 2018, the Compensation Committee awarded 20,000 restricted shares/units to each of G. Larry Lawrence, our CFO, and James Hazlett, our Vice President of Technical Services. The restricted shares to Messrs. Lawrence and Hazlett vest over three years, in equal installments, beginning March 15, 2019. We also awarded and issued 16,288 shares of restricted common stock to the independent members of our Board of Directors as partial payment for 2018 services as directors. The restricted stock issued to our directors vests over one year, in quarterly installments, beginning March 31, 2019. Total compensation expense related to restricted awards was $361,630 and $1,408,265 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. As of March 31, 2018, there was a total of $4,408,825 of unrecognized compensation expense related to these shares/units which is expected to be recognized over the next three years.