Epsilon Energy (EPSN) Risk Analysis

Approximately 99% of our oil and natural gas properties are operated by third-party operators.  As such, we will be dependent on such operators for the timing of activities related to such properties and will largely be unable to direct or control the activities of the operators. The objectives and strategy of those operators may not always be consistent with ours, and we have a limited ability to exercise influence over, and control the risks associated with, operations of these properties. The failure of an operator of our wells to adequately perform operations, an operator's breach of the applicable agreements or an operator's failure to act in ways that are in our best interests could reduce our production and revenues from our assets or could increase costs or create liability for the operator's failure to properly maintain the well and facilities and to adhere to applicable safety and environmental standards. In addition to the operator, our success will depend in large measure on certain key personnel. The loss of the services of such key personnel could have a material adverse effect on us. We do not have key-person insurance in effect for management. The contributions of these individuals to our immediate operations are likely to be of central importance. In addition, the competition for qualified personnel in the oil and natural gas industry is intense, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to attract and retain all personnel necessary for the development and operation of our business. Certain of our directors are also directors of other companies and as such may, in certain circumstances, have a conflict of interest requiring them to abstain from certain decisions. Conflicts, if any, will be subject to the procedures and remedies of the Conflicts Committee of our board of directors.

Our ability to expand our natural gas gathering business primarily depends on the level of drilling and production by the Anchor Shippers. Production from existing wells with access to our gathering systems will naturally decline over time. The amount of natural gas reserves underlying these existing wells may also be less than anticipated, and the rate at which production from these reserves declines may be greater than anticipated. We do not obtain independent evaluations of the third-party natural gas reserves flowing into our systems and compression facilities. Demand for our services is dependent on the demand for gas in the markets we serve. Alternative fuel sources such as electricity, coal, fuel oils, or nuclear energy could reduce demand for natural gas in our markets and have an adverse effect on our business. A failure to obtain access to sufficient natural gas supplies or a reduction in demand for our services in the markets we serve could result in impairments of our assets and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Approximately 77% and 88% of our revenue during fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively, was derived from natural gas production and gathering system revenues in the state of Pennsylvania. As a result of prolonged weak pricing in Zone 4 of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline and, therefore, a reduced pace of development, Epsilon's management is striving to allocate capital to additional upstream opportunities outside of the Marcellus Shale. More specifically, the Company has allocated capital to the Permian Basin through its investments in New Mexico and Texas. Epsilon's management expects to continue to seek opportunities outside of the Marcellus Shale in order to provide the Company the flexibility to respond to market conditions by allocating capital across multiple basins and commodities. As a result of this geographic concentration, we may be disproportionately exposed to the effect of regional supply and demand factors, delays or interruptions of production from wells in this area caused by governmental regulation, processing or transportation capacity constraints, market limitations, weather events or interruption of the processing or transportation of crude oil or natural gas.

There have been efforts in recent years aimed at the investment community, including investment advisors, sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds, universities and other groups, to promote the divestment of shares of energy companies, as well as to pressure lenders and other financial services companies to limit or curtail activities with energy companies. If these efforts are successful, our stock price and our ability to access capital markets may be negatively impacted. Members of the investment community are also increasing their focus on sustainability practices, including practices related to GHGs and climate change, in the energy industry. As a result, we may face increasing pressure regarding our sustainability disclosures and practices. Additionally, members of the investment community may screen companies such as ours for sustainability performance before investing in our shares.

The marketability and price of oil and natural gas that we may produce, acquire or discover will be affected by numerous factors beyond our control. Our ability to market our natural gas may depend upon our ability to acquire space on pipelines that deliver crude oil and natural gas to commercial markets. This risk is somewhat mitigated by our 35% ownership of a gathering system in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. We may also be affected by extensive government regulation relating to price, taxes, royalties, land tenure, allowable production, and many other aspects of the oil and natural gas business.

Oil and natural gas operations involve many risks that even a combination of experience, knowledge and careful evaluation may not be able to overcome. Our long-term commercial success depends on our ability to find, acquire, develop and commercially produce oil and natural gas reserves. Without the continual addition of new reserves, any existing reserves that we may have at any particular time and the production from those reserves will decline over time as those reserves are exploited. A future increase in our reserves will depend not only on our ability to explore and develop any properties we may have from time to time, but also on our ability to select and acquire suitable producing properties or prospects. We cannot assure you that we will be able to locate and continue to locate satisfactory properties for acquisition or participation. Moreover, if we do identify such acquisitions or participations, we may determine that current markets, terms of acquisition and participation or pricing conditions make such acquisitions or participations uneconomic. We cannot assure you that we will discover or acquire further commercial quantities of oil and natural gas. Future oil and natural gas exploration may involve unprofitable efforts, not only from dry wells, but also from wells that are productive but do not produce sufficient net revenues to return a profit after drilling, operating and other costs. Completion of a well does not ensure a profit on the investment or recovery of drilling, completion and operating costs. In addition, drilling hazards or environmental damage could greatly increase the cost of operations, and various field operating conditions may adversely affect the production from successful wells. These conditions include delays in obtaining governmental approvals or consents, shut-ins of connected wells resulting from extreme weather conditions, insufficient storage or transportation capacity or other geological and mechanical conditions. While diligent well supervision and effective maintenance operations can contribute to maximizing production rates over time, production delays and declines from normal field operating conditions cannot be eliminated and can be expected to adversely affect revenue and cash flow levels to varying degrees. Oil and natural gas exploration, development and production operations are subject to all the risks and hazards typically associated with such operations, including hazards such as fire, explosion, blowouts, cratering, sour gas releases and spills, each of which could result in substantial damage to oil and natural gas wells, production facilities, other property and the environment or in personal injury. In accordance with industry practice, we are not fully insured against all of these risks, nor are all such risks insurable. Although we maintain liability insurance in an amount that we consider consistent with industry practice, the nature of these risks is such that liabilities could exceed policy limits, in which event we could incur significant costs that could have a material adverse effect upon our financial condition. Oil and natural gas production operations are also subject to all the risks typically associated with such operations, including encountering unexpected formations or pressures, premature decline of reservoirs and the invasion of water into producing formations, and the loss of the ability to use hydraulic fracturing (see risk factor regarding government legislation). Losses resulting from the occurrence of any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our future results of operations, liquidity and financial condition.

Although title reviews will be done according to industry standards before the purchase of most oil and natural gas-producing properties or the commencement of drilling wells, such reviews do not guarantee or certify that an unforeseen defect in the chain of title will not arise to defeat our claim, which could result in a reduction in our ownership interest or of the revenue that we receive.

We depend on information technology systems that we manage, and others that are managed by third-party service and equipment providers, to conduct our day-to-day operations, including critical systems, and these systems are subject to risks associated with cyber incidents or attacks, especially originating from countries such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as broadly reported in the media. Our technology systems and networks, and those of our vendors, suppliers and other business partners, may become the target of cyberattacks or information security breaches. A cyber incident could negatively impact the Company in a number of ways, including but not limited to: (i) remediation costs, such as liability for stolen assets or information and repairs of system damage; (ii) increased cybersecurity protection costs, which may include the costs of making organizational changes, deploying additional personnel and protection technologies, training employees, and engaging third-party experts and consultants; (iii) lost revenue resulting from downtime, operational disruptions, the unauthorized use of proprietary information or the failure to retain or attract customers following an attack; (iv) litigation and legal risks, including regulatory actions by state and federal governmental authorities and non-U.S. authorities and related investigation costs; (v) increased insurance premiums; (vi) reputational damage that adversely affects customer or investor confidence; (vii) the loss, theft, corruption or unauthorized release of intellectual property, proprietary information, customer and vendor data or other critical data and (viii) damage to the Company's competitiveness, stock price, and long-term stockholder value. Certain cyber incidents, such as surveillance, may remain undetected for an extended period of time. As the sophistication of cyber incidents continues to evolve, we will likely be required to expend additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to cyber incidents. Our insurance coverage for cyberattacks may not be sufficient to cover all the losses we may experience as a result of such cyberattacks.

We rely on sophisticated information technology systems and infrastructure to support our business, including process control technology. Any of these systems are susceptible to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, usage errors by employees, computer viruses, cyberattacks or other security breaches or similar events. The failure of any of our information technology systems may cause disruptions in our operations, which could adversely affect our revenue and profitability.

Epsilon Energy Ltd. is an Alberta company. Epsilon Energy USA Inc. (Ohio corporation) may be a U.S. real property holding corporation (a "USRPHC") for U.S. federal income tax purposes if it is determined, at any time, that the fair market value of its assets that consist of "United States real property interests," as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, and applicable Treasury regulations, constitute at least 50% of the combined fair market value of our real property interests and other business assets. If Epsilon Energy USA Inc. were a USRPHC, then Epsilon Energy Ltd.'s investment in Epsilon Energy USA Inc. would be a United States Real Property Interest (USRPI) for US federal tax purposes. As a result, the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, or "FIRPTA," would require Epsilon Energy Ltd. to pay U.S. federal income tax at the corporate income tax rates on capital gain distributions made by Epsilon Energy USA Inc. to Epsilon Energy Ltd. Distributions made out of earnings and profits are not expected to be subject to the FIRPTA tax but would be subject to U.S. withholding tax.

All phases of the oil and natural gas business present environmental risks and hazards and are subject to environmental regulation pursuant to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations. Environmental legislation provides for, among other things, restrictions and prohibitions on spills and releases or emissions of various substances produced in association with oil and natural gas operations. The legislation also requires that wells and facility sites be operated, maintained, abandoned and reclaimed to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities. Compliance with such legislation can require significant expenditures and a breach may result in the imposition of fines and penalties, some of which may be material. Environmental legislation is evolving in a manner expected to result in stricter standards and enforcement, larger fines and liability and potentially increased capital expenditures and operating costs. The discharge of oil, natural gas or other pollutants into the air, soil or water may give rise to liabilities to governments and third parties and may require us to incur costs to remedy such discharge. Although we believe that we are in material compliance with current applicable environmental regulations, we cannot assure you that environmental laws will not result in a curtailment of production or a material increase in the costs of production, development or exploration activities or otherwise adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or prospects. We must also conduct our operations in accordance with various laws and regulations concerning occupational safety and health. Currently, we do not foresee expending material amounts to comply with these occupational safety and health laws and regulations. However, since such laws and regulations are frequently changed, we are unable to predict the future effect of these laws and regulations.