Spindletop Oil & Gas Co (SPND) Risk Analysis

Our operations are affected from time to time in varying degrees by political developments and federal, state, and local laws and regulations. In particular, oil and natural gas production-related operations are or have been subject to price controls, taxes and other laws and regulations relating to the oil and gas industry. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations can result in substantial penalties. The regulatory burden on the oil and gas industry increases our cost of doing business and affects our profitability. Although we believe we are in substantial compliance with all applicable laws and regulations because such laws and regulations are frequently amended or reinterpreted, we are unable to predict the future cost or impact of complying with such laws and regulations. Sales of natural gas by us are not regulated and are generally made at market prices. However, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") regulates interstate natural gas transportation rates and service conditions, which affect the marketing of natural gas produced by us, as well as the revenues received by us for sales of such production. Sales of our natural gas currently are made at uncontrolled market prices, subject to applicable contract provisions and price fluctuations that normally attend sales of commodity products. Since the mid-1980s, the FERC has issued a series of orders, culminating in Order Nos. 636, 636-A and 636-B ("Order 636"), that have significantly altered the marketing and transportation of natural gas. Order 636 mandated a fundamental restructuring of interstate pipeline sales and transportation service, including the unbundling by interstate pipelines of the sale, transportation, storage, and other components of the city-gate sales services such pipelines previously performed. One of the FERC's purposes in issuing the orders was to increase competition within all phases of the natural gas industry. Order 636 and subsequent FERC orders issued in individual pipeline restructuring proceedings have been the subject of appeals, and the courts have largely upheld Order 636. Because further review of certain of these orders is still possible, and other appeals may be pending, it is difficult to exactly predict the ultimate impact of the orders on us and our natural gas marketing efforts. Generally, Order 636 has eliminated or substantially reduced the interstate pipelines' traditional role as wholesalers of natural gas and has substantially increased competition and volatility in natural gas markets. While significant regulatory uncertainty remains, Order 636 may ultimately enhance our ability to market and transport our natural gas, although it may also subject us to greater competition, more restrictive pipeline imbalance tolerances and greater associated penalties for violation of such tolerances. The FERC has announced several important transportation-related policy statements and proposed rule changes, including the appropriate manner in which interstate pipelines release capacity under Order 636 and, more recently, the price which shippers can charge for their released capacity. In addition, in 1995, the FERC issued a policy statement on how interstate natural gas pipelines can recover the costs of new pipeline facilities. In January 1997, the FERC issued a policy statement and a request for comments concerning alternatives to its traditional cost-of-service rate making methodology. A number of pipelines have obtained FERC authorization to charge negotiated rates as one such alternative. While any additional FERC action on these matters would affect us only indirectly, these policy statements and proposed rule changes are intended to further enhance competition in natural gas markets. We cannot predict what the FERC will take on these matters, nor can we predict whether the FERC's actions will achieve its stated goal of increasing competition in natural gas markets. However, we do not believe that we will be treated materially differently than other natural gas producers and marketers with which we compete. The price we receive from the sale of oil is affected by the cost of transporting such products to market. Effective January 1, 1995, the FERC implemented regulations establishing an indexing system for transportation rates for oil pipelines, which, generally, would index such rates to inflation, subject to certain conditions and limitations. These regulations could increase the cost of transporting oil by interstate pipelines, although the most recent adjustment generally decreased rates. These regulations have generally been approved on judicial review. We are not able to predict with certainty the effect, if any, of these regulations on its operations. However, the regulations may increase transportation costs or reduce wellhead prices for oil. The State of Texas and many other states require permits for drilling operations, drilling bonds and reports concerning operations and impose other requirements relating to the exploration for and production of oil and natural gas. Such states also have statutes or regulations addressing conservation matters, including provisions for the unitization or pooling of oil and gas properties, the establishment of maximum rates of production from wells and the regulation of spacing, plugging and abandonment of such wells. The statutes and regulations of certain states limit the rate at which oil and gas can be produced from our properties. However, we do not believe we will be affected materially differently by these statutes and regulations than any other similarly situated oil and gas company.

To the extent climate changes occur, our businesses could be adversely impacted, although we believe it is likely that any such resulting impacts would occur very gradually over a long period of time and thus would be difficult to quantify with any degree of specificity. To the extent climate changes would result in warmer temperatures in our areas of operations, financial results could be adversely affected through lower gas volumes and revenues. In addition, there have been a number of federal and state legislative and regulatory initiatives proposed in recent years in an attempt to control or limit the effects of global warming and overall climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide. The adoption of this type of legislation by Congress or similar legislation by states or the adoption of related regulations by federal or state governments mandating a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the future could have far-reaching and significant impacts on the energy industry. Such new legislation or regulations could result in increased compliance costs for us or additional operating restrictions on our business, affect the demand for natural gas, or impact the prices we charge to our customers. At this time, we cannot predict the potential impact of such laws or regulations that may be adopted on our future business, financial condition, or financial results.

Future legislation may set forth budget proposals which if passed, would significantly curtail our ability to attract investors and raise capital. Future possible changes in the Federal income tax laws which would eliminate or reduce the percentage depletion deduction and the deduction for intangible drilling and development costs for small independent producers will likely significantly reduce the investment capital available to those in the industry as well as our Company. Lengthening the time to expense seismic costs would likely also have an adverse effect on our ability to explore and find new reserves.

Prices for oil and natural gas fluctuate widely. Among the interrelated factors that can or could cause these price fluctuations are: - the duration and economic and financial impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic ;- domestic and worldwide supplies of, and consumer and industrial/commercial demand for oil and natural gas;- domestic and international drilling activity;- the actions of other oil producing and exporting nations, including the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries;- worldwide economic conditions, geopolitical factors and political conditions, including, but not limited to, the imposition of tariffs or trade or other economic sanctions, political instability or armed conflict in oil and gas producing regions;- the availability, proximity and capacity of appropriate transportation, gathering, processing, compression, storage, and refining and export facilities;- the price and availability of, and demand for, competing energy sources, including alternative energy sources;- the effect of worldwide energy conservation measures, alternative fuel requirements and climate change-related legislation, policies, initiatives and developments. - technological advances and consumer and industrial/commercial behavior, preferences and attitudes, in each case affecting energy generation, transmission, storage and consumption. - the nature and extent of governmental regulation, including environmental and other climate change-related regulation, regulation of financial derivative transactions and hedging activities, tax laws and regulations and laws and regulations with respect to the import and export of oil, and natural gas and related commodities. - the level and effect of trading in commodity futures markets, including trading by commodity price speculators and others; and - natural disasters, weather conditions and changes in weather patterns. The above-described factors and the volatility of commodity prices make it difficult to predict oil and natural gas prices in 2024 and thereafter. As a result, there can be no assurance that the prices for oil and/or natural gas will sustain, or increase from, their current levels, nor can there be any assurance that the prices for oil and/or natural gas will not decline. The Company continues to assess and monitor the impact of these factors and consequences on the Company and its operations. Our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations depend to a great extent on prevailing commodity prices. Accordingly, substantial and extended declines in commodity prices can materially and adversely affect the amount of cash flows we have available for our capital expenditures and operating costs; the terms on which we can access the credit and capital markets; our results of operations; and our financial condition. As a result, the trading price of our common stock may be materially and adversely affected. Lower commodity prices can also reduce the amount of oil and natural gas that we can produce economically. Substantial and extended declines in the prices of these commodities can render uneconomic a portion of our exploration and development projects, resulting in our having to make downward adjustments to our estimated reserves and also possibly shut in or plug and abandon certain wells. In addition, significant prolonged decreases in commodity prices may cause the expected future cash flows from our properties to fall below their respective net book values, which would require us to write down the value of our properties. Such reserve write-downs and asset impairments can materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial position and, in turn, the trading price of our common stock. Rising inflation and other uncertainties regarding the global economy, financial environment, and global conflict could lead to an extended national or global economic recession. A slowdown in economic activity caused by a recession would likely reduce national and worldwide demand for oil and natural gas and result in lower commodity prices. Prolonged, substantial decreases in oil and natural gas prices would likely have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition, and results of operations, and could further limit the Company's access to liquidity and credit and could hinder its ability to satisfy its capital requirements. In the past several years, capital and credit markets have experienced volatility and disruption. Given the levels of market volatility and disruption, the availability of funds from those markets may diminish substantially. Further, arising from concerns about the stability of financial markets generally and the solvency of borrowers specifically, the cost of accessing the credit markets has increased as many lenders have raised interest rates, enacted tighter lending standards, or altogether ceased to provide funding to borrowers. Due to these potential capital and credit market conditions, the Company cannot be certain that funding will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to the Company. The Company is evaluating whether current cash balances and cash flow from operations alone would be sufficient to provide working capital to fully fund the Company's operations. Accordingly, the Company is evaluating alternatives, such as joint ventures with third parties, or sales of interest in one or more of its properties. Such transactions, if undertaken, could result in a reduction in the Company's operating interests or require the Company to relinquish the right to operate the property. There can be no assurance that any such transactions can be completed or that such transactions will satisfy the Company's operating capital requirements. If the Company is not successful in obtaining sufficient funding or completing an alternative transaction on a timely basis on terms acceptable to the Company, the Company would be required to curtail its expenditures or restructure its operations, and the Company would be unable to continue its exploration, drilling, and recompletion program, any of which would have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, and results of operations. A negative shift in some of the public's attitudes toward the oil and natural gas industry could adversely affect the Company's ability to raise debt and equity capital. Certain segments of the investment community have developed negative sentiments about investing in the oil and natural gas industry. Recent equity returns in the sector versus other industry sectors have led to lower oil and natural gas representation in certain key equity market indices. In addition, some investors, including investment advisors and certain wealth funds, pension funds, university endowments and family foundations, have stated policies to disinvest in the oil and natural gas sector based on their social and environmental considerations. Certain other stakeholders have also pressured commercial and investment banks to halt financing oil and natural gas production and related infrastructure projects. Such developments, including environmental, social and governance ("ESG") activism and initiatives aimed at limiting climate change and reducing air pollution, could result in downward pressure on the stock prices of oil and natural gas companies. The Company's stock price could be adversely affected by these developments. This may also potentially result in a reduction of available capital funding for potential development projects, impacting the Company's future financial results. The Company faces various risks associated with increased negative attitudes toward oil and natural gas exploration and development activities. Opposition to oil and natural gas drilling and development activities has been growing globally and is expanding in the United States. Companies in the oil and natural gas industry are often the target of efforts from both individuals and nongovernmental organizations regarding safety, human rights, climate change, environmental matters, sustainability, and business practices. Anti-development groups are working to reduce access to federal and state government lands and delay or cancel certain operations such as drilling and development along with other activities. Opposition to oil and natural gas activities could materially and adversely impact the Company's ability to operate our business and raise capital. There could be adverse legislation which if passed, would significantly curtail our ability to attract investors and raise capital. Proposed changes in the Federal income tax laws which would eliminate or reduce the percentage depletion deduction and the deduction for intangible drilling and development costs for small independent producers, will significantly reduce the investment capital available to those in the industry as well as our Company. Lengthening the time to expense seismic costs will also have an adverse effect on our ability to explore and find new reserves. Other factors that may affect the demand for oil and natural gas, and therefore impact our results, include technological improvements in energy efficiency; seasonal weather patterns; increased competitiveness of, or government policy support for, alternative energy sources; changes in technology that alter fuel choices, such as technological advances in energy storage that make wind and solar more competitive for power generation; changes in consumer preferences for our products, including consumer demand for alternative fueled or electric transportation or alternatives to plastic products; and broad-based changes in personal income levels. Commodity prices and margins also vary depending on a number of factors affecting supply. For example, increased supply from the development of new oil and gas supply sources and technologies to enhance recovery from existing sources tend to reduce commodity prices to the extent such supply increases are not offset by commensurate growth in demand. Other sections of this report may also include suggested factors that could adversely affect our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an extremely competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such matters; nor can we assess the impact of all such matters on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Investors should also refer to our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for future periods and current reports on Form 8-K as we file them with the SEC, and to other materials we may furnish to the public from time to time through Forms 8-K or otherwise.

Natural disasters are always a threat to our assets and operations. In addition, the threat of terrorist activities could lead to increased economic instability and volatility in the price of natural gas that could affect our operations. Also, companies in our industry may face a heightened risk of exposure to actual acts of terrorism, which could subject our operations to increased risks. As a result, the availability of insurance covering such risks may become more limited, which could increase the risk that an event could adversely affect our operations or financial results.

Our business could be materially and adversely affected by security threats, including cybersecurity threats, and other disruptions. As an oil and gas producer, we face various security threats, including (i) cybersecurity threats to gain unauthorized access to, or control of, our sensitive information or to render our data or systems corrupted or unusable; (ii) threats to the security of our facilities and infrastructure or to the security of third-party facilities and infrastructure, such as gathering, transportation, and processing facilities; and (iii) threats from terrorist acts. The potential for such security threats has subjected our operations to increased risks that could have a material and adverse effect on our business. We rely extensively on information technology systems, including internally developed databases, data hosting platforms, real-time data acquisition systems, third-party software, cloud services and other internally or externally hosted hardware and software platforms, to (i) estimate our oil and gas reserves, (ii) process and record financial and operating data, (iii) process and analyze all stages of our business operations, including drilling, completion, production, gathering and processing, transportation, pipelines and other related activities and (iv) communicate with our employees and vendors, suppliers and other third parties. Further, our reliance on technology has increased due to the increased use of personal devices and remote communications. Although we have implemented and will continue to implement controls and procedures that are designed to protect our systems, identify and remediate vulnerabilities in our systems and related infrastructure and monitor and mitigate the risk of data loss and other cybersecurity threats, such measures cannot entirely eliminate cybersecurity threats and the controls and procedures we have implemented may prove to be ineffective. Our systems and networks, and those of our business associates, may become the target of cybersecurity attacks, including, without limitation, denial-of-service attacks; malicious software; data privacy breaches by employees, insiders or others with authorized access; cyber or phishing-attacks; ransomware; attempts to gain unauthorized access to our data and systems; and other electronic security breaches. If any of these security breaches were to occur, we could suffer disruptions to our normal operations, including our drilling, completion, production and corporate functions, which could materially and adversely affect us in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, the following: - unauthorized access to, and release of, our business data, reserve information, strategic information or other sensitive or proprietary information, which could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to compete for oil and gas resources;- data corruption, communication interruption, or other operational disruptions during our drilling activities, which could result in our failure to reach the intended target or a drilling incident;- data corruption or operational disruptions of our production-related infrastructure, which could result in loss of production or accidental discharges;- unauthorized access to, and release of, personal information of our royalty owners, employees and vendors, which could expose us to allegations that we did not sufficiently protect such information;- a cybersecurity attack on a vendor or service provider, which could result in supply chain disruptions and could delay or halt our operations;- a cybersecurity attack on third-party gathering, transportation, or processing facilities, which could result in reduced demand for our production or delay or prevent us from transporting and marketing our production, in either case resulting in a loss of revenues;- a cybersecurity attack involving commodities exchanges or financial institutions could slow or halt commodities trading, thus preventing us from marketing our production, resulting in a loss of revenues;- a deliberate corruption of our financial or operating data could result in events of non-compliance which could then lead to regulatory fines or penalties;- a cybersecurity attack on a communications network or power grid, which could cause operational disruptions resulting in a loss of revenues; and - a cybersecurity attack on automated and surveillance systems, which could cause a loss of production and potential environmental hazards. Further, strategic targets, such as energy-related assets, may be at a greater risk of terrorist attacks or cybersecurity attacks than other targets in the United States. Moreover, external digital technologies control nearly all of the crude oil and natural gas distribution systems, which are necessary to transport and market our production. A cybersecurity attack directed at, for example, oil and natural gas distribution systems could (i) damage critical distribution and storage assets or the environment; (ii) disrupt energy supplies and markets, by delaying or preventing delivery of production to markets; and (iii) make it difficult or impossible to accurately account for production and settle transactions. Any such terrorist attack or cybersecurity attack that affects us, our customers, suppliers, or others with whom we do business and/or energy-related assets could have a material adverse effect on our business, including disruption of our operations, damage to our reputation, a loss of counterparty trust, reimbursement or other costs, increased compliance costs, significant litigation exposure and legal liability or regulatory fines, penalties, or intervention. Our operations may be adversely affected by significant and widespread disruption to our systems and the infrastructure that supports our business. While we have implemented policies and procedures to try to protect against cyber-attacks, there can be no assurance that they will be effective in avoiding disruption and business impacts. Further, our insurance may not be adequate to compensate us for all resulting losses, and the cost to obtain adequate coverage may increase for us in the future and some insurance coverage may become more difficult to obtain, if available at all. Additionally, the continuing and evolving threat of cybersecurity attacks has resulted in evolving legal and compliance matters, including increased regulatory focus on prevention and new disclosure requirements recently enacted by the SEC with respect to material cybersecurity incidents and cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance, which could make it difficult for us as a small company to meet such requirements.

Future alternative technologies could dramatically impact the demand for the natural gas and crude oil we sell thereby causing a material adverse impact on our operations and financial results. Such alternative technologies could also cause a material adverse impact on the value of our oil and natural gas properties.

The oil and natural gas industry is highly competitive. We encounter competition from other oil and gas companies in all areas of our operations, including the acquisition of producing properties and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Our competitors include major integrated oil and gas companies and numerous independent oil and gas companies, individuals, and drilling and income programs. Many of our competitors are large, well-established companies with substantially larger operating staffs and greater capital resources than us. Such companies may be able to pay more for productive oil and gas properties and exploratory prospects and to define, evaluate, bid for, and purchase a greater number of properties and prospects than our financial or human resources permit. Our ability to acquire additional properties and to discover reserves in the future will depend upon our ability to evaluate and select suitable properties and to consummate transactions in this highly competitive environment.