This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, may be forward-looking statements, should be evaluated as such and may concern, among other things, planned capital expenditures, potential increases in oil and natural gas production, potential costs to be incurred, future cash flows and borrowings, our financial position, business strategy and other plans and objectives for future operations. These forward-looking statements may be identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “may,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “objective,” “believe,” “predict,” “intend,” “achievable,” “anticipate,” “will,” “continue,” “potential,” “should,” “could” and similar terms and phrases. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Readers should consider carefully the risks described under the “Risk Factors” section of this report and other sections of this report which describe factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those anticipated in forward-looking statements, which include, but are not limited to, the following factors:
| ● | volatility in prices for oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (“NGLs”); |
| ● | our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations, borrowings or other sources to enable us to fund our operations, satisfy our obligations and develop our undeveloped acreage positions; |
| ● | contractual limitations that affect our management’s discretion in managing our business, including covenants that, among other things, limit our ability to incur debt, make investments and pay cash dividends; |
| ● | our indebtedness, which may increase in the future, and higher levels of indebtedness can make us more vulnerable to economic downturns and adverse developments in our business; |
| ● | our ability to replace our oil and natural gas reserves and production; |
| ● | the presence or recoverability of estimated oil and natural gas reserves attributable to our properties and the actual future production rates and associated costs of producing those oil and natural gas reserves; |
| ● | our ability to successfully develop our large inventory of undeveloped acreage; |
| ● | the cost and availability of goods and services, such as drilling rigs, fracture stimulation services and tubulars, which may be subject to inflation caused by labor shortages, supply shortages and increased demand, tariffs and other inflationary pressures; |
| ● | drilling and operating risks, including accidents, equipment failures, fires, and releases of toxic or hazardous materials, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which can result in injury, loss of life, pollution, property damage and suspension of operations; |
| ● | senior management’s ability to execute our plans to meet our goals; |
| ● | access to and availability of water, sand and other treatment materials to carry out fracture stimulations in our completion operations; |
| ● | the possibility that our industry may be subject to future regulatory or legislative actions (including, but not limited to, additional taxes and changes in environmental regulations); |
| ● | access to adequate gathering systems, processing and treating facilities and transportation take-away capacity to move our production to marketing outlets to sell our production at market prices; |
| ● | our ability to pursue and integrate strategic mergers and acquisitions; |
| ● | divestitures could negatively impact our business and our results of operations may be adversely affected if we fail to manage and complete divestitures; |
| ● | the potential for production decline rates for our wells to be greater than we expect; |
| ● | competition, including competition for acreage in our resource play; |
| ● | environmental risks, such as accidental spills of toxic or hazardous materials, and the potential for environmental liabilities; |
| ● | exploration and development risks; |
| ● | our ability to retain key members of senior management, the board of directors and key technical employees; |
| ● | social unrest, political instability or armed conflict in major oil and natural gas producing regions outside the United States (the “U.S.”), such as the political situation in Venezuela, the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia and the war in the Middle East, and acts of terrorism or sabotage; |
| ● | impacts of climate regulations or lawsuits; |
| ● | general economic conditions, whether internationally, nationally or in the regional and local market areas in which we do business, may be less favorable than expected, including the possibility that economic conditions in the United States will worsen and that capital markets are disrupted, which could adversely affect demand for oil and natural gas and make it difficult to access capital; |
| ● | impacts and potential risks related to actual or anticipated pandemics, including any associated impact to our operations, financial results, liquidity, contractors, customers, employees and vendors; |
| ● | impacts and potential risks of extreme weather; |
| ● | other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory, legislative, including federal and state regulations and laws, geopolitical and technological factors that may negatively impact our business, operations or oil and natural gas prices; |
| ● | our insurance coverage may not adequately cover all losses that we may sustain; and |
| ● | title to the properties in which we have an interest which may be impaired by title defects. |
All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph and elsewhere in this document. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Other than as required under the securities laws, we do not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or circumstances, changes in expectations or otherwise.
