NOTE 7 — FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, approximates the carrying amounts represented on the balance sheet.

The fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:

In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

Recurring Basis

Assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are as follows:

Derivatives

The Company’s commodity price derivatives primarily represent crude oil collar contracts (some with long calls), fixed price swap contracts and differential swap contracts. The asset and liability measurements for the Company’s commodity price derivative contracts are determined using Level 2 inputs. The asset and liability values attributable to the Company’s commodity price derivatives were determined based on inputs that include, but not limited to, the contractual price of the underlying position, current market prices, crude oil forward curves, discount rates, and volatility factors. The Company had a net derivative asset of $164,185 as of March 31, 2025 and had a net derivative asset of $106,397 as of December 31, 2024.

Warrant Liability

Based on the redemption right present in the warrants issued in connection with promissory notes, the warrants are accounted for as a liability in accordance with ASC 480 and ASC 815, with the changes in fair value of the warrants recognize in the statement of operations.

The Company valued the warrants using the trading prices of the Public Warrants, which mirror the terms of the note payable warrants. The Company also estimated the fair value of the redemption put using a present value calculation for the time from the Closing Date of the MIPA through the 18-month redemption date and an estimated discount rate of 15%. The estimated fair value of the warrants and redemption put was $4,118,030 and $5,681,849 as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively, and the Company recognized a change in fair value of the warrant liability of a loss of $162,520 during the three months ended March 31, 2025. The warrant liability estimated fair value is considered a level 3 fair value measurement.

Nonrecurring Basis

The carrying value of the Company’s financial instruments, consisting of cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses, approximates their fair value due to the short maturity of such instruments. Financial instruments also consist of debt for which fair value approximates carrying values as the debt bears interest at fixed or variable rates which are reflective of current rates otherwise available to the Company. The Company is not exposed to significant interest, currency or credit risks arising from these financial instruments.

NOTE 8 — FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS:

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, approximates the carrying amounts represented on the balance sheet.

The Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:

In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

Recurring Basis

Assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are as follows:

Derivatives

The Company’s commodity price derivatives primarily represent crude oil collar contracts (some with long calls), fixed price swap contracts and differential swap contracts. The asset and liability measurements for the Company’s commodity price derivative contracts are determined using Level 2 inputs. The asset and liability values attributable to the Company’s commodity price derivatives were determined based on inputs that include, but not limited to, the contractual price of the underlying position, current market prices, crude oil forward curves, discount rates, and volatility factors. The Company had a net derivative asset of $106,397 and $467,687 as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Convertible Note Liability

Certain of the Company’s convertible note agreements contain features that contain conversion terms that may require the debt to be settled with a variable number of shares based on discounted pricing to market of the Company’s Class A Common Stock. Under ASC 480, the instrument is accounted for at fair value, which are determined using level 3 inputs.

The following table represents the weighted average inputs used in calculating the fair value of the conversion features of the convertible notes on the date of issuance and December 31, 2024:

The Company estimated the present value of the convertible notes using an estimated 15% discount rate and the three-year maturity period. The Company estimated the aggregate fair value at issuance to be $698,620, and estimated the fair value at December 31, 2024 to be $891,364, resulting in a loss on change in fair value of $192,744 for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Forward Purchase Agreement

The fair value upon issuance of the Forward Purchase Agreement (both the FPA Put Option liability and Fixed Maturity Consideration) and the change in fair value is included in other expense, net in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The fair value of the FPA was estimated using a Monte-Carlo Simulation in a risk-neutral framework. Specifically, the future stock price is simulated assuming a Geometric Brownian Motion (“GBM”). For each simulated path, the forward purchase value is calculated based on the contractual terms and then discounted back to present. Finally, the value of the forward is calculated as the average present value over all simulated paths. The Maturity Consideration was also valued as part of this model as the timing of the payment of the Maturity Consideration may be accelerated if the Maturity Date is accelerated. The model also considered the likelihood of a dilutive offering of common stock.

On November 15, 2024, the Company entered into a Confidential Rescission, Settlement, and Release Agreement with the FPA Seller whereby the parties mutually agreed to rescind the Forward Purchase Agreement and related agreements between the parties, which as a result, any transactions, notices or other obligations thereunder are void ab initio. The parties also agreed to release each other of all claims related to the Forward Purchase Agreement, and in exchange for such release, the Company agreed to issue to the FPA Seller 450,000 restricted Class A Common shares with a fair value of $450,000 based on the closing price of the Company’s Class A common stock at the agreement date

The following table represents the weighted average inputs used in calculating the fair value of the prepaid forward contract and the Maturity Consideration as of November 15, 2024, the date of settlement, and December 31, 2023:

The Company estimated the likelihood of a Dilutive Offering at a price of $5.00 per share to be 50% within nine months of December 31, 2023. The FPA estimated fair value is considered a level 3 fair value measurement.

Warrant Liability

Based on the redemption right present in the warrants issued in connection with promissory notes, the warrants are accounted for as a liability in accordance with ASC 480 and ASC 815, with the changes in fair value of the warrants recognize in the statement of operations.

The Company valued the warrants using the trading prices of the Public Warrants, which mirror the terms of the note payable warrants. The Company also estimated the fair value of the redemption put using a present value calculation for the time from the Closing Date of the MIPA through the 18-month redemption date and an estimated discount rate of 15%. The initial fair value of the warrant liabilities for warrants issued during was $409,334 and $4,506,312 for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively and was recognized as debt discount. The estimated fair value of the warrants and redemption put was $5,681,849 and $4,777,971 as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and the Company recognized a change in fair value of the warrant liability of a loss of $804,004 for the year ended December 31, 2024 and a gain of $187,704 during the period from November 15, 2023 to December 31, 2023. The warrant liability estimated fair value is considered a level 3 fair value measurement.

Nonrecurring Basis

The carrying value of the Company’s financial instruments, consisting of cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses, approximates their fair value due to the short maturity of such instruments. Financial instruments also consist of debt for which fair value approximates carrying values as the debt bears interest at fixed or variable rates which are reflective of current rates otherwise available to the Company. The Company is not exposed to significant interest, currency or credit risks arising from these financial instruments.