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DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]  
DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
NOTE 6 — DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
The Company is exposed to fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas prices on its production. It utilizes derivative strategies that consist of either a single derivative instrument or a combination of instruments to manage the variability in cash flows associated with the forecasted sale of our future domestic oil and natural gas production. While the use of derivative instruments may limit or partially reduce the downside risk of adverse commodity price movements, their use also may limit future income from favorable commodity price movements.
From time to time, the Company enters into derivative contracts to protect the Company’s cash flow from price fluctuation and maintain its capital programs. The Company has historically used costless collars, deferred premium puts, or swaps for this purpose. Oil derivative contracts are based on West Texas Intermediate ("WTI") crude oil prices and natural gas contracts are based on the Henry Hub. A “costless collar” is the combination of two options, a put option (floor) and call option (ceiling) with the options structured so that the premium paid for the put option will be offset by the premium received from selling the call option. Similar to costless collars, there is no cost to enter into the swap contracts. A deferred premium put contract has the premium established upon entering the contract, and due upon settlement of the contract.
The use of derivative transactions involves the risk that the counterparties, which generally are financial institutions, will be unable to meet the financial terms of such transactions. All of our derivative contracts are with lenders under our Credit Facility. Non-performance risk is incorporated in the discount rate by adding the quoted bank (counterparty) credit default swap (CDS) rates to the risk free rate. Although the counterparties hold the right to offset (i.e. netting) the settlement amounts with the Company, in accordance with ASC 815-10-50-4B, the Company classifies the fair value of all its derivative positions on a gross basis in the Company's Condensed Balance Sheets.
The Company’s derivative financial instruments are recorded at fair value and included as either assets or liabilities in the accompanying Condensed Balance Sheets. The Company has not designated its derivative instruments as hedges for accounting purposes, and, as a result, any gains or losses resulting from changes in fair value of outstanding derivative financial instruments and from the settlement of derivative financial instruments are recognized in earnings and included as a component of "Other Income (Expense)" under the heading "Gain (loss) on derivative contracts" in the accompanying Condensed Statements of Operations.
The following presents the impact of the Company’s contracts on its Condensed Balance Sheets for the periods indicated.
As of
March 31, 2026December 31, 2025
Commodity derivative instruments, marked to market:
Derivatives assets, current$4,016,834 $21,468,134 
Derivative assets, noncurrent$7,199,724 $9,739,430 
Derivative liabilities, current$43,082,871 $841,193 
Derivative liabilities, noncurrent$17,234,923 $2,512,692 
The components of “Gain (loss) on derivative contracts” from the Condensed Statements of Operations are as follows for the respective periods:
For the Three Months Ended
March 31, 2026March 31, 2025
Oil derivatives:
Realized gain (loss) on oil derivatives$(6,058,656)$(640,267)
Unrealized gain (loss) on oil derivatives(79,793,070)2,341,425 
Gain (loss) on oil derivatives$(85,851,726)$1,701,158 
Natural gas derivatives:
Realized gain (loss) on natural gas derivatives$782,645 $86,673 
Unrealized gain (loss) on natural gas derivatives2,838,156 (2,716,621)
Gain (loss) on natural gas derivatives$3,620,801 $(2,629,948)
Gain (loss) on derivative contracts$(82,230,925)$(928,790)
The components of “Cash received (paid) for derivative settlements, net” within the Condensed Statements of Cash Flows are as follows for the respective periods:
For the Three Months Ended
March 31, 2026March 31, 2025
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash received (paid) for oil derivatives$(6,058,656)$(640,267)
Cash received (paid) for natural gas derivatives782,645 86,673 
Cash received (paid) for derivative settlements, net$(5,276,011)$(553,594)
The following tables reflect the details of current derivative contracts as of March 31, 2026 (quantities are in barrels (Bbl) for the oil derivative contracts and in million British thermal units (MMBtu) for the natural gas derivative contracts).
Oil Hedges (WTI)Q2 2026Q3 2026Q4 2026Q1 2027Q2 2027Q3 2027Q4 2027Q1 2028
Swaps:
Hedged volume (Bbl)622,601 263,400 529,000 509,500 492,000 432,000 412,963 — 
Weighted average swap price$66.43 $61.77 $65.34 $62.82 $60.45 $61.80 $57.59 $— 
Two-way collars:
Hedged volume (Bbl)273,000 563,685 — — — — — 400,080 
Weighted average put price$55.00 $60.82 $— $— $— $— $— $55.45 
Weighted average call price$65.65 $76.19 $— $— $— $— $— $65.45 
Swaps: WTI NYMEX Rolls
Hedged volume (BBL)819,000 — — — — — — — 
Weighted average swap price$5.30 $— $— $— $— $— $— $— 
Gas Hedges (Henry Hub)Q2 2026Q3 2026Q4 2026Q1 2027Q2 2027Q3 2027Q4 2027Q1 2028
NYMEX Swaps:
Hedged volume (MMBtu)1,165,628 600,016 1,072,305 439,678 423,035 1,079,906 1,046,151 1,012,567 
Weighted average swap price$3.82 $4.19 $3.99 $4.02 $4.02 $3.86 $4.02 $3.77 
Two-way collars:
Hedged volume (MMBtu)139,000 648,728 128,000 717,000 694,000 — — — 
Weighted average put price$3.50 $3.10 $3.50 $3.99 $3.00 $— $— $— 
Weighted average call price$5.42 $4.24 $5.42 $5.21 $4.32 $— $— $— 
Gas Hedges (Henry Hub)Q2 2028Q3 2028Q4 2028Q1 2029Q2 2029Q3 2029Q4 2029
NYMEX Swaps:
Hedged volume (MMBtu)984,322 956,865 931,539 908,117 886,933 866,585 846,134 
Weighted average swap price$3.77 $3.77 $3.77 $3.67 $3.67 $3.67 $3.67 
Gas Hedges (basis differential)Q2 2026Q3 2026Q4 2026Q1 2027Q2 2027Q3 2027Q4 2027Q1 2028
Waha basis swaps:
Hedged volume (MMBtu)— — — 196,372 480,325 464,360 449,846 435,403 
Weighted average spread price (1)
$— $— $— $0.78 $0.78 $0.78 $0.78 $0.68 
El Paso Permian Basin basis swaps:
Hedged volume (MMBtu)— — — 960,307 636,710 615,547 596,306 577,163 
Weighted average spread price (1)
$— $— $— $0.72 $0.67 $0.67 $0.67 $0.60 
(1) The gas basis swap hedges are calculated as the Henry Hub natural gas price less the fixed amount specified as the weighted average spread price above.