ZNOG Zion Oil and Gas Inc (QB)

The Company’s oil and gas property represents an investment in unproved properties. These costs are excluded from the amortized cost pool until proved reserves are found or until it is determined that the costs are impaired. All costs excluded are reviewed at least quarterly to determine if impairment has occurred. The amount of any impairment is charged to expense since a reserve base has not yet been established. Impairment requiring a charge to expense may be indicated through evaluation of drilling results, relinquishing drilling rights or other information.

During the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company testing protocol was concluded at the MJ-02 well. The test results confirmed that the MJ-02 well did not contain hydrocarbons in commercial quantities in the zones tested. As a result, in the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recorded a non-cash impairment charge to its unproved oil and gas properties of $45,615,000.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company recorded post-impairment charges of $36,000 and $129,000, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Company did not record any post-impairment charges.

Currently, the Company has no economically recoverable reserves and no amortization base. The Company’s unproved oil and gas properties consist of capitalized exploration costs of $16,342,000 and $15,889,000 as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively.

The Company follows Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” as amended by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Financial Staff Position (FSP) No. 157 and related guidance. Those provisions relate to the Company’s financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value and the fair value disclosures related to financial assets and liabilities. ASC 820 defines fair value, expands related disclosure requirements, and specifies a hierarchy of valuation techniques based on the nature of the inputs used to develop the fair value measures. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date, assuming the transaction occurs in the principal or most advantageous market for that asset or liability.

The Company uses a three-tier fair value hierarchy to classify and disclose all assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis, as well as assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis, in periods subsequent to their initial measurement. The hierarchy requires the Company to use observable inputs when available, and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs, when determining fair value. The three tiers are defined as follows:

The Company’s financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, are carried at historical cost. At September 30, 2023, and December 31, 2022, the carrying amounts of these instruments approximated their fair values because of the short-term nature of these instruments.

ASC 718, “Compensation – Stock Compensation,” prescribes accounting and reporting standards for all share-based payment transactions in which employee services are acquired. Transactions include incurring liabilities, or issuing or offering to issue shares, options, and other equity instruments such as employee stock ownership plans and stock appreciation rights. Share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, are recognized as compensation expense in the consolidated financial statements based on their fair values. That expense is recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide services in exchange for the award, known as the requisite service period (usually the vesting period).

The Company accounts for stock-based compensation issued to non-employees and consultants in accordance with the provisions of ASC 718  Measurement of share-based payment transactions with non-employees is based on the fair value of whichever is more reliably measurable: (a) the goods or services received; or (b) the equity instruments issued. The fair value of the share-based payment transaction is determined at the earlier of the performance commitment date or performance completion date.

In connection with the Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan (“DSPP”) financing arrangements, the Company has issued warrants to purchase shares of its common stock. The outstanding warrants are stand-alone instruments that are not puttable or mandatorily redeemable by the holder and are classified as equity awards. The Company measures the fair value of the awards using the Black-Scholes option pricing model as of the measurement date. Warrants issued in conjunction with the issuance of common stock are initially recorded and accounted as a part of the DSPP investment as additional paid-in capital of the common stock issued. All other warrants are recorded at fair value and expensed over the requisite service period or at the date of issuance, if there is not a service period. Warrants granted in connection with ongoing arrangements are more fully described in Note 3, Stockholders’ Equity.

Parties are considered to be related to the Company if the parties, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, control, are controlled by, or are under common control with the Company. Related parties also include principal owners of the Company, its management, members of the immediate families of principal owners of the Company and its management and other parties with which the Company may deal if one party controls or can significantly influence the management or operating policies of the other to an extent that one of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests. All transactions with related parties are recorded at fair value of the goods or services exchanged.

Zion did not have any related party transactions for the periods covered in this report.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-03, “Codification Improvements to Financial Instruments”: The amendments in this update are to clarify, correct errors in, or make minor improvements to a variety of ASC topics. The changes in ASU 2020-03 are not expected to have a significant effect on current accounting practices. The ASU improves various financial instrument topics in the Codification to increase stakeholder awareness of the amendments and to expedite the improvement process by making the Codification easier to understand and easier to apply by eliminating inconsistencies and providing clarifications. The ASU is effective for smaller reporting companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022 with early application permitted. Zion adopted ASU 2020-03 in the first quarter of 2023. The adoption of this ASU did not have any impact on its consolidated financial statements.

 In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers. The ASU requires companies to apply the definition of a performance obligation under ASC 606 to recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities relating to contracts with customers acquired in a business combination. Prior to the adoption of this ASU, an acquirer generally recognized assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination, including contract assets and contract liabilities arising from revenue contracts with customers, at fair value on the acquisition date. The ASU results in the acquirer recording acquired contract assets and liabilities on the same basis that would have been recorded by the acquiree before the acquisition under ASC 606. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, with early adoption permitted. Zion adopted ASU 2021-08 in the first quarter of 2023. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements; the impact in future periods will be dependent upon the contract assets acquired and contract liabilities assumed in any future business combinations.

In September 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-04, Liabilities – Supplier Finance Programs (Subtopic 405-50). The ASU requires companies to disclose information about supplier finance programs, including key terms of the program, outstanding confirmed amounts as of the end of the period, a roll forward of such amounts during each annual period, and a description of where the amounts are presented. The new standard does not affect the recognition, measurement, or financial statement presentation of supplier finance obligations. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods, except for roll forward information, which is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023. The adoption of this ASU did not have any impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Other Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The Company does not believe that the adoption of any recently issued accounting pronouncements in 2023 had a significant impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flow.

Zion purchased an onshore oil and gas drilling rig, drilling pipe, related equipment and spare parts for a purchase price of $5.6 million in cash, inclusive of approximately $540,000 allocated in spare parts and $48,000 allocated in additional separate assets. The value of the spare parts and separate assets are captured in separate ledger accounts, but reported as one line item with the drilling rig on the balance sheet. Zion determined that the life of the I-35 drilling rig (the rig Zion purchased), is 10 years. Zion is depreciating the rig on a straight-line basis.

Zion uses the First In First Out (“FIFO”) method of accounting for the inventory of spare parts, meaning that the earliest items purchased will be the first item charged to the well in which the inventory of spare parts gets consumed.

It is also noteworthy that various components and systems on the rig will be subject to certifications by the manufacturer to ensure that the rig is maintained at optimal levels. Per standard practice in upstream oil and gas, each certification performed on our drilling rig increases the useful life of the rig by five years. The costs of each certification will be added to the drilling rig account, and our straight-line amortization will be adjusted accordingly.

See the table below for a reconciliation of the rig-related activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2023:

I-35 Drilling Rig & Associated Equipment:

During the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, the Company had depreciation expense of $570,000 and $560,000, respectively. During the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, the Company had depreciation expense of $190,000 and $189,000, respectively. The asset disposal due to self-consumption was not material during the periods.