1 May 2026material agreement● Neutral
Empire set up a new $30 million at-the-market equity facility with Roth Capital Partners -- another flexible financing tool alongside its existing credit facilities and insider notes.
Announcements, explained
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
23 Feb 2026capital raising announcement▼ BadMajor
Mulacek lent Empire Petroleum another $3 million on a short, 3-month note (convertible at $2.99/share, its lowest conversion price yet) explicitly to repay other debt and fund working capital - a sign of tightening liquidity even as insider support continues.
5 Jan 2026debt financing▲ Good
Equity Bank extended Empire's revolving loan by two years, to December 2028, for a $50,550 fee, with the Texas development arm - added as a third borrower back in June 2025 - re-pledging its assets as security under a restated agreement.
7 Nov 2025debt financing● Neutral
Terms of a second, similar $4 million Mulacek note (issued in September 2025) were renegotiated -- conversion price and warrant terms adjusted, and further advances put at Mulacek's sole discretion rather than as-of-right -- tightening the terms of this insider financing line somewhat in the lender's favor.
26 Sept 2025capital raising announcement▼ BadMajor
Phil Mulacek personally lent Empire Petroleum a new $4 million note (5.5%/9% interest, convertible at $4.27/share - down sharply from the $6.25 conversion price on Energy Evolution's 2024 note, reflecting a lower share price) to fund drilling and working capital.
23 June 2025debt financing● Neutral
Insider Phil Mulacek provided Empire a new $4 million promissory note (5.5% interest, rising to 9% after the 2027 maturity), advancing $2 million immediately with an option for $2 million more -- continued reliance on insider financing.
22 Nov 2024debt financing▲ Good
The Equity Bank revolver was amended: maximum commitment doubled from $10 million to $20 million.
6 Aug 2024capital raising announcement▲ Good
Empire paid off the last $1.06 million owed on PIE's original 2020 Texas workover loan by issuing PIE 205,427 shares, terminating that loan agreement.
31 May 2024capital raising announcement▲ GoodMajor
Energy Evolution drew the remaining balance of its February note to $5 million, then immediately converted the whole amount into 800,000 shares at $6.25 each.
21 Feb 2024capital raising announcement● NeutralMajor
Energy Evolution advanced Empire Petroleum a new $5 million note (7%/9% interest, convertible at $6.25/share) to fund its ongoing drilling program, $2.5 million drawn immediately with the rest available over the following months.
5 Jan 2024debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Empire refinanced its core credit facility entirely: a new $10-15 million revolver with Equity Bank (maturing December 2026) replaced the original 2018 CrossFirst facility, with an initial $4.4 million advance used to pay off and terminate all CrossFirst debt -- ending Empire's six-year lending relationship with CrossFirst.
1 Dec 2023material agreement● Neutral
A technical correction to insider Phil Mulacek's late-November $5 million stock purchase: the per-share price was adjusted from $8.00 to $8.21, reducing his share count from 625,000 to 609,013.
29 Nov 2023capital raising announcement▲ GoodMajor
Mulacek and Energy Evolution each bought $10.05 million of Empire stock at $8.00/share - a combined $20.1 million - paid partly in cash and partly by cancelling the $5 million North Dakota bridge loan each had extended to fund the Starbuck field redevelopment, converting that insider debt into equity.
13 Nov 2023debt financing▲ GoodMajor
The North Dakota bridge loans were amended and restated: maturity pushed out over a year, to December 31, 2024, and interest switched from cash to stock payments -- meaningfully easing the near-term cash pressure from the redevelopment financing.
1 Nov 2023debt financing● Neutral
The $10 million of bridge notes from Phil Mulacek and the Energy Evolution Master Fund, due 31 October 2023, were pushed out nine days to 9 November while longer-term funding was arranged; the company confirmed no default was outstanding.
12 Oct 2023drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
Funded by the new bridge loans, Empire spudded a new well at its Starbuck field in North Dakota, kicking off its 2023 redevelopment drilling program.
25 Sept 2023debt financing● NeutralMajor
Insiders Phil Mulacek and Energy Evolution Master Fund each lent Empire North Dakota $5 million (a $10 million bridge loan total) to fund redevelopment of its North Dakota properties -- fast, expensive (7%, rising to 9% after maturity), insider-sourced capital, junior to the CrossFirst revolver and maturing in about six weeks.
23 Aug 2022auditor change▼ Bad
Moss Adams resigned as Empire's auditor and Grant Thornton was engaged, with Empire disclosing a material weakness: insufficient in-house accounting expertise to handle complex, non-routine transactions -- notable given how many acquisitions and financings the company was running through simultaneously.
23 June 2022material agreement● NeutralMajor
Empire set up a $50 million at-the-market equity sales facility with Raymond James -- a large, flexible (if dilutive) capital source to support the company's rapid growth through acquisitions.
9 Mar 2022capital raising announcement● NeutralMajor
Empire Petroleum handed effective board control to Phil Mulacek (an Energy Evolution principal): new Series A Voting Preferred Stock issued to him elects 3 of the company's 6 directors outright, and gives his co-chairman the tie-breaking vote in any board deadlock - a real concentration of control in exchange for Energy Evolution's continued financial backing, alongside a 1-for-4 reverse stock split.
3 Mar 2022listing compliance notice▲ GoodMajor
the exchange certified EMPIRE PETROLEUM CORP's securities for listing, clearing them to begin trading.
6 Jan 2022material agreement▲ GoodMajor
Energy Evolution Master Fund converted the entire $5.7 million Green Tree New Mexico senior secured convertible note (plus $55,075 accrued interest) -- debt that helped fund the Eunice Monument acquisition -- into 4.6 million Empire shares, eliminating that debt at the cost of dilution.
4 Aug 2021debt financing● Neutral
A fourth CrossFirst amendment: $20 million facility reaffirmed, borrowing base reset to $7.98 million, quarterly paydown requirement reduced, and hedging obligations restructured around a rolling price-floor schedule.
20 May 2021capital raising announcement▲ GoodMajor
Empire New Mexico borrowed $16.25 million from Energy Evolution Master Fund via a senior secured convertible note to fund the Eunice Monument acquisition from ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Holdings (702 wells in Lea County, NM) - a larger financing than a prior pass's figure suggested, and the deal also gave Energy Evolution the right to name board members including a chairman with a tie-breaking vote, the start of what became a controlling relationship.
17 May 2021asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Empire New Mexico closed the XTO/ExxonMobil Eunice Monument acquisition for an adjusted $16,089,000 (up from a scheduled April closing after a short extension) -- Empire's largest deal yet, adding 702 wells across roughly 40,600 net acres.
27 Apr 2021auditor change▼ Bad
Empire dismissed HoganTaylor as auditor -- which had flagged a material weakness in internal controls as of December 2020 -- and engaged Moss Adams LLP.
1 Apr 2021capital raising announcement▲ GoodMajor
Empire Petroleum raised $3.15 million (8.99 million shares plus warrants at $0.50) from 38 accredited investors, capital raised just weeks before it financed and closed its largest-ever acquisition, the Eunice Monument field.
15 Mar 2021debt financing● NeutralMajor
The same day, CrossFirst Bank amended Empire's revolver a third time -- reaffirming the $20 million facility, redetermining the borrowing base to $8.52 million, waiving covenant breaches, and phasing in a stepped-down leverage covenant through 2022 -- laying financing groundwork alongside the pending New Mexico deal. The filing also references warrants issued to Petroleum Independent & Exploration LLC (PIE) under an August 2020 stock purchase.
15 Mar 2021material agreement▲ GoodMajor
Empire's largest deal to date: new subsidiary Empire New Mexico agreed to buy an ExxonMobil (XTO Holdings) package in the Eunice Monument field, Lea County -- 702 wells across about 47,200 gross acres -- for $17.8 million, wiring a $1.78 million deposit.
6 Jan 2021material agreement▲ Good
Empire Texas and Pardus Oil & Gas amended their 2020 purchase agreement, replacing the up-to-$2 million contingent payment with a fixed $40,000 payment -- a favorable resolution for Empire.