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
Mulacek and Empire amended the September 2025 $4 million note and warrant on November 5, 2025. The conversion and warrant exercise price rose to $4.32, warrant shares fell to 138,889, and the extra $2 million of advances became subject to Mulacek's sole discretion, with new market-based pricing and warrants for any such advance.
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 replaced its CrossFirst credit facility with a new Equity Bank revolver (initial $10 million commitment, up to $15 million, maturing December 2026). A $4.4 million initial advance repaid and terminated all CrossFirst debt, ending the 2018 facility early.
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
Phil Mulacek and Energy Evolution Master Fund each lent $5.0 million in bridge loans to Empire North Dakota on September 19, 2023. On October 31, 2023 they extended the maturity from October 31 to November 9, 2023.
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.