SMGI SMG Industries Inc (CE)

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before purchasing our common stock, you should carefully consider the following risk factors as well as other information contained in this Annual Report, including our financial statements and the related notes. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently deem immaterial, also may become important factors that affect us. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you may lose some or all of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced demand for our services, and has had, and may continue to have, a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The effects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and related variants, including actions taken by businesses and governments, have resulted in a significant and swift reduction in international and U.S. economic activity. These effects have adversely affected the demand for oil and natural gas, as well as for our services. The collapse in the demand for oil caused by this unprecedented global health and economic crisis, has had, and should the pandemic continue, is reasonably likely to continue to have, a material adverse impact on the demand for our services. The decline in our customers’ demand for our services could continue to have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

While the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related variants is not yet known, we are closely monitoring the effects of the pandemic on market demands, our customers, and our operations and employees. These effects have included, and may continue to include, adverse revenue and cash flow effects; disruptions to our operations; customer shutdowns of oil and gas exploration and production; employee impacts from illness, school closures and other community response measures; and temporary closures of our facilities or the facilities of our customers and suppliers.

The extent to which our operating and financial results are affected by COVID-19 and related variants will depend on various factors and consequences beyond our control, such as the duration and scope of the pandemic; additional actions by businesses and governments in response to the pandemic; and the speed and effectiveness of responses to combat the virus. COVID-19, and the volatile regional and global economic conditions stemming from the pandemic, could also aggravate the other risk factors set forth below. COVID-19 may also materially adversely affect our operating and financial results in a manner that is not currently known to us or that we do not currently consider significant risks to our operations.

Inadequate liquidity could materially and adversely affect our business operations.

We have significant outstanding indebtedness under our credit facilities. As of December 31, 2020, we had fully drawn the availability under our credit facility. In addition, our 5J operating subsidiary experienced declines in revenues in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, compared to the prior year’s comparable periods, and reduced cash flow. Due to this limited liquidity and decreased cash flow, we may not be able to provide our services, which could lead to continued deterioration in our financial condition. Our ability to pay interest and principal on our indebtedness and to satisfy our other obligations will depend upon our ability to achieve increased utilization of our equipment, which is highly influenced by customer's capital expenditure and activity.  We cannot assure that our business will generate sufficient cash flows from operations, or that future capital will be available to us in an amount sufficient to fund our liquidity needs. We cannot assure you that we will be able to raise capital through debt or equity financings on terms acceptable to us or at all, or that we could consummate dispositions of assets or operations for fair market value, in a timely manner or at all.  Furthermore, any proceeds that we could realize from any financings or dispositions may not be adequate to meet our debt service or other obligations then due.

The Master Lease Agreement between Utica Leaseco, 5J and SMG contains certain restrictive covenants which could limit management’s ability to operate the business of 5J and is secured by all of the equipment of 5J and is guaranteed by SMG.

In connection with SMG's acquisition of 5J, 5J entered into a master lease agreement with Utica Leaseco, which is guaranteed by SMG. The agreement places many restrictions on 5J, among other things, its ability to incur additional indebtedness, to create liens or other encumbrances and to sell or otherwise dispose of its equipment without their prior approval. Any failure to comply with the covenants in the Utica Leaseco master lease agreement could result in an event of default, which could trigger an acceleration of the related debt. If 5J were unable to repay the debt upon any such acceleration, Utica Leaseco could seek to foreclose on the 5J assets in an effort to seek repayment under the master lease agreement. If Utica Leaseco were successful, we would be unable to conduct our business as it is presently conducted and our ability to generate revenues and fund our ongoing operations would be materially adversely affected. Additionally, we have guaranteed payments under the Utica Leaseco master lease agreement. On May 18, 2020, being effective April 27, 2020, the Company entered into its first amendment with Utica Leaseco whereby Utica agreed to lower the monthly payment made by 5J from $331,000 to $150,000 for a six month period starting April 27, 2020. On August 31, 2020 the Company entered into its second amendment to Lease Documents with Utica, whereby for a two month period effective October 27, 2020 the Company's payments were amended to $150,000 per month. Starting December 27, 2020, at the end of the modification period, the Company's payment will resume at $379,400 through the maturity date of May 27, 2024. This amendment was accounted for as a modification of the debt. Effective March 9, 2021, the Company entered into a third amendment and surrender agreement with Utica requiring weekly payments of $23,750 until May 28, 2021. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under such amendment, and after the expiration of any cure period related to any such default, the surrender agreement entered into between the parties shall govern the surrender of the ownership and possession of the 5J equipment to Utica, or their designee, pursuant to the terms of the Lease agreement between the parties. The surrender agreement directs any third party in possession of any of such equipment to surrender the equipment in their possession to Utica and for Lessee to comply with any related paperwork requests to transfer ownership of the equipment to Utica. The surrender agreement shall terminate on the earlier to occur of: (i) June 25, 2021, or (ii) the occurrence of an event of default, that is not cured within any applicable cure period. From June 4, 2021 to June 25, 2021 the weekly payments shall increase to $112,000 per week, and thereafter commencing on July 27, 2021 the payments shall be $448,000 per month

The line of credit facility for 5J Oilfield Services and 5J Trucking pledges all of the 5J Entities accounts receivable to Amerisource Funding Inc.

In connection with SMG’s acquisition of 5J, each of 5J Oilfield Services and 5J Trucking entered into a revolving accounts receivable assignment and term loan financing and security agreement with Amerisource Funding Inc. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Amerisource has been granted a first lien on all of the accounts receivable and other personal property of the 5J Entities, as well as a second lien on all other property of the 5J Entities. In the event that the 5J Entities were unable to comply with the payment terms of the Amerisource accounts receivable agreement, Amerisource could foreclose on the 5J Entities assets in an effort to seek repayment under the terms of the agreement. If Amerisource were successful, we would be unable to conduct our business as it is presently conducted and our ability to generate revenues and fund our ongoing operations would be materially adversely affected. Additionally, we have guaranteed the Amerisource financing facility on behalf of our subsidiaries who are the borrowers.

The line of credit facility for Trinity Services contains restrictive covenants which limit management’s discretion to operate Trinity’s business and is secured by all of the assets of Trinity.

In order to obtain the line of credit from Catalyst Financial for accounts receivable financing, Trinity Services, our wholly owned subsidiary agreed to certain covenants that place certain restrictions on Trinity, including among other things, Trinity’s ability to incur additional indebtedness, to create liens or other encumbrances, and to sell or otherwise dispose of assets.  Any failure to comply with the covenants included in the Catalyst Financial loan agreements could result in an event of default, which could trigger an acceleration of the related debt.  If our subsidiaries were unable to repay the debt upon any such acceleration, Catalyst Financial could seek to foreclose on those assets in an effort to seek repayment under the loans.   Additionally, we have guaranteed the Catalyst Financial financing facility on behalf of Trinity, which could result in a material liability that we could be responsible for.

The interest rate on a significant portion of our indebtedness varies with the market rate of interest.  An increase in the prime interest rate could have a material adverse effect on our interest expense and our results of operations.

The interest our lines of credit and term loans are payable monthly and are at rates per annum equal to the prime rate plus a range of 6% or more. The interest under our credit facilities will fluctuate over time, and if the prime rate significantly increases, our interest expense will increase.  This could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We may need additional financing to further our business plans.

We may require additional funds to finance our business development projects.  We may not be successful in raising additional financing as and when needed. If we are unable to obtain additional financing in sufficient amounts or on acceptable terms, our operating results and prospects could be adversely affected. Our ability to raise new debt or equity capital or to refinance or restructure our debt at any given time depends, among other things, on the condition of the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Also, the terms of existing or future debt or equity instruments could further restrict our business operations. The inability to finance future growth could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are currently in a very difficult operating environment.

We faced a very difficult operating environment in 2020 and believe we will continue to in 2021, with logistics, midstream services and oilfield services as the global COVID pandemic affects economic activity and exploration and production companies significantly cutting back their drilling and completions plans and exerting significant pressure on us to reduce our prices for the services we provide. We cannot assure that we will raise any such capital on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Due to our lack of capital we may be forced to curtail operations in some or all of our locations which would materially and adversely affect our revenues and operations.

Our business depends on domestic (United States) spending by the crude oil and natural gas industry which suffered significant price volatility in 2019 and 2020, and such volatility may continue; our business has been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by industry and financial market conditions that are beyond our control.

While our company is trying to reduce the percentage of revenues and activity received from oil and gas customers over time, we depend on our customers’ ability and willingness to make operating and capital expenditures to explore, develop and produce crude oil and natural gas in the United States. Customers’ expectations for future crude oil and natural gas prices, as well as the availability of capital for operating and capital expenditures, may cause them to curtail spending, thereby reducing demand for our services and equipment. Major declines in oil and natural gas prices in 2019 and 2020 have resulted in substantial declines in capital spending and drilling programs across the industry. As a result of the declines in oil and natural gas prices, many exploration and production companies have and are expected to substantially reduce drilling and completions programs at times and have required service providers to make pricing concessions.

Industry conditions and specifically the market price for crude oil and natural gas are influenced by numerous domestic and global factors over which the Company has no control, such as the supply of and demand for oil and natural gas, domestic and worldwide economic conditions, weather conditions, political instability in oil and natural gas producing countries, and merger and divestiture activity among oil and natural gas producers. The volatility of the oil and natural gas industry and the consequent impact on commodity prices as well as exploration and production activity could adversely impact the level of drilling and activity by some of our customers. Where declining prices lead to reduced exploration and development activities in the Company’s market areas, the reduction in exploration and development activities also may have a negative long-term impact on the Company’s business. Continued decline in oil and natural gas prices may result in increased pressure from our customers to make pricing concessions in the future and may impact our borrowing arrangements with our principal bank.

There have also been significant political pressures for the United States economy to reduce its dependence on crude oil and natural gas due to the perceived impacts on climate change. These activities may make oil and gas investment and production   less attractive.

Higher oil and gas prices do not necessarily result in increased drilling activity because our customers’ expectation of future prices also drives demand for drilling services. Oil and gas prices, as well as demand for the Company’s services, also depend upon other factors that are beyond the Company’s control, including the following:

Ongoing volatility and uncertainty in the domestic and global economic and political environments have caused the oilfield services industry to experience volatility in terms of demand. While our management is generally optimistic for the continuing development of the onshore North American oil and gas industry, there are a number of political and economic pressures negatively impacting the economics of continuing production from some existing wells, future drilling operations, and the willingness of banks and investors to provide capital to participants in the oil and gas industry. These cuts in spending will continue to curtail drilling programs as well as discretionary spending on well services and will continue to result in a reduction in the demand for the Company’s services, the rates and equipment utilization can be charged. In addition, certain of the Company’s customers could become unable to pay their suppliers, including the Company. Any of these conditions or events could adversely affect our operating results.

We operate in a highly cyclical industry which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We operate in a highly cyclical industry. The key factor driving demand for our services is the level of economic activity in basic industry as well as drilling activity by E&P companies, which in turn depends largely on current and anticipated future crude oil and natural gas prices and production depletion rates. Global supply and demand for oil and the domestic supply and demand for natural gas are critical in assessing industry outlook. Demand for oil and natural gas is cyclical and subject to large, rapid fluctuations. Producers tend to increase capital expenditures in response to increases in oil and natural gas prices, which generally results in greater revenues and profits for oilfield service companies such as ours. Increased capital expenditures also ultimately lead to greater production, which historically has resulted in increased supplies and reduced prices, which in turn tend to reduce activity levels for oilfield services. Midstream or pipeline operating companies typically utilize service companies in their construction, build out or maintenance of their infrastructure they operate and manage. Midstream operators also have cyclical capital spending where area activity and hydrocarbon prices may have an effect on new project economics that may result in delays or elimination of project expenditures. Heavy haul logistics and transportation typically includes a material amount of oilfield production equipment as such is cyclical in nature.

Additionally, weather conditions affect the demand for, and prices of, oil and natural gas and, as a result, demand for our services. Demand for oil and natural gas is typically higher in the fourth and first quarters due to harsh northern climates, resulting in higher prices.

For these reasons, the results of our operations may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year. These fluctuations may distort comparisons of results across periods.

We have intellectual property which the inability to defend could adversely affect our results of operations.

We currently protect our trade secrets, customer lists, MSAs and in-house intellectual property through contractual arrangements, including confidentiality, non-competition and non-disclosure agreements with employees and third parties and will continue to use such contractual arrangements in the future to help protect our proprietary intellectual property.

We do not have any patents on our current products and do not intend to file any patents on such products. We protect our trademarks and may from time-to-time file for registration of those trademarks.

We depend on several significant customers, and a loss of one or more significant customers could adversely affect our results of operations.

The Company serves several major drilling companies and independent oil & gas companies that are active in our core areas of operations. Additionally, project-based engineering firms can provide large, concentrated revenue opportunities that can provide a large swing in revenues that are managed on intra-year basis.

As of December 31, 2020, one customer comprised of 10% of our accounts receivable balance. During the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2020, one customer represented 11% of our revenues.

As of December 31, 2019, no customers comprised more than 10% of our accounts receivable. During the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2019, one customer represented 71% of our revenues.

These customers do not have any ongoing commitment to purchase our services.  While additional customers have been sourced since December 31, 2020, significant customer concentration risk still exists.  The loss of or a sustained decrease in demand by these customers could result in a substantial loss of revenues and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.  In addition, should these large customers default in their obligations to pay, our results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.

The loss of one or more key members of our management team, or our failure to attract, integrate and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could harm our business.

Our success is largely dependent on the skills, experience, and efforts of our management team.  We currently depend on the continued services and performance of the key members of our management team, including Jeffrey Martini, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Matthew Flemming, our Chief Business Development Officer and James Frye, our President of 5J Transportation Group operating division. Mr. Frye, in connection with our acquisition of 5J, entered into a three-year employment agreement with 5J. However, the loss of any such key personnel could result in a disruption to the operations of the 5J Transportation Grpup. The loss of key personnel could disrupt our operations and have an adverse effect on our ability to grow our business if we are unable to replace them.

We operate in a highly competitive environment, which could adversely affect our sales and pricing.

The markets in which we operate are highly competitive. We provide services primarily in the southwest United States. Our competitors include many large and small transportation, logistics, and other service companies. In addition, the transportation services business in which we compete is highly fragmented. We believe that the principal competitive factors in the markets we serve are reputation for high quality service and technical expertise, good equipment, trained personnel, work force competency, safety record and price. Competing firms may have their own service personnel, in which case we may not get awarded an available service job. While we seek to be competitive in our pricing, we believe many of our customers elect to work with us based on safety and performance and quality of our crews, equipment, and services. We seek to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by delivering the highest quality service, experienced personnel, and equipment possible, coupled with execution and operating efficiency in a safe working environment.

We expect competition to intensify in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully with other companies. Thus, revenues could be reduced due to aggressive pricing pursued by competitors.  Many of our competitors are entities that are more established, larger and have greater financial and personnel resources than we do.  If we do not compete successfully, our business and results of operations will be materially adversely affected.

While our growth strategy includes seeking acquisitions of other transportation services and logistics companies, we may not be successful in identifying or making any acquisitions in the future. We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures, or these benefits may take longer to realize than expected.

Our business strategy includes growth through the acquisitions of other businesses in the areas of logistics and transportation services. We may not be able to continue to identify attractive acquisition opportunities or successfully acquire those opportunities that are identified.  There is always the possibility that even if there is success in integrating our current or future acquisitions into the existing operations, we may not derive the benefits, such as administrative or operational synergy or earnings obtained, that were expected from such acquisitions, which may result in the commitment of capital resources without the expected returns on the capital.  The competition for acquisition opportunities may increase which in turn would increase our cost of making further acquisitions or causing us to curb our activities of making additional acquisitions.

In pursuing our business strategy, from time to time we evaluate targets and enter into agreements regarding possible acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures. To be successful, we conduct due diligence to identify valuation issues and potential loss contingencies, negotiate transaction terms, complete transactions, and manage post-closing matters such as the integration of acquired businesses. Our due diligence reviews are subject to the completeness and accuracy of disclosures made by third parties. We may incur unanticipated costs or expenses following a completed acquisition, including post-closing asset impairment charges, expenses associated with eliminating duplicate facilities, litigation, and other liabilities.

The risks associated with our future acquisitions also include the following:

We believe that we have sufficient resources to integrate these acquisitions successfully, such integration involves a number of significant risks, including management’s diversion of attention and resources.  There can be no assurance as to the extent to which the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions will be realized, if at all, or that significant time and cost beyond that anticipated will not be required with the integration of new acquisitions to the existing business.  If we are unable to accomplish the integration and management successfully or achieve a substantial portion of the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions within the time frames anticipated by management and within budget, it could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Many of these factors will be outside of our control and any one of them could result in increased costs, decreases in the amount of expected revenues and diversion of management’s time and attention. They may also delay the realization of the benefits we anticipate when we enter into a transaction.  Failure to implement our acquisition strategy, including successfully integrating acquired businesses, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are vulnerable to the potential difficulties associated with rapid growth

We believe that our future success depends on our ability to manage the rapid growth that we expect to experience organically and through acquisitions.  Our anticipated growth will place additional demands and responsibilities on our management to maintain existing customers and attract new customers, recruit, retain and effectively manage employees, as well as expand operations and integrate customer support and financial control systems.  The following could present difficulties:

If we are unable to manage our expected future growth, our business could be materially adversely affected.

We are subject to a wide range of government regulations that could adversely affect our business

The Company’s operations are regulated and licensed by various federal, provincial, state, local and foreign government agencies in the United States and Canada. In the United States, the Company and its drivers must comply with the safety and fitness regulations of the DOT and the agencies within the states that regulate transportation, including those regulations relating to drug- and alcohol-testing and hours-of-service. Weight and equipment dimensions also are subject to government regulations. The Company also may become subject to new or more restrictive regulations relating to fuel emissions, environmental protection, drivers’ hours-of-service, driver eligibility requirements, on-board reporting of operations, collective bargaining, ergonomics, and other matters affecting safety, insurance, and operating methods. Other agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) also regulate the Company’s equipment, operations, drivers, and the environment. The Company conducts operations outside of the United States, and is subject to analogous governmental safety, fitness, weight and equipment regulations and environmental protection and operating standards, as well as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which generally prohibits United States companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining favorable treatment. Any investigation of any actual or alleged violations of such laws could also harm the Company’s reputation or have a material adverse impact on its business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

The methodology used to determine a carrier’s safety rating could be changed by the FMCSA and, as a result, the Company’s acceptable safety rating could be impaired. In particular, the FMCSA continues to utilize the three safety fitness rating scale: “satisfactory,” “conditional,” and “unsatisfactory”—to assess the safety fitness of motor carriers and the Company currently has a “satisfactory” FMCSA rating on 100% of its fleet. While the Company believes the FMCA will update its records and grant a “satisfactory” rating, there can be no guarantee that this rating will occur. Accordingly, the Company’s market opportunities could remain constrained, as many customers require a rating of “satisfactory”. However, pursuant to a 2015 federal statutory mandate, the FMCSA commissioned the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study and report upon the CSA program and its underlying Safety Measurement System (SMS), which is the FMCSA’s process for identifying patterns of non-compliance and issuing safety-fitness determinations for motor carriers. In June 2017, the NAS published a report on the subject providing specific recommendations and concluding, among other things, that the FMCSA should explore a more formal statistical model to replace the current SMS process. In June 2018, the FMCSA posted its response to the NAS study in a report to Congress, concluding, among other things, that it would develop and test a new model, the Item Response Theory (IRT), which would replace the SMS process currently used. The FMCSA was expected to commence small scale testing of the IRT model as early as September 2018, with full scale testing expected to occur in April 2019 and possible program roll-out expected to occur in late 2019 but the testing schedule has been delayed. The FMCSA’s June 2018 response is under audit by the DOT Inspector General to assess consistency with the NAS recommendations, and the audit findings will guide the agency’s actions and timing with respect to testing of the IRT model as a potential replacement for the SMS, in the event and to the extent that the FMCSA adopts the IRT model in replacement of the SMS or otherwise pursues rulemakings in the future that revise the methodology used to determine a carrier’s safety rating in a manner that incorporates more stringent standards, then it is possible that the Company and other motor carriers could be adversely affected, as compared to consideration of the current standards. If the Company were to receive an unsatisfactory CSA score, whether under the current SMS process, the IRT model, should it be finalized, and adopted, or as a result of some other safety-fitness determination, it could adversely affect the Company’s business as many of its existing customer contracts have a prohibition against doing business with carriers that have an “unsatisfactory” DOT safety rating, and an unsatisfactory rating could negatively impact or restrict the Company’s operations.

The FMCSA published a final rule in December 2015 mandating the use of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) for commercial motor vehicle drivers to measure their compliance with hours-of-service requirements by December 18, 2017. The 2015 ELD final rule generally applies to most motor carriers and drivers who are required to keep records of duty status, unless they qualify for an exception to the rule, and the rule also applies to drivers domiciled in Canada and Mexico. Under the 2015 final rule, motor carriers and drivers subject to the rule were required to use either an ELD or an automatic onboard recording device (AOBRD) compliant with existing regulations by December 18, 2017. However, the AOBRDs were only permitted to be used until December 16, 2019, provided those devices were put into use before December 18, 2017. Starting December 16, 2019, all carriers and drivers subject to the 2015 final rule must use ELDs. Commencing with the December 18, 2017 effective date, the Company and other motor carriers subject to the 2015 rule are required to use ELDs or AOBRDs in their operations.

The Company is subject to various environmental laws and regulations governing, among other matters, the operation of fuel storage tanks, release of emissions from its vehicles (including engine idling) and facilities, and adverse impacts to the environment, including to the soil, groundwater, and surface water. The Company has implemented programs designed to monitor and address identified environmental risks. Historically, the Company’s environmental compliance costs have not had a material adverse effect on its results of operations; however, there can be no assurance that such costs will not be material in the future or that such future compliance will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business and operating results.

The Company also has vehicle maintenance operations at certain of its facilities. The Company’s operations involve the risks of fuel spillage or seepage into the environment, discharge of contaminants, environmental and natural resource damage, and unauthorized hazardous material spills, releases, or disposal actions, among others. Some of the Company’s operations are at facilities where soil and groundwater contamination have occurred. If the Company is found to be responsible for such contamination or spills, the Company could be subject to costs and liabilities, including costs for remediation, environmental natural resource damages and penalties.

We cannot predict the nature of any future laws, regulations, interpretations, or applications, nor can we determine what effect such additional regulation, when and if it occurs, would have on our business in the future. Such additional regulation could require, however, any or all of the actions listed below, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations:

Environmental compliance costs and liabilities could reduce our earnings and available cash for our operations.

We are subject to increasingly stringent laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and the importation and use of hazardous materials, including laws and regulations governing air emissions, water discharges and waste management. Government authorities have the power to enforce compliance with their regulations, and violations are subject to fines, injunctions or both. We incur and expect to continue to incur capital and operating costs to comply with environmental laws and regulations. The technical requirements of these laws and regulations are becoming increasingly complex and expensive to implement. These laws may provide for “strict liability” for damages to natural resources or threats to public health and safety. Strict liability can render a party liable for damages without regard to negligence or fault on the part of the party. Some environmental laws provide for joint and serval strict liability for remediation of spills and release of hazardous substances.

Stricter enforcement of existing laws and regulations, new laws and regulations or the imposition of new or increased requirements could require us to incur costs and penalties or become the basis of new or increased liabilities that could reduce its revenue and available cash for operations. The Company believes it is currently in compliance with environmental laws and regulations.

Compliance with climate change legislation or initiatives could negatively impact our business.

The U.S. Congress has considered legislation to mandate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and certain states have already implemented, or may be in the process of implementing, similar legislation. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court has held in its decisions that carbon dioxide can be regulated as an “air pollutant” under the Clean Air Act, which could result in future regulations even if the U.S. Congress does not adopt new legislation regarding emissions. At this time, it is not possible to predict how legislation or new federal or state government mandates regarding the emission of greenhouse gases could impact our business; however, any such future laws or regulations could require us or our customers to devote potentially material amounts of capital or other resources in order to comply with such regulations. These expenditures could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.

Changes in accounting guidance could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, as reported in our financial statements.

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP, which is periodically revised and/or expanded. Accordingly, from time to time we are required to adopt new or revised accounting guidance and related interpretations issued by recognized authoritative bodies, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the SEC. Market conditions have prompted these organizations to issue new guidance that further interprets or seeks to revise accounting pronouncements related to various transactions as well as to issue new guidance expanding disclosures. An assessment of proposed standards is not provided, as such proposals are subject to change through the exposure process and, therefore, their effects on our financial statements cannot be meaningfully assessed. It is possible that future accounting guidance we are required to adopt could change the current accounting treatment that we apply to our consolidated financial statements and that such changes could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, as reported in our consolidated financial statements.

Unexpected events, including natural disasters, may increase our cost of doing business or disrupt our operations.

The occurrence of one or more unexpected events, including fires, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other forms of severe weather in the United States or in other countries in which our suppliers may be located could adversely affect our operations and financial performance. Natural disasters, pandemic illness, equipment failures, power outages or other unexpected events could result in physical damage to and complete or partial closure of one or more of our offices and disrupt our ability to deliver our products and services. Existing insurance arrangements may not provide protection for all of the costs that may arise from such events.

Failure to obtain and retain skilled technical personnel could impede our operations.

We require skilled personnel to operate and provide technical services and support for our business. Competition for the personnel required for our businesses intensifies as activity increases. In periods of high utilization, it may become more difficult to find and retain qualified individuals. This could increase our costs or have other adverse effects on our operations.

Our operations are subject to inherent risks, some of which are beyond our control. These risks may not be fully covered under our insurance policies.

Our operations are subject to hazards inherent in the oil and natural gas industry, such as, but not limited to, accidents, blowouts, explosions, fires, and oil spills. These conditions can cause:

The Company maintains insurance coverage that we believe to be customary in the industry against these hazards. However, we do not have insurance against all foreseeable risks, either because insurance is not available or because of the high premium costs. As such, not all of our property is insured. The occurrence of an event not fully insured against, or the failure of an insurer to meet its insurance obligations, could result in substantial losses. In addition, we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at reasonable rates. Insurance may not be available to cover any or all of the risks to which we are subject, or, even if available, it may be inadequate, or insurance premiums or other costs could rise significantly in the future so as to make such insurance prohibitively expensive. It is likely that, in our insurance renewals, our premiums and deductibles will be higher, and certain insurance coverage either will be unavailable or considerably more expensive than it has been in the recent past. In addition, our insurance is subject to coverage limits. The occurrence of a significant event or adverse claim in excess of the insurance coverage that we maintain or that is not covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Indemnification of officers and directors may result in unanticipated expenses.

The Delaware General Corporation Law, our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and bylaws, and indemnification agreements between the Company and certain individuals provide for the indemnification of our directors, officers, employees, and agents, under certain circumstances, against attorney’s fees and other expenses incurred by them in any litigation to which they become a party arising from their association with us or activities on our behalf. We also will bear the expenses of such litigation for any of our directors, officers, employees, or agents, upon such person’s promise to repay them if it is ultimately determined that any such person shall not have been entitled to indemnification. This indemnification policy could result in substantial expenditures by us that we may be unable to recoup and could direct funds away from our business and products (if any).

Our operations are subject to cyber-attacks that could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated results of operations and consolidated financial condition.

Our operations are increasingly dependent on digital technologies and services. We use these technologies for internal purposes, including data storage, processing and transmissions, as well as in our interactions with customers and suppliers. Digital technologies are subject to the risk of cyber-attacks. If our systems for protecting against cybersecurity risks prove not to be sufficient, we could be adversely affected by, among other things: loss of or damage to intellectual property, proprietary or confidential information, or customer, supplier, or employee data; interruption of our business operations; and increased costs required to prevent, respond to, or mitigate cybersecurity attacks. These risks could harm our reputation and our relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and other third parties, and may result in claims against us. These risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated results of operations and consolidated financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Securities

There is a limited trading market for our shares.  You may not be able to sell your shares if you need money.

Our common stock is traded on the OTCQB Venture Market (herein “OTC Market”), an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities.  According to OTC Markets, during the thirty days preceding filing of this report, the average daily trading volume of our common stock was approximately 54,789 shares traded per day, on average, and currently is thinly traded.  As of April 16, 2021, we had 86 record holders of our common stock (not including an indeterminate number of stockholders whose shares are held by brokers in “street name”).  There has been limited trading activity in our stock, and when it has traded, the price has fluctuated widely.  We consider our common stock to be “thinly traded” and any last reported sale prices may not be a true market-based valuation of the common stock.  Stockholders may experience difficulty selling their shares if they choose to do so because of the illiquid market and limited public float for our common stock.

We are subject to the penny stock rules and these rules may adversely affect trading in our common stock.

Our common stock is a “low-priced” security under rules promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  In accordance with these rules, broker-dealers participating in transactions in low-priced securities must first deliver a risk disclosure document which describes the risks associated with such stocks, the broker-dealer’s duties in selling the stock, the customer’s rights and remedies and certain market and other information.  Furthermore, the broker-dealer must make a suitability determination approving the customer for low-priced stock transactions based on the customer’s financial situation, investment experience and objectives.  Broker-dealers must also disclose these restrictions in writing to the customer, obtain specific written consent from the customer, and provide monthly account statements to the customer. The effect of these restrictions probably decreases the willingness of broker-dealers to make a market in our common stock, decreases liquidity of our common stock and increases transaction costs for sales and purchases of our common stock as compared to other securities.

Transfers of our securities may be restricted by virtue of state securities “blue sky” laws which prohibit trading absent compliance with individual state laws. These restrictions may make it difficult or impossible to sell shares in those states.

Transfers of our common stock may be restricted under the securities or securities regulations laws promulgated by various states and foreign jurisdictions, commonly referred to as “blue sky” laws. Absent compliance with such individual state laws, our common stock may not be traded in such jurisdictions. Because the securities registered hereunder have not been registered for resale under the blue sky laws of any state, the holders of such shares and persons who desire to purchase them should be aware that there may be significant state blue sky law restrictions upon the ability of investors to sell the securities and of purchasers to purchase the securities. These restrictions may prohibit the secondary trading of our common stock. Investors should consider the secondary market for our securities to be a limited one.

Our Officers, Directors and ten percent or greater shareholders collectively own a substantial portion of our outstanding common stock and preferred stock, and as long as they do, they may be able to control the outcome of stockholder voting.

Our Officers, Directors and ten percent or greater shareholders are collectively the beneficial owners of approximately 54.5% of the  outstanding shares of our common stock as of the date of this report. Additionally, the holder of our Series A Preferred Stock controls approximately 22% of our common stock, which preferred stock votes with the common stockholders on as converted basis.  As long as our Officers, Directors and ten percent or greater shareholders collectively own a significant percentage of our common stock, our other shareholders may generally be unable to affect or change the management or the direction of our company without the support of our Officers, Directors and ten percent or greater shareholders.  As a result, some investors may be unwilling to purchase our common stock.  If the demand for our common stock is reduced because our Officers, Directors and ten percent or greater shareholders have significant influence over our company, the price of our common stock could be materially depressed.  The Officers, Directors and ten percent or greater shareholders will be able to exert significant influence over the outcome of all corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, including the election of Directors, amendments to our certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions.

We have the ability to issue additional shares of our common stock and shares of preferred stock without asking for stockholder approval, which could cause your investment to be diluted.

Our Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the Board of Directors to issue up to 250,000,000 shares of common stock and up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock.  The power of the Board of Directors to issue shares of common stock, preferred stock or warrants or options to purchase shares of common stock or preferred stock is generally not subject to stockholder approval.  Currently, the Company has issued 2,000 shares of Series A convertible preferred stock in connection with the Trinity Services acquisition in June 2019. Accordingly, any additional issuance of our common stock, or preferred stock that may be convertible into common stock, may have the effect of diluting your investment.

By issuing preferred stock, we may be able to delay, defer or prevent a change of control.

Our Certificate of Incorporation permits us to issue, without approval from our shareholders, a total of 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, 2,000 of which have been issued to date as Series A Preferred Stock.  Our Board of Directors can determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions granted to, or imposed upon, the shares of preferred stock and to fix the number of shares constituting any series and the designation of such series.  It is possible that our Board of Directors, in determining the rights, preferences and privileges to be granted when the preferred stock is issued, may include provisions that have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control, discouraging bids for our common stock at a premium over the market price, or that adversely affect the market price of and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock.

Our stock price is volatile.

The trading price of our common stock has been and continues to be subject to fluctuations.  The stock price may fluctuate in response to a number of events and factors, such as quarterly variations in operating results, the operating and stock performance of other companies that investors may deem as comparable and news reports relating to trends in the marketplace, among other factors.  Significant volatility in the market price of our common stock may arise due to factors such as:

As long as there is only a limited public market for our common stock, the sale of a significant number of shares of our common stock at any particular time could be difficult to achieve at the market prices prevailing immediately before such shares are offered and could cause a severe decline in the price of our common stock.

There are limitations in connection with the availability of quotes and order information on the OTC Markets.

Trades and quotations on the OTC Markets involve a manual process and the market information for such securities cannot be guaranteed. In addition, quote information, or even firm quotes, may not be available.  The manual execution process may delay order processing and intervening price fluctuations may result in the failure of a limit order to execute or the execution of a market order at a significantly different price.  Execution of trades, execution reporting and the delivery of legal trade confirmation may be delayed significantly.  Consequently, one may not be able to sell shares of our common stock at the optimum trading prices.

There are delays in order communication on the OTC Markets.

Electronic processing of orders is not available for securities traded on the OTC Marketplace and high order volume and communication risks may prevent or delay the execution of one's OTC Marketplace trading orders.  This lack of automated order processing may affect the timeliness of order execution reporting and the availability of firm quotes for shares of our common stock.  Heavy market volume may lead to a delay in the processing of OTC Marketplace security orders for shares of our common stock, due to the manual nature of the market.  Consequently, one may not able to sell shares of our common stock at the optimum trading prices.

There is a risk of market fraud on the OTC Marketplace.

OTC Marketplace securities are frequent targets of fraud or market manipulation. Not only because of their generally low price, but also because the OTC Market reporting requirements for these securities are less stringent than for listed or NASDAQ traded securities, and no exchange requirements are imposed.  Dealers may dominate the market and set prices that are not based on competitive forces. Individuals or groups may create fraudulent markets and control the sudden, sharp increase of price and trading volume and the equally sudden collapse of the market price for shares of our common stock.

There is a limitation in connection with the editing and canceling of orders on the OTC Markets.

Orders for OTC Market securities may be canceled or edited like orders for other securities. All requests to change or cancel an order must be submitted to, received, and processed by the OTC Markets.  Due to the manual order processing involved in handling OTC Markets trades, order processing and reporting may be delayed, and one may not be able to cancel or edit one's order. Consequently, one may not be able to sell its shares of our common stock at the optimum trading prices.

Increased dealer compensation could adversely affect our stock price.

The dealer's spread (the difference between the bid and ask prices) may be large and may result in substantial losses to the seller of shares of our Common Stock on the OTC Markets if the stock must be sold immediately.  Further, purchasers of shares of our Common Stock may incur an immediate "paper" loss due to the price spread.  Moreover, dealers trading on the OTC Markets may not have a bid price for shares of our Common Stock on the OTC Markets.  Due to the foregoing, demand for shares of our Common Stock on the OTC Markets may be decreased or eliminated.