Commitments and Contingencies
Included below is a discussion of the Company's various future commitments and contingencies as of December 31, 2025. The Company has provided accruals where necessary for contingent liabilities, based on ASC 450, Contingencies, when it has determined that a liability is probable and reasonably estimable. The Company continuously assesses the potential liability related to the Company's pending litigation and revises its estimates when additional information becomes available. Additionally, the Company currently expenses all legal costs as they are incurred.
Legal Proceedings. As previously disclosed, on May 16, 2016, the Company and certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries (collectively, the “Debtors”) filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”). The Bankruptcy Court confirmed the joint plan of reorganization (the “Plan”) of the Debtors on September 9, 2016, and the Debtors subsequently emerged from bankruptcy on October 4, 2016.
Pursuant to the Plan, claims against the Company were discharged without recovery in each of the following consolidated cases:
• In re SandRidge Energy, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case No. 5:12-cv-01341-LRW, USDC, Western District of Oklahoma (“In re SandRidge Energy, Inc. Securities Litigation”); and
• Ivan Nibur, Lawrence Ross, Jase Luna, Matthew Willenbucher, and the Duane & Virginia Lanier Trust v. SandRidge Mississippian Trust I, et al., Case No. 5:15-cv-00634-SLP, USDC, Western District of Oklahoma (“Lanier Trust”)
Both cases were settled with all defendants except the SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (“the Trust”) in Lanier Trust, which is being sued by a class of purchasers of units under the remaining claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, based on allegations that the Trust made misrepresentations or omissions concerning various topics including the performance of wells operated by the Company. On September 11, 2025, the Federal District Court (Western District of Oklahoma) issued summary judgment in favor of the Trust with respect to all claims and dismissed, with prejudice, all claims against the Company, and the plaintiffs' right to appeal has expired.
Separately, the Company had received a demand by two of the settling individual defendants to fund a proposed settlement of $17.0 million with those defendants. The insurance carriers funded the $17.0 million settlement and then requested indemnification from the Company. The Company refused and filed an action in Oklahoma state court seeking a declaratory judgment that the insurers were not entitled to indemnification; the insurers counterclaimed. Subsequently, the Company voluntarily dismissed its action. In line with the Company's position regarding the insurers’ claims, the Company filed motions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas seeking to reopen the bankruptcy case and to obtain a declaration that the insurers’ claims were discharged under the September 2016 plan. The motions were denied and the Company appealed the bankruptcy court’s decision to the Southern District of the United States District Court of Texas; the appeal was denied in December of 2025 and the Company has appealed the District Court's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Independent of the Company’s appeal to reopen the bankruptcy case, the insurers’ Oklahoma counterclaim is stayed, with no further development. The Company disputes any liability, as it believes it has meritorious defenses, and intends to continue to vigorously defend against this claim. Considering the status of this matter, and the facts, circumstances and legal theories thereto, the Company is not able to determine the likelihood of an outcome. The Company has not established any liabilities relating to this matter.
In addition to the matters described above, the Company is involved in various lawsuits, claims and proceedings, which are being handled and defended by the Company in the ordinary course of business.