“Material Adverse Effect” means, with respect to any Person, any event, change, circumstance, occurrence or effect that (i) has, or could be expected to have, a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition or results of operations of such Person and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (ii) could reasonably be expected to prevent, materially delay or materially impair the ability of such Person to consummate the Transactions; provided, however, in the case of clause (i) only, no event, change, circumstance, occurrence or effect to the extent directly or indirectly resulting from, arising out of, attributable to, or related to any of the following shall be deemed to be or constitute a “Material Adverse Effect” or shall be taken into account when determining whether a “Material Adverse Effect” has occurred or would occur: (A) changes in conditions or developments generally applicable to the oil and gas exploration, development or production industry in the United States or any area or areas where the assets of such Person or any of its Subsidiaries are located, including any increase in operating costs or capital expenses or any reduction in drilling activity or production, or changes in Law or regulation affecting such industry; (B) general economic or political conditions or securities, credit, financial or other capital markets conditions (or changes in such conditions), including changes generally in supply, demand, price levels, interest rates, changes in the price of any commodity (including Hydrocarbons) or general market prices, changes in the cost of fuel, sand or proppants and changes in exchange rates, in each case in the United States or any foreign jurisdiction; (C) any failure, in and of itself, by such Person to meet any internal or published projections, forecasts, estimates or predictions in respect of revenues, earnings, production or other financial or operating metrics for any period (it being understood that the events, changes, circumstances, occurrences or effects giving rise to or contributing to such failure may be deemed to constitute or be taken into account in determining whether there has occurred or would occur a Material Adverse Effect); (D) the execution and delivery of this Agreement; (E) the public announcement of the Transactions, including the impact thereof on the relationships, contractual or otherwise, of such Person or any of its Subsidiaries with employees, labor unions, customers, suppliers or partners; (F) any change, in and of itself, in the market price or trading volume of such Person’s securities (it being understood that the events, changes, circumstances, occurrences or effects giving rise to or contributing to such change may be deemed to constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been or will be, a Material Adverse Effect); (G) any change in applicable Law, COPAS or GAAP (or authoritative interpretation thereof); (H) geopolitical conditions (or changes in such conditions), the outbreak or escalation of hostilities, any acts of war, sabotage or terrorism, or any escalation or worsening of any such acts of war, sabotage or terrorism; (I) any epidemic, pandemic, disease outbreak (including the COVID-19 virus) or other public health crisis or public health event, or the worsening of any of the   99


foregoing; (J) any disruption in the purchase or transportation of crude oil or natural gas produced or otherwise sold by such Person or its Subsidiaries as a result of any shutdown, interruption or declaration of force majeure by any pipeline operator or other purchaser of such products; (K) natural declines in well performance or reclassification or recalculation of reserves in the ordinary course of business; (L) seasonal reductions in revenues and/or earnings of such Person or any of its Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of their respective businesses; (M) any actions taken or omitted to be taken by a Party at the written direction of the other Parties (for the avoidance of doubt any action by, or omission of, a Party for which such Party sought or requested, and the other Parties provided, consent shall not be deemed to be “at the written direction of” such Party); or (N) compliance with the terms of, or the taking of any action expressly required by, this Agreement (except for any obligation under this Agreement to operate in the ordinary course of business (or similar obligation) pursuant to Section 5.1), except to the extent any such event, change, circumstance, occurrence or effect directly or indirectly resulting from, arising out of, attributable to or related to any of the matters described in clauses (A), (B), (G), (H) and (I), has a disproportionate effect on such Person and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, relative to other similarly situated Persons in the oil and gas exploration, development and production industry in the geographic areas in which such Person and any of its Subsidiaries operate (in which case, such event, change, circumstance, occurrence or effect (if any) shall be taken into account when determining whether a “Material Adverse Effect” has occurred or would occur solely to the extent it is disproportionate).  (Pages 109-110)

Question: FLS (MAE) Standard-Answer
Subquestion: <NONE>
Answer: "Could" (reasonably) be expected to