Converted by EDGARwiz


Execution Version




























CREDIT AGREEMENT







dated as of July 1, 2014







among







RING ENERGY INC.

as Borrower







THE LENDERS FROM TIME TO TIME PARTY HERETO







and







SUNTRUST BANK 

as Administrative Agent





































SUNTRUST ROBINSON HUMPHREY, INC.

Sole Lead Arranger and Sole Bookrunner














TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS; CONSTRUCTION

1

Section 1.1.

Definitions

1

Section 1.2.

Classifications of Loans and Borrowings

19

Section 1.3.

Accounting Terms and Determination

19

Section 1.4.

Terms Generally

19

Section 1.5.

Time of Day

19

ARTICLE II AMOUNT AND TERMS OF THE COMMITMENTS

19

Section 2.1.

General Description of Facility

19

Section 2.2.

Loans

20

Section 2.3.

Procedure for Borrowings

20

Section 2.4.

Borrowing Base.

20

Section 2.5.

Funding of Borrowings.

21

Section 2.6.

Interest Elections.

22

Section 2.7.

Optional Reduction and Termination of Commitments.

22

Section 2.8.

Repayment of Loans

23

Section 2.9.

Evidence of Indebtedness.

23

Section 2.10.

Optional Prepayments

23

Section 2.11.

Mandatory Prepayments.

24

Section 2.12.

Interest on Loans.

24

Section 2.13.

Fees.

25

Section 2.14.

Computation of Interest and Fees.

25

Section 2.15.

Inability to Determine Interest Rates

25

Section 2.16.

Illegality

26

Section 2.17.

Increased Costs.

26

Section 2.18.

Funding Indemnity

27

Section 2.19.

Taxes.

27

Section 2.20.

Payments Generally; Pro Rata Treatment; Sharing of Set-offs.

29

Section 2.21.

Letters of Credit.

30

Section 2.22.

Mitigation of Obligations

33

Section 2.23.

Replacement of Lenders

33

Section 2.24.

Defaulting Lenders.

33

ARTICLE III CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO LOANS AND LETTERS OF CREDIT

35

Section 3.1.

Conditions to Effectiveness

35

Section 3.2.

Conditions to Each Credit Event

37

Section 3.3.

Post-Closing Conditions

38

Section 3.4.

Delivery of Documents

38

ARTICLE IV REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

38

Section 4.1.

Existence; Power

38

Section 4.2.

Organizational Power; Authorization

38

Section 4.3.

Governmental Approvals; No Conflicts

39

Section 4.4.

Financial Statements

39

Section 4.5.

Litigation and Environmental Matters.

39

Section 4.6.

Compliance with Laws and Agreements

40

Section 4.7.

Investment Company Act

40

Section 4.8.

Taxes

40

Section 4.9.

Margin Regulations

40

Section 4.10.

ERISA

41

Section 4.11.

Ownership of Property; Insurance.

41

Section 4.12.

Disclosure

42

Section 4.13.

Labor Relations

42

Section 4.14.

Subsidiaries

42

Section 4.15.

Solvency

42

Section 4.16.

Deposit and Disbursement Accounts

43

Section 4.17.

Collateral Documents.

43

Section 4.18.

Restriction on Liens

43

Section 4.19.

Material Agreements

43

Section 4.20.

OFAC; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

43






i









Section 4.21.

Patriot Act

43

Section 4.22.

Gas Imbalances; Prepayments

44

Section 4.23.

Marketing of Production

44

Section 4.24.

Hedging Transactions and Qualified ECP Guarantor

44

Section 4.25.

Stanford

44

ARTICLE V AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS

44

Section 5.1.

Financial Statements and Other Information

44

Section 5.2.

Notices of Material Events

45

Section 5.3.

Existence; Conduct of Business

46

Section 5.4.

Compliance with Laws

46

Section 5.5.

Payment of Obligations

46

Section 5.6.

Books and Records

47

Section 5.7.

Visitation and Inspection

47

Section 5.8.

Maintenance of Properties; Insurance

47

Section 5.9.

Use of Proceeds; Margin Regulations

47

Section 5.10.

Casualty and Condemnation

47

Section 5.11.

Cash Management

48

Section 5.12.

Additional Subsidiaries and Collateral.

48

Section 5.13.

Reserve Reports.

49

Section 5.14.

Title Information.

49

Section 5.15.

Additional Mortgaged Property

50

Section 5.16.

Further Assurances

50

Section 5.17.

Environmental Matters.

50

Section 5.18.

Commodity Exchange Act Keepwell Provisions

51

ARTICLE VI FINANCIAL COVENANTS

51

Section 6.1.

Leverage Ratio

51

Section 6.2.

Current Ratio

51

ARTICLE VII NEGATIVE COVENANTS

51

Section 7.1.

Indebtedness and Preferred Equity

51

Section 7.2.

Liens

52

Section 7.3.

Fundamental Changes.

52

Section 7.4.

Investments, Loans

53

Section 7.5.

Restricted Payments

53

Section 7.6.

Sale of Properties; Termination of Hedging Transactions

53

Section 7.7.

Transactions with Affiliates

54

Section 7.8.

Restrictive Agreements

54

Section 7.9.

Sale and Leaseback Transactions

54

Section 7.10.

Hedging Transactions.

54

Section 7.11.

Amendment to Material Documents

55

Section 7.12.

Sale or Discount of Receivables

55

Section 7.13.

Accounting Changes

55

Section 7.14.

Lease Obligations

55

Section 7.15.

Government Regulation

55

Section 7.16.

Gas Imbalances, Take-or-Pay or Other Prepayments

56

Section 7.17.

Marketing Activities

56

Section 7.18.

Non-Qualified ECP Guarantors

56

Section 7.19.

Environmental Matters

56

Section 7.20.

Stanford

56

ARTICLE VIII EVENTS OF DEFAULT

56

Section 8.1.

Events of Default

56

Section 8.2.

Application of Proceeds from Collateral

58

ARTICLE IX THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT

59

Section 9.1.

Appointment of the Administrative Agent.

59

Section 9.2.

Nature of Duties of the Administrative Agent

60

Section 9.3.

Lack of Reliance on the Administrative Agent

60

Section 9.4.

Certain Rights of the Administrative Agent

60

Section 9.5.

Reliance by the Administrative Agent

60

Section 9.6.

The Administrative Agent in its Individual Capacity

61

Section 9.7.

Successor Administrative Agent.

61

Section 9.8.

Withholding Tax

61






ii









Section 9.9.

The Administrative Agent May File Proofs of Claim.

61

Section 9.10.

Authorization to Execute Other Loan Documents

62

Section 9.11.

Collateral and Guaranty Matters

62

Section 9.12.

Right to Realize on Collateral and Enforce Guarantee

62

Section 9.13.

Secured Bank Product Obligations and Hedging Obligations

62

ARTICLE X MISCELLANEOUS

63

Section 10.1.

Notices.

63

Section 10.2.

Waiver; Amendments.

64

Section 10.3.

Expenses; Indemnification.

65

Section 10.4.

Successors and Assigns.

66

Section 10.5.

Governing Law; Jurisdiction; Consent to Service of Process.

69

Section 10.6.

WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL

69

Section 10.7.

Right of Set-off

70

Section 10.8.

Counterparts; Integration

70

Section 10.9.

Survival

70

Section 10.10.

Severability

70

Section 10.11.

Confidentiality

71

Section 10.12.

Interest Rate Limitation

71

Section 10.13.

Waiver of Effect of Corporate Seal

71

Section 10.14.

Patriot Act

71

Section 10.15.

No Advisory or Fiduciary Responsibility

72












iii






Schedules




Schedule I

-

Applicable Margin and Applicable Percentage

Schedule II

Maximum Loan Amounts




Schedule 4.5

-

Environmental Matters

Schedule 4.14

-

Subsidiaries

Schedule 4.16

-

Deposit and Disbursement Accounts

Schedule 4.19

-

Material Agreements

Schedule 4.22

-

Gas Imbalances; Prepayments

Schedule 4.23

-

Marketing of Production

Schedule 4.24

-

Hedging Transactions

Schedule 7.1

-

Existing Indebtedness

Schedule 7.2

-

Existing Liens

Schedule 7.4

-

Existing Investments




Exhibits




Exhibit A

- 

Form of Assignment and Acceptance

Exhibit 2.3

-

Form of Notice of Borrowing

Exhibit 2.6

-

Form of Notice of Continuation/Conversion

Exhibit 2.19

-

Tax Certificates

Exhibit 5.1(c)

-

Form of Compliance Certificate












iv













CREDIT AGREEMENT




THIS CREDIT AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of July 1, 2014, by and among RING ENERGY INC., a Nevada corporation (the “Borrower”), the several banks and other financial institutions and lenders from time to time party hereto (the “Lenders”), and SUNTRUST BANK, in its capacity as administrative agent for the Lenders (the “Administrative Agent”) and as issuing bank (the “Issuing Bank”).




W I T N E S S E T H:




WHEREAS, the Borrower has requested that the Lenders establish a $150,000,000 revolving credit facility in favor of the Borrower;




WHEREAS, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Lenders and the Issuing Bank, to the extent of their respective Commitments as defined herein, are willing severally to establish the requested revolving credit facility and letter of credit subfacility in favor of the Borrower;




NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants herein contained, the Borrower, the Lenders, the Administrative Agent and the Issuing Bank agree as follows:




ARTICLE I



DEFINITIONS; CONSTRUCTION




Section 1.1.

Definitions.  In addition to the other terms defined herein, the following terms used herein shall have the meanings herein specified (to be equally applicable to both the singular and plural forms of the terms defined):




“Acquisition” shall mean (a) any Investment by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries in any other Person organized in the United States (with substantially all of the assets of such Person and its Subsidiaries located in the United States), pursuant to which such Person shall become a Subsidiary of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or shall be merged with the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or (b) any acquisition by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries of the assets of any Person (other than a Subsidiary of the Borrower) that constitute all or substantially all of the assets of such Person or a division or business unit of such Person, whether through purchase, merger or other business combination or transaction (and substantially all of such assets, division or business unit are located in the United States).  With respect to a determination of the amount of an Acquisition, such amount shall include all consideration (including any deferred payments) set forth in the applicable agreements governing such Acquisition as well as the assumption of any Indebtedness in connection therewith.




“Adjusted LIBO Rate” means, with respect to each Interest Period for a Eurodollar Loan, (i) the rate per annum equal to the London interbank offered rate for deposits in U.S. Dollars appearing  on Reuters screen page LIBOR 01 (or on any successor or substitute page of such service or any successor to such service, or such other commercially available source providing such quotations as may be designated by the Administrative Agent from time to time) at approximately 11:00 A.M. (London time) two (2) Business Days prior to the first day of such Interest Period, with a maturity comparable to such Interest Period, divided by (ii) a percentage equal to 100% minus the then stated maximum rate of all reserve requirements (including any marginal, emergency, supplemental, special or other reserves and without benefit of credits for proration, exceptions or offsets that may be available from time to time) applicable to any member bank of the Federal Reserve System in respect of Eurocurrency liabilities as defined in Regulation D (or any successor category of liabilities under Regulation D); provided, that if the rate referred to in clause (i) above is not available at any such time for any reason, then the rate referred to in clause (i) shall instead be the interest rate per annum, as determined by the Administrative Agent, to be the arithmetic average of the rates per annum at which deposits in U. S. Dollars in an amount equal to the amount of such Eurodollar Loan are offered by major banks in the London interbank market to the Administrative Agent at approximately 11:00 A.M. (London time), two (2) Business Days prior to the first day of such Interest Period.




“Administrative Agent” shall have the meaning set forth in the introductory paragraph hereof.




“Administrative Questionnaire” shall mean, with respect to each Lender, an administrative questionnaire in the form provided by the Administrative Agent and submitted to the Administrative Agent duly completed by such Lender.

















“Affiliate” shall mean, as to any Person, any other Person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, Controls, is Controlled by, or is under common Control with, such Person.  For the purposes of this definition, “Control” shall mean the power, directly or indirectly, either to (i) vote 5% or more of the securities having ordinary voting power for the election of directors (or persons performing similar functions) of a Person or (ii) direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether through the ability to exercise voting power, by control or otherwise.  The terms “Controlled by” and “under common Control with” have the meanings correlative thereto.




“Aggregate Commitment Amount” shall mean the aggregate principal amount of the Aggregate Commitments from time to time.




“Aggregate Commitments” shall mean, collectively, all Commitments of all Lenders at any time outstanding.




“Aggregate Maximum Loan Amount” shall mean $150,000,000.00.  On the Closing Date, the Aggregate Maximum Loan Amount is as set forth on Schedule II.




“Aggregate Maximum Loans” shall mean, collectively, the Maximum Loan Amounts of all Lenders.




“Anti-Terrorism Order” shall mean Executive Order 13224, signed by President George W. Bush on September 24, 2001. 




“Applicable Lending Office” shall mean, for each Lender and for each Type of Loan, the “Lending Office” of such Lender (or an Affiliate of such Lender) designated for such Type of Loan in the Administrative Questionnaire submitted by such Lender or such other office of such Lender (or such Affiliate of such Lender) as such Lender may from time to time specify to the Administrative Agent and the Borrower as the office by which its Loans of such Type are to be made and maintained.




“Applicable Margin” shall mean, as of any date, with respect to interest on all Loans outstanding on such date or the letter of credit fee, as the case may be, the percentage per annum set forth in the Borrowing Base Utilization Grid, based upon the Borrowing Base Utilization Percentage then in effect, provided in Schedule I.




Each change in the Applicable Margin shall apply during the period commencing on the effective date of such change and ending on the date immediately preceding the effective date of the next such change; provided that if at any time the Borrower fails to deliver a Reserve Report pursuant to Section 5.13(a), then the “Applicable Margin” means the rate per annum set forth on the grid when the Borrowing Base Utilization Percentage is at its highest level.




“Applicable Percentage” shall mean, as of any date, with respect to the unused commitment fee as of any date, the percentage per annum set forth in the Borrowing Base Utilization Grid, based upon the Borrowing Base Utilization Percentage then in effect, provided in Schedule I.

Each change in the Applicable Percentage shall apply during the period commencing on the effective date of such change and ending on the date immediately preceding the effective date of the next such change; provided that if at any time the Borrower fails to deliver a Reserve Report pursuant to Section 5.13(a), then the “Applicable Percentage” means the rate per annum set forth on the grid when the Borrowing Base Utilization Percentage is at its highest level.




“Approved Fund” shall mean any Person (other than a natural Person) that is (or will be) engaged in making, purchasing, holding or otherwise investing in commercial loans and similar extensions of credit in the ordinary course of its business and that is administered or managed by (i) a Lender, (ii) an Affiliate of a Lender or (iii) an entity or an Affiliate of an entity that administers or manages a Lender.




“Approved Petroleum Engineers” means (a) Cawley, Gillespie & Associates, Inc. and (b) any other independent petroleum engineers reasonably acceptable to the Administrative Agent. 




“Assignment and Acceptance” shall mean an assignment and acceptance entered into by a Lender and an assignee (with the consent of any party whose consent is required by Section 10.4(b)) and accepted by the Administrative Agent, in the form of Exhibit A attached hereto or any other form approved by the Administrative Agent.




“Availability Period” shall mean the period from the Closing Date to but excluding the Commitment Termination Date. 




“Bank Product Obligations” shall mean, collectively, all obligations and other liabilities of any Loan Party to any Bank Product Provider arising with respect to any Bank Products.






2









“Bank Product Provider” shall mean any Person that, at the time it provides any Bank Product to any Loan Party, (i) is a Lender or an Affiliate of a Lender and (ii) except when the Bank Product Provider is SunTrust Bank and its Affiliates, has provided prior written notice to the Administrative Agent which has been acknowledged by the Borrower of (x) the existence of such Bank Product, (y) the maximum dollar amount of obligations arising thereunder (the “Bank Product Amount”) and (z) the methodology to be used by such parties in determining the obligations under such Bank Product from time to time.  In no event shall any Bank Product Provider acting in such capacity be deemed a Lender for purposes hereof to the extent of and as to Bank Products except that each reference to the term “Lender” in Article IX and Section 10.3(b) shall be deemed to include such Bank Product Provider and in no event shall the approval of any such person in its capacity as Bank Product Provider be required in connection with the release or termination of any security interest or Lien of the Administrative Agent.  The Bank Product Amount may be changed from time to time upon written notice to the Administrative Agent by the applicable Bank Product Provider.  No Bank Product Amount may be established at any time that a Default or Event of Default exists.




“Bank Products” shall mean any of the following services provided to any Loan Party by any Bank Product Provider: (a) any treasury or other cash management services, including deposit accounts, automated clearing house (ACH) origination and other funds transfer, depository (including cash vault and check deposit), zero balance accounts and sweeps, return items processing, controlled disbursement accounts, positive pay, lockboxes and lockbox accounts, account reconciliation and information reporting, payables outsourcing, payroll processing, trade finance services, investment accounts and securities accounts, and (b) card services, including credit cards (including purchasing cards and commercial cards), prepaid cards, including payroll, stored value and gift cards, merchant services processing, and debit card services.




“Base Date” means (a) prior to October 1, 2015, (i) the Closing Date and (ii) the date of the determination scheduled to occur on or about April 1, 2015 and (b) on or after October 1, 2015, the date of the most recent scheduled determination of the Borrowing Base.




“Base Rate” shall mean the highest of (i) the rate which the Administrative Agent announces from time to time as its prime lending rate, as in effect from time to time, (ii) the Federal Funds Rate, as in effect from time to time, plus one-half of one percent (0.50%) per annum and (iii) the Adjusted LIBO Rate determined on a daily basis for an Interest Period of one (1) month, plus one percent (1.00%) per annum (any changes in such rates to be effective as of the date of any change in such rate).  The Administrative Agent’s prime lending rate is a reference rate and does not necessarily represent the lowest or best rate actually charged to any customer.  The Administrative Agent may make commercial loans or other loans at rates of interest at, above, or below the Administrative Agent’s prime lending rate.




“Borrower” shall have the meaning set forth in the introductory paragraph hereof.




“Borrowing” shall mean a borrowing consisting of Loans of the same Type made, converted or continued on the same date and, in the case of Eurodollar Loans, as to which a single Interest Period is in effect.




“Borrowing Base” means at any time an amount equal to the amount determined in accordance with Section 2.4, as the same may be adjusted from time to time pursuant to this Agreement.  




“Borrowing Base Deficiency” occurs if at any time the total Credit Exposures exceeds the Borrowing Base then in effect.




“Borrowing Base Utilization Percentage” means, as of any day, the fraction expressed as a percentage, the numerator of which is the sum of the Credit Exposures of the Lenders on such day, and the denominator of which is the Borrowing Base in effect on such day.




“Business Day” shall mean any day other than (i) a Saturday, Sunday or other day on which commercial banks in Atlanta, Georgia are authorized or required by law to close and (ii) if such day relates to a Borrowing of, a payment or prepayment of principal or interest on, a conversion of or into, or an Interest Period for, a Eurodollar Loan or a notice with respect to any of the foregoing, any day on which banks are not open for dealings in Dollar deposits in the London interbank market.




“Capital Lease Obligations” of any Person shall mean all obligations of such Person to pay rent or other amounts under Capital Leases, and the amount of such obligations shall be the capitalized amount thereof determined in accordance with GAAP.




“Capital Leases” means, in respect of any Person, all leases which shall have been, or should have been, in accordance with GAAP, recorded as capital leases on the balance sheet of the Person liable (whether contingent or otherwise) for the payment of rent thereunder.






3









“Capital Stock” shall mean all shares, options, warrants, general or limited partnership interests, membership interests or other equivalents (regardless of how designated) of or in a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or equivalent entity whether voting or nonvoting, including common stock, preferred stock or any other “equity security” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a11-1 of the General Rules and Regulations promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Exchange Act).




“Cash Collateralize” shall mean, in respect of any obligations, to provide and pledge (as a first priority perfected security interest) cash collateral for such obligations in Dollars with the Administrative Agent pursuant to documentation in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent (and “Cash Collateralized” and “Cash Collateralization” have the corresponding meanings).




“Change in Control” shall mean the occurrence of one or more of the following events: (i) any sale, lease, exchange or other transfer (in a single transaction or a series of related transactions) of all or substantially all of the assets of the Borrower to any Person or “group” (within the meaning of the Exchange Act and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder in effect on the date hereof), (ii) the acquisition of ownership, directly or indirectly, beneficially or of record, by any Person or “group” (within the meaning of the Exchange Act and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder as in effect on the date hereof) of 50% or more of the outstanding shares of the voting equity interests of the Borrower, or (iii) during any period of 24 consecutive months, a majority of the members of the board of directors or other equivalent governing body of the Borrower cease to be composed of individuals who are Continuing Directors. 




“Change in Law” shall mean (i) the adoption or taking effect of any law, rule, regulation or treaty after the date of this Agreement, (ii) any change in any law, rule, regulation or treaty, or any change in the administration,  interpretation, implementation or application thereof, by any Governmental Authority after the date of this Agreement, or (iii) compliance by any Lender (or its Applicable Lending Office) or the Issuing Bank (or, for purposes of Section 2.17(b), by the Parent Company of such Lender or the Issuing Bank, if applicable) with any request, rule, guideline or directive (whether or not having the force of law) of any Governmental Authority made or issued after the date of this Agreement; 

provided



 that for purposes of this Agreement, (x) the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and all requests, rules, guidelines or directives thereunder or issued in connection therewith and (y) all requests, rules, guidelines or directives promulgated by the Bank for International Settlements, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (or any successor or similar authority) or the United States or foreign regulatory authorities, in each case pursuant to Basel III, shall in each case be deemed to be a “Change in Law”, regardless of the date enacted, adopted or issued.






“Closing Date” shall mean the date on which the conditions precedent set forth in Section 3.1 and Section 3.2 have been satisfied or waived in accordance with Section 10.2.




“Code” shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended and in effect from time to time.




“Collateral” shall mean all tangible and intangible property, real and personal, of any Loan Party that is or purports to be the subject of a Lien to the Administrative Agent to secure the whole or any part of the Obligations or any Guarantee thereof, and shall include, without limitation, all casualty insurance proceeds and condemnation awards with respect to any of the foregoing.




“Collateral Documents” shall mean, collectively, the Guaranty and Security Agreement, the Mortgages, the Transfer Letters, the Control Account Agreements, and all other instruments and agreements now or hereafter securing or perfecting the Liens securing the whole or any part of the Obligations or any Guarantee thereof, all UCC financing statements, fixture filings and stock powers, and all other documents, instruments, agreements and certificates executed and delivered by any Loan Party in connection with any of the foregoing.




“Commitment” shall mean, with respect to each Lender, the commitment of such Lender to make Loans and to acquire participations in Letters of Credit hereunder, expressed as an amount representing the maximum aggregate amount of such Lender’s Credit Exposure hereunder.  The amount representing each Lender’s Commitment shall at any time be the lesser of such Lender’s Maximum Loan Amount and such Lender’s Pro Rata Share of the then effective Borrowing Base.




“Commitment Termination Date” shall mean the earliest of (i) July 1, 2019, (ii) the date on which the Commitments are terminated pursuant to Section 2.7 or Section 8.2 and (iii) the date on which the principal amount of all Loans outstanding under this Agreement have been declared or have automatically become due and payable (whether by acceleration or otherwise).




“Commodity Exchange Act” shall mean the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.), as amended and in effect from time to time, and any successor statute.  






4









“Compliance Certificate” shall mean a certificate from the principal executive officer or the principal financial officer of the Borrower in the form of, and containing the certifications set forth in, the certificate attached hereto as Exhibit 5.1(c).




“Connection Income Taxes” means Other Connection Taxes that are imposed on or measured by net income (however denominated) or that are franchise Taxes or branch profits Taxes.




“Consolidated EBITDAX” shall mean, for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for any period, an amount equal to the sum of (i) Consolidated Net Income for such period plus (ii) to the extent deducted in determining Consolidated Net Income for such period, and without duplication, (A) Consolidated Interest Expense, (B) income tax expense determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP, (C) depreciation, depletion and amortization determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP, (D) exploration expenses determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP, and (E) all other non-cash charges acceptable to the Administrative Agent determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP, in each case for such period minus (iii) all noncash income added to Consolidated Net Income for such period; provided that, for purposes of calculating compliance with the financial covenants set forth in Article VI, to the extent that during such period any Loan Party shall have consummated an Acquisition permitted by this Agreement or any sale, transfer or other disposition of any Person, business, property or assets permitted by this Agreement, Consolidated EBITDAX shall be calculated on a Pro Forma Basis with respect to such Person, business, property or assets so acquired or disposed of.




“Consolidated Interest Expense” shall mean, for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for any period, determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP, the sum of (i) total interest expense, including, without limitation, the interest component of any payments in respect of Capital Lease Obligations, capitalized or expensed during such period (whether or not actually paid during such period) plus (ii) the net amount payable (or minus the net amount receivable) with respect to Hedging Transactions during such period (whether or not actually paid or received during such period).




“Consolidated Net Income” shall mean, for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for any period, the net income (or loss) of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for such period determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP, but excluding therefrom (to the extent otherwise included therein) (i) any extraordinary gains or losses, (ii) any gains attributable to write-ups of assets or the sale of assets (other than the sale of inventory in the ordinary course of business), (iii) any equity interest of the Borrower or any Subsidiary of the Borrower in the unremitted earnings of any Person that is not a Subsidiary except to the extent of cash dividends actually received and (iv) any income (or loss) of any Person accrued prior to the date it becomes a Subsidiary or is merged into or consolidated with the Borrower or any Subsidiary or the date that such Person’s assets are acquired by the Borrower or any Subsidiary.




“Consolidated Total Debt” shall mean, as of any date, all Indebtedness of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries measured on a consolidated basis as of such date, but excluding Indebtedness of the type described in subsection (xi) of the definition thereto.




“Continuing Director” shall mean, with respect to any period, any individuals (A) who were members of the board of directors or other equivalent governing body of the Borrower on the first day of such period, (B) whose election or nomination to that board or equivalent governing body was approved by individuals referred to in clause (A) above constituting at the time of such election or nomination at least a majority of that board or equivalent governing body, or (C) whose election or nomination to that board or other equivalent governing body was approved by individuals referred to in clauses (A) and (B) above constituting at the time of such election or nomination at least a majority of that board or equivalent governing body (excluding, in the case of both clauses (B) and (C), any individual whose initial nomination for, or assumption of office as, a member of that board or equivalent governing body occurs as a result of an actual or threatened solicitation of proxies or consents for the election or removal of one or more directors by any person or group other than a solicitation for the election of one or more directors by or on behalf of the board of directors).




“Contractual Obligation” of any Person shall mean any provision of any security issued by such Person or of any agreement, instrument or undertaking under which such Person is obligated or by which it or any of the property in which it has an interest is bound.




“Control Account Agreement” shall mean any tri-party agreement by and among a Loan Party, the Administrative Agent and a depositary bank or securities intermediary at which such Loan Party maintains a Controlled Account, in each case in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.




“Controlled Account” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 5.11.




“Credit Exposure” shall mean, with respect to any Lender at any time, the sum of the outstanding principal amount of such Lender’s Loans and LC Exposure.






5









“Current Assets” shall mean all current assets of the Borrower and its consolidated Subsidiaries as of any date of determination calculated in accordance with GAAP, and in any event including the unused amount of the Aggregate Commitments (but only to the extent that the Borrower is permitted to borrow such amounts under the terms of this Agreement, including, without limitation, Section 3.2 hereof), but excluding cash, cash equivalents and debts due from Affiliates and non-cash assets under ASC 815.




“Current Liabilities” shall mean all liabilities of the Borrower and its consolidated Subsidiaries that should, in accordance with GAAP, be classified as current liabilities as of any date of determination, and in any event including all Indebtedness payable on demand or within one year from such date of determination without any option on the part of the obligor to extend or renew beyond such year and all accruals for federal or other taxes based on or measured by income and payable within such year, but excluding the current portion of long-term debt required to be paid within one year, the aggregate outstanding principal balance of the Loans and non-cash obligations under ASC 815.




“Debtor Relief Laws” means the Bankruptcy Code of the United States of America, and all other liquidation, conservatorship, bankruptcy, assignment for the benefit of creditors, moratorium, rearrangement, receivership, insolvency, reorganization, or similar debtor relief Laws of the United States or other applicable jurisdictions from time to time in effect.




“Default” shall mean any condition or event that, with the giving of notice or the lapse of time or both, would constitute an Event of Default.




“Default Interest” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2.12(b).




“Defaulting Lender” shall mean, subject to Section 2.24(c), any Lender that (a) has failed to (i) fund all or any portion of its Loans within two (2) Business Days of the date such Loans were required to be funded hereunder unless such Lender notifies the Administrative Agent and the Borrower in writing that such failure is the result of such Lender’s determination that one or more conditions precedent to funding (each of which conditions precedent, together with any applicable default, shall be specifically identified in such writing) has not been satisfied, or (ii) pay to the Administrative Agent, any Issuing Bank or any other Lender any other amount required to be paid by it hereunder (including in respect of its participation in Letters of Credit) within two (2) Business Days of the date when due, (b) has notified the Borrower, the Administrative Agent or any Issuing Bank in writing that it does not intend to comply with its funding obligations hereunder, or has made a public statement to that effect (unless such writing or public statement relates to such Lender’s obligation to fund a Loan hereunder and states that such position is based on such Lender’s determination that a condition precedent to funding (which condition precedent, together with any applicable default, shall be specifically identified in such writing or public statement) cannot be satisfied), (c) has failed, within three (3) Business Days after written request by the Administrative Agent or the Borrower, to confirm in writing to the Administrative Agent and the Borrower that it will comply with its prospective funding obligations hereunder (provided that such Lender shall cease to be a Defaulting Lender pursuant to this clause (c) upon receipt of such written confirmation by the Administrative Agent and the Borrower), or (d) has, or has a direct or indirect parent company that has, (i) become the subject of a proceeding under any Debtor Relief Law, or (ii) had appointed for it a receiver, custodian, conservator, trustee, administrator, assignee for the benefit of creditors or similar Person charged with reorganization or liquidation of its business or assets, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other state or federal regulatory authority acting in such a capacity; provided that a Lender shall not be a Defaulting Lender solely by virtue of the ownership or acquisition of any equity interest in that Lender or any direct or indirect parent company thereof by a Governmental Authority so long as such ownership interest does not result in or provide such Lender with immunity from the jurisdiction of courts within the United States or from the enforcement of judgments or writs of attachment on its assets or permit such Lender (or such Governmental Authority) to reject, repudiate, disavow or disaffirm any contracts or agreements made with such Lender.  Any determination by the Administrative Agent that a Lender is a Defaulting Lender under clauses (a) through (d) above shall be conclusive and binding absent manifest error, and such Lender shall be deemed to be a Defaulting Lender (subject to Section 2.24(b)) upon delivery of written notice of such determination to the Borrower, each Issuing Bank and each Lender.






6









“Defensible Title” means as to any Oil and Gas Property, such title held by a Loan Party that (i) is free from reasonable doubt to the end that a prudent purchaser engaged in the business of the ownership, development and operation of producing Oil and Gas Properties, with knowledge of all of the facts and their legal bearing, would be willing to accept and pay full value therefor; (ii) is deducible of record from the records of the applicable parish or county, or, in the case of federal leases, from the records of the applicable office of the Bureau of Lands Management or Minerals Management Service, or, in the case of state leases, from the applicable records of the applicable state land office; (iii) entitles such Loan Party to receive not less than the “Net Revenue Interest” set forth in the initial Reserve Report with respect to each Oil and Gas Property owned by such Loan Party as of the date of this Agreement, and not less than the “Net Revenue Interest” set forth in the most recent Reserve Report with respect to each Oil and Gas Property acquired by such Loan Party after the date of this Agreement, in each case, without reduction, suspension or termination throughout the productive life of such Oil and Gas Property; (iv) obligates such Loan Party to bear costs and expenses relating to operations on and the maintenance and development of each Oil and Gas Property in an amount not greater than the “Working Interest” set forth in the initial Reserve Report with respect to each Oil and Gas Property owned by such Loan Party as of the date of this Agreement, and not greater than the “Working Interest” set forth in the most recent Reserve Report with respect to each Oil and Gas Property acquired by such Loan Party after the date of this Agreement (except to the extent that such Loan Party is obligated under an operating agreement to assume a portion of a defaulting or non-consenting party’s share of costs), in each case without increase for the respective productive life of such Oil and Gas Property; and (v) is free and clear of Liens and material encumbrances and defects, except for Excepted Liens.




“Dollar(s)” and the sign “$” shall mean lawful money of the United States.




“Engineering Reports” has the meaning assigned such term in Section 2.4(c)(i).




“Environmental Laws” shall mean all laws, rules, regulations, codes, ordinances, orders, decrees, judgments, injunctions, notices or binding agreements issued, promulgated or entered into by or with any Governmental Authority relating in any way to the environment, preservation or reclamation of natural resources, the management, Release or threatened Release of any Hazardous Material or to health and safety matters, including, without limitation, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the Clean Air Act, the Comprehensive Environmental, Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (“RCRA”), the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, and the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.




“Environmental Liability” shall mean any liability, contingent or otherwise (including any liability for damages, costs of environmental investigation and remediation, costs of administrative oversight, fines, natural resource damages, penalties or indemnities), of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries directly or indirectly resulting from or based upon (i) any actual or alleged violation of any Environmental Law, (ii) the generation, use, handling, transportation, storage, treatment or disposal of any Hazardous Materials, (iii) any actual or alleged exposure to any Hazardous Materials, (iv) the Release or threatened Release of any Hazardous Materials or (v) any contract, agreement or other consensual arrangement pursuant to which liability is assumed or imposed with respect to any of the foregoing.




“Environmental Permit” means any permit, registration, license, notice, approval, consent, exemption, variance, or other authorization required under or issued pursuant to applicable Environmental Laws.




“ERISA” shall mean the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time, and any successor statute and the regulations promulgated and rulings issued thereunder.




“ERISA Affiliate” shall mean any person that for purposes of Title I or Title IV of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code would be deemed at any relevant time to be a “single employer” or otherwise aggregated with the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries under Section 414(b), (c), (m) or (o) of the Code or Section 4001 of ERISA.






7









“ERISA Event” shall mean (i) any “reportable event” as defined in Section 4043 of ERISA with respect to a Plan (other than an event as to which the PBGC has waived under subsection .22, .23, .25, .27 or .28 of PBGC Regulation Section 4043 the requirement of Section 4043(a) of ERISA that it be notified of such event); (ii) any failure to make a required contribution to any Plan that would result in the imposition of a lien or other encumbrance or the provision of security under Section 430 of the Code or Section 303 or 4068 of ERISA, or the arising of such a lien or encumbrance, there being or arising any “unpaid minimum required contribution” or “accumulated funding deficiency” (as defined or otherwise set forth in Section 4971 of the Code or Part 3 of Subtitle B of Title 1 of ERISA), whether or not waived, or any filing of any request for or receipt of a minimum funding waiver under Section 412 of the Code or Section 303 of ERISA with respect to any Plan or Multiemployer Plan, or that such filing may be made, or any determination that any Plan is, or is expected to be, in at-risk status under Title IV of ERISA; (iii) any incurrence by the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective ERISA Affiliates of any liability under Title IV of ERISA with respect to any Plan or Multiemployer Plan (other than for premiums due and not delinquent under Section 4007 of ERISA); (iv) any institution of proceedings, or the occurrence of an event or condition which would reasonably be expected to constitute grounds for the institution of proceedings by the PBGC, under Section 4042 of ERISA for the termination of, or the appointment of a trustee to administer, any Plan; (v) any incurrence by the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective ERISA Affiliates of any liability with respect to the withdrawal or partial withdrawal from any Plan or Multiemployer Plan, or the receipt by the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective ERISA Affiliates of any notice that a Multiemployer Plan is in endangered or critical status under Section 305 of ERISA; (vi) any receipt by the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective ERISA Affiliates of any notice, or any receipt by any Multiemployer Plan from the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective ERISA Affiliates of any notice, concerning the imposition of Withdrawal Liability or a determination that a Multiemployer Plan is, or is expected to be, insolvent or in reorganization, within the meaning of Title IV of ERISA; (vii) engaging in a non-exempt prohibited transaction within the meaning of Section 4975 of the Code or Section 406 of ERISA; or (viii) any filing of a notice of intent to terminate any Plan if such termination would require material additional contributions in order to be considered a standard termination within the meaning of Section 4041(b) of ERISA, any filing under Section 4041(c) of ERISA of a notice of intent to terminate any Plan, or the termination of any Plan under Section 4041(c) of ERISA.




“Eurodollar”, when used in reference to any Loan or Borrowing, refers to whether such Loan, or the Loans comprising such Borrowing, bears interest at a rate determined by reference to the Adjusted LIBO Rate. 




“Event of Default” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 8.1.




“Excepted Liens” means: (i) Liens for Taxes, assessments or other governmental charges or levies which are not delinquent or which are being contested in good faith by appropriate action and for which adequate reserves have been maintained in accordance with GAAP; (ii) Liens in connection with workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance or other social security, old age pension or public liability obligations which are not delinquent or which are being contested in good faith by appropriate action and for which adequate reserves have been maintained in accordance with GAAP, other than any Lien imposed by ERISA; (iii) statutory landlord’s liens, operators’, vendors’, carriers’, warehousemen’s, repairmen’s, mechanics’, suppliers’, workers’, materialmen’s, construction or other like Liens, in each case, arising by operation of law in the ordinary course of business incident to the exploration, development, operation and maintenance of Oil and Gas Properties each of which is in respect of obligations that are not delinquent or which are being contested in good faith by appropriate action and for which adequate reserves have been maintained in accordance with GAAP; (iv) Liens arising solely by virtue of any statutory or common law provision relating to banker’s liens, rights of set-off or similar rights and remedies and burdening only deposit accounts or other funds maintained with a creditor depository institution, provided that no such deposit account is a dedicated cash collateral account or is subject to restrictions against access by the depositor in excess of those set forth by regulations promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and no such deposit account is intended by any Loan Party to provide collateral to the depository institution; (v) easements, restrictions, servitudes, permits, conditions, covenants, exceptions or reservations in any Property of any Loan Party for the purpose of roads, pipelines, transmission lines, transportation lines, distribution lines for the removal of gas, oil, coal or other minerals or timber, and other like purposes, or for the joint or common use of real estate, rights of way, facilities and equipment, that do not secure any monetary obligations and which in the aggregate do not materially impair the use of such Property for the purposes of which such Property is held by any Loan Party or materially impair the value of such Property subject thereto; (vi) Liens on cash or securities pledged to secure performance of tenders, surety and appeal bonds, government contracts, performance and return of money bonds, bids, trade contracts, leases, statutory obligations, regulatory obligations and other obligations of a like nature incurred in the ordinary course of business; (vii) royalties, overriding royalties, net profits interests, production payments, reversionary interests, calls on production, preferential purchase rights and other burdens on or deductions from the proceeds of production, that do not secure Indebtedness and that are taken into account in computing the net revenue interests and working interests of the Loan Parties warranted in the Collateral Documents or in this Agreement; (ix) judgment and attachment Liens not giving rise to an Event of Default, provided that any appropriate legal proceedings which may have been duly initiated for the review of such judgment shall not have been finally terminated or the period within which such proceeding may be initiated shall not have expired and no action to enforce such Lien has been commenced; provided, further that (a) Liens described in clauses (i) through (iv) shall remain “Excepted Liens” only for so long as no action to enforce such Lien has been commenced and no intention to subordinate the first priority Lien granted in favor of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders is to be hereby implied or expressed by the permitted existence of such Excepted Liens and (b) the term “Excepted Liens” shall not include any Lien securing Indebtedness other than the Obligations. 






8









“Exchange Act” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and in effect from time to time.




“Excluded Swap Obligation” shall mean, with respect to any Guarantor, any Swap Obligation if, and to the extent that, all or a portion of the Guarantee of such Guarantor of, or the grant by such Guarantor of a security interest to secure, such Swap Obligation (or any Guarantee thereof) is or becomes illegal under the Commodity Exchange Act or any rule, regulation or order of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (or the application or official interpretation of any thereof) by virtue of such Guarantor’s failure for any reason to constitute an “eligible contract participant” as defined in the Commodity Exchange Act at the time the Guarantee of such Guarantor becomes effective with respect to such related Swap Obligation.  If a Swap Obligation arises under a master agreement governing more than one swap, such exclusion shall apply only to the portion of such Swap Obligation that is attributable to swaps for which such Guarantee or security interest is or becomes illegal. 




“Excluded Taxes” shall mean any of the following Taxes imposed on or with respect to a Recipient or required to be withheld or deducted from a payment to a Recipient, (a) Taxes imposed on or measured by net income (however denominated), franchise Taxes, and branch profits Taxes, in each case, (i) imposed as a result of such Recipient being organized under the laws of, or having its principal office or, in the case of any Lender, its applicable lending office located in, the jurisdiction imposing such Tax (or any political subdivision thereof) or (ii) that are Other Connection Taxes, (b) in the case of a Lender, U.S. federal withholding Taxes imposed on amounts payable to or for the account of such Lender with respect to an applicable interest in a Loan or Commitment pursuant to a law in effect on the date on which (i) such Lender acquires such interest in the Loan or Commitment (other than pursuant to an assignment request by the Borrower under Section 2.23) or (ii) such Lender changes its lending office, except in each case to the extent that, pursuant to Section 2.19, amounts with respect to such Taxes were payable either to such Lender's assignor immediately before such Lender became a party hereto or to such Lender immediately before it changed its lending office, (c) Taxes attributable to such Recipient’s failure to comply with Section 2.19 and (d) any U.S. federal withholding Taxes imposed under FATCA.




“Existing Lender” shall mean Prosperity Bank, a Texas banking association, successor by merger to The F&M Bank & Trust Company.




“FATCA” shall mean Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code, as of the date of this Agreement (or any amended or successor version that is substantively comparable and not materially more onerous to comply with), any current or future regulations or official interpretations thereof and any agreements entered into pursuant to Section 1471(b)(1) of the Code.




“FCPA” means the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977.




“Federal Flood Insurance” means federally backed Flood Insurance available under the National Flood Insurance Program to owners of real property improvements located in Special Flood Hazard Areas in a community participating in the National Flood Insurance Program.




“Federal Funds Rate” shall mean, for any day, the rate per annum (rounded upwards, if necessary, to the next 1/100 of 1%) equal to the weighted average of the rates on overnight Federal funds transactions with member banks of the Federal Reserve System arranged by Federal funds brokers, as published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the next succeeding Business Day or, if such rate is not so published for any Business Day, the Federal Funds Rate for such day shall be the average (rounded upwards, if necessary, to the next 1/100 of 1%) of the quotations for such day on such transactions received by the Administrative Agent from three Federal funds brokers of recognized standing selected by the Administrative Agent.




“FEMA” means the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security that administers the National Flood Insurance Program.




“Fiscal Quarter” shall mean any fiscal quarter of the Borrower.




“Fiscal Year” shall mean any fiscal year of the Borrower.




“Flood Insurance” means, for any owned real property located in a Special Flood Hazard Area, Federal Flood Insurance or private insurance that meets or exceeds the requirements set forth by FEMA in its Mandatory Purchase of Flood Insurance Guidelines.  Flood Insurance shall be in commercially reasonable amounts at least up to the maximum policy limits set under the National Flood Insurance Program, or as otherwise required by the Administrative Agent in its reasonable judgment, with deductibles not to exceed $250,000 for losses to buildings and $250,000 for losses to contents of buildings.






9









“Flood Insurance Laws” shall mean, collectively, (i) the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 as now or hereafter in effect or any successor statute thereto, (ii) the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 as now or hereafter in effect or any successor statute thereto, (iii) the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 as now or hereafter in effect or any successor statute thereto, (iv) the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 as now or hereafter in effect of any successor statute thereto, in each case, together with all statutory and regulatory provisions consolidating, amending, replacing, supplementing, implementing or interpreting any of the foregoing, as amended or modified from time to time.




“Foreign Lender” shall mean (a) if the Borrower is a U.S. Person, a Lender that is not a U.S. Person, and (b) if the Borrower is not a U.S. Person, a Lender that is resident or organized under the laws of a jurisdiction other than that in which the Borrower is resident for tax purposes. 




“GAAP” shall mean generally accepted accounting principles in the United States applied on a consistent basis and subject to the terms of Section 1.3.




“Governmental Authority” shall mean the government of the United States, any other nation or any political subdivision thereof, whether state or local, and any agency, authority, instrumentality, regulatory body, court, central bank or other entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial, taxing, regulatory or administrative powers or functions of or pertaining to government (including any supra-national bodies such as the European Union or the European Central Bank).




“Guarantee” of or by any Person (the “guarantor”) shall mean any obligation, contingent or otherwise, of the guarantor guaranteeing or having the economic effect of guaranteeing any Indebtedness or other obligation of any other Person (the “primary obligor”) in any manner, whether directly or indirectly and including any obligation, direct or indirect, of the guarantor (i) to purchase or pay (or advance or supply funds for the purchase or payment of) such Indebtedness or other obligation or to purchase (or to advance or supply funds for the purchase of) any security for the payment thereof, (ii) to purchase or lease property, securities or services for the purpose of assuring the owner of such Indebtedness or other obligation of the payment thereof, (iii) to maintain working capital, equity capital or any other financial statement condition or liquidity of the primary obligor so as to enable the primary obligor to pay such Indebtedness or other obligation or (iv) as an account party in respect of any letter of credit or letter of guaranty issued in support of such Indebtedness or obligation; provided that the term “Guarantee” shall not include endorsements for collection or deposit in the ordinary course of business.  The amount of any Guarantee shall be deemed to be an amount equal to the stated or determinable amount of the primary obligation in respect of which such Guarantee is made or, if not so stated or determinable, the maximum reasonably anticipated liability in respect thereof (assuming such Person is required to perform thereunder) as determined by such Person in good faith.  The term “Guarantee” used as a verb has a corresponding meaning.




“Guarantor” shall mean each of the Subsidiary Loan Parties.




“Guaranty and Security Agreement” shall mean the Guaranty and Security Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, made by the Loan Parties in favor of the Administrative Agent for the benefit of the Secured Parties, in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.




“Hazardous Materials” shall mean all explosive or radioactive substances or wastes and all hazardous or toxic substances, wastes or other pollutants, including Hydrocarbons, petroleum or petroleum distillates, natural gas, oil, oil and gas waste, crude oil, asbestos or asbestos containing materials, polychlorinated biphenyls, radon gas, infectious or medical wastes and all other substances or wastes of any nature regulated pursuant to any Environmental Law.




“Hedge Termination Value” shall mean, in respect of any one or more Hedging Transactions, after taking into account the effect of any legally enforceable netting agreement relating to such Hedging Transactions, (a) for any date on or after the date such Hedging Transactions have been closed out and termination value(s) determined in accordance therewith, such termination value(s) and (b) for any date prior to the date referenced in clause (a), the amount(s) determined as the mark-to-market value(s) for such Hedging Transactions, as determined based upon one or more mid-market or other readily available quotations provided by any recognized dealer in such Hedging Transactions (which may include a Lender or any Affiliate of a Lender).




“Hedging Obligations” of any Person shall mean any and all obligations of such Person, whether absolute or contingent and howsoever and whensoever created, arising, evidenced or acquired under (i) any and all Hedging Transactions, (ii) any and all cancellations, buy backs, reversals, terminations or assignments of any Hedging Transactions and (iii) any and all renewals, extensions and modifications of any Hedging Transactions and any and all substitutions for any Hedging Transactions.






10









“Hedging Transaction” of any Person shall mean (a) any transaction (including an agreement with respect to any such transaction) now existing or hereafter entered into by such Person that is a rate swap transaction, swap option, basis swap, forward rate transaction, commodity swap, commodity option, equity or equity index swap or option, bond option, interest rate option, foreign exchange transaction, cap transaction, floor transaction, collar transaction, currency swap transaction, cross-currency rate swap transaction, currency option, spot transaction, credit protection transaction, credit swap, credit default swap, credit default option, total return swap, credit spread transaction, repurchase transaction, reverse repurchase transaction, buy/sell-back transaction, securities lending transaction, or any other similar transaction (including any option with respect to any of these transactions) or any combination thereof, whether or not any such transaction is governed by or subject to any master agreement, and (b) any and all transactions of any kind, and the related confirmations, which are subject to the terms and conditions of, or governed by, any form of master agreement published by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc., any International Foreign Exchange Master Agreement, or any other master agreement (any such master agreement, together with any related schedules, a “Master Agreement”), including any such obligations or liabilities under any Master Agreement.




“Hydrocarbon Interests” means all rights, titles, interests and estates now or hereafter acquired in and to oil and gas leases, oil, gas and mineral leases, or other liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon leases, mineral fee interests, overriding royalty and royalty interests, net profit interests and production payment interests, including any reserved or residual interests of whatever nature.




“Hydrocarbons” means oil, gas, casinghead gas, drip gasoline, natural gasoline, condensate, distillate, liquid hydrocarbons, gaseous hydrocarbons and all products refined or separated therefrom.




“Indebtedness” of any Person shall mean, without dupli­cation, (i) all obligations of such Person for borrowed money, (ii) all obligations of such Person evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes or other similar instruments, (iii) all obligations of such Person in respect of the deferred purchase price of property or services (other than trade payables incurred in the ordinary course of business; provided that, for purposes of Section 8.1(f), trade payables overdue by more than 120 days shall be included in this definition except to the extent that any of such trade payables are being disputed in good faith by appropriate measures and for which adequate reserves are being maintained in accordance with GAAP), (iv) all obligations of such Person under any conditional sale or other title retention agreement(s) relating to property acquired by such Person, (v) all Capital Lease Obligations of such Person, (vi) all obligations, contingent or otherwise, of such Person in respect of letters of credit, acceptances or similar extensions of credit, (vii) all Guarantees of such Person of the type of Indebtedness described in clauses (i) through (vi) above, (viii) all Indebtedness of a third party secured by any Lien on property owned by such Person, whether or not such Indebtedness has been assumed by such Person, (ix) all obligations of such Person, contingent or otherwise, to purchase, redeem, retire or otherwise acquire for value any Capital Stock of such Person, (x) all Off-Balance Sheet Liabilities, (xi) the undischarged balance of any production payment created by such Person or for the creation of which such Person directly or indirectly received payment and (xii) all Hedging Obligations.  The Indebtedness of any Person shall include the Indebtedness of any partnership or joint venture in which such Person is a general partner or a joint venturer, except to the extent that the terms of such Indebtedness provide that such Person is not liable therefor.




“Indemnified Taxes” shall mean (a) Taxes other than Excluded Taxes, imposed on or with respect to any payment made by or on account of any obligation of any Loan Party under any Loan Document and (b) to the extent not otherwise described in (a), Other Taxes.




“Interest Period” shall mean with respect to any Eurodollar Borrowing, a period of one, two, three or six months; provided that: 




(i)

the initial Interest Period for such Borrowing shall commence on the date of such Borrowing (including the date of any conversion from a Borrowing of another Type), and each Interest Period occurring thereafter in respect of such Borrowing shall commence on the day on which the next preceding Interest Period expires;




(ii)

if any Interest Period would otherwise end on a day other than a Business Day, such Interest Period shall be extended to the next succeeding Business Day, unless such Business Day falls in another calendar month, in which case such Interest Period would end on the next preceding Business Day;




(iii)

any Interest Period which begins on the last Business Day of a calendar month or on a day for which there is no nu­merically corresponding day in the calendar month at the end of such Interest Period shall end on the last Business Day of such calendar month; and




(iv)

no Interest Period may extend beyond the Commitment Termination Date.




“Interim Redetermination” has the meaning assigned such term in Section 2.4(b).






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“Interim Redetermination Date” means the date on which a Borrowing Base that has been redetermined pursuant to an Interim Redetermination becomes effective as provided in Section 2.4(d).




“Investments” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 7.4.




“IRS” shall mean the United States Internal Revenue Service. 




“Issuing Bank” shall mean (i) SunTrust Bank in its capacity as the issuer of Letters of Credit pursuant to Section 2.21 and (ii) any other Lender to the extent it has agreed in its sole discretion to act as an “Issuing Bank” hereunder and that has been approved in writing by the Borrower and the Administrative Agent as an “Issuing Bank” hereunder, in each case in its capacity as issuer of any Letter of Credit.  As used herein, “the Issuing Bank” means the applicable Issuing Bank, any Issuing Bank or all Issuing Banks, as the context may require.




“LC Commitment” shall mean that portion of the Aggregate Commitments that may be used by the Borrower for the issuance of Letters of Credit in an aggregate face amount not to exceed $2,500,000.




“LC Disbursement” shall mean a payment made by the Issuing Bank pursuant to a Letter of Credit.




“LC Documents” shall mean all applications, agreements and instruments relating to the Letters of Credit but excluding the Letters of Credit.




“LC Exposure” shall mean, at any time, the sum of (i) the aggregate undrawn amount of all outstanding Letters of Credit at such time, plus (ii) the aggregate amount of all LC Disbursements that have not been reimbursed by or on behalf of the Borrower at such time.  The LC Exposure of any Lender shall be its Pro Rata Share of the total LC Exposure at such time.




“Lender-Related Hedge Provider” means any Person that, at the time it enters into a Hedging Transaction with any Loan Party, (i) is a Lender or an Affiliate of a Lender and (ii) except when the Lender-Related Hedge Provider is SunTrust Bank or any of its Affiliates, has provided prior written notice to the Administrative Agent which has been acknowledged by the Borrower of (x) the existence of such Hedging Transaction and (y) the methodology to be used by such parties in determining the obligations under such Hedging Transaction from time to time.  In no event shall any Lender-Related Hedge Provider acting in such capacity be deemed a Lender for purposes hereof to the extent of and as to Hedging Obligations except that each reference to the term “Lender” in Article IX and Section 10.3(b) shall be deemed to include such Lender-Related Hedge Provider.  In no event shall the approval of any such Person in its capacity as Lender-Related Hedge Provider be required in connection with the release or termination of any security interest or Lien of the Administrative Agent.




“Lenders” shall have the meaning set forth in the introductory paragraph hereof.




“Letter of Credit” shall mean any stand-by letter of credit issued pursuant to Section 2.21 by the Issuing Bank for the account of the Borrower pursuant to the LC Commitment.




“Leverage Ratio” shall mean, as of any date, the ratio of (i) Consolidated Total Debt as of such date to (ii) Consolidated EBITDAX for the four consecutive Fiscal Quarters ending on or immediately prior to such date for which financial statements are required to have been delivered under this Agreement; provided that for the purposes of the definition of “Leverage Ratio”, (a) for the Fiscal Quarter ending September 30, 2014, Consolidated EBITDAX will be calculated by multiplying Consolidated EBITDAX for such Fiscal Quarter by four, (b) for the Fiscal Quarter ending December 31, 2014, Consolidated EBITDAX will be calculated by multiplying Consolidated EBITDAX for the two Fiscal Quarter period ending on December 31, 2014 by two, (c) for the Fiscal Quarter ending March 31, 2015, Consolidated EBITDAX will be calculated by multiplying Consolidated EBITDAX for the three Fiscal Quarter period ending on December 31, 2014 by four-thirds, and (d) for each Fiscal Quarter thereafter, Consolidated EBITDAX will be calculated by adding Consolidated EBITDAX for the four consecutive Fiscal Quarters ending on such date.




“Lien” shall mean any mortgage, pledge, security inter­est, lien (statutory or otherwise), charge, encumbrance, hypothecation, assignment, deposit arrangement, or other arrangement having the practical effect of any of the foregoing or any preference, priority or other security agree­ment or preferential arrangement of any kind or nature whatsoever (including any conditional sale or other title retention agreement and any Capital Lease having the same economic effect as any of the foregoing).




“Loan Documents” shall mean, collectively, this Agree­ment, the Collateral Documents, the LC Documents, all Notices of Borrowing, all Notices of Conversion/Continuation, all Compliance Certificates, any promissory notes issued hereunder and any and all other instruments, agreements, documents and writings executed in connection with any of the foregoing.




“Loan Parties” shall mean the Borrower and the Subsidiary Loan Parties.






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“Loans” shall mean all loans in the aggregate or any of them, as the context may require, made by a Lender to the Borrower under its Commitment, which may either be Base Rate Loans or Eurodollar Loans.




“Material Adverse Effect” shall mean, with respect to any event, act, condition or occurrence of whatever nature (including any adverse determination in any litigation, arbitration, or governmental investigation or proceeding), whether singularly or in conjunction with any other event or events, act or acts, condition or conditions, occurrence or occurrences whether or not related, resulting in a material adverse change in, or a material adverse effect on, (i) the business, results of operations, financial condition, assets, liabilities or prospects of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole, (ii) the ability of the Loan Parties to perform any of their respective obligations under the Loan Documents, (iii) the rights and remedies of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or the Lenders under any of the Loan Documents or (iv) the legality, validity or enforceability of any of the Loan Documents.




“Material Agreements” shall mean (i) all agreements, indentures or notes governing the terms of any Material Indebtedness, (ii) all employment and non-compete agreements with management, (iii) all agreements, instruments and conveyances relating to Hydrocarbon Interests, and (iv) all other agreements, documents, contracts, indentures and instruments pursuant to which (A) any Loan Party or any of its Subsidiaries are obligated to make payments in any twelve month period of $1,000,000 or more, (B) any Loan Party or any of its Subsidiaries expects to receive revenue in any twelve month period of $1,000,000 or more and (C) a default, breach or termination thereof could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.




“Material Indebtedness” shall mean any Indebtedness (other than the Loans and the Letters of Credit) of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries individually or in an aggregate committed or outstanding principal amount exceeding $500,000.00.  For purposes of determining the amount of attributed Indebtedness from Hedging Obligations, the “principal amount” of any Hedging Obligations at any time shall be the Net Mark-to-Market Exposure of such Hedging Obligations. 




“Maximum Loan Amount” shall mean as to each Lender, such Lender’s Pro Rata share of the Aggregate Maximum Loan Amount,” as such commitment may be (i) modified from time to time pursuant to Section 2.4 or Section 2.7 and (ii) modified from time to time pursuant to assignments by or to such Lender pursuant to Section 10.4.




“Moody’s” shall mean Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.




“Mortgaged Property” means any Property owned by any Loan Party which is subject to the Liens existing and to exist under the terms of the Mortgages.




“Mortgages” shall mean each mortgage or deed of trust delivered by any Loan Party to the Administrative Agent from time to time, all in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent. 




“Multiemployer Plan” shall mean any “multiemployer plan” as defined in Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA, which is contributed to by (or to which there is or may be an obligation to contribute of) the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or an ERISA Affiliate, and each such plan for the five-year period immediately following the latest date on which the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or an ERISA Affiliate contributed to or had an obligation to contribute to such plan.




“National Flood Insurance Program” means the program created by the United States Congress pursuant to the Flood Insurance Laws, that mandates the purchase of flood insurance to cover real property improvements located in Special Flood Hazard Areas in participating communities and provides protection to property owners through a federal insurance program.




“Net Mark-to-Market Exposure” of any Person shall mean, as of any date of determination with respect to any Hedging Obligation, the excess (if any) of all unrealized losses over all unrealized profits of such Person arising from such Hedging Obligation.  “Unrealized losses” shall mean the fair market value of the cost to such Person of replacing the Hedging Transaction giving rise to such Hedging Obligation as of the date of determination (assuming such Hedging Transaction were to be terminated as of that date), and “unrealized profits” shall mean the fair market value of the gain to such Person of replacing such Hedging Transaction as of the date of determination (assuming such Hedging Transaction were to be terminated as of that date).




“New Borrowing Base Notice” has the meaning assigned such term in Section 2.4(d).




“Non-Defaulting Lender” shall mean, at any time, a Lender that is not a Defaulting Lender.




“Non-U.S. Plan” shall mean any plan, fund (including, without limitation, any superannuation fund) or other similar program established, contributed to (regardless of whether through direct contributions or through employee withholding) or maintained outside the United States by the Borrower or one or more of its Subsidiaries primarily for the benefit of employees of the Borrower or such Subsidiaries residing outside the United States, which plan, fund or other similar program provides, or results in, retirement income, a deferral of income in contemplation of retirement, or payments to be made upon termination of employment, and which plan is not subject to ERISA or the Code.






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“Notice of Conversion/Continuation” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2.6(b).




“Notices of Borrowing” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2.3.




“Obligations” shall mean (a) all amounts owing by the Loan Parties to the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank, any Lender or the Sole Lead Arranger pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement or any other Loan Document or otherwise with respect to any Loan or Letter of Credit including, without limitation, all principal, interest (including any interest accruing after the filing of any petition in bankruptcy or the commencement of any insolvency, reorganization or like proceeding relating to the Borrower, whether or not a claim for post-filing or post-petition interest is allowed in such proceeding), reimbursement obligations, fees, expenses, indemnification and reimbursement payments, costs and expenses (including all reasonable fees and expenses of counsel to the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and any Lender incurred pursuant to this Agreement or any other Loan Document), whether direct or indirect, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, now existing or hereafter arising hereunder or thereunder, (b) all Hedging Obligations owed by any Loan Party to any Lender-Related Hedge Provider, and (c) all Bank Product Obligations, together with all renew­als, extensions, modifications or refinancings of any of the foregoing; provided, however, that with respect to any Guarantor, the Obligations shall not include any Excluded Swap Obligations.




“OFAC” shall mean the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.




“Off-Balance Sheet Liabilities” of any Person shall mean (i) any repurchase obligation or liability of such Person with respect to accounts or notes receivable sold by such Person, (ii) any liability of such Person under any sale and leaseback transactions that do not create a liability on the balance sheet of such Person, (iii) any Synthetic Lease Obligation or (iv) any obligation arising with respect to any other transaction which is the functional equivalent of or takes the place of borrowing but which does not constitute a liability on the balance sheet of such Person.




“Oil and Gas Properties” means (i) Hydrocarbon Interests; (ii) the Properties now or hereafter pooled or unitized with Hydrocarbon Interests; (iii) all presently existing or future unitization, pooling agreements and declarations of pooled units and the units created thereby (including without limitation all units created under orders, regulations and rules of any Governmental Authority) which may affect all or any portion of the Hydrocarbon Interests; (iv) all operating agreements, contracts and other agreements, including production sharing contracts and agreements, which relate to any of the Hydrocarbon Interests or the production, sale, purchase, exchange or processing of Hydrocarbons from or attributable to such Hydrocarbon Interests; (v) all Hydrocarbons in and under and which may be produced and saved or attributable to the Hydrocarbon Interests, including all oil in tanks, and all rents, issues, profits, proceeds, products, revenues and other incomes from or attributable to the Hydrocarbon Interests; (vi) all tenements, hereditaments, appurtenances and Properties in any manner appertaining, belonging, affixed or incidental to the Hydrocarbon Interests and (vii) all Properties, rights, titles, interests and estates described or referred to above, including any and all Property, real or personal, now owned or hereinafter acquired and situated upon, used, held for use or useful in connection with the operating, working or development of any of such Hydrocarbon Interests or Property and including any and all oil wells, gas wells, injection wells or other wells, buildings, structures, fuel separators, liquid extraction plants, plant compressors, pumps, pumping units, field gathering systems, tanks and tank batteries, fixtures, valves, fittings, machinery and parts, engines, boilers, meters, apparatus, equipment, appliances, tools, implements, cables, wires, towers, casing, tubing and rods, surface leases, rights-of-way, easements and servitudes together with all additions, substitutions, replacements, accessions and attachments to any and all of the foregoing.




“OSHA” shall mean the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, as amended from time to time, and any successor statute.




“Other Connection Taxes” means, with respect to any Recipient, Taxes imposed as a result of a present or former connection between such Recipient and the jurisdiction imposing such Tax (other than connections arising from such Recipient having executed, delivered, become a party to, performed its obligations under, received payments under, received or perfected a security interest under, engaged in any other transaction pursuant to or enforced any Loan Document, or sold or assigned an interest in any Loan or Loan Document).




“Other Taxes” means all present or future stamp, court or documentary, intangible, recording, filing or similar Taxes that arise from any payment made under, from the execution, delivery, performance, enforcement or registration of, from the receipt or perfection of a security interest under, or otherwise with respect to, any Loan Document, except any such Taxes that are Other Connection Taxes imposed with respect to an assignment (other than an assignment made pursuant to Section 2.23).




“Parent Company” shall mean, with respect to a Lender, the “bank holding company” as defined in Regulation Y, if any, of such Lender, and/or any Person owning, beneficially or of record, directly or indirectly, a majority of the shares of such Lender. 




“Participant” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 10.4(d).




“Participant Register” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 10.4(d).






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“Patriot Act” shall mean the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-177 (signed into law March 9, 2006)), as amended and in effect from time to time.




“Payment Office” shall mean the office of the Administrative Agent located at 3333 Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30326, or such other location as to which the Administrative Agent shall have given written notice to the Borrower and the other Lenders. 




“PBGC” shall mean the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corpora­tion referred to and defined in ERISA, and any successor entity performing similar functions.




“Permitted Investments” shall mean:




(i)

direct obligations of, or obligations the principal of and interest on which are unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States (or by any agency thereof to the extent such obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States), in each case maturing within one year from the date of acquisition thereof;




(ii)

commercial paper having the highest rating, at the time of acquisition thereof, of S&P or Moody’s and in either case maturing within six months from the date of acquisition thereof;




(iii)

certificates of de­posit, bankers’ acceptances and time deposits maturing within 180 days of the date of acquisition thereof issued or guaranteed by or placed with, and money market deposit accounts issued or offered by, any domestic office of any commercial bank organized under the laws of the United States or any state thereof which has a combined capital and surplus and undivided profits of not less than $500,000,000;




(iv)

fully collateralized repurchase agreements with a term of not more than 30 days for securities described in clause (i) above and entered into with a financial institution satisfying the criteria described in clause (iii) above; and




(v)

mutual funds investing solely in any one or more of the Permitted Investments described in clauses (i) through (iv) above.




“Permitted Third Party Bank” shall mean any bank or other financial institution wi

th whom any Loan Party maintains a Controlled Account and with whom a Control Account Agreement has been executed. 

“Person” shall mean any individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association, joint venture, limited liability company, trust or other entity, or any Governmental Authority.




“Plan” shall mean any “employee benefit plan” as defined in Section 3 of ERISA (other than a Multiemployer Plan) maintained or contributed to by the Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate or to which the Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate has or may have an obligation to contribute, and each such plan that is subject to Title IV of ERISA for the five-year period immediately following the latest date on which the Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate maintained, contributed to or had an obligation to contribute to (or is deemed under Section 4069 of ERISA to have maintained or contributed to or to have had an obligation to contribute to, or otherwise to have liability with respect to) such plan.




“Pro Forma Basis” shall mean, (i) with respect to any Person, business, property or asset acquired in an Acquisition approved in writing by the Required Lenders, the inclusion as “Consolidated EBITDAX” of the EBITDAX (i.e. net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for such Person, business, property or asset as if such Acquisition had been consummated on the first day of the applicable period, based on historical results accounted for in accordance with GAAP, and (ii) with respect to any Person, business, property or asset sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of, the exclusion from “Consolidated EBITDAX” of the EBITDAX (i.e. net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for such Person, business, property or asset so disposed of during such period as if such disposition had been consummated on the first day of the applicable period, in accordance with GAAP.




“Pro Rata Share” shall mean with respect to any Commitment or Loan of any Lender at any time, a percentage, the numerator of which shall be such Lender’s Commitment (or if such Commitment has been terminated or expired or the Loans have been declared to be due and payable, such Lender’s Credit Exposure), and the denominator of which shall be the sum of all Commitments of all Lenders (or if such Commitments have been terminated or expired or the Loans have been declared to be due and payable, all Credit Exposure of all Lenders). 




“Property” means any interest in any kind of property or asset, whether real, personal or mixed, or tangible or intangible, including, without limitation, cash, securities, accounts and contract rights.  






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“Proposed Borrowing Base” means any Borrowing Base proposed by the Administrative Agent pursuant to Section 2.4(c)(i).




“Proposed Borrowing Base Notice” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.4(c)(ii).




“Qualified ECP Guarantor” means, in respect of any Hedging Transaction, each Loan Party that (i) has total assets exceeding $10,000,000 at the time any guaranty of obligations under such Hedging Transaction or grant of the relevant security interest becomes effective or (ii) otherwise constitutes an “eligible contract participant” under the Commodity Exchange Act or any regulations promulgated thereunder and can cause another Person to qualify as an “eligible contract participant” at such time by entering into a keepwell under Section 1a(18)(A)(v)(II) of the Commodity Exchange Act.




“Recipient” shall mean, as applicable, (a) the Administrative Agent, (b) any Lender and (c) the Issuing Bank.




“Redetermination Date” means, with respect to any Scheduled Redetermination or any Interim Redetermination, the date that the redetermined Borrowing Base related thereto becomes effective pursuant to Section 2.4(d).




“Regulation D” shall mean Regulation D of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as the same may be in effect from time to time, and any successor regulations.




“Regulation T” shall mean Regulation T of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as the same may be in effect from time to time, and any successor regulations.




“Regulation U” shall mean Regulation U of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as the same may be in effect from time to time, and any successor regulations.




“Regulation X” shall mean Regulation X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as the same may be in effect from time to time, and any successor regulations.




“Regulation Y” shall mean Regulation Y of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as the same may be in effect from time to time, and any successor regulations.




“Related Parties” shall mean, with respect to any specified Person, such Person’s Affiliates and the respective managers, administrators, trustees, partners, directors, officers, employees, agents, advisors or other representatives of such Person and such Person’s Affiliates.




“Release” shall mean any release, spill, emission, leaking, dumping, injection, pouring, deposit, disposal, discharge, dispersal, leaching or migration into the environment (including ambient air, surface water, groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata) or within any building, structure, facility or fixture.




“Remedial Work” shall have the meaning assigned to such term in Section 5.17(a).




“Required Lenders” shall mean, (i) at any time there are three or fewer Lenders under this Agreement, two or more Lenders holding more than 66-2/3% of the aggregate outstanding Commitments at such time or, if the Lenders have no Commitments outstanding, then two or more Lenders holding more than 66-2/3% of the aggregate outstanding Credit Exposure of the Lenders at such time and (ii) at any time there are greater than three Lenders under this Agreement, (a) with respect to approval of a decrease or maintenance of the Borrowing Base, Lenders holding more than 66-2/3% of the aggregate outstanding Commitments at such time or, if the Lenders have no Commitments outstanding, Lenders holding more than 66-2/3% of the aggregate outstanding Credit Exposure of the Lenders at such time and (b) with respect to all other approvals requiring the consent of the Required Lenders, Lenders holding more than 50% of the aggregate outstanding Commitments at such time or, if the Lenders have no Commitments outstanding, Lenders holding more than 50% of the aggregate outstanding Credit Exposure of the Lenders at such time; provided that to the extent that any Lender is a Defaulting Lender, such Defaulting Lender and all of its Commitments and Credit Exposure shall be excluded for purposes of determining Required Lenders. 




“Requirement of Law” for any Person shall mean the articles or certificate of incorporation, bylaws, partnership certificate and agreement, or limited liability company certificate of organization and agreement, as the case may be, and other organizational and governing documents of such Person, and any law, treaty, rule or regulation, or determination of a Governmental Authority, in each case applicable to or binding upon such Person or any of its property or to which such Person or any of its property is subject.






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“Reserve Report” means a report, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, setting forth, as of the dates set forth in Section 5.13(a) (or such other date in the event of an Interim Redetermination or any other redetermination (other than a Scheduled Redetermination)) the oil and gas reserves attributable to the Oil and Gas Properties of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries that are Qualified ECP Guarantors, together with a projection of the rate of production and future net income, taxes, operating expenses and capital expenditures with respect thereto as of such date, based upon the pricing assumptions consistent with SEC reporting requirements at the time and reflecting Hedging Transactions in place with respect to such production.




“Responsible Officer” shall mean (x) with respect to certifying compliance with the financial covenants set forth in Article VI, the chief financial officer or the treasurer of the Borrower and (y) with respect to all other provisions, any of the president, the chief executive officer, the chief operating officer, the chief financial officer, the treasurer or a vice president of the Borrower or such other representative of the Borrower as may be designated in writing by any one of the foregoing with the consent of the Administrative Agent.




“Restricted Payment” shall mean, for any Person, any dividend or distribution on any class of its Capital Stock, or any payment on account of, or set apart assets for a sinking or other analogous fund for, the purchase, redemption, retirement, defeasance or other acquisition of any shares of its Capital Stock, any Indebtedness subordinated to the Obligations or any Guarantee thereof or any options, warrants or other rights to purchase such Capital Stock or such Indebtedness, whether now or hereafter outstanding, or any management or similar fees. 




“S&P” shall mean Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.




“Sanctioned Country” shall mean a country subject to a sanctions program identified on the list maintained by OFAC and available at http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Pages/

default.aspx, or as otherwise published from time to time.




“Sanctioned Person” shall mean (i) a Person named on the list of “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons” maintained by OFAC available at http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/SDN-List/Pages/default.aspx, or as otherwise published from time to time, or (ii) (A) an agency of the government of a Sanctioned Country, (B) an organization controlled by a Sanctioned Country, or (C) a person resident in a Sanctioned Country, to the extent subject to a sanctions program administered by OFAC.




“Scheduled Redetermination” has the meaning assigned such term in Section 2.4(b).




“Scheduled Redetermination Date” means the date on which a Borrowing Base that has been redetermined pursuant to a Scheduled Redetermination becomes effective as provided in Section 2.4(d).




“Secured Parties” shall mean the Administrative Agent, the Lenders, the Issuing Bank, the Lender-Related Hedge Providers and the Bank Product Providers.




“Sole Lead Arranger” shall mean SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., in its capacity as sole lead arranger in connection with this Agreement.




“Solvent” shall mean, with respect to any Person on a particular date, that on such date (a) the fair value of the property of such Person is greater than the total amount of liabilities, including subordinated and contingent liabilities, of such Person; (b) the present fair saleable value of the assets of such Person is not less than the amount that will be required to pay the probable liability of such Person on its debts and liabilities, including subordinated and contingent liabilities as they become absolute and matured; (c) such Person does not intend to, and does not believe that it will, incur debts or liabilities beyond such Person’s ability to pay as such debts and liabilities mature; and (d) such Person is not engaged in a business or transaction, and is not about to engage in a business or transaction, for which such Person’s property would constitute an unreasonably small capital.  The amount of contingent liabilities (such as litigation, guaranties and pension plan liabilities) at any time shall be computed as the amount that, in light of all the facts and circumstances existing at the time, represents the amount that would reasonably be expected to become an actual or matured liability.




“Special Flood Hazard Area” means an area that FEMA’s current flood maps indicate has at least a one percent (1%) chance of a flood equal to or exceeding the base flood elevation (a 100-year flood) in any given year.




“Stanford” means Stanford Energy Inc., a Texas corporation.






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“Subsidiary” shall mean, with respect to any Person (the “parent”) at any date, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, association or other entity the accounts of which would be consolidated with those of the parent in the parent’s consolidated financial statements if such financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP as of such date, as well as any other corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, association or other entity (i) of which securities or other ownership interests representing more than 50% of the equity or more than 50% of the ordinary voting power or, in the case of a partnership, more than 50% of the general partnership interests are, as of such date, owned, controlled or held, or (ii) that is, as of such date, otherwise controlled, by the parent or one or more subsidiaries of the parent or by the parent and one or more subsidiaries of the parent.  Unless otherwise indicated, all references to “Subsidiary” hereunder shall mean a Subsidiary of the Borrower, other than Stanford.




“Subsidiary Loan Party” shall mean any Subsidiary that executes or becomes a party to the Guaranty and Security Agreement.  For the avoidance of doubt, Stanford shall not be a “Subsidiary Loan Party”. 




“Swap Obligation” shall mean, with respect to any Guarantor, any obligation to pay or perform under any agreement, contract or transaction that constitutes a “swap” within the meaning of section 1a(47) of the Commodity Exchange Act. 




“Synthetic Lease” shall mean a lease transaction under which the parties intend that (i) the lease will be treated as an “operating lease” by the lessee pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Sections 840-10 and 840-20, as amended, and (ii) the lessee will be entitled to various tax and other benefits ordinarily available to owners (as opposed to lessees) of like property.




“Synthetic Lease Obligations” shall mean, with respect to any Person, the sum of (i) all remaining rental obligations of such Person as lessee under Synthetic Leases which are attributable to principal and, without duplication, (ii) all rental and purchase price payment obligations of such Person under such Synthetic Leases assuming such Person exercises the option to purchase the lease property at the end of the lease term.




“Taxes” shall mean any and all present or future taxes, levies, imposts, duties, deductions, withholdings (including backup withholding), assessments, fees or other charges imposed by any Governmental Authority, including any interest, additions to tax or penalties applicable thereto. 




“Trading with the Enemy Act” shall mean the Trading with the Enemy Act of the United States of America (50 U.S.C. App. §§ 1 et seq.), as amended and in effect from time to time.




“Transfer Letters” means, collectively, the letters in lieu of transfer orders in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent and executed by the Borrower or any Subsidiary executing a Mortgage.




“Triggering Event” shall mean (a) the sale or disposition of Oil and Gas Properties of the Borrower or any Subsidiary that have a positive value in the most recently delivered Reserve Report or in the Reserve Report evaluated for the then effective Borrowing Base, and (b) the novation or assignment (unless novated or assigned to a counterparty with equal or better creditworthiness), unwinding or termination (unless replaced with positions or contracts no less advantageous to the Borrower or the Subsidiary party thereto), or amendment (if such amendment is materially adverse to the Borrower or the Subsidiary party thereto) of a hedge position or Hedging Transaction considered by the Administrative Agent in determining the then effective Borrowing Base, which, in either such case, after giving effect to such event, results in the aggregate amount of all such events (the value of such Oil and Gas Properties subject to such sale or disposition, and the value of such hedge position or Hedging Transaction subject to any such event, to be determined pursuant to Section 2.4(c)) since the most recent Base Date exceeding 5% of the Borrowing Base then in effect.




“Type”, when used in reference to a Loan or a Borrowing, refers to whether the rate of interest on such Loan, or on the Loans comprising such Borrowing, is determined by reference to the Adjusted LIBO Rate or the Base Rate. 




“Unfunded Pension Liability” of any Plan shall mean the amount, if any, by which the value of the accumulated plan benefits under the Plan, determined on a plan termination basis in accordance with actuarial assumptions at such time consistent with those prescribed by the PBGC for purposes of Section 4044 of ERISA, exceeds the fair market value of all Plan assets allocable to such liabilities under Title IV of ERISA (excluding any accrued but unpaid contributions).




“Uniform Commercial Code” or “UCC” shall mean the Uniform Commercial Code as in effect from time to time in the State of Texas. 




“United States” or “U.S.” shall mean the United States of America.




“U.S. Borrower ” shall mean any Borrower that is a U.S. Person. 






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“U.S. Person” shall mean any Person that is a “United States person” as defined in Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code.




“U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2.19(g)(ii)(B)(iii).




“Withdrawal Liability” shall mean liability to a Multiemployer Plan as a result of a complete or partial withdrawal from such Multiemployer Plan, as such terms are defined in Part I of Subtitle E of Title IV of ERISA.




“Withholding Agent” shall mean the Borrower, any other Loan Party or the Administrative Agent, as applicable.




Section 1.2.

Classifications of Loans and Borrowings.  For purposes of this Agreement, Loans may be classified and referred to by Type (e.g. “Eurodollar Loan” or “Base Rate Loan”).  Borrowings also may be classified and referred to by Type (e.g. “Eurodollar Borrowing”).




Section 1.3.

Accounting Terms and Determination.  Unless otherwise defined or specified herein, all accounting terms used herein shall be interpreted, all accounting determinations hereunder shall be made, and all financial statements required to be delivered hereunder shall be prepared, in accordance with GAAP as in effect from time to time, applied on a basis consistent with the most recent audited consolidated financial statement of the Borrower delivered pursuant to Section 5.1(a); provided that if the Borrower notifies the Administrative Agent that the Borrower wishes to amend any covenant in Article VI to eliminate the effect of any change in GAAP on the operation of such covenant (or if the Administrative Agent notifies the Borrower that the Required Lenders wish to amend Article VI for such purpose), then the Borrower’s compliance with such covenant shall be determined on the basis of GAAP in effect immediately before the relevant change in GAAP became effective, until either such notice is withdrawn or such covenant is amended in a manner satisfactory to the Borrower and the Required Lenders.  Notwithstanding any other provision contained herein, all terms of an accounting or financial nature used herein shall be construed, and all computations of amounts and ratios referred to herein shall be made, without giving effect to any election under Accounting Standards Codification Section 825-10 (or any other Financial Accounting Standard having a similar result or effect) to value any Indebtedness or other liabilities of any Loan Party or any Subsidiary of any Loan Party at “fair value”, as defined therein.




Section 1.4.

Terms Generally.  The definitions of terms herein shall apply equally to the singular and plural forms of the terms defined.  Whenever the context may require, any pronoun shall include the corresponding masculine, feminine and neuter forms.  The words “include”, “includes” and “including” shall be deemed to be followed by the phrase “without limitation”.  The word “will” shall be construed to have the same meaning and effect as the word “shall”.  In the computation of periods of time from a specified date to a later specified date, the word “from” means “from and including” and the word “to” means “to but excluding”.  Unless the context requires otherwise (i) any definition of or reference to any agreement, instrument or other document herein shall be construed as referring to such agreement, instrument or other document as it was originally executed or as it may from time to time be amended, restated, supplemented or otherwise modified (subject to any restrictions on such amendments, supplements or modifications set forth herein), (ii) any reference herein to any Person shall be construed to include such Person’s successors and permitted assigns, (iii) the words “hereof”, “herein” and “hereunder” and words of similar import shall be construed to refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular provision hereof, (iv) all references to Articles, Sections, Exhibits and Schedules shall be construed to refer to Articles, Sections, Exhibits and Schedules to this Agreement, (v) all references to a specific time shall be construed to refer to the time in the city and state of the Administrative Agent’s principal office, unless otherwise indicated, and (vi) any reference to any law shall include all statutory and regulatory provisions consolidating, amending, replacing or interpreting such law and any reference to any law or regulation shall, unless otherwise specified, refer to such law or regulation as amended, modified or supplemented from time to time.




Section 1.5.

Time of Day.  Unless otherwise specified, all references herein to time of day shall be references to Eastern time (daylight or standard, as applicable).




ARTICLE II



AMOUNT AND TERMS OF THE COMMITMENTS




Section 2.1.

General Description of Facility.  Subject to and upon the terms and conditions herein set forth, (i) the Lenders hereby establish in favor of the Borrower a revolving credit facility pursuant to which each Lender severally agrees (to the extent of such Lender’s Commitment) to make Loans to the Borrower in accordance with Section 2.2; (ii) the Issuing Bank may issue Letters of Credit in accordance with Section 2.21; and (iii) each Lender agrees to purchase a participation interest in the Letters of Credit pursuant to the terms and conditions hereof; provided that in no event shall the aggregate principal amount of all outstanding Loans and outstanding LC Exposure exceed the Aggregate Commitment Amount in effect from time to time.






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Section 2.2.

Loans.  Subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, each Lender severally agrees to make Loans, ratably in proportion to its Pro Rata Share of the Aggregate Commitments, to the Borrower, from time to time during the Availability Period, in an aggregate principal amount outstanding at any time that will not result in (a) such Lender’s Credit Exposure exceeding such Lender’s Commitment or (b) the aggregate Credit Exposures of all Lenders exceeding the Aggregate Commitment Amount.  During the Availability Period, the Borrower shall be entitled to borrow, prepay and reborrow Loans in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement; pro­vided that the Borrower may not borrow or reborrow should there exist a Default or Event of Default. 




Section 2.3.

Procedure for Borrowings.  The Borrower shall give the Administrative Agent written notice (or telephonic notice promptly confirmed in writing) of each Borrowing, substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.3 attached hereto (a “Notice of Borrowing”), (x) prior to 11:00 a.m. one (1) Business Day prior to the requested date of each Base Rate Borrowing and (y) prior to 11:00 a.m. three (3) Business Days prior to the requested date of each Eurodollar Borrowing.  Each Notice of Borrowing shall be irrevocable and shall specify (i) the aggregate principal amount of such Borrowing, (ii) the date of such Borrowing (which shall be a Business Day), (iii) the Type of such Loan comprising such Borrowing and (iv) in the case of a Eurodollar Borrowing, the duration of the initial Interest Period applicable thereto (subject to the provisions of the definition of Interest Period).  Each Borrowing shall consist entirely of Base Rate Loans or Eurodollar Loans, as the Borrower may request.  The aggregate principal amount of each Eurodollar Borrowing shall not be less than $5,000,000 or a larger multiple of $1,000,000, and the aggregate principal amount of each Base Rate Borrowing shall not be less than $1,000,000 or a larger multiple of $100,000; provided that Base Rate Loans made pursuant to Section 2.21(d) may be made in lesser amounts as provided therein.  At no time shall the total number of Eurodollar Borrowings outstanding at any time exceed six (6).  Promptly following the receipt of a Notice of Borrowing in accordance herewith, the Administrative Agent shall advise each Lender of the details thereof and the amount of such Lender’s Loan to be made as part of the requested Borrowing. 




Section 2.4.

Borrowing Base.




(a)

Initial Borrowing Base. For the period from and including the Closing Date to but excluding the first date on which a redetermined or adjusted Borrowing Base becomes effective pursuant to Section 2.4(d), the amount of the Borrowing Base shall be $40,000,000.  The Borrowing Base is subject to periodic redeterminations, mandatory reductions and further adjustments from time to time pursuant to this Agreement.




(b)

Scheduled and Interim Redeterminations.  The Borrowing Base shall be redetermined (i) quarterly on each January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, beginning October 1, 2014 through October 1, 2015 and (ii) semi-annually on each October 1 and April 1 beginning April 1, 2016 (each, a “Scheduled Redetermination”).  In addition, the Borrower may, by notifying the Administrative Agent thereof, and the Administrative Agent may, at the direction of the Required Lenders, by notifying the Borrower thereof, each elect to cause the Borrowing Base to be redetermined one time during each of the following periods: (A) between the October 1, 2014 and April 1, 2015 Scheduled Redeterminations, (B) between the April 1, 2015 and October 1, 2015 Scheduled Redeterminations, and (C) starting with the October 1, 2015 Scheduled Redeterminations, during any six month period between Scheduled Redeterminations (each, an “Interim Redetermination”), in accordance with this Section 2.4.




(c)

Scheduled and Interim Redetermination Procedure.




(i)

Each Scheduled Redetermination and each Interim Redetermination shall be effectuated as follows:  Upon receipt by the Administrative Agent of (A) the Reserve Report and the certificate required to be delivered by the Borrower to the Administrative Agent, in the case of a Scheduled Redetermination, pursuant to clauses (a) and (c) of Section 5.13, and, in the case of an Interim Redetermination, pursuant to clauses (b) and (c) of Section 5.13, and (B) such other reports, data and supplemental information, including, without limitation, the information provided pursuant to clause (c) of Section 5.13, as may, from time to time, be reasonably requested by the Required Lenders (the Reserve Report, such certificate and such other reports, data and supplemental information being the “Engineering Reports”), the Administrative Agent shall evaluate the information contained in the Engineering Reports and shall propose a new Borrowing Base which shall be based upon such information from the Engineering Reports and such other information as the Administrative Agent deems appropriate in its sole discretion consistent with its lending criteria as it exists at such time.  In no event shall the Proposed Borrowing Base exceed the Aggregate Maximum Loan Amount;




(ii)

The Administrative Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Lenders of the Proposed Borrowing Base (the “Proposed Borrowing Base Notice”) after the Administrative Agent has received complete Engineering Reports from the Borrower and has had a reasonable opportunity to determine the Proposed Borrowing Base in accordance with Section 2.4(c)(i); and






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(iii)

Until the Borrowing Base is redetermined in accordance with this Section 2.4, the then-existing Borrowing Base will remain in effect.  Any Proposed Borrowing Base that would increase the Borrowing Base then in effect must be approved by all of the Lenders as provided in this Section 2.4(c)(iii); and any Proposed Borrowing Base that would decrease or maintain the Borrowing Base then in effect must be approved or be deemed to have been approved by the Required Lenders as provided in this Section 2.4(c)(iii).  Upon receipt of the Proposed Borrowing Base Notice, each Lender shall have fifteen (15) days to agree with the Proposed Borrowing Base or disagree with the Proposed Borrowing Base by proposing an alternate Borrowing Base.  If, at the end of such fifteen (15) days (A) in the case of any Proposed Borrowing Base that would decrease or maintain the Borrowing Base then in effect, any Lender has not communicated its approval or disapproval in writing to the Administrative Agent, such silence shall be deemed to be an approval of the Proposed Borrowing Base and (B) in the case of any Proposed Borrowing Base that would increase the Borrowing Base then in effect, any Lender has not communicated its approval or disapproval in writing to the Administrative Agent, such silence shall be deemed to be a disapproval of the Proposed Borrowing Base.  If, at the end of such 15-day period, all of the Lenders, in the case of a Proposed Borrowing Base that would increase the Borrowing Base then in effect, or the Required Lenders, in the case of a Proposed Borrowing Base that would decrease or maintain the Borrowing Base then in effect, have approved or, in the case of a decrease or reaffirmation, deemed to have approved, as aforesaid, then the Proposed Borrowing Base shall become the new Borrowing Base effective on the date specified in Section 2.4(d).  If, however, at the end of such 15-day period, all of the Lenders or the Required Lenders, as applicable, have not approved or, in the case of a decrease or reaffirmation, deemed to have approved, as aforesaid, then the Administrative Agent shall poll the Lenders to ascertain the highest Borrowing Base then acceptable to (x) in the case of a decrease or reaffirmation, a number of Lenders sufficient to constitute the Required Lenders and (y) in the case of an increase, all of the Lenders, and such amount shall become the new Borrowing Base effective on the date specified in Section 2.4(d).




(d)

Effectiveness of a Redetermined Borrowing Base.  After a redetermined Borrowing Base which maintains or decreases the Borrowing Base is approved or is deemed to have been approved by the Required Lenders and after a redetermined Borrowing Base which increases the Borrowing Base is approved by the Lenders, pursuant to Section 2.4(c)(iii), the Administrative Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Lenders of the amount of the redetermined Borrowing Base (the “New Borrowing Base Notice”), and such amount shall become the new Borrowing Base effective and applicable to the Borrower, the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and the Lenders: 




(i)

in the case of a Scheduled Redetermination, (A) if the Administrative Agent shall have received the Engineering Reports required to be delivered by the Borrower pursuant to clauses (a) and (c) of Section 5.13 in a timely and complete manner, then on the January 1, April 1, July 1 or October 1 (or, in each case, such date promptly thereafter as reasonably practicable), as applicable, following such notice, or (B) if the Administrative Agent shall not have received the Engineering Reports required to be delivered by the Borrower pursuant to clauses (a) and (c) of Section 5.13 in a timely and complete manner, then on the Business Day next succeeding delivery of such notice; and




(ii)

in the case of an Interim Redetermination and any other redetermination provided for in this Agreement (other than a Scheduled Redetermination), on the Business Day next succeeding delivery of such notice.

Such amount shall then become the Borrowing Base until the next Scheduled Redetermination Date, the next Interim Redetermination Date, or the next adjustment to the Borrowing Base pursuant to this Agreement, whichever occurs first.




(e)

Other Redeterminations.  In addition to the Borrowing Base redeterminations provided for otherwise in this Section 2.4 or any other provision of this Agreement, effective immediately upon each occurrence of a Triggering Event, the Required Lenders may make an additional redetermination of the Borrowing Base based on such information relating to the Triggering Event as Administrative Agent and such Lenders deem relevant.  In connection with any redetermination of the Borrowing Base under this Section 2.4(e), Borrower shall provide Administrative Agent and the Lenders with such information regarding Borrower’s and its Subsidiaries’ business (including, without limitation, its Oil and Gas Properties, the proven reserves, and production relating thereto) as Administrative Agent or any Lender may request, including an updated Reserve Report prepared by an Approved Petroleum Engineer.  Administrative Agent shall promptly notify Borrower in writing of each redetermination of the Borrowing Base pursuant to this Section 2.4(e) and the amount of the Borrowing Base as so redetermined.




Section 2.5.

Funding of Borrowings.




(a)

Each Lender will make available each Loan to be made by it hereunder on the proposed date thereof by wire transfer in immediately available funds by 11:00 a.m. to the Administrative Agent at the Payment Office.  The Administrative Agent will make such Loans available to the Borrower by promptly crediting the amounts that it receives, in like funds by the close of business on such proposed date, to an account maintained by the Borrower with the Administrative Agent or, at the Borrower’s option, by effecting a wire transfer of such amounts to an account designated by the Borrower to the Administrative Agent.






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(b)

Unless the Administrative Agent shall have been notified by any Lender prior to 5:00 p.m. one (1) Business Day prior to the date of a Borrowing in which such Lender is to participate that such Lender will not make available to the Administrative Agent such Lender’s share of such Borrowing, the Administrative Agent may assume that such Lender has made such amount available to the Administrative Agent on such date, and the Administrative Agent, in reliance on such assumption, may make available to the Borrower on such date a corresponding amount.  If such corresponding amount is not in fact made available to the Administrative Agent by such Lender on the date of such Borrowing, the Administrative Agent shall be entitled to recover such corresponding amount on demand from such Lender together with interest (x) at the Federal Funds Rate until the second Business Day after such demand and (y) at the Base Rate at all times thereafter.  If such Lender does not pay such corresponding amount forthwith upon the Administrative Agent’s demand therefor, the Administrative Agent shall promptly notify the Borrower, and the Borrower shall immediately pay such corresponding amount to the Administrative Agent together with interest at the rate specified for such Borrowing.  Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to relieve any Lender from its obligation to fund its Pro Rata Share of any Borrowing hereunder or to prejudice any rights which the Borrower may have against any Lender as a result of any default by such Lender hereunder.




(c)

All Borrowings shall be made by the Lenders on the basis of their respective Pro Rata Shares.  No Lender shall be responsible for any default by any other Lender in its obligations hereunder, and each Lender shall be ob­ligated to make its Loans provided to be made by it hereunder, regardless of the failure of any other Lender to make its Loans hereunder.




Section 2.6.

Interest Elections.




(a)

Each Borrowing initially shall be of the Type specified in the applicable Notice of Borrowing.  Thereafter, the Borrower may elect to convert such Borrowing into a different Type or to continue such Borrowing, all as provided in this Section.  The Borrower may elect different options with respect to different portions of the affected Borrowing, in which case each such portion shall be allocated ratably among the Lenders holding Loans comprising such Borrowing, and the Loans comprising each such portion shall be considered a separate Borrowing.




(b)

To make an election pursuant to this Section, the Borrower shall give the Administrative Agent written notice (or telephonic notice promptly confirmed in writing) of each Borrowing that is to be converted or continued, as the case may be, substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.6 attached hereto (a “Notice of Conversion/Continuation”) (x) prior to 10:00 a.m. one (1) Business Day prior to the requested date of a conversion into a Base Rate Borrowing and (y) prior to 11:00 a.m. three (3) Business Days prior to a continuation of or conversion into a Eurodollar Borrowing.  Each such Notice of Conversion/Continuation shall be irrevocable and shall specify (i) the Borrowing to which such Notice of Conversion/Continuation applies and, if different options are being elected with respect to different portions thereof, the portions thereof that are to be allocated to each resulting Borrowing (in which case the information to be specified pursuant to clauses (iii) and (iv) shall be specified for each resulting Borrowing), (ii) the effective date of the election made pursuant to such Notice of Conversion/Continuation, which shall be a Business Day, (iii) whether the resulting Borrowing is to be a Base Rate Borrowing or a Eurodollar Borrowing, and (iv) if the resulting Borrowing is to be a Eurodollar Borrowing, the Interest Period applicable thereto after giving effect to such election, which shall be a period contemplated by the definition of “Interest Period”.  If any such Notice of Conversion/Continuation requests a Eurodollar Borrowing but does not specify an Interest Period, the Borrower shall be deemed to have selected an Interest Period of one month.  The principal amount of any resulting Borrowing shall satisfy the minimum borrowing amount for Eurodollar Borrowings and Base Rate Borrowings set forth in Section 2.3.




(c)

If, on the expiration of any Interest Period in respect of any Eurodollar Borrowing, the Borrower shall have failed to deliver a Notice of Conversion/Continuation, then, unless such Borrowing is repaid as provided herein, the Borrower shall be deemed to have elected to convert such Borrowing to a Base Rate Borrowing.  No Borrowing may be converted into, or continued as, a Eurodollar Borrowing if a Default or an Event of Default exists, unless the Administrative Agent and each of the Lenders shall have otherwise consented in writing.  No conversion of any Eurodollar Loan shall be permitted except on the last day of the Interest Period in respect thereof.  




(d)

Upon receipt of any Notice of Conversion/Continuation, the Administrative Agent shall promptly notify each Lender of the details thereof and of such Lender’s portion of each resulting Borrowing.




Section 2.7.

Optional Reduction and Termination of Commitments.




(a)

Unless previously terminated, all Commitments and LC Commitments shall terminate on the Commitment Termination Date.  






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(b)

Upon at least three (3) Business Days’ prior written notice (or telephonic notice promptly confirmed in writing) to the Administrative Agent (which notice shall be irrevocable), the Borrower may reduce the Aggregate Maximum Loan Amount in part or terminate the Aggregate Loan Commitments (and by virtue thereof, all Commitments) in whole; provided that (i) any partial reduction shall apply to reduce proportionately among Lenders (in accordance with their Pro Rata Shares) and permanently the Loan Commitment of each Lender, (ii) any partial reduction pursuant to this Section shall be in an amount of at least $5,000,000 and any larger multiple of $1,000,000, and (iii) no such reduction shall be permitted which would reduce the Aggregate Loan Commitment Amount to an amount less than the aggregate outstanding Credit Exposure of all Lenders.  Any such reduction in the Aggregate Loan Commitment Amount below the principal amount of the LC Commitment shall result in a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the LC Commitment.




(c)

With the written approval of the Administrative Agent, the Borrower may terminate (on a non-ratable basis) the unused amount of the Maximum Loan Amount (and by virtue thereof, all of the Commitment) of a Defaulting Lender, and in such event the provisions of Section 2.24 will apply to all amounts thereafter paid by the Borrower for the account of any such Defaulting Lender under this Agreement (whether on account of principal, interest, fees, indemnity or other amounts); provided that such termination will not be deemed to be a waiver or release of any claim that the Borrower, the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any other Lender may have against such Defaulting Lender.




Section 2.8.

Repayment of Loans.  The outstanding principal amount of all Loans shall be due and payable (together with accrued and unpaid interest thereon) on the Commitment Termination Date. 




Section 2.9.

Evidence of Indebtedness.




(a)

Each Lender shall maintain in accordance with its usual practice appropriate records evidencing the Indebtedness of the Borrower to such Lender resulting from each Loan made by such Lender from time to time, including the amounts of principal and interest payable thereon and paid to such Lender from time to time under this Agreement.  The Administrative Agent shall maintain appropriate records in which shall be recorded (i) the Commitment and Maximum Commitment of each Lender, (ii) the amount of each Loan made hereunder by each Lender, the Type thereof and, in the case of each Eurodollar Loan, the Interest Period applicable thereto, (iii) the date of any continuation of any Loan pursuant to Section 2.6, (iv) the date of any conversion of all or a portion of any Loan to another Type pursuant to Section 2.6, (v) the date and amount of any principal or interest due and payable or to become due and payable from the Borrower to each Lender hereunder in respect of the Loans and (vi) both the date and amount of any sum received by the Administrative Agent hereunder from the Borrower in respect of the Loans and each Lender’s Pro Rata Share thereof.  The entries made in such records shall be prima facie evidence of the existence and amounts of the obligations of the Borrower therein recorded; provided that the failure or delay of any Lender or the Administrative Agent in maintaining or making entries into any such record or any error therein shall not in any manner affect the obligation of the Borrower to repay the Loans (both principal and unpaid accrued interest) of such Lender in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.




(b)

This Agreement evidences the obligation of the Borrower to repay the Loans and is being executed as a “noteless” credit agreement.  However, at the request of any Lender at any time, the Borrower agrees that it will prepare, execute and deliver to such Lender a promissory note payable to the order of such Lender (or, if requested by such Lender, to such Lender and its registered assigns) and in a form approved by the Administrative Agent.  Thereafter, the Loans evidenced by such promissory note and interest thereon shall at all times (including after assignment permitted hereunder) be represented by one or more promissory notes in such form payable to the order of the payee named therein (or, if such promissory note is a registered note, to such payee and its registered assigns).




Section 2.10.

Optional Prepayments.  The Borrower shall have the right at any time and from time to time to prepay any Borrowing, in whole or in part, without premium or penalty, by giving written notice (or telephonic notice promptly confirmed in writing) to the Administrative Agent no later than (i) in the case of any prepayment of any Eurodollar Borrowing, 11:00 a.m. not less than three (3) Business Days prior to the date of such prepayment, and (ii) in the case of any prepayment of any Base Rate Borrowing, not less than one (1) Business Day prior to the date of such prepayment.  Each such notice shall be irrevocable and shall specify the proposed date of such prepayment and the principal amount of each Borrowing or portion thereof to be prepaid.  Upon receipt of any such notice, the Administrative Agent shall promptly notify each affected Lender of the contents thereof and of such Lender’s Pro Rata Share of any such prepayment.  If such notice is given, the aggregate amount specified in such notice shall be due and payable on the date designated in such notice, together with accrued interest to such date on the amount so prepaid in accordance with Section 2.12(c); provided that if a Eurodollar Borrowing is prepaid on a date other than the last day of an Interest Period applicable thereto, the Borrower shall also pay all amounts required pursuant to Section 2.18.  Each partial prepayment of any Loan shall be in an amount that would be permitted in the case of an advance of a Borrowing of the same Type pursuant to Section 2.2.  Each prepayment of a Borrowing shall be applied ratably to the Loans comprising such Borrowing. 






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Section 2.11.

Mandatory Prepayments.




(a)

Upon any redetermination of or any other adjustment to the amount of the Borrowing Base in accordance with Section 2.4 (other than in accordance with Section 2.4(e)) or otherwise pursuant to this Agreement, if the total Credit Exposures exceeds the redetermined or adjusted Borrowing Base, then the Borrower shall (i) at its election (A) prepay the Loans in an aggregate principal amount equal to such Borrowing Base Deficiency, (B) execute documentation reasonably acceptable to the Administrative Agent to create a first priority perfected Lien in additional Oil and Gas Properties with value and quality satisfactory to the Administrative Agent and the Required Lenders in their sole discretion not currently subject to a mortgage Lien in favor of the Administrative Agent pursuant to the Collateral Documents of equal or greater value to such Borrowing Base Deficiency, (C) prepay the Loans in five (5) equal monthly installments each equal to one-fifth of such Borrowing Base Deficiency, the first of which shall be due on the thirtieth (30th) day following its receipt of the New Borrowing Base Notice in accordance with Section 2.4(d) or the date the adjustment occurs; or (D) any combination of the foregoing and (ii) if any excess remains after prepaying all of the Loans as a result of an LC Exposure, pay to the Administrative Agent on behalf of the Lenders an amount equal to such excess to be held as cash collateral as provided in Section 2.21(g).  The Borrower shall be obligated to (1) within ten (10) days following its receipt of the New Borrowing Base Notice in accordance with Section 2.4(d) or the date the adjustment occurs, give written notice to the Administrative Agent of its election to cure such Borrowing Base Deficiency pursuant to the applicable subclause (A) – (D) of Section 2.11(a)(i) and (2) make such prepayment, execute such documentation, make all such installment payments and/or deposit of cash collateral on the date which is thirty (30) days (with regards to clauses (i)(A) and (i)(B) of the immediately preceding sentence) or on the date which is one-hundred fifty (150) days (with regards to clauses (i)(C) and (i)(D) in the immediately preceding sentence) following its receipt of the New Borrowing Base Notice in accordance with Section 2.4(d) or the date the adjustment occurs; provided that all payments required to be made pursuant to this Section 2.11(a) must be made on or prior to the Commitment Termination Date.




(b)

Upon each redetermination of the Borrowing Base under Section 2.4(e) from the occurrence of a Triggering Event, if a Borrowing Base Deficiency then exists or results therefrom, then, on the date of such redetermination, Borrower shall prepay the Loans in an aggregate principal amount equal to such Borrowing Base Deficiency, and if any Borrowing Base Deficiency remains after prepaying all of the Loans as a result of an LC Exposure, pay to the Administrative Agent on behalf of the Lenders an amount equal to such Borrowing Base Deficiency to be held as cash collateral as provided in Section 2.21(g).




(c)

Any prepayments made by the Borrower pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this Section shall be applied as follows: first, to the Administrative Agent’s fees and reimbursable expenses then due and payable pursuant to any of the Loan Documents; second, to all reimbursable expenses of the Lenders and all fees and reimbursable expenses of the Issuing Bank then due and payable pursuant to any of the Loan Documents, pro rata to the Lenders and the Issuing Bank based on their respective pro rata shares of such fees and expenses; third, to interest and fees then due and payable hereunder, pro rata to the Lenders based on their respective pro rata shares of such interest and fees; fourth, to the principal balance of the Loans, until the same shall have been paid in full, pro rata to the Lenders based on their respective Commitments; and fifth, to Cash Collateralize the Letters of Credit in an amount in cash equal to the LC Exposure as of such date plus any accrued and unpaid fees thereon. 




Section 2.12.

Interest on Loans.




(a)

The Borrower shall pay interest on (i) each Base Rate Loan at the Base Rate plus the Applicable Margin in effect from time to time and (ii) each Eurodollar Loan at the Adjusted LIBO Rate for the applicable Interest Period in effect for such Loan plus the Applicable Margin in effect from time to time.




(b)

Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this Section, at the option of the Required Lenders if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, and automatically after acceleration or with respect to any past due amount hereunder, the Borrower shall pay interest (“Default Interest”) with respect to all Eurodollar Loans at the rate per annum equal to 200 basis points above the otherwise applicable interest rate for such Eurodollar Loans for the then-current Interest Period until the last day of such Interest Period, and thereafter, and with respect to all Base Rate Loans and all other Obligations hereunder (other than Loans), at the rate per annum equal to 200 basis points above the otherwise applicable interest rate for Base Rate Loans.




(c)

Interest on the principal amount of all Loans shall accrue from and includ­ing the date such Loans are made to but excluding the date of any repay­ment thereof.  Interest on all outstanding Base Rate Loans shall be payable quarterly in arrears on the last day of each March, June, September and December and on the Commitment Termination Date.  Interest on all outstanding Eurodollar Loans shall be payable on the last day of each Interest Period applicable thereto, and, in the case of any Eurodollar Loans having an Interest Period in excess of three months, on each day which occurs every three months after the initial date of such Interest Period, and on the Commitment Termination Date.  Interest on any Loan which is converted into a Loan of another Type or which is repaid or prepaid shall be payable on the date of such conversion or on the date of any such repayment or prepayment (on the amount repaid or prepaid) thereof.  All Default Interest shall be payable on demand.






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(d)

The Administrative Agent shall determine each interest rate applicable to the Loans hereunder and shall promptly notify the Borrower and the Lenders of such rate in writing (or by telephone, promptly con­firmed in writing).  Any such determination shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes, absent manifest error.




Section 2.13.

Fees.




(a)

The Borrower shall pay to the Administrative Agent for its own account fees in the amounts and at the times previously agreed upon in writing by the Borrower and the Administrative Agent. 




(b)

The Borrower agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent for the account of each Lender an unused commitment fee, which shall accrue at the Applicable Percentage per annum (determined daily in accordance with Schedule I) on the daily amount of the unused Commitment of such Lender during the Availability Period.  For purposes of computing the unused commitment fee, the Commitment of each Lender shall be deemed used to the extent of the outstanding Loans and LC Exposure of such Lender.




(c)

The Borrower agrees to pay (i) to the Administrative Agent, for the account of each Lender, a letter of credit fee with respect to its participation in each Letter of Credit, which shall accrue at a rate per annum equal to the Applicable Margin for Eurodollar Loans then in effect on the average daily amount of such Lender’s LC Exposure attributable to such Letter of Credit during the period from and including the date of issuance of such Letter of Credit to but excluding the date on which such Letter of Credit expires or is drawn in full (including, without limitation, any LC Exposure that remains outstanding after the Commitment Termination Date) and (ii) to the Issuing Bank for its own account a fronting fee, which shall accrue at 0.175% per annum on the average daily amount of the LC Exposure (excluding any portion thereof attributable to unreimbursed LC Disbursements) during the Availability Period (or until the date that such Letter of Credit is irrevocably cancelled, whichever is later), as well as the Issuing Bank’s standard fees with respect to issuance, amendment, renewal or extension of any Letter of Credit or processing of drawings thereunder.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Required Lenders elect to increase the interest rate on the Loans to the rate for Default Interest pursuant to Section 2.12(b), the rate per annum used to calculate the letter of credit fee pursuant to clause (i) above shall automatically be increased by 200 basis points.




(d)

Accrued fees under subsections (b) and (c) of this Section shall be payable quarterly in arrears on the last day of each March, June, September and December, commencing on July 1, 2014, and on the Commitment Termination Date (and, if later, the date the Loans and LC Exposure shall be repaid in their entirety); provided that any such fees accruing after the Commitment Termination Date shall be payable on demand.




Section 2.14.

Computation of Interest and Fees.




Interest hereunder based on the Administrative Agent’s prime lending rate shall be computed on the basis of a year of 365 days (or 366 days in a leap year) and paid for the actual number of days elapsed (including the first day but excluding the last day).  All other interest and all fees hereunder shall be computed on the basis of a year of 360 days and paid for the actual number of days elapsed (including the first day but excluding the last day).  Each determination by the Administrative Agent of an interest rate or fee hereunder shall be made in good faith and, except for manifest error, shall be final, con­clusive and binding for all purposes.




Section 2.15.

Inability to Determine Interest Rates.  If, prior to the commencement of any Interest Period for any Eurodollar Borrowing:




(i)

the Administrative Agent shall have determined (which determination shall be conclusive and binding upon the Borrower) that, by reason of circumstances affecting the relevant interbank market, ad­equate means do not exist for ascertaining the Adjusted LIBO Rate  for such Interest Period, or 




(ii)

the Administrative Agent shall have received notice from the Required Lenders that the Adjusted LIBO Rate does not adequately and fairly reflect the cost to such Lenders of making, funding or maintaining their Eurodollar Loans for such Interest Period, the Administrative Agent shall give written notice (or telephonic notice, promptly confirmed in writing) to the Borrower and to the Lenders as soon as practicable thereafter.  Until the Administrative Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Lenders that the circumstances giving rise to such notice no longer exist, (i) the obligations of the Lenders to make Eurodollar Loans or to continue or convert outstanding Loans as or into Eurodollar Loans shall be suspended and (ii) all such affected Loans shall be converted into Base Rate Loans on the last day of the then current Interest Period applicable thereto unless the Borrower prepays such Loans in accordance with this Agreement.  Unless the Borrower notifies the Administrative Agent at least one (1) Business Day before the date of any Eurodollar Borrowing for which a Notice of Borrowing or a Notice of Continuation/Conversion has previously been given that it elects not to borrow, continue or convert to a Eurodollar Borrowing on such date, then such Borrowing shall be made as, continued as or converted into a Base Rate Borrowing. 






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Section 2.16.

Illegality.  If any Change in Law shall make it unlawful or impossible for any Lender to make, maintain or fund any Eurodollar Loan and such Lender shall so notify the Administrative Agent, the Administrative Agent shall promptly give notice thereof to the Borrower and the other Lenders, whereupon until such Lender notifies the Administrative Agent and the Borrower that the circumstances giving rise to such suspension no longer exist, the obligation of such Lender to make Eurodollar Loans, or to continue or convert outstanding Loans as or into Eurodollar Loans, shall be suspended.  In the case of the making of a Eurodollar Borrowing, such Lender’s Loan shall be made as a Base Rate Loan as part of the same Borrowing for the same Interest Period and, if the affected Eurodollar Loan is then outstanding, such Loan shall be converted to a Base Rate Loan either (i) on the last day of the then current Interest Period applicable to such Eurodollar Loan if such Lender may lawfully continue to maintain such Loan to such date or (ii) immediately if such Lender shall determine that it may not lawfully continue to maintain such Eurodollar Loan to such date.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the affected Lender shall, prior to giving such notice to the Administrative Agent, designate a different Applicable Lending Office if such designation would avoid the need for giving such notice and if such designation would not otherwise be disadvantageous to such Lender in the good faith exercise of its discretion.




Section 2.17.

Increased Costs.




(a)

If any Change in Law shall:




(i)

impose, modify or deem applicable any reserve, special deposit or similar requirement that is not otherwise included in the determination of the Adjusted LIBO Rate hereunder against assets of, deposits with or for the account of, or credit extended by, any Lender (except any such reserve requirement reflected in the Adjusted LIBO Rate) or the Issuing Bank; or




(ii)

subject any Recipient to any Taxes (other than (A) Indemnified Taxes, (B) Taxes described in clauses (b) through (d) of the definition of Excluded Taxes and (C) Connection Income Taxes) on its loans, loan principal, letters of credit, commitments, or other obligations, or its deposits, reserves, other liabilities or capital attributable thereto; or




(iii)

impose on any Lender, the Issuing Bank or the eurodollar interbank market any other condition, cost or expense (other than Taxes) affecting this Agreement or any Eurodollar Loans made by such Lender or any Letter of Credit or any participation therein; 




and the result of any of the foregoing is to increase the cost to such Lender of making, converting into, continuing or maintaining any Eurodollar Loan or of maintaining its obligation to make any such Loan or to increase the cost to such Lender or the Issuing Bank of participating in, issuing or maintaining any Letter of Credit (or of maintaining its obligation with respect to Letters of Credit) or to reduce the amount received or receivable by such Lender or the Issuing Bank hereunder (whether of principal, interest or any other amount), 




then, from time to time, such Lender or the Issuing Bank may provide the Borrower (with a copy thereof to the Administrative Agent) with written notice and demand with respect to such increased costs or reduced amounts, and within five (5) Business Days after receipt of such notice and demand the Borrower shall pay to such Lender or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be, such additional amounts as will compensate such Lender or the Issuing Bank for any such additional or increased costs incurred or reduction suffered.




(b)

If any Lender or the Issuing Bank shall have determined that on or after the date of this Agreement any Change in Law regarding capital or liquidity requirements has or would have the effect of reducing the rate of return on such Lender’s or the Issuing Bank’s capital (or on the capital of the Parent Company of such Lender or the Issuing Bank) as a consequence of its obligations here­under or under or in respect of any Letter of Credit to a level below that which such Lender, the Issuing Bank or such Parent Company could have achieved but for such Change in Law (taking into consideration such Lender’s or the Issuing Bank’s policies or the policies of such Parent Company with respect to capital adequacy and liquidity), then, from time to time, such Lender or the Issuing Bank may provide the Borrower (with a copy thereof to the Administrative Agent) with written notice and demand with respect to such reduced amounts, and within five (5) Business Days after receipt of such notice and demand the Borrower shall pay to such Lender or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be, such additional amounts as will compensate such Lender, the Issuing Bank or such Parent Company for any such reduction suffered. 




(c)

A certifi­cate of such Lender or the Issuing Bank setting forth the amount or amounts necessary to compensate such Lender, the Issuing Bank or the Parent Company of such Lender or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be, specified in subsection (a) or (b) of this Section shall be delivered to the Borrower (with a copy to the Administrative Agent) and shall be conclusive, absent manifest error.




(d)

Failure or delay on the part of any Lender or the Issuing Bank to demand compensation pursuant to this Section shall not constitute a waiver of such Lender’s or the Issuing Bank’s right to demand such compensation.






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Section 2.18.

Funding Indemnity.  In the event of (a) the payment of any principal of a Eurodollar Loan other than on the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto (including as a result of an Event of Default), (b) the conversion or continuation of a Eurodollar Loan other than on the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto, or (c) the failure by the Borrower to borrow, prepay, convert or continue any Eurodollar Loan on the date specified in any applicable notice (regardless of whether such notice is withdrawn or revoked), then, in any such event, the Borrower shall compensate each Lender, within five (5) Business Days after written demand from such Lender, for any loss, cost or expense attributable to such event.  In the case of a Eurodollar Loan, such loss, cost or expense shall be deemed to include an amount determined by such Lender to be the excess, if any, of (A) the amount of interest that would have accrued on the principal amount of such Eurodollar Loan if such event had not occurred at the Adjusted LIBO Rate applicable to such Eurodollar Loan for the period from the date of such event to the last day of the then current Interest Period therefor (or, in the case of a failure to borrow, convert or continue, for the period that would have been the Interest Period for such Eurodollar Loan) over (B) the amount of interest that would accrue on the principal amount of such Eurodollar Loan for the same period if the Adjusted LIBO Rate were set on the date such Eurodollar Loan was prepaid or converted or the date on which the Borrower failed to borrow, convert or continue such Eurodollar Loan.  A certificate as to any additional amount payable under this Section submitted to the Borrower by any Lender (with a copy to the Administrative Agent) shall be conclusive, absent manifest error.




Section 2.19.

Taxes.




(a)

Defined Terms.  For purposes of this Section 2.19, the term “Lender” includes Issuing Bank and the term “applicable law” includes FATCA.




(b)

Payments Free of Taxes.  Any and all payments by or on account of any obligation of any Loan Party under any Loan Document shall be made without deduction or withholding for any Taxes, except as required by applicable law.  If any applicable law (as determined in the good faith discretion of an applicable Withholding Agent) requires the deduction or withholding of any Tax from any such payment by a Withholding Agent, then the applicable Withholding Agent shall be entitled to make such deduction or withholding and shall timely pay the full amount deducted or withheld to the relevant Governmental Authority in accordance with applicable law and, if such Tax is an Indemnified Tax, then the sum payable by the applicable Loan Party shall be increased as necessary so that after such deduction or withholding has been made (including such deductions and withholdings applicable to additional sums payable under this Section) the applicable Recipient receives an amount equal to the sum it would have received had no such deduction or withholding been made.




(c)

Payment of Other Taxes by the Borrower.  The Borrower shall timely pay to the relevant Governmental Authority in accordance with applicable law, or at the option of the Administrative Agent timely reimburse it for the payment of, any Other Taxes.




(d)

Indemnification by the Borrower.  The Borrower shall indemnify each Recipient, within 10 days after demand therefor, for the full amount of any Indemnified Taxes (including Indemnified Taxes imposed or asserted on or attributable to amounts payable under this Section) payable or paid by such Recipient or required to be withheld or deducted from a payment to such Recipient and any reasonable expenses arising therefrom or with respect thereto, whether or not such Indemnified Taxes were correctly or legally imposed or asserted by the relevant Governmental Authority.  A certificate as to the amount of such payment or liability delivered to the Borrower by a Lender (with a copy to the Administrative Agent), or by the Administrative Agent on its own behalf or on behalf of a Lender, shall be conclusive absent manifest error.




(e)

Indemnification by the Lenders.  Each Lender shall severally indemnify the Administrative Agent, within 10 days after demand therefor, for (i) any Indemnified Taxes attributable to such Lender (but only to the extent that the Borrower has not already indemnified the Administrative Agent for such Indemnified Taxes and without limiting the obligation of the Borrower to do so), (ii) any Taxes attributable to such Lender’s failure to comply with the provisions of Section 10.4(d) relating to the maintenance of a Participant Register and (iii) any Excluded Taxes attributable to such Lender, in each case, that are payable or paid by the Administrative Agent in connection with any Loan Document, and any reasonable expenses arising therefrom or with respect thereto, whether or not such Taxes were correctly or legally imposed or asserted by the relevant Governmental Authority.  A certificate as to the amount of such payment or liability delivered to any Lender by the Administrative Agent shall be conclusive absent manifest error.  Each Lender hereby authorizes the Administrative Agent to set off and apply any and all amounts at any time owing to such Lender under any Loan Document or otherwise payable by the Administrative Agent to the Lender from any other source against any amount due to the Administrative Agent under this paragraph (e).




(f)

Evidence of Payments.  As soon as practicable after any payment of Taxes by the Borrower or any other Loan Party to a Governmental Authority pursuant to this Section 2.19, the Borrower or other Loan Party shall deliver to the Administrative Agent the original or a certified copy of a receipt issued by such Governmental Authority evidencing such payment, a copy of the return reporting such payment or other evidence of such payment reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.






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(g)

Status of Lenders.  (i) Any Lender that is entitled to an exemption from or reduction of withholding Tax with respect to payments made under any Loan Document shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent, at the time or times reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent, such properly completed and executed documentation reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent as will permit such payments to be made without withholding or at a reduced rate of withholding.  In addition, any Lender, if reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent, shall deliver such other documentation prescribed by applicable law or reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent as will enable the Borrower or the Administrative Agent to determine whether or not such Lender is subject to backup withholding or information reporting requirements.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the preceding two sentences, the completion, execution and submission of such documentation (other than such documentation set forth in Section 2.19(g)(ii)(A), (ii)(B) and (ii)(D) below) shall not be required if in the Lender’s reasonable judgment such completion, execution or submission would subject such Lender to any material unreimbursed cost or expense or would materially prejudice the legal or commercial position of such Lender.




(ii)

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, 




(A)

any Lender that is a U.S. Person shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent on or prior to the date on which such Lender becomes a Lender under this Agreement (and from time to time thereafter upon the reasonable request of the Borrower or the Administrative Agent), executed originals of IRS Form W-9 certifying that such Lender is exempt from U.S. federal backup withholding tax; 




(B)

any Foreign Lender shall, to the extent it is legally entitled to do so, deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent (in such number of copies as shall be requested by the recipient) on or prior to the date on which such Foreign Lender becomes a Lender under this Agreement (and from time to time thereafter upon the reasonable request of the Borrower or the Administrative Agent), whichever of the following is applicable:




(i)

in the case of a Foreign Lender claiming the benefits of an income tax treaty to which the United States is a party (x) with respect to payments of interest under any Loan Document, executed originals of IRS Form W-8BEN establishing an exemption from, or reduction of, U.S. federal withholding Tax pursuant to the “interest” article of such tax treaty and (y) with respect to any other applicable payments under any Loan Document, IRS Form W-8BEN establishing an exemption from, or reduction of, U.S. federal withholding Tax pursuant to the “business profits” or “other income” article of such tax treaty;




(ii)

executed originals of IRS Form W-8ECI;




(iii)

in the case of a Foreign Lender claiming the benefits of the exemption for portfolio interest under Section 881(c) of the Code, (x) a certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.19A to the effect that such Foreign Lender is not a “bank” within the meaning of Section 881(c)(3)(A) of the Code, a “10 percent shareholder” of the Borrower within the meaning of Section 881(c)(3)(B) of the Code, or a “controlled foreign corporation” described in Section 881(c)(3)(C) of the Code (a “U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate”) and (y) executed originals of IRS Form W-8BEN; or




(iv)

to the extent a Foreign Lender is not the beneficial owner, executed originals of IRS Form W-8IMY, accompanied by IRS Form W-8ECI, IRS Form W-8BEN, a U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.19B or Exhibit 2.19C, IRS Form W-9, and/or other certification documents from each beneficial owner, as applicable; provided that if the Foreign Lender is a partnership and one or more direct or indirect partners of such Foreign Lender are claiming the portfolio interest exemption, such Foreign Lender may provide a U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.19D on behalf of each such direct and indirect partner;




(C)

any Foreign Lender shall, to the extent it is legally entitled to do so, deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent (in such number of copies as shall be requested by the recipient) on or prior to the date on which such Foreign Lender becomes a Lender under this Agreement (and from time to time thereafter upon the reasonable request of the Borrower or the Administrative Agent), executed originals of any other form prescribed by applicable law as a basis for claiming exemption from or a reduction in U.S. federal withholding Tax, duly completed, together with such supplementary documentation as may be prescribed by applicable law to permit the Borrower or the Administrative Agent to determine the withholding or deduction required to be made; and






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(D)

if a payment made to a Lender under any Loan Document would be subject to U.S. federal withholding Tax imposed by FATCA if such Lender were to fail to comply with the applicable reporting requirements of FATCA (including those contained in Section 1471(b) or 1472(b) of the Code, as applicable), such Lender shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent at the time or times prescribed by law and at such time or times reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent such documentation prescribed by applicable law (including as prescribed by Section 1471(b)(3)(C)(i) of the Code) and such additional documentation reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent as may be necessary for the Borrower and the Administrative Agent to comply with their obligations under FATCA and to determine that such Lender has complied with such Lender’s obligations under FATCA or to determine the amount to deduct and withhold from such payment.  Solely for purposes of this clause (D), “FATCA” shall include any amendments made to FATCA after the date of this Agreement.




Each Lender agrees that if any form or certification it previously delivered expires or becomes obsolete or inaccurate in any respect, it shall update such form or certification or promptly notify the Borrower and the Administrative Agent in writing of its legal inability to do so.




(h)

Treatment of Certain Refunds.  If any party determines, in its sole discretion exercised in good faith, that it has received a refund of any Taxes as to which it has been indemnified pursuant to this Section 2.19 (including by the payment of additional amounts pursuant to this Section 2.19), it shall pay to the indemnifying party an amount equal to such refund (but only to the extent of indemnity payments made under this Section with respect to the Taxes giving rise to such refund), net of all out-of-pocket expenses (including Taxes) of such indemnified party and without interest (other than any interest paid by the relevant Governmental Authority with respect to such refund).  Such indemnifying party, upon the request of such indemnified party, shall repay to such indemnified party the amount paid over pursuant to this paragraph (h) (plus any penalties, interest or other charges imposed by the relevant Governmental Authority) in the event that such indemnified party is required to repay such refund to such Governmental Authority.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this paragraph (h), in no event will the indemnified party be required to pay any amount to an indemnifying party pursuant to this paragraph (h) the payment of which would place the indemnified party in a less favorable net after-Tax position than the indemnified party would have been in if the Tax subject to indemnification and giving rise to such refund had not been deducted, withheld or otherwise imposed and the indemnification payments or additional amounts with respect to such Tax had never been paid.  This paragraph shall not be construed to require any indemnified party to make available its Tax returns (or any other information relating to its Taxes that it deems confidential) to the indemnifying party or any other Person.




(i)

Survival.  Each party’s obligations under this Section 2.19 shall survive the resignation or replacement of the Administrative Agent or any assignment of rights by, or the replacement of, a Lender, the termination of the Commitments and the repayment, satisfaction or discharge of all obligations under any Loan Document.




Section 2.20.

Payments Generally; Pro Rata Treatment; Sharing of Set-offs.




(a)

The Borrower shall make each payment required to be made by it hereunder (whether of principal, interest, fees or reimbursement of LC Disbursements, or of amounts payable under Section 2.17, 2.18 or 2.19, or otherwise) prior to 12:00 noon on the date when due, in immediately available funds, free and clear of any defenses, rights of set-off, counterclaim, or withholding or deduction of taxes.  Any amounts received after such time on any date may, in the discretion of the Administrative Agent, be deemed to have been received on the next succeeding Business Day for purposes of calculating interest thereon.  All such payments shall be made to the Administrative Agent at the Payment Office, except payments to be made directly to the Issuing Bank as expressly provided herein and except that payments pursuant to Sections 2.17, 2.18, 2.19 and 10.3 shall be made directly to the Persons entitled thereto.  The Administrative Agent shall distribute any such payments received by it for the account of any other Person to the appropriate recipient promptly following receipt thereof.  If any payment hereunder shall be due on a day that is not a Business Day, the date for payment shall be extended to the next succeeding Business Day, and, in the case of any payment accruing interest, interest thereon shall be made payable for the period of such extension.  All payments hereunder shall be made in Dollars.




(b)

If at any time insufficient funds are received by and available to the Administrative Agent to pay fully all amounts of principal, unreimbursed LC Disbursements, interest and fees then due hereunder, such funds shall be applied as follows: first, to all fees and reimbursable expenses of the Administrative Agent then due and payable pursuant to any of the Loan Documents; second, to all reimbursable expenses of the Lenders and all fees and reimbursable expenses of the Issuing Bank then due and payable pursuant to any of the Loan Documents, pro rata to the Lenders and the Issuing Bank based on their respective pro rata shares of such fees and expenses; third, to all interest and fees then due and payable hereunder, pro rata to the Lenders based on their respective pro rata shares of such interest and fees; and fourth, to all principal of the Loans and unreimbursed LC Disbursements then due and payable hereunder, pro rata to the parties entitled thereto based on their respective pro rata shares of such principal and unreimbursed LC Disbursements.






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(c)

If any Lender shall, by exercising any right of set-off or counterclaim or otherwise, obtain payment in respect of any principal of or interest on any of its Loans or participations in LC Disbursements that would result in such Lender receiving payment of a greater proportion of the aggregate amount of its Credit Exposure and accrued interest and fees thereon than the proportion received by any other Lender with respect to its Credit Exposure, then the Lender receiving such greater proportion shall purchase (for cash at face value) participations in the Credit Exposure of other Lenders to the extent necessary so that the benefit of all such payments shall be shared by the Lenders ratably in accordance with the aggregate amount of principal of and accrued interest on their respective Credit Exposure; provided that (i) if any such participations are purchased and all or any portion of the payment giving rise thereto is recovered, such participations shall be rescinded and the purchase price restored to the extent of such recovery, without interest, and (ii) the provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to apply to any payment made by the Borrower pursuant to and in accordance with the express terms of this Agreement (including the application of funds arising from the existence of a Defaulting Lender) or any payment obtained by a Lender as consideration for the assignment of or sale of a participation in any of its Credit Exposure to any assignee or participant, other than to the Borrower or any Subsidiary or Affiliate thereof (as to which the provisions of this subsection shall apply).  The Borrower consents to the foregoing and agrees, to the extent it may effectively do so under applicable law, that any Lender acquiring a participation pursuant to the foregoing arrangements may exercise against the Borrower rights of set-off and counterclaim with respect to such participation as fully as if such Lender were a direct creditor of the Borrower in the amount of such participation.




(d)

Unless the Administrative Agent shall have received notice from the Borrower prior to the date on which any payment is due to the Administrative Agent for the account of the Lenders or the Issuing Bank hereunder that the Borrower will not make such payment, the Administrative Agent may assume that the Borrower has made such payment on such date in accordance herewith and may, in reliance upon such assumption, distribute to the Lenders or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be, the amount or amounts due.  In such event, if the Borrower has not in fact made such payment, then each of the Lenders or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be, severally agrees to repay to the Administrative Agent forthwith on demand the amount so distributed to such Lender or Issuing Bank with interest thereon, for each day from and including the date such amount is distributed to it to but excluding the date of payment to the Administrative Agent, at the greater of the Federal Funds Rate and a rate determined by the Administrative Agent in accordance with banking industry rules on interbank compensation.




Section 2.21.

Letters of Credit.




(a)

During the Availability Period, the Issuing Bank, in reliance upon the agreements of the other Lenders pursuant to subsections (d) and (e) of this Section, may, in its sole discretion, issue, at the request of the Borrower, Letters of Credit for the account of the Borrower on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth; provided that (i) each Letter of Credit shall expire on the earlier of (A) the date one year after the date of issuance of such Letter of Credit (or, in the case of any renewal or extension thereof, one year after such renewal or extension) and (B) the date that is five (5) Business Days prior to the Commitment Termination Date; (ii) each Letter of Credit shall be in a stated amount of at least $5,000; and (iii) the Borrower may not request any Letter of Credit if, after giving effect to such issuance, (A) the aggregate LC Exposure would exceed the LC Commitment or (B) the aggregate Credit Exposure of all Lenders would exceed the Aggregate Commitment Amount.  Each Lender shall be deemed to, and hereby irrevocably and unconditionally agrees to, purchase from the Issuing Bank without recourse a participation in each Letter of Credit equal to such Lender’s Pro Rata Share of the aggregate amount available to be drawn under such Letter of Credit on the date of issuance.  Each issuance of a Letter of Credit shall be deemed to utilize the Commitment of each Lender by an amount equal to the amount of such participation.  




(b)

To request the issuance of a Letter of Credit (or any amendment, renewal or extension of an outstanding Letter of Credit), the Borrower shall give the Issuing Bank and the Administrative Agent irrevocable written notice at least three (3) Business Days prior to the requested date of such issuance specifying the date (which shall be a Business Day) such Letter of Credit is to be issued (or amended, renewed or extended, as the case may be), the expiration date of such Letter of Credit, the amount of such Letter of Credit, the name and address of the beneficiary thereof and such other information as shall be necessary to prepare, amend, renew or extend such Letter of Credit.  In addition to the satisfaction of the conditions in Article III, the issuance of such Letter of Credit (or any amendment which increases the amount of such Letter of Credit) will be subject to the further conditions that such Letter of Credit shall be in such form and contain such terms as the Issuing Bank shall approve and that the Borrower shall have executed and delivered any additional applications, agreements and instruments relating to such Letter of Credit as the Issuing Bank shall reasonably require; provided that in the event of any conflict between such applications, agreements or instruments and this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall control. 






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(c)

At least two (2) Business Days prior to the issuance of any Letter of Credit, the Issuing Bank will confirm with the Administrative Agent (by telephone or in writing) that the Administrative Agent has received such notice, and, if not, the Issuing Bank will provide the Administrative Agent with a copy thereof.  Unless the Issuing Bank has received notice from the Administrative Agent, on or before the Business Day immediately preceding the date the Issuing Bank is to issue the requested Letter of Credit, directing the Issuing Bank not to issue the Letter of Credit because such issuance is not then permitted hereunder because of the limitations set forth in subsection (a) of this Section or that one or more conditions specified in Article III are not then satisfied, then, subject to the terms and conditions hereof, the Issuing Bank shall, on the requested date, issue such Letter of Credit in accordance with the Issuing Bank’s usual and customary business practices.




(d)

The Issuing Bank shall examine all documents purporting to represent a demand for payment under a Letter of Credit promptly following its receipt thereof.  The Issuing Bank shall notify the Borrower and the Administrative Agent of such demand for payment and whether the Issuing Bank has made or will make a LC Disbursement thereunder; provided that any failure to give or delay in giving such notice shall not relieve the Borrower of its obligation to reimburse the Issuing Bank and the Lenders with respect to such LC Disbursement.  The Borrower shall be irrevocably and unconditionally obligated to reimburse the Issuing Bank for any LC Disbursements paid by the Issuing Bank in respect of such drawing, without presentment, demand or other formalities of any kind.  Unless the Borrower shall have notified the Issuing Bank and the Administrative Agent prior to 11:00 a.m. on the Business Day immediately prior to the date on which such drawing is honored that the Borrower intends to reimburse the Issuing Bank for the amount of such drawing in funds other than from the proceeds of Loans, the Borrower shall be deemed to have timely given a Notice of Borrowing to the Administrative Agent requesting the Lenders to make a Base Rate Borrowing on the date on which such drawing is honored in an exact amount due to the Issuing Bank; provided that for purposes solely of such Borrowing, the conditions precedent set forth in Section 3.2 hereof shall not be applicable.  The Administrative Agent shall notify the Lenders of such Borrowing in accordance with Section 2.3, and each Lender shall make the proceeds of its Base Rate Loan included in such Borrowing available to the Administrative Agent for the account of the Issuing Bank in accordance with Section 2.5.  The proceeds of such Borrowing shall be applied directly by the Administrative Agent to reimburse the Issuing Bank for such LC Disbursement. 




(e)

If for any reason a Base Rate Borrowing may not be (as determined in the sole discretion of the Administrative Agent), or is not, made in accordance with the foregoing provisions, then each Lender (other than the Issuing Bank) shall be obligated to fund the participation that such Lender purchased pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section in an amount equal to its Pro Rata Share of such LC Disbursement on and as of the date which such Base Rate Borrowing should have occurred.  Each Lender’s obligation to fund its participation shall be absolute and unconditional and shall not be affected by any circumstance, including, without limitation, (i) any set-off, counterclaim, recoupment, defense or other right that such Lender or any other Person may have against the Issuing Bank or any other Person for any reason whatsoever, (ii) the existence of a Default or an Event of Default or the termination of the Aggregate Commitments, (iii) any adverse change in the condition (financial or otherwise) of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, (iv) any breach of this Agreement by the Borrower or any other Lender, (v) any amendment, renewal or extension of any Letter of Credit or (vi) any other circumstance, happening or event whatsoever, whether or not similar to any of the foregoing.  On the date that such participation is required to be funded, each Lender shall promptly transfer, in immediately available funds, the amount of its participation to the Administrative Agent for the account of the Issuing Bank.  Whenever, at any time after the Issuing Bank has received from any such Lender the funds for its participation in a LC Disbursement, the Issuing Bank (or the Administrative Agent on its behalf) receives any payment on account thereof, the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be, will distribute to such Lender its Pro Rata Share of such payment; provided that if such payment is required to be returned for any reason to the Borrower or to a trustee, receiver, liquidator, custodian or similar official in any bankruptcy proceeding, such Lender will return to the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank any portion thereof previously distributed by the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank to it.




(f)

To the extent that any Lender shall fail to pay any amount required to be paid pursuant to subsection (d) or (e) of this Section on the due date therefor, such Lender shall pay interest to the Issuing Bank (through the Administrative Agent) on such amount from such due date to the date such payment is made at a rate per annum equal to the Federal Funds Rate; provided that if such Lender shall fail to make such payment to the Issuing Bank within three (3) Business Days of such due date, then, retroactively to the due date, such Lender shall be obligated to pay interest on such amount at the rate set forth in Section 2.12(b).






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(g)

If any Event of Default shall occur and be continuing, on the Business Day that the Borrower receives notice from the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders demanding that its reimbursement obligations with respect to the Letters of Credit be Cash Collateralized pursuant to this subsection, the Borrower shall deposit in an account with the Administrative Agent, in the name of the Administrative Agent and for the benefit of the Issuing Bank and the Lenders, an amount in cash equal to 105% of the aggregate LC Exposure of all Lenders as of such date plus any accrued and unpaid fees thereon; provided that such obligation to Cash Collateralize the reimbursement obligations of the Borrower with respect to the Letters of Credit shall become effective immediately, and such deposit shall become immediately due and payable, without demand or notice of any kind, upon the occurrence of any Event of Default with respect to the Borrower described in Section 8.1(g) or (h).  Such deposit shall be held by the Administrative Agent as collateral for the payment and performance of the obligations of the Borrower under this Agreement.  The Administrative Agent shall have exclusive dominion and control, including the exclusive right of withdrawal, over such account.  The Borrower agrees to execute any documents and/or certificates to effectuate the intent of this subsection.  Other than any interest earned on the investment of such deposits, which investments shall be made at the option and sole discretion of the Administrative Agent and at the Borrower’s risk and expense, such deposits shall not bear interest.  Interest and profits, if any, on such investments shall accumulate in such account.  Moneys in such account shall be applied by the Administrative Agent to reimburse the Issuing Bank for LC Disbursements for which it had not been reimbursed and, to the extent not so applied, shall be held for the satisfaction of the reimbursement obligations of the Borrower for the LC Exposure at such time or, if the maturity of the Loans has been accelerated, with the consent of the Required Lenders, be applied to satisfy other obligations of the Borrower under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents.  If the Borrower is required to Cash Collateralize its reimbursement obligations with respect to the Letters of Credit as a result of the occurrence of an Event of Default, such cash collateral so posted (to the extent not so applied as aforesaid) shall be returned to the Borrower within three (3) Business Days after all Events of Default have been cured or waived.




(h)

Upon the request of any Lender, but no more frequently than quarterly, the Issuing Bank shall deliver (through the Administrative Agent) to each Lender and the Borrower a report describing the aggregate Letters of Credit then outstanding.  Upon the request of any Lender from time to time, the Issuing Bank shall deliver to such Lender any other information reasonably requested by such Lender with respect to each Letter of Credit then outstanding.




(i)

The Borrower’s obligation to reimburse LC Disbursements hereunder shall be absolute, unconditional and irrevocable and shall be performed strictly in accordance with the terms of this Agreement under all circumstances whatsoever and irrespective of any of the following circumstances:




(i)

any lack of validity or enforceability of any Letter of Credit or this Agreement;




(ii)

the existence of any claim, set-off, defense or other right which the Borrower or any Subsidiary or Affiliate of the Borrower may have at any time against a beneficiary or any transferee of any Letter of Credit (or any Persons or entities for whom any such beneficiary or transferee may be acting), any Lender (including the Issuing Bank) or any other Person, whether in connection with this Agreement or the Letter of Credit or any document related hereto or thereto or any unrelated transaction; 




(iii)

any draft or other document presented under a Letter of Credit proving to be forged, fraudulent or invalid in any respect or any statement therein being untrue or inaccurate in any respect;




(iv)

payment by the Issuing Bank under a Letter of Credit against presentation of a draft or other document to the Issuing Bank that does not comply with the terms of such Letter of Credit;




(v)

any other event or circumstance whatsoever, whether or not similar to any of the foregoing, that might, but for the provisions of this Section, constitute a legal or equitable discharge of, or provide a right of set-off against, the Borrower’s obligations hereunder; or




(vi)

the existence of a Default or an Event of Default.






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Neither the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank, any Lender nor any Related Party of any of the foregoing shall have any liability or responsibility by reason of or in connection with the issuance or transfer of any Letter of Credit or any payment or failure to make any payment thereunder (irrespective of any of the circumstances referred to above), or any error, omission, interruption, loss or delay in transmission or delivery of any draft, notice or other communication under or relating to any Letter of Credit (including any document required to make a drawing thereunder), any error in interpretation of technical terms or any consequence arising from causes beyond the control of the Issuing Bank; provided that the foregoing shall not be construed to excuse the Issuing Bank from liability to the Borrower to the extent of any actual direct damages (as opposed to special, indirect (including claims for lost profits or other consequential damages), or punitive damages, claims in respect of which are hereby waived by the Borrower to the extent permitted by applicable law) suffered by the Borrower that are caused by the Issuing Bank’s failure to exercise due care when determining whether drafts or other documents presented under a Letter of Credit comply with the terms thereof.  The parties hereto expressly agree that, in the absence of gross negligence or willful misconduct on the part of the Issuing Bank (as finally determined by a court of competent jurisdiction), the Issuing Bank shall be deemed to have exercised due care in each such determination.  In furtherance of the foregoing and without limiting the generality thereof, the parties agree that, with respect to documents presented that appear on their face to be in substantial compliance with the terms of a Letter of Credit, the Issuing Bank may, in its sole discretion, either accept and make payment upon such documents without responsibility for further investigation, regardless of any notice or information to the contrary, or refuse to accept and make payment upon such documents if such documents are not in strict compliance with the terms of such Letter of Credit.




(j)

Unless otherwise expressly agreed by the Issuing Bank and the Borrower when a Letter of Credit is issued and subject to applicable laws, (i) each standby Letter of Credit shall be governed by the “International Standby Practices 1998” (ISP98) (or such later revision as may be published by the Institute of International Banking Law & Practice on any date any Letter of Credit may be issued), (ii) each documentary Letter of Credit shall be governed by the Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Credits (2007 Revision), International Chamber of Commerce Publication No. 600 (or such later revision as may be published by the International Chamber of Commerce on any date any Letter of Credit may be issued) and (iii) the Borrower shall specify the foregoing in each letter of credit application submitted for the issuance of a Letter of Credit.




Section 2.22.

Mitigation of Obligations.  If any Lender requests compensation under Section 2.17, or if the Borrower is required to pay any additional amount to any Lender or any Governmental Authority for the account of any Lender pursuant to Section 2.19, then such Lender shall use reasonable efforts to designate a different lending office for funding or booking its Loans hereunder or to assign its rights and obligations hereunder to another of its offices, branches or affiliates, if, in the sole judgment of such Lender, such designation or assignment (i) would eliminate or reduce amounts payable under Section 2.17 or Section 2.19, as the case may be, in the future and (ii) would not subject such Lender to any unreimbursed cost or expense and would not otherwise be disadvantageous to such Lender.  The Borrower hereby agrees to pay all costs and expenses incurred by any Lender in connection with such designation or assignment.




Section 2.23.

Replacement of Lenders.  If (a) any Lender requests compensation under Section 2.17, or if the Borrower is required to pay any additional amount to any Lender or any Governmental Authority for the account of any Lender pursuant to Section 2.19, or (b) any Lender is a Defaulting Lender, then the Borrower may, at its sole expense and effort, upon notice to such Lender and the Administrative Agent, require such Lender to assign and delegate, without recourse (in accordance with and subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 10.4(b)), all of its interests, rights (other than its existing rights to payments pursuant to Section 2.17 or 2.20, as applicable) and obligations under this Agreement to an assignee that shall assume such obligations (which assignee may be another Lender) (a “Replacement Lender”); provided that (i) the Borrower shall have received the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, (ii) such Lender shall have received payment of an amount equal to the outstanding principal amount of all Loans owed to it, accrued interest thereon, accrued fees and all other amounts payable to it hereunder from the assignee (in the case of such outstanding principal and accrued interest) and from the Borrower (in the case of all other amounts), and (iii) in the case of a claim for compensation under Section 2.17 or payments required to be made pursuant to Section 2.19, such assignment will result in a reduction in such compensation or payments.  A Lender shall not be required to make any such assignment and delegation if, prior thereto, as a result of a waiver by such Lender or otherwise, the circumstances entitling the Borrower to require such assignment and delegation cease to apply.




Section 2.24.

Defaulting Lenders.




(a)

Cash Collateral.




(i)

At any time that there shall exist a Defaulting Lender, within one Business Day following the written request of the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank (with a copy to the Administrative Agent) the Borrower shall Cash Collateralize the Issuing Bank’s LC Exposure with respect to such Defaulting Lender (determined after giving effect to Section 2.24(b)(iv) and any Cash Collateral provided by such Defaulting Lender) in an amount not less than 105% of the Issuing Bank’s LC Exposure with respect to such Defaulting Lender. 






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(ii)

The Borrower, and to the extent provided by any Defaulting Lender, such Defaulting Lender, hereby grants to the Administrative Agent, for the benefit of the Issuing Bank, and agrees to maintain, a first priority security interest in all such Cash Collateral as security for the Defaulting Lenders’ obligation to fund participations in respect of Letters of Credit, to be applied pursuant to clause (iii) below.  If at any time the Administrative Agent determines that Cash Collateral is subject to any right or claim of any Person other than the Administrative Agent and the Issuing Bank as herein provided, or that the total amount of such Cash Collateral is less than the minimum amount required pursuant to clause (i) above, the Borrower will, promptly upon demand by the Administrative Agent, pay or provide to the Administrative Agent additional Cash Collateral in an amount sufficient to eliminate such deficiency (after giving effect to any Cash Collateral provided by the Defaulting Lender).




(iii)

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, Cash Collateral provided under this Section 2.24(a) or Section 2.24(b) in respect of Letters of Credit shall be applied to the satisfaction of the Defaulting Lender’s obligation to fund participations in respect of Letters of Credit or LC Disbursements (including, as to Cash Collateral provided by a Defaulting Lender, any interest accrued on such obligation) for which the Cash Collateral was so provided, prior to any other application of such property as may otherwise be provided for herein.




(iv)

Cash Collateral (or the appropriate portion thereof) provided to reduce any Issuing Bank’s LC Exposure shall no longer be required to be held as Cash Collateral pursuant to this Section 2.24(a) following (A) the elimination of the applicable LC Exposure (including by the termination of Defaulting Lender status of the applicable Lender), or (ii) the determination by the Administrative Agent and the Issuing Bank that there exists excess Cash Collateral; provided that, subject to Section 2.24(b) through (d) the Person providing Cash Collateral and each Issuing Bank may agree that Cash Collateral shall be held to support future anticipated LC Exposure or other obligations and provided further that to the extent that such Cash Collateral was provided by the Borrower, such Cash Collateral shall remain subject to the security interest granted pursuant to the Loan Documents.




(b)

Defaulting Lender Adjustments.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, if any Lender becomes a Defaulting Lender, then, until such time as such Lender is no longer a Defaulting Lender, to the extent permitted by applicable law:




(i)

Such Defaulting Lender’s right to approve or disapprove any amendment, waiver or consent with respect to this Agreement shall be restricted as set forth in the definition of Required Lenders and in Section 10.2.




(ii)

Any payment of principal, interest, fees or other amounts received by the Administrative Agent for the account of such Defaulting Lender (whether voluntary or mandatory, at maturity, pursuant to Article VIII or otherwise) or received by the Administrative Agent from a Defaulting Lender pursuant to Section 10.7 shall be applied at such time or times as may be determined by the Administrative Agent as follows: first, to the payment of any amounts owing by such Defaulting Lender to the Administrative Agent hereunder; second, to the payment on a pro rata basis of any amounts owing by such Defaulting Lender to the Issuing Bank hereunder; third, to Cash Collateralize the Issuing Bank’s LC Exposure with respect to such Defaulting Lender in accordance with Section 2.24(a); fourth, as the Borrower may request (so long as no Default or Event of Default exists), to the funding of any Loan in respect of which such Defaulting Lender has failed to fund its portion thereof as required by this Agreement, as determined by the Administrative Agent; fifth, if so determined by the Administrative Agent and the Borrower, to be held in a deposit account and released pro rata in order to (x) satisfy such Defaulting Lender’s potential future funding obligations with respect to Loans under this Agreement and (y) Cash Collateralize the Issuing Banks’ future LC Exposure with respect to such Defaulting Lender with respect to future Letters of Credit issued under this Agreement, in accordance with Section 2.24(a); sixth, to the payment of any amounts owing to the Lenders or the Issuing Bank as a result of any judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction obtained by any Lender or the Issuing Bank against such Defaulting Lender as a result of such Defaulting Lender’s breach of its obligations under this Agreement; seventh, so long as no Default or Event of Default exists, to the payment of any amounts owing to the Borrower as a result of any judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction obtained by the Borrower against such Defaulting Lender as a result of such Defaulting Lender's breach of its obligations under this Agreement; and eighth, to such Defaulting Lender or as otherwise directed by a court of competent jurisdiction; provided that if (x) such payment is a payment of the principal amount of any Loans or LC Disbursements in respect of which such Defaulting Lender has not fully funded its appropriate share, and (y) such Loans were made or the related Letters of Credit were issued at a time when the conditions set forth in Section 3.2 were satisfied or waived, such payment shall be applied solely to pay the Loans of, and LC Disbursements owed to, all Non-Defaulting Lenders on a pro rata basis prior to being applied to the payment of any Loans of, or LC Disbursements owed to, such Defaulting Lender until such time as all Loans and funded and unfunded participations in L/C Obligations are held by the Lenders pro rata in accordance with their Commitments without giving effect to sub-section (iv) below. Any payments, prepayments or other amounts paid or payable to a Defaulting Lender that are applied (or held) to pay amounts owed by a Defaulting Lender or to post Cash Collateral pursuant to this Section 2.24(b)(ii) shall be deemed paid to and redirected by such Defaulting Lender, and each Lender irrevocably consents hereto.






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(iii)

(A) No Defaulting Lender shall be entitled to receive any unused commitment fee pursuant to Section 2.13(b) for any period during which that Lender is a Defaulting Lender (and the Borrower shall not be required to pay any such fee that otherwise would have been required to have been paid to that Defaulting Lender).




(B)

Each Defaulting Lender shall be entitled to receive letter of credit fees pursuant to Section 2.13(c) for any period during which that Lender is a Defaulting Lender only to the extent allocable to that portion of its LC Exposure for which it has provided Cash Collateral pursuant to Section 2.24(a).




(C)

With respect to any unused commitment fee or letter of credit fee not required to be paid to any Defaulting Lender pursuant to clause (A) or (B) above, the Borrower shall (x) pay to each Non-Defaulting Lender that portion of any such fee otherwise payable to such Defaulting Lender with respect to such Defaulting Lender’s participation in Letters of Credit that has been reallocated to such Non-Defaulting Lender pursuant to clause (iv) below, (y) pay to each Issuing Bank the amount of any such fee otherwise payable to such Defaulting Lender to the extent allocable to the Issuing Bank’s LC Exposure with respect to such Defaulting Lender, and (z) not be required to pay the remaining amount of any such fee.




(iv)

All or any part of such Defaulting Lender’s participation in Letters of Credit shall be reallocated among the Non-Defaulting Lenders in accordance with their respective Pro Rata Shares of the Commitments (calculated without regard to such Defaulting Lender’s Commitment) but only to the extent that (x) the conditions set forth in Section 3.2 are satisfied at the time of such reallocation (and, unless the Borrower shall have otherwise notified the Administrative Agent at such time, the Borrower shall be deemed to have represented and warranted that such conditions are satisfied at such time), and (y) such reallocation does not cause the aggregate Credit Exposure of any Non-Defaulting Lender to exceed such Non-Defaulting Lender’s Commitment.  No reallocation hereunder shall constitute a waiver or release of any claim of any party hereunder against a Defaulting Lender arising from that Lender having become a Defaulting Lender, including any claim of a Non-Defaulting Lender as a result of such Non-Defaulting Lender’s increased exposure following such reallocation.




(v)

If the reallocation described in clause (iv) above cannot, or can only partially, be effected, the Borrower shall, without prejudice to any right or remedy available to it hereunder or under law, Cash Collateralize the Issuing Banks’ LC Exposure with respect to such Defaulting Lender in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 2.24(a).




(c)

Defaulting Lender Cure.  If the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and Issuing Bank agree in writing that a Lender is no longer a Defaulting Lender, the Administrative Agent will so notify the parties hereto, whereupon as of the effective date specified in such notice and subject to any conditions set forth therein (which may include arrangements with respect to any Cash Collateral), that Lender will, to the extent applicable, purchase at par that portion of outstanding Loans of the other Lenders or take such other actions as the Administrative Agent may determine to be necessary to cause the Loans and funded and unfunded participations in Letters of Credit to be held pro rata by the Lenders in accordance with the applicable Commitments (without giving effect to Section 2.24(b)(iv)), whereupon such Lender will cease to be a Defaulting Lender; provided that no adjustments will be made retroactively with respect to fees accrued or payments made by or on behalf of the Borrower while that Lender was a Defaulting Lender; and provided, further, that except to the extent otherwise expressly agreed by the affected parties, no change hereunder from Defaulting Lender to Lender will constitute a waiver or release of any claim of any party hereunder arising from that Lender’s having been a Defaulting Lender.




(d)

New Letters of Credit.  So long as any Lender is a Defaulting Lender, no Issuing Bank shall be required to issue, extend, renew or increase any Letter of Credit unless it is satisfied that it will have no LC Exposure after giving effect thereto.




ARTICLE III



CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO LOANS AND LETTERS OF CREDIT




Section 3.1.

Conditions to Effectiveness.  The obligations of the Lenders to make Loans and the obligation of the Issuing Bank to issue any Letters of Credit hereunder shall not become effective until the date on which each of the following conditions is satisfied (or waived in accordance with Section 10.2):




(a)

The Administrative Agent shall have received payment of all fees, expenses and other amounts due and payable on or prior to the Closing Date, including reimbursement or payment of all out-of-pocket expenses of the Administrative Agent, the Sole Lead Arranger and their Affiliates (including reasonable fees, charges and disbursements of counsel to the Administrative Agent) required to be reimbursed or paid by the Borrower hereunder, under any other Loan Document and under any agreement with the Administrative Agent or the Sole Lead Arranger.






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(b)

The Administrative Agent (or its counsel) shall have received the following, each to be in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent:




(i)

a counterpart of this Agreement signed by or on behalf of each party hereto or written evidence satisfactory to the Administrative Agent (which may include telecopy transmission of a signed signature page of this Agreement) that such party has signed a counterpart of this Agreement;




(ii)

a certificate of the Secretary or Assistant Secretary of each Loan Party dated as of the Closing Date, attaching and certifying copies of its bylaws, or partnership agreement or limited liability company agreement, and of the resolutions of its board of directors or other equivalent governing body, or comparable organizational documents and authorizations, authorizing the execution, delivery and performance of the Loan Documents to which it is a party and certifying the name, title and true signature of each officer of such Loan Party executing the Loan Documents to which it is a party; 




(iii)

certified copies of the articles or certificate of incorporation, certificate of organization or limited partnership, or other registered organizational documents of each Loan Party, together with certificates of good standing or existence, as may be avail­able from the Secretary of State of the jurisdiction of organization of such Loan Party and each other jurisdiction where such Loan Party is required to be qualified to do business as a foreign corporation, each dated as of a recent date;




(iv)

a favorable written opinion of Gordon Silver, special Nevada counsel to the Loan Parties, Burleson LLP, special Texas counsel to the Loan Parties, and Foulston Siefkin LLP, special Kansas counsel to the Loan Parties, each dated as of the Closing Date addressed to the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and each of the Lend­ers, and covering such matters relating to the Loan Parties, the Loan Documents and the transactions contemplated therein as the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders shall reasonably request; 




(v)

a certificate dated the Closing Date and signed by a Responsible Officer, certifying that after giving effect to the funding of any initial Borrowing, (x) no Default or Event of Default exists, (y) all representations and warranties of each Loan Party set forth in the Loan Documents are true and correct and (z) since the date of the financial statements of the Borrower described in Section 4.4, there shall have been no change which has had or could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;




(vi)

a duly executed Notice of Borrowing for any initial Borrowing;




(vii)

a duly executed funds disbursement agreement, dated as of the Closing Date together with a report setting forth the sources and uses of the proceeds hereof;




(viii)

a certificate dated the Closing Date and signed by a Responsible Officer, (A) certifying that (1) all consents, approvals, authorizations, registrations and filings and orders (“Consents”) required or advisable to be made or obtained under any Requirement of Law, or by any Contractual Obligation of any Loan Party, in connection with the execution, delivery, performance, validity and enforceability of the Loan Documents or any of the transactions contemplated thereby have been obtained, (2) such Consents, are in full force and effect and all applicable waiting periods have expired, and no investigation or inquiry by any governmental authority regarding the Commitments or any transaction being financed with the proceeds thereof is ongoing and (3) attached thereto is a true and correct copy of all such Consents or (B) certifying that no such Consents are required;




(ix)

copies of (A) the internally prepared quarterly financial statements of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries on a consolidated basis for the Fiscal Quarter ended March 31, 2014 and (B) the audited consolidated and unaudited consolidating financial statements for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for the Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2013;




(x)

a certificate, dated the Closing Date and signed by the chief financial officer of each Loan Party, confirming that each Loan Party is Solvent before and after giving effect to the funding of any initial Borrowing and the consummation of the transactions contemplated to occur on the Closing Date;






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(xi)

the Guaranty and Security Agreement, duly executed by the Borrower and each of its Subsidiaries, together with (A) UCC financing statements and other applicable documents under the laws of all necessary or appropriate jurisdictions with respect to the perfection of the Liens granted under the Guaranty and Security Agreement, as requested by the Administrative Agent in order to perfect such Liens, duly authorized by the Loan Parties, (B) copies of favorable UCC, tax, judgment and fixture lien search reports in all necessary or appropriate jurisdictions and under all legal and trade names of the Loan Parties, as requested by the Administrative Agent, indicating that there are no prior Liens on any of the Collateral other than Excepted Liens and Liens to be released on the Closing Date, (C) original certificates evidencing all issued and outstanding shares of Capital Stock of all Subsidiaries owned directly by any Loan Party (for any such Subsidiaries that are certificated), together with stock or membership interest powers or other appropriate instruments of transfer executed in blank and (D) acknowledgements with respect to pledged equity interests other than stock of a corporation, duly executed by the issuer of such equity interests and the Borrower; 




(xii)

Mortgages covering such Oil and Gas Properties of the Loan Parties as requested by the Administrative Agent (which in any event will represent at least eighty percent (80%) of the total value of the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated by the initial Reserve Report), duly executed by each applicable Loan Party and evidence satisfactory to the Administrative Agent that such Mortgages create a first-priority Lien (provided that Excepted Liens of the type described in clauses (i) to (iii) and (v) of the definition thereof may exist, but subject to the provisos at the end of such definition) on the Oil and Gas Properties of the Loan Parties covered by such Mortgages;




(xiii)

Transfer Letters as may be required by the Administrative Agent, duly executed by each Loan Party that executes a Mortgage;




(xiv)

copy of a duly executed payoff letter, in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, executed by the Existing Lender, together with (a) UCC-3 or other appropriate termination statements, in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, releasing all liens of the Existing Lender upon any of the personal property of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, (b) cancellations and releases, in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, releasing all liens of the Existing Lender upon any of the Oil and Gas Properties of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, and (c) any other releases, terminations or other documents reasonably required by the Administrative Agent to evidence the payoff of Indebtedness owed to the Existing Lender;




(xv)

true, accurate and complete copies of all Material Agreements; 




(xvi)

certificates of insurance, in form and detail acceptable to the Administrative Agent, describing the types and amounts of insurance (property and liability) maintained by any of the Loan Parties, in each case naming the Administrative Agent as loss payee or additional insured, as the case may be, together with a lender’s loss payable endorsement in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent; 




(xvii)

to the extent reasonably requested by the Administrative Agent, due diligence information satisfactory to the Administrative Agent regarding the Borrower and its Subsidiaries including information regarding legal matters, tax matters, accounting matters, business matters, financial matters, insurance matters, labor matters, ERISA matters, pension liabilities (actual or contingent), material contracts, debt agreements, property ownership, contingent liabilities and other legal matters of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries; and




(xviii)

at least five (5) Business Days prior to the Closing Date, to the extent requested by any Lender or the Administrative Agent, all documentation and other information required by regulatory authorities under applicable “know your customer” and anti-money laundering rules and regulations, including the USA Patriot Act.




Without limiting the generality of the provisions of this Section, for purposes of determining compliance with the conditions specified in this Section, each Lender that has signed this Credit Agreement shall be deemed to have consented to, approved of, accepted or been satisfied with each document or other matter required thereunder to be consented to, approved by or acceptable or satisfactory to a Lender unless the Administrative Agent shall have received notice from such Lender prior to the proposed Closing Date specifying its objection thereto.




Section 3.2.

Conditions to Each Credit Event.  The obligation of each Lender to make a Loan on the occasion of any Borrowing and of the Issuing Bank to issue, amend, renew or extend any Letter of Credit is subject to Section 2.24(c) and the satisfaction of the following conditions:




(a)

at the time of and immediately after giving effect to such Borrowing or the issuance, amendment, renewal or extension of such Letter of Credit, as applicable, no Default, Event of Default or Borrowing Base Deficiency shall exist;






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(b)

at the time of and immediately after giving effect to such Borrowing or the issuance, amendment, renewal or extension of such Letter of Credit, as applicable, all representations and warranties of each Loan Party set forth in the Loan Documents shall be true and correct in all material respects (other than those representations and warranties that are expressly qualified by a Material Adverse Effect or other materiality, in which case such representations and warranties shall be true and correct in all respects);




(c)

since December 31, 2013, there shall have been no change which has had or could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;




(d)

in the case of a Borrowing, the Borrower shall have delivered the required Notice of Borrowing; and




(e)

the Administrative Agent shall have received such other docu­ments, certificates, information or legal opinions as the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders may reasonably request, all in form and substance reasonably sat­isfactory to the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders. 




Each Borrowing and each issuance, amendment, renewal or extension of any Letter of Credit shall be deemed to constitute a representation and warranty by the Borrower on the date thereof as to the matters specified in subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this Section.




Section 3.3.

Post-Closing Conditions.




(a)

Within thirty (30) days after the Closing Date, the Borrower shall dissolve Stanford and provide the Administrative Agent evidence, reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, of such dissolution;




(b)

Within thirty (30) days after the Closing Date, the Administrative Agent shall have received from the Borrower, Control Account Agreements, duly executed by each Permitted Third Party Bank and the applicable Loan Party; and




(c)

Within forty-five (45) days after the Closing Date, the Administrative Agent shall have received from the Borrower title information as the Administrative Agent may require in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent covering the Oil and Gas Properties of the Loan Parties evaluated by the initial Reserve Report as requested by the Administrative Agent (which in any event shall cover at least eighty percent (80%) of the total value of the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated by the initial Reserve Report).




Section 3.4.

Delivery of Documents.  All of the Loan Documents, certificates, legal opinions and other documents and papers referred to in this Article, unless otherwise specified, shall be delivered to the Administrative Agent for the account of each of the Lenders and in sufficient counterparts or copies for each of the Lenders and shall be in form and substance satisfactory in all respects to the Administrative Agent.




ARTICLE IV



REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES




The Borrower represents and warrants to the Administrative Agent, each Lender and the Issuing Bank as follows:




Section 4.1.

Existence; Power.  The Borrower and each of its Subsidiaries (i) is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing as a corporation, partnership or limited liability company under the laws of the jurisdiction of its organization, (ii) ­has all requisite power and authority to carry on its business as now conducted, and (iii) is duly qualified to do business, and is in good standing, in each jurisdiction where such qualification is required, except where a failure to be so qualified could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. 




Section 4.2.

Organizational Power; Authorization.  The execution, delivery and performance by each Loan Party of the Loan Documents to which it is a party are within such Loan Party’s organizational powers and have been duly authorized by all necessary organizational and, if required, shareholder, partner or member action.  This Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by the Borrower and constitutes, and each other Loan Document to which any Loan Party is a party, when executed and delivered by such Loan Party, will constitute, valid and binding obligations of the Borrower or such Loan Party (as the case may be), en­forceable against it in accordance with their re­spective terms, except as may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and by general principles of equity.






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Section 4.3.

Governmental Approvals; No Conflicts.  The execution, delivery and performance by each Loan Party of the Loan Documents to which it is a party (a) do not require any consent or approval of, registration or filing with, or any action by, any Governmental Authority, except those as have been obtained or made and are in full force and effect and except for filings necessary to perfect or maintain perfection of the Liens created under the Loan Documents, (b) will not violate any Requirement of Law applicable to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or any judgment, order or ruling of any Governmental Authority, (c) will not violate or result in a default under any Contractual Obligation of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or any of its assets or give rise to a right thereunder to require any payment to be made by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries and (d) will not result in the creation or imposition of any Lien on any asset of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, except Liens (if any) created under the Loan Documents.




Section 4.4.

Financial Statements.  The Borrower has furnished to each Lender (i) the audited con­solidated balance sheet of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of December 31, 2013, and the related audited consolidated statements of income, shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the Fiscal Year then ended, prepared by Eide Bailly LLP and (ii) the unaudited consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of March 31, 2014, and the related unaudited consolidated statements of in­come and cash flows for the Fiscal Quarter and year-to-date period then ended, certified by a Responsible Officer.  Such financial statements fairly present the consolidated financial condition of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of such dates and the consolidated results of operations for such periods in conformity with GAAP consistently applied, subject to year-end audit adjustments and the absence of footnotes in the case of the statements referred to in clause (ii).  Since December 31, 2013, there have been no changes with respect to the Borrower and its Subsidiaries which have had or could reasonably be expected to have, either individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect. 




Section 4.5.

Litigation and Environmental Matters.




(a)

No litigation, investigation or proceeding of or before any arbitra­tors or Governmental Authorities is pending against or, to the knowledge of the Borrower, threatened against or affecting the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries (i) as to which there is a reasonable possibility of an adverse determination that could reasonably be expected to have, either individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect or (ii) which in any manner draws into question the validity or enforceability of this Agreement or any other Loan Document.




(b)

Except for the matters set forth on Schedule 4.5:




(i)

each Loan Party and its Properties and operations thereon are, and within all applicable statute of limitation periods have been, in compliance with all applicable Environmental Laws;




(ii)

each Loan Party has obtained all Environmental Permits required for its operations and each of its Properties, with all such Environmental Permits being currently in full force and effect, and no Loan Party has received any written notice or otherwise has knowledge that any such existing Environmental Permit will be revoked or that any application for any new Environmental Permit or renewal of any existing Environmental Permit will be protested or denied;




(iii)

there are no claims, demands, suits, orders, inquiries, or proceedings concerning any violation of, or any Environmental Liability (including as a potentially responsible party) under, any applicable Environmental Laws that is pending or, to any Loan Party’s knowledge, threatened against any Loan Party or any of its Properties or as a result of any operations at such Properties;




(iv)

none of the Properties of the Loan Parties contain or have contained any:  (A) underground storage tanks; (B) asbestos-containing materials; (C) landfills or dumps; (D) hazardous waste management units as defined pursuant to RCRA or any comparable state law; or (E) sites on or nominated for the National Priority List promulgated pursuant to CERCLA or any state remedial priority list promulgated or published pursuant to any comparable state law;




(v)

there has been no Release or, to any Loan Party’s knowledge, threatened Release, of Hazardous Materials at, on, under or from any Loan Party’s Properties, there are no investigations, remediations, abatements, removals, or monitorings of Hazardous Materials required under applicable Environmental Laws at such Properties and, to the knowledge of each Loan Party, none of such Properties are adversely affected by any Release or threatened Release of a Hazardous Material originating or emanating from any other real property;




(vi)

no Loan Party has received any written notice asserting an alleged Environmental Liability or obligation under any applicable Environmental Laws with respect to the investigation, remediation, abatement, removal, or monitoring of any Hazardous Materials at, under, or Released or threatened to be Released from any real properties offsite from any Loan Party’s Properties and there are no conditions or circumstances that could reasonably be expected to result in the receipt of such written notice;






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(vii)

to the knowledge of each Loan Party, there has been no exposure of any Person or Property to any Hazardous Materials as a result of or in connection with the operations and businesses of any Loan Party’s Properties that could reasonably be expected to form the basis for a claim for Environmental Liability; and




(viii)

each Loan Party has provided to the Administrative Agent complete and correct copies of all material environmental site assessment reports, investigations, studies, analyses, and correspondence on environmental matters (including matters relating to any alleged non-compliance with or liability under Environmental Laws) that are in any Loan Party’s possession or control and relating to their respective Properties or operations thereon.




Section 4.6.

Compliance with Laws and Agreements.  The Borrower and each of its Subsidiaries is in compliance with (a) all Requirements of Law and all judgments, decrees and orders of any Governmental Authority and (b) all indentures, agreements or other instruments binding upon it or its properties, except where non-compliance, either individually or in the aggregate, could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. 




Section 4.7.

Investment Company Act.  Neither the Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries is (a) an “investment company” or is “controlled” by an “investment company”, as such terms are defined in, or subject to regulation under, the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended and in effect from time to time, or (b) otherwise subject to any other regulatory scheme limiting its ability to incur debt or requiring any approval or consent from, or registration or filing with, any Governmental Authority in connection therewith.




Section 4.8.

Taxes.  The Borrower and its Subsidiaries and each other Person for whose taxes the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries could become liable have timely filed or caused to be filed all Federal income tax returns and all other material tax returns that are required to be filed by them, and have paid all taxes shown to be due and payable on such returns or on any assessments made against it or its property and all other taxes, fees or other charges imposed on it or any of its property by any Governmental Authority, except where the same are currently being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which the Borrower or such Subsidiary, as the case may be, has set aside on its books adequate reserves in accordance with GAAP.  The charges, accruals and reserves on the books of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries in respect of such taxes are adequate, and no tax liabilities that could be materially in excess of the amount so provided are anticipated.  Neither the Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries has any obligation to pay or has any liability with respect to any of their Affiliates’ tax liability.  No tax Lien has been filed and, to the knowledge of any Loan Party, no claim is being asserted with respect to any such tax or other such governmental charge.




Section 4.9.

Margin Regulations.  None of the proceeds of any of the Loans or Letters of Credit will be used, directly or indirectly, for “purchasing” or “carrying” any “margin stock” within the respective meanings of each of such terms under Regulation U or for any purpose that violates the provisions of Regulation T, Regulation U or Regulation X.  Neither the Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries is engaged principally, or as one of its important activities, in the business of extending credit for the purpose of purchasing or carrying “margin stock”.






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Section 4.10.

ERISA.  Each Plan is in substantial compliance in form and operation with its terms and with ERISA and the Code (including, without limitation, the Code provisions compliance with which is necessary for any intended favorable tax treatment) and all other applicable laws and regulations.  Each Plan (and each related trust, if any) which is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code has received a favorable determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service to the effect that it meets the requirements of Sections 401(a) and 501(a) of the Code covering all applicable tax law changes, or is comprised of a master or prototype plan that has received a favorable opinion letter from the Internal Revenue Service, and nothing has occurred since the date of such determination that would adversely affect such determination (or, in the case of a Plan with no determination, nothing has occurred that would adversely affect the issuance of a favorable determination letter or otherwise adversely affect such qualification).  No ERISA Event has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur.  There exists no Unfunded Pension Liability with respect to any Plan.  None of the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any ERISA Affiliate is making or accruing an obligation to make contributions, or has, within any of the five calendar years immediately preceding the date this assurance is given or deemed given, made or accrued an obligation to make, contributions to any Multiemployer Plan.  There are no actions, suits or claims pending against or involving a Plan (other than routine claims for benefits) or, to the knowledge of the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any ERISA Affiliate, threatened, which would reasonably be expected to be asserted successfully against any Plan and, if so asserted successfully, would reasonably be expected either singly or in the aggregate to result in liability to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries.  The Borrower, each of its Subsidiaries and each ERISA Affiliate have made all contributions to or under each Plan and Multiemployer Plan required by law within the applicable time limits prescribed thereby, by the terms of such Plan or Multiemployer Plan, respectively, or by any contract or agreement requiring contributions to a Plan or Multiemployer Plan.  No Plan which is subject to Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA has applied for or received an extension of any amortization period within the meaning of Section 412 of the Code or Section 303 or 304 of ERISA.  None of the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any ERISA Affiliate have ceased operations at a facility so as to become subject to the provisions of Section 4068(a) of ERISA, withdrawn as a substantial employer so as to become subject to the provisions of Section 4063 of ERISA or ceased making contributions to any Plan subject to Section 4064(a) of ERISA to which it made contributions.  Each Non-U.S. Plan has been maintained in compliance with its terms and with the requirements of any and all applicable laws, statutes, rules, regulations and orders and has been maintained, where required, in good standing with applicable regulatory authorities, except as would not reasonably be expected to result in liability to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries.  All contributions required to be made with respect to a Non-U.S. Plan have been timely made.  Neither the Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries has incurred any obligation in connection with the termination of, or withdrawal from, any Non-U.S. Plan.  The present value of the accrued benefit liabilities (whether or not vested) under each Non-U.S. Plan, determined as of the end of the Borrower’s most recently ended fiscal year on the basis of reasonable actuarial assumptions, did not exceed the current value of the assets of such Non-U.S. Plan allocable to such benefit liabilities.




Section 4.11.

Ownership of Property; Insurance.




(a)

Each Loan Party has good and Defensible Title to the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated in the most recently delivered Reserve Report and good title to, or valid leasehold interests in, all of its personal Properties, in each case free and clear of Liens prohibited by this Agreement.  After giving full effect to the Excepted Liens, each Loan Party specified as the owner owns the net interests in production attributable to the Hydrocarbon Interests as reflected in the most recently delivered Reserve Report, and the ownership of such Properties shall not obligate such Loan Party to bear the costs and expenses relating to the maintenance, development and operations of each such Property in an amount in excess of the working interest of such Property set forth in the most recently delivered Reserve Report that is not offset by a corresponding proportionate increase in such Loan Party’s net revenue interest in such Property.   




(b)

All leases and agreements necessary for the conduct of the business of each Loan Party are valid and subsisting, in full force and effect, and there exists no default or event or circumstance which with the giving of notice or the passage of time or both would give rise to a default under any such lease or agreement.




(c)

The rights and Properties presently owned, leased or licensed by each Loan Party including, without limitation, all easements and rights of way, include all rights and Properties necessary to permit each Loan Party to conduct its business in all respects in the same manner as its business has been conducted prior to the date hereof.






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(d)

The Oil and Gas Properties (and Properties unitized therewith) of each Loan Party have been maintained, operated and developed in a good and workmanlike manner and in conformity with all Requirements of Law and in conformity with the provisions of all leases, subleases or other contracts comprising a part of the Hydrocarbon Interests and other contracts and agreements forming a part of the Oil and Gas Properties of such Loan Party.  Specifically in connection with the foregoing, (i) no Oil and Gas Property of any Loan Party is subject to having allowable production reduced below the full and regular allowable (including the maximum permissible tolerance) because of any overproduction (whether or not the same was permissible at the time) and (ii) none of the wells comprising a part of the Oil and Gas Properties (or Properties unitized therewith) of any Loan Party is deviated from the vertical more than the maximum permitted by Requirements of Law, and such wells are, in fact, bottomed under and are producing from, and the well bores are wholly within, the Oil and Gas Properties (or in the case of wells located on Properties unitized therewith, such unitized Properties) of such Loan Party.  All pipelines, wells, gas processing plants, platforms and other material improvements, fixtures and equipment owned in whole or in part by each Loan Party that are necessary to conduct normal operations are being maintained in a state adequate to conduct normal operations, and with respect to such of the foregoing which are operated by such Loan Party, in a manner consistent with such Loan Party’s past practices. 




(e)

Each Loan Party owns, or is licensed or otherwise has the right to use, all patents, trademarks, service marks, trade names, copyrights and other intellectual property material to its business, and the use thereof by such Loan Party does not infringe in any material respect on the rights of any other Person.  Each Loan Party either owns or has valid licenses or other rights to use all databases, geological data, geophysical data, engineering data, seismic data, maps, interpretations and other technical information used in its business as presently conducted, subject to the limitations contained in the agreements governing the use of the same, which limitations are customary for companies engaged in the business of the exploration and production of Hydrocarbons.




(f)

Each Loan Party has (i) all insurance policies sufficient for the compliance by it with all Requirements of Law and all agreements including Flood Insurance, if required and (ii) insurance coverage in at least amounts and against such risk (including, without limitation, public liability) that are usually insured against by companies similarly situated and engaged in the same or a similar business for the assets and operations of such Loan Party.  The Administrative Agent and the Lenders have been named as additional insureds in respect of such liability insurance policies and the Administrative Agent has been named as loss payee with respect to Property loss insurance.




Section 4.12.

Disclosure.  The Borrower has disclosed to Administrative Agent and the Lenders all agreements, instruments, and corporate or other restrictions to which the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries is subject, and all other matters known to any of them, that, either individually or in the aggregate, could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.  None of the reports (including, without limitation, all reports that the Borrower is required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission), financial statements, certificates or other information furnished by or on behalf of the Borrower to the Administrative Agent or any Lender in connection with the negotiation or syndication of this Agreement or any other Loan Document or delivered hereunder or thereunder (as modified or supplemented by any other information so furnished) contains any material misstatement of fact or omits to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, taken as a whole in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that, with respect to projected financial information, the Borrower represents only that such information was prepared in good faith based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable at the time.




Section 4.13.

Labor Relations.  There are no strikes, lockouts or other material labor disputes or grievances against the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, or, to the Borrower’s knowledge, threatened against or affecting the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, and no significant unfair labor practice charges or grievances are pending against the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, or, to the Borrower’s knowledge, threatened against any of them before any Governmental Authority.  All payments due from the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries pursuant to the provisions of any collective bargaining agreement have been paid or accrued as a liability on the books of the Borrower or any such Subsidiary, except where the failure to do so could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.




Section 4.14.

Subsidiaries.  Schedule 4.14 sets forth the name of, the ownership interest of the applicable Loan Party in, the jurisdiction of incorporation or organization of, and the type of each Subsidiary of the Borrower and the other Loan Parties and identifies each Subsidiary that is a Subsidiary Loan Party, in each case as of the Closing Date.  Each Subsidiary of a Loan Party is a wholly owned Subsidiary. 




Section 4.15.

Solvency.  After giving effect to the execution and delivery of the Loan Documents and the making of the Loans under this Agreement, each Loan Party is Solvent.






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Section 4.16.

Deposit and Disbursement Accounts.  Schedule 4.16 lists all banks and other financial institutions at which any Loan Party maintains deposit accounts, lockbox accounts, disbursement accounts, investment accounts or other similar accounts as of the Closing Date, and such Schedule correctly identifies the name, address and telephone number of each financial institution, the name in which the account is held, the type of the account, and the complete account number therefor.




Section 4.17.

Collateral Documents.




(a)

The Guaranty and Security Agreement is effective to create in favor of the Administrative Agent for the ratable benefit of the Secured Parties a legal, valid and enforceable security interest in the Collateral (as defined therein), and when UCC financing statements in appropriate form are filed in the offices specified on Schedule 3 to the Guaranty and Security Agreement, the Guaranty and Security Agreement shall constitute a fully perfected Lien (to the extent that such Lien may be perfected by the filing of a UCC financing statement) on, and security interest in, all right, title and interest of the grantors thereunder in such Collateral, in each case prior and superior in right to any other Person, other than with respect to Liens expressly permitted by Section 7.2.  When the certificates evidencing all Capital Stock pledged pursuant to the Guaranty and Security Agreement are delivered to the Administrative Agent, together with appropriate stock powers or other similar instruments of transfer duly executed in blank, the Liens in such Capital Stock shall be fully perfected first priority security interests, perfected by “control” as defined in the UCC.




(b)

Each Mortgage, when duly executed and delivered by the relevant Loan Party, will be effective to create in favor of the Administrative Agent for the ratable benefit of the Secured Parties a legal, valid and enforceable Lien on all of such Loan Party’s right, title and interest in and to the Mortgaged Property of such Loan Party covered thereby and the proceeds thereof, and when such Mortgage is filed in the real estate records where the respective Mortgaged Property is located, such Mortgage shall constitute a fully perfected Lien on, and security interest in, all right, title and interest of such Loan Party in such Mortgaged Property and the proceeds thereof, in each case prior and superior in right to any other Person, other than with respect to Liens expressly permitted by Section 7.2.




(c)

No Loan Party owns any Building (as defined in the applicable Flood Insurance Law) or Manufactured (Mobile) Home (as defined in the applicable Flood Insurance Law) for which such Loan Party has not delivered to the Administrative Agent evidence reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent that (a) such Loan Party maintains Flood Insurance for such Building or Manufactured (Mobile) Home or (b) such Building or Manufactured (Mobile) Home is not located in a Special Flood Hazard Area.




Section 4.18.

Restriction on Liens.  No Loan Party is a party to any agreement or arrangement (other than Capital Leases creating Liens permitted by Section 7.2(d), but then only on the Property subject of such Capital Lease), or subject to any order, judgment, writ or decree, which either restricts or purports to restrict its ability to grant Liens to the Administrative Agent for the benefit of the Secured Parties on or in respect of its Properties to secure the Obligations and the Loan Documents.




Section 4.19.

Material Agreements.  As of the Closing Date, all Material Agreements of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries are described on Schedule 4.19, and each such Material Agreement is in full force and effect.  The Borrower does not have any knowledge of any pending amendments or threatened termination of any of the Material Agreements.  As of the Closing Date, the Borrower has delivered to the Administrative Agent a true, complete and correct copy of each Material Agreement (including all schedules, exhibits, amendments, supplements, modifications, assignments and all other documents delivered pursuant thereto or in connection therewith).




Section 4.20.

OFAC; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Neither any Loan Party nor any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates (i) is a Sanctioned Person, (ii) has any of its assets in Sanctioned Countries, or (iii) derives any of its operating income from investments in, or transactions with, Sanctioned Persons or Sanctioned Countries.  No part of the proceeds of any Loans hereunder will be used directly or indirectly to fund any operations in, finance any investments or activities in or make any payments to a Sanctioned Person or a Sanctioned Country or for any payments to any governmental official or employee, political party, official of a political party, candidate for political office, or anyone else acting in an official capacity, in order to obtain, retain or direct business or obtain any improper advantage, in violation of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended and in effect from time to time.




Section 4.21.

Patriot Act.  Neither any Loan Party nor any of its Subsidiaries is an “enemy” or an “ally of the enemy” within the meaning of Section 2 of the Trading with the Enemy Act or any enabling legislation or executive order relating thereto.  Neither any Loan Party nor any or its Subsidiaries is in violation of (a) the Trading with the Enemy Act, (b) any of the foreign assets control regulations of the United States Treasury Department (31 C.F.R., Subtitle B, Chapter V, as amended) or any enabling legislation or executive order relating thereto or (c) the Patriot Act.  None of the Loan Parties (i) is a blocked person described in Section 1 of the Anti-Terrorism Order or (ii) to the best of its knowledge, engages in any dealings or transactions, or is otherwise associated, with any such blocked person.






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Section 4.22.

Gas Imbalances; Prepayments.  Except as set forth on Schedule 4.22 or on the most recent certificate delivered pursuant to Section 5.13(c), on a net basis there are no gas imbalances, take or pay or other prepayments which would require the Loan Parties to deliver Hydrocarbons produced from their Oil and Gas Properties at some future time without then or thereafter receiving full payment therefor exceeding one percent (1%) of the value of the proved, developed, producing Oil and Gas Properties as set forth on the most recent Reserve Report delivered pursuant to the terms of this Agreement in the aggregate.




Section 4.23.

Marketing of Production.  Except for contracts listed and in effect on the date hereof on Schedule 4.23, and thereafter either disclosed in writing to the Administrative Agent or included in the most recently delivered Reserve Report (with respect to all of which contracts each Loan Party represents it is receiving a price for all production sold thereunder which is computed substantially in accordance with the terms of the relevant contract and are not having deliveries curtailed substantially below the subject Property’s delivery capacity), no material agreements exist which are not cancelable on sixty (60) days’ notice or less without penalty or detriment for the sale of production from any Loan Party’s Hydrocarbons (including, without limitation, calls on or other rights to purchase, production, whether or not the same are currently being exercised) that (i) pertain to the sale of production at a fixed price and (ii) have a maturity or expiry date of longer than six (6) months from the date hereof.




Section 4.24.

Hedging Transactions and Qualified ECP Guarantor.  Schedule 4.24, as of the date hereof, and after the date hereof, each report required to be delivered by the Borrower pursuant to Section 5.1(e), sets forth, a true and complete list of all Hedging Transactions of each Loan Party, the material terms thereof (including the type, term, effective date, termination date and notional amounts or volumes), the net mark to market value thereof, all credit support agreements relating thereto (including any margin required or supplied) and the counterparty to each such agreement.  The Borrower and each Guarantor is a Qualified ECP Guarantor.




Section 4.25.

Stanford.  Stanford does not own any Property.




ARTICLE V



AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS




The Borrower covenants and agrees that so long as any Lender has a Commitment hereunder or any Obligation remains unpaid or outstanding: 




Section 5.1.

Financial Statements and Other Information.  The Borrower will deliver to the Administrative Agent and each Lender:




(a)

as soon as available and in any event within 90 days after the end of each Fiscal Year of the Borrower, a copy of the annual audited report for such Fiscal Year for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, containing a consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of the end of such Fiscal Year and the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows (together with all footnotes thereto) of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for such Fiscal Year, setting forth in each case in comparative form the figures for the previous Fiscal Year, all in reasonable detail and reported on by Eide Bailly LLP or other independent public accountants of nationally recognized standing (without a “going concern” or like qualification, exception or explanation and without any qualification or exception as to the scope of such audit) to the effect that such financial statements present fairly in all material respects the financial condition and the results of operations of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for such Fiscal Year on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP and that the exami­nation by such accountants in connection with such consolidated financial statements has been made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards;




(b)

as soon as avail­able and in any event within 45 days after the end of each Fiscal Quarter of the Borrower, an unaudited consolidated and consolidating balance sheet of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of the end of such Fiscal Quarter and the related unaudited consolidated and consolidating statements of in­come and cash flows of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for such Fiscal Quarter and the then elapsed portion of such Fiscal Year, setting forth in each case in comparative form the figures for the corresponding Fiscal Quarter and the corresponding portion of the Borrower’s previous Fiscal Year;






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(c)

concurrently with the delivery of the financial statements referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this Section (other than the financial statements for the fourth Fiscal Quarter of each Fiscal Year delivered pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section), a Compliance Certificate signed by the principal executive officer or the principal financial officer of the Borrower (i) certifying as to whether there exists a Default or Event of Default on the date of such certificate and, if a Default or an Event of Default then exists, specifying the details thereof and the action which the Borrower has taken or proposes to take with respect thereto, (ii) setting forth in reasonable detail calculations demonstrating compliance with the financial covenants set forth in Article VI, (iii) specifying any change in the identity of the Subsidiaries as of the end of such Fiscal Year or Fiscal Quarter from the Subsidiaries identified to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders on the Closing Date or as of the most recent Fiscal Year or Fiscal Quarter, as the case may be, and (iv) stating whether any change in GAAP or the application thereof has occurred since the date of the mostly recently delivered audited financial statements of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, and, if any change has occurred, specifying the effect of such change on the financial statements accompanying such Compliance Certificate;




(d)

concurrently with the delivery of the financial statements referred to in subsection (a) above, a certificate of the accounting firm that reported on such financial statements stating whether they obtained any knowledge during the course of their examination of such financial statements of any Default or Event of Default (which certificate may be limited to the extent required by accounting rules or guidelines);




(e)

concurrently with the delivery of the financial statements referred to in subsection (b) of this Section, a certificate signed by the principal executive officer or the principal financial officer of the Borrower setting forth as of a recent date, a true and complete list of all Hedging Transactions of the Loan Parties, the material terms thereof (including the type, term, effective date, termination date and notional amounts or volumes), the net mark-to-market value therefor, any new credit support agreements relating thereto not listed on Schedule 4.24, any margin required or supplied under any credit support document, and the counterparty to each such agreement;




(f)

concurrently with the delivery of the financial statements referred to in subsection (b) of this Section, a certificate signed by the principal executive officer or the principal financial officer of the Borrower setting forth information as to quantities or production from the Loan Parties’ Oil and Gas Properties, volumes of production sold, pricing, purchasers of production, gross revenues, lease operating expenses, and such other information as the Administrative Agent may reasonably request with respect to the relevant quarterly period;




(g)

promptly following the written request of the Administrative Agent, a list of all Persons purchasing Hydrocarbons from any Loan Party; and




(h)

promptly following any request therefor, such other information regarding the results of operations, business affairs and financial condition of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries as the Administrative Agent or any Lender may reasonably request.




Section 5.2.

Notices of Material Events.  The Borrower will furnish to the Administrative Agent and each Lender prompt written notice of the following:




(a)

the occurrence of any Default or Event of Default;




(b)

the filing or commencement of, or any material development in, any action, suit or proceeding by or before any arbitrator or Governmental Authority against or, to the knowledge of the Borrower, affecting the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries which, if adversely determined, could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect;




(c)

the occurrence of any event or any other development by which the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries (i) fails to comply with any Environmental Law or to obtain, maintain or comply with any permit, license or other approval required under any Environmental Law, (ii) becomes subject to any Environmental Liability, (iii) receives notice of any claim with respect to any Environmental Liability, or (iv) becomes aware of any basis for any Environmental Liability, in each case which, either individually or in the aggregate, could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect; 






45









(d)

promptly and in any event within 15 days after (i) the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any ERISA Affiliate knows or has reason to know that any ERISA Event has occurred, a certificate of the chief financial officer of the Borrower describing such ERISA Event and the action, if any, proposed to be taken with respect to such ERISA Event and a copy of any notice filed with the PBGC or the IRS pertaining to such ERISA Event and any notices received by the Borrower, such Subsidiary or such ERISA Affiliate from the PBGC or any other governmental agency with respect thereto, and (ii) becoming aware (1) that there has been an increase in Unfunded Pension Liabilities (not taking into account Plans with negative Unfunded Pension Liabilities) since the date the representations hereunder are given or deemed given, or from any prior notice, as applicable, (2) of the existence of any Withdrawal Liability, (3) of the adoption of, or the commencement of contributions to, any Plan subject to Section 412 of the Code by the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any ERISA Affiliate, or (4) of the adoption of any amendment to a Plan subject to Section 412 of the Code which results in a material increase in contribution obligations of the Borrower, any of its Subsidiaries or any ERISA Affiliate, a detailed written description thereof from the chief financial officer of the Borrower;




(e)

the occurrence of any default or event of default, or the receipt by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries of any written notice of an alleged default or event of default, with respect to any Material Indebtedness of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries; 




(f)

any material amendment or modification to any Material Agreement (together with a copy thereof), and prompt notice of any termination, expiration or loss of any Material Agreement; and




(g)

any other development that results in, or could reasonably be expected to result in, a Material Adverse Effect.  




The Borrower will furnish to the Administrative Agent and each Lender the following:




(x)

promptly and in any event at least 30 days prior thereto, notice of any change (i) in any Loan Party’s legal name, (ii) in any Loan Party’s chief executive office, its principal place of business, any office in which it maintains books or records or any office or facility at which Collateral owned by it is located (including the establishment of any such new office or facility), (iii) in any Loan Party’s identity or legal structure, (iv) in any Loan Party’s federal taxpayer identification number or organizational number or (v) in any Loan Party’s jurisdiction of organization; and




(y)

as soon as available and in any event within 30 days after receipt thereof, a copy of any environmental report or site assessment obtained by or for the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries after the Closing Date on any Oil and Gas Property.




Each notice or other document delivered under this Section shall be accompanied by a written statement of a Responsible Officer setting forth the details of the event or development requiring such notice or other document and any action taken or proposed to be taken with respect thereto.




Section 5.3.

Existence; Conduct of Business.  The Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, do or cause to be done all things necessary to preserve, renew and maintain in full force and effect its legal existence and its respective rights, licenses, permits, privileges, fran­chises, patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade names material to the conduct of its business and maintain, if necessary, its qualification to do business in each other jurisdiction in which its Oil and Gas Properties are located or the ownership of its Properties requires such qualification; provided that nothing in this Section shall prohibit any merger, consolidation, liquidation or dissolution permitted under Section 7.3. 




Section 5.4.

Compliance with Laws.  The Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, comply with all laws, rules, regulations and requirements of any Governmental Authority applicable to its business and properties, including, without limitation, all Environmental Laws, ERISA and OSHA, except where the failure to do so, either individually or in the aggregate, could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.




Section 5.5.

Payment of Obligations.  The Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, pay and discharge at or before maturity all of its obligations and liabilities (including, without limitation, all taxes, assessments and other governmental charges, levies and all other claims that could result in a statutory Lien) before the same shall become delinquent or in default, except where (a) the validity or amount thereof is being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings, (b) the Borrower or such Subsidiary has set aside on its books adequate reserves with respect thereto in accordance with GAAP and (c) the failure to make payment pending such contest could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.






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Section 5.6.

Books and Records.  The Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, keep proper books of record and account in which full, true and correct entries shall be made of all dealings and transactions in relation to its business and activities to the extent necessary to prepare the consolidated financial statements of the Borrower in conformity with GAAP.




Section 5.7.

Visitation and Inspection.  The Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, permit any representative of the Administrative Agent or any Lender to visit and inspect its Properties (including its Oil and Gas Properties), to examine its books and records and to make copies and take ex­tracts therefrom, and to discuss its affairs, finances and ac­counts with any of its officers and with its independent certified public accountants, all at such reasonable times and as of­ten as the Administrative Agent or any Lender may reasonably request after rea­sonable prior notice to the Borrower; provided that if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, no prior notice shall be required.




Section 5.8.

Maintenance of Properties; Insurance.  The Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to:




(a)

operate its Oil and Gas Properties and other Properties or cause such Oil and Gas Properties and other Properties to be operated in a careful and prudent manner in accordance with the practices of the industry and in compliance with all applicable contracts and agreements and in compliance with all Requirements of Law, including, without limitation, applicable proration requirements and Environmental Laws, and all applicable laws, rules and regulations of every other Governmental Authority from time to time constituted to regulate the development and operation of its Oil and Gas Properties and the production and sale of Hydrocarbons and other minerals therefrom;




(b)

maintain and keep in good repair, working order and efficiency (ordinary wear and tear excepted) all of its Oil and Gas Properties and other Properties, including, without limitation, all equipment, machinery and facilities;




(c)

promptly pay and discharge, or cause to be paid and discharged, all delay rentals, royalties, expenses and indebtedness accruing under the leases or other agreements affecting or pertaining to its Oil and Gas Properties and will do all other things necessary to keep unimpaired their rights with respect thereto and prevent any forfeiture thereof or default thereunder;




(d)

promptly perform or cause to be performed, in accordance with industry standards, the obligations required by each and all of the assignments, deeds, leases, sub-leases, contracts and agreements affecting its interests in its Oil and Gas Properties and other material Properties;




(e)

maintain with financially sound and reputable insurance companies which are not Affiliates of the Borrower (i) insurance with respect to its prop­erties and business, and the properties and business of its Subsidiaries, against loss or damage of the kinds customarily insured against by companies in the same or similar businesses operating in the same or similar locations (including, to the extent applicable, flood insurance) and (ii) all insurance required to be maintained pursuant to the Collateral Documents or any applicable Requirement of Law, and will, upon request of the Administrative Agent, furnish to each Lender at reasonable intervals a certificate of a Responsible Officer setting forth the nature and extent of all insurance maintained by the Borrower and its Subsidiaries in accordance with this Section; and 




(f)

at all times shall name the Administrative Agent as additional insured on all liability policies of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries and as loss payee (pursuant to a loss payee endorsement approved by the Administrative Agent) on all casualty and property insurance policies of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries and cause such policies to provide that the insurer will give at least thirty (30) days prior notice of any cancellation to the Administrative Agent. 




Section 5.9.

Use of Proceeds; Margin Regulations.  The Borrower will use the proceeds of all Loans to finance working capital needs and for other general corporate purposes of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries.  No part of the proceeds of any Loan will be used, whether directly or indirectly, for any purpose in contravention of Section 4.9 or for any purpose that would violate any rule or regulation of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, including Regulation T, Regulation U or Regulation X.  All Letters of Credit will be used for general corporate purposes.




Section 5.10.

Casualty and Condemnation.  The Borrower (a) will furnish to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders prompt written notice of any casualty or other insured damage to any material portion of any Collateral or the commencement of any action or preceding for the taking of any material portion of any Collateral or any part thereof or interest therein under power of eminent domain or by condemnation or similar proceeding and (b) will cause the net cash proceeds of any such event (whether in the form of insurance proceeds, condemnation awards or otherwise) to be collected and applied in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Agreement and the Collateral Documents.






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Section 5.11.

Cash Management.  The Borrower shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to: 




(a)

subject to Section 3.3(b) maintain all cash management and treasury business with SunTrust Bank or a Permitted Third Party Bank, including, without limitation, all deposit accounts, disbursement accounts, investment accounts and lockbox accounts (other than zero-balance accounts for the purpose of managing local disbursements, payroll, withholding and other fiduciary accounts, all of which the Loan Parties may maintain without restriction) (each such deposit account, disbursement account, investment account and lockbox account, a “Controlled Account”); each Controlled Account shall be a cash collateral account, with all cash, checks and other similar items of payment in such account securing payment of the Obligations, and in which the Borrower and each of its Subsidiaries shall have granted a first priority Lien to the Administrative Agent, on behalf of the Secured Parties, perfected either automatically under the UCC (with respect to Controlled Accounts at SunTrust Bank) or subject to Control Account Agreements;




(b)

deposit promptly, and in any event no later than 10 Business Days after the date of receipt thereof, all cash, checks, drafts or other similar items of payment relating to or constituting payments made in respect of any and all accounts and other Collateral into Controlled Accounts, in each case except for cash and Permitted Investments the aggregate value of which does not exceed $100,000 at any time; and 




(c)

at any time after the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, at the request of the Required Lenders, the Borrower will, and will cause each other Loan Party to, cause all payments constituting proceeds of accounts or other Collateral to be directed into lockbox accounts under agreements in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.




Section 5.12.

Additional Subsidiaries and Collateral.




(a)

In the event that, subsequent to the Closing Date, any Person becomes a Subsidiary of a Loan Party, whether pursuant to formation, acquisition or otherwise, (x) the Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent and the Lenders not less than ten (10) Business Days prior to the formation or acquisition of such Subsidiary and (y) within five (5) Business Days after such Person becomes a Subsidiary of a Loan Party, the Borrower shall cause such Subsidiary (i) to become a new Guarantor and to grant Liens in favor of the Administrative Agent in all of its personal property by executing and delivering to the Administrative Agent a supplement to the Guaranty and Security Agreement in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, and authorizing and delivering, at the request of the Administrative Agent, such UCC financing statements or similar instruments required by the Administrative Agent to perfect the Liens in favor of the Administrative Agent and granted under any of the Loan Documents, (ii) to grant Liens in favor of the Administrative Agent in such Oil and Gas Properties as requested by the Administrative Agent by executing and delivering to the Administrative Agent such Mortgages as the Administrative Agent shall require, and (iii) to deliver all such other documentation (including, without limitation, certified organizational documents, resolutions, lien searches, environmental reports and legal opinions) and to take all such other actions as such Subsidiary would have been required to deliver and take pursuant to Section 3.1 if such Subsidiary had been a Loan Party on the Closing Date or that such Subsidiary would be required to deliver pursuant to Section 5.13 with respect to any Oil and Gas Properties.  In addition, within five (5) Business Days after the date any Person becomes a Subsidiary of a Loan Party, the Borrower shall, or shall cause the applicable Loan Party to (i) pledge all of the Capital Stock of such Subsidiary to the Administrative Agent as security for the Obligations by executing and delivering a supplement to the Guaranty and Security Agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, and (ii) if the Capital Stock of such Subsidiary is certificated, deliver the original certificates evidencing such pledged Capital Stock to the Administrative Agent, together with appropriate powers executed in blank.   




(b)

The Borrower agrees that, following the delivery of any Collateral Documents required to be executed and delivered by this Section, the Administrative Agent shall have a valid and enforceable, first priority perfected Lien on the property required to be pledged pursuant to subsection (a) (to the extent that such Lien can be perfected by execution, delivery and/or recording of the Collateral Documents or UCC financing statements, or possession of such Collateral), free and clear of all Liens other than Liens expressly permitted by Section 7.2.  All actions to be taken pursuant to this Section shall be at the expense of the Borrower or the applicable Loan Party, and shall be taken to the reasonable satisfaction of the Administrative Agent.






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Section 5.13.

Reserve Reports.




(a)

On or before March 1 and September 1 of each year, commencing September 1, 2014, the Borrower shall furnish to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders a Reserve Report evaluating the Oil and Gas Properties of Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of the immediately preceding January 1 (with respect to the Reserve Report due March 1) and July 1 (with respect to the Reserve Report due September 1).  The Reserve Report due March 1 of each year shall be prepared by one or more Approved Petroleum Engineers, and the Reserve Report due September 1 of each year shall be prepared by or under the supervision of the chief engineer of the Borrower who shall certify such Reserve Report to be true and accurate and to have been prepared in accordance with the procedures used in the Reserve Report most recently prepared by the Approved Petroleum Engineers.  Additionally, on or before December 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015, the Borrower shall furnish to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders a Reserve Report evaluating the Oil and Gas Properties of Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of October 1, 2014 (with respect to the Reserve Report due December 1, 2014) and April 1, 2015 (with respect to the Reserve Report due June 1, 2015).  The Reserve Reports due December 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015 shall be prepared by or under the supervision of the chief engineer of the Borrower who shall certify such Reserve Report to be true and accurate and to have been prepared in accordance with the procedures used in the Reserve Report most recently prepared by the Approved Petroleum Engineers.




(b)

In the event of an Interim Redetermination, the Borrower shall furnish to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders a Reserve Report prepared by or under the supervision of the chief engineer of the Borrower who shall certify such Reserve Report to be true and accurate and to have been prepared in accordance with the procedures used in the Reserve Report most recently prepared by the Approved Petroleum Engineers.  For any Interim Redetermination requested by the Administrative Agent or the Borrower pursuant to Section 2.5(b), the Borrower shall provide such Reserve Report with an “as of” date as required by the Administrative Agent as soon as possible, but in any event no later than thirty (30) days following the receipt of such request.




(c)

With the delivery of each Reserve Report, the Borrower shall provide to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders a certificate from its principal executive officer or the principal financial officer certifying that in all material respects: (i) the information contained in the Reserve Report and any other information delivered in connection therewith is true and correct, (ii) the Borrower and its Subsidiaries owns good and Defensible Title to the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated in such Reserve Report and such Properties are free of all Liens except for Excepted Liens and Liens securing the Obligations, (iii) except as set forth on an exhibit to the certificate, on a net basis there are no gas imbalances, take or pay or other prepayments in excess of the volume specified in Section 4.22 with respect to its Oil and Gas Properties evaluated in such Reserve Report which would require the Borrower or its Subsidiaries to deliver Hydrocarbons either generally or produced from such Oil and Gas Properties at some future time without then or thereafter receiving full payment therefor, (iv) none of their Oil and Gas Properties have been sold since the date of the last Borrowing Base determination except as set forth on an exhibit to the certificate, which certificate shall list all of its Oil and Gas Properties sold and in such detail as reasonably required by the Administrative Agent, (v) attached to the certificate is a list of all marketing agreements entered into subsequent to the later of the date hereof or the most recently delivered Reserve Report which the Borrower or its Subsidiaries could reasonably be expected to have been obligated to list on Schedule 4.24 had such agreement been in effect on the date hereof and (vi) attached thereto is a schedule of the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated by such Reserve Report that are Mortgaged Properties and demonstrating the percentage of the total value of the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated in such Reserve Report that the value of such Mortgaged Properties represent in compliance with Section 5.15. 




Section 5.14.

Title Information.




(a)

On or before the delivery to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders of each Reserve Report required by Section 5.13(a), the Borrower will deliver title information in form and substance acceptable to the Administrative Agent covering the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated by such Reserve Report as requested by the Administrative Agent (which in any event shall cover, together with title information previously delivered to the Administrative Agent, at least eighty percent (80%) of the total value of the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated by such Reserve Report).




(b)

If the Borrower has provided title information under Section 5.14(a), the Borrower shall, or shall cause the applicable Loan Party to, within sixty (60) days after notice from the Administrative Agent that title defects or exceptions exist with respect to such additional Properties, either (i) cure any such title defects or exceptions (including defects or exceptions as to priority) which are not permitted by Section 7.2 raised by such information, (ii) substitute acceptable Mortgaged Properties with no title defects or exceptions except for Excepted Liens (other than Excepted Liens described in clauses (iv), (vi) and (vii) of such definition) having an equivalent value or (iii) deliver title information in form and substance acceptable to the Administrative Agent so that the Administrative Agent shall have received, together with title information previously delivered to the Administrative Agent, satisfactory title information on at least eighty percent (80%) of the total value of the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated by such Reserve Report.






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(c)

If the Borrower or such Loan Party is unable to cure any title defect requested by the Administrative Agent or the Lenders to be cured within the sixty (60) day period or the Borrower does not comply with the requirements under Section 5.14(a), such default shall not be a Default, but instead the Administrative Agent and/or the Required Lenders shall have the right to exercise the following remedy in their sole discretion from time to time, and any failure to so exercise this remedy at any time shall not be a waiver as to future exercise of the remedy by the Administrative Agent or the Lenders.  To the extent that the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders are not satisfied with title to any Mortgaged Property after such sixty (60) day period has elapsed, such unacceptable Mortgaged Property shall not count towards compliance with the requirements of Section 5.14(a), and the Administrative Agent may send a notice to the Borrower and the Lenders that the then outstanding Borrowing Base shall be reduced by an amount as determined by the Required Lenders to cause the Borrower to be in compliance with the requirements of Section 5.14(a).  This new Borrowing Base shall become effective immediately after receipt of such notice.




Section 5.15.

Additional Mortgaged Property.  In connection with each redetermination of the Borrowing Base, the Borrower shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to, within thirty (30) days following the request of the Administrative Agent, grant to the Administrative Agent as security for the Obligations, a first-priority Lien (provided that Excepted Liens of the type described in clauses (i) to (iii) and (v) of the definition thereof may exist, but subject to the provisos at the end of such definition) on additional Oil and Gas Properties of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries not already subject to a Lien of the Collateral Documents (which in any event, when combined with all other Mortgaged Properties, will represent at least eighty percent (80%) of the total value of the Oil and Gas Properties evaluated by such Reserve Report).  All such Liens will be created and perfected by and in accordance with the provisions of mortgages, deeds of trust, security agreements and financing statements or other Collateral Documents, all in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent and in sufficient executed (and acknowledged where necessary or appropriate) counterparts for recording purposes.  In order to comply with the foregoing, if any Subsidiary places a Lien on its Oil and Gas Properties and such Subsidiary is not a Guarantor, then it shall become a Guarantor and comply with Section 5.12(a).




Section 5.16.

Further Assurances.  The Borrower will, and will cause each other Loan Party to, execute any and all further documents, financing statements, agreements and instruments, and take all such further actions (including the filing and recording of financing statements, fixture filings, Mortgages and other documents), which may be required under any applicable law, or which the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders may reasonably request, to effectuate the transactions contemplated by the Loan Documents or to grant, preserve, protect or perfect the Liens created by the Collateral Documents or the validity or priority of any such Lien, all at the expense of the Loan Parties.  The Borrower also agrees to provide to the Administrative Agent, from time to time upon request, evidence reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent as to the perfection and priority of the Liens created or intended to be created by the Collateral Documents.  The Borrower hereby authorizes the Administrative Agent to file one or more financing or continuation statements, and amendments thereto, relative to all or any part of the Mortgaged Property without the signature of the Borrower or any other Loan Party where permitted by law.  A carbon, photographic or other reproduction of the Collateral Documents or any financing statement covering the Mortgaged Property or any part thereof shall be sufficient as a financing statement where permitted by law.  The Borrower acknowledges and agrees that any such financing statement may describe the collateral as “all assets” of the applicable Loan Party or words of similar effect as may be required by the Administrative Agent.




Section 5.17.

Environmental Matters.




(a)

The Borrower shall at its sole expense:  (i) comply, and shall cause its Properties and operations and each Loan Party and each Loan Party’s Properties and operations to comply, in all material respects, with all applicable Environmental Laws; (ii) not Release or threaten to Release, and shall cause each Loan Party not to Release or threaten to Release, any Hazardous Material on, under, about or from any of Loan Party’s Properties or any other property offsite the Property to the extent caused by such Loan Party’s operations except in compliance with applicable Environmental Laws; (iii) timely obtain or file, and shall cause each Subsidiary to timely obtain or file, all Environmental Permits, if any, required under applicable Environmental Laws to be obtained or filed in connection with the operation or use of any Loan Party’s Properties; (iv) promptly commence and diligently prosecute to completion, and shall cause each Subsidiary to promptly commence and diligently prosecute to completion, any assessment, evaluation, investigation, monitoring, containment, cleanup, removal, repair, restoration, remediation or other remedial obligations (collectively, the “Remedial Work”) in the event any Remedial Work is required or reasonably necessary under applicable Environmental Laws because of or in connection with the actual or suspected past, present or future Release or threatened Release of any Hazardous Material on, under, about or from any of any Loan Party’s Properties; (v) conduct, and cause its Subsidiaries to conduct, their respective operations and businesses in a manner that will not expose any Property or Person to Hazardous Materials that could reasonably be expected to form the basis for a claim for damages or compensation; and (vi) establish and implement, and shall cause each Subsidiary to establish and implement, such procedures as may be necessary to continuously determine and assure that each Loan Party’s obligations under this Section 5.17(a) are timely and fully satisfied.






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(b)

The Borrower will promptly, but in no event later than five (5) days after any Loan Party obtains knowledge thereof, notify the Administrative Agent and the Lenders in writing of any threatened action, investigation or inquiry by any Governmental Authority or any threatened demand or lawsuit by any Person against any Loan Party or their Properties of which the Borrower has knowledge in connection with any Environmental Laws if such Loan Party could reasonably anticipate that such action will result in liability (whether individually or in the aggregate) in excess of $500,000, not fully covered by insurance, subject to normal deductibles.




(c)

The Borrower will, and will cause each Loan Party to, provide environmental assessments, audits and tests requested by the Administrative Agent and the Lenders in connection with any future acquisitions of Oil and Gas Properties or other Properties.




Section 5.18.

Commodity Exchange Act Keepwell Provisions.  The Borrower hereby guarantees the payment and performance of all Obligations of each Loan Party (other than the Borrower) and absolutely, unconditionally and irrevocably undertakes to provide such funds or other support as may be needed from time to time to each Loan Party (other than the Borrower) in order for such Loan Party to honor its obligations under the Guarantee and Security Agreement including obligations with respect to Hedging Obligations secured by the Collateral Documents.  The obligations of the Borrower under this Section 5.18 shall remain in full force and effect until all Obligations are paid in full to the Lenders, the Administrative Agent and all other Secured Parties, and all of the Lenders’ Commitments are terminated.  The Borrower intends that this Section 5.18 constitute, and this Section 5.18 shall be deemed to constitute, a “keepwell, support, or other agreement” for the benefit of each other Loan Party for all purposes of Section 1a(18)(A)(v)(II) of the Commodity Exchange Act.    




ARTICLE VI



FINANCIAL COVENANTS




The Borrower covenants and agrees that so long as any Lender has a Commitment hereunder or any Obligation remains unpaid or outstanding: 




Section 6.1.

Leverage Ratio.  Beginning with the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2014, the Borrower will not, as of the last day of any fiscal quarter, permit its Leverage Ratio to be greater than 4.0 to 1.0. 




Section 6.2.

Current Ratio.  Beginning with the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2014, 2014, the Borrower will not permit, as of the last day of any fiscal quarter, its ratio of Current Assets to Current Liabilities to be less than 1.0 to 1.0.  




ARTICLE VII



NEGATIVE COVENANTS




The Borrower covenants and agrees that so long as any Lender has a Commitment hereunder or any Obligation remains outstanding: 




Section 7.1.

Indebtedness and Preferred Equity.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, create, incur, assume or suffer to exist any Indebtedness, except: 




(a)

Indebtedness created pursuant to the Loan Documents;




(b)

Indebtedness of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries existing on the date hereof and set forth on Schedule 7.1 and extensions, renewals and replacements of any such Indebtedness that do not increase the outstanding principal amount thereof (immediately prior to giving effect to such extension, renewal or replacement) or shorten the maturity or the weighted average life thereof;




(c)

Indebtedness of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries incurred to finance the acquisition, construction or improvement of any fixed or capital assets, including Capital Lease Obligations, and any Indebtedness assumed in connection with the acquisition of any such assets or secured by a Lien on any such assets prior to the acquisition thereof (provided that such Indebtedness is incurred prior to or within 90 days after such acquisition or the completion of such construction or improvements), and extensions, renewals or replacements of any such Indebtedness that do not increase the outstanding principal amount thereof (immediately prior to giving effect to such extension, renewal or replacement) or shorten the maturity or the weighted average life thereof; provided that the aggregate principal amount of such Indebtedness does not exceed $1,000,000 at any time outstanding; 






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(d)

Indebtedness of the Borrower owing to any Subsidiary and of any Subsidiary owing to the Borrower or any other Subsidiary; provided that (i) any such Indebtedness shall be subject to Section 7.4, (ii) such Indebtedness is not is not held, assigned, transferred, negotiated or pledged to any Person other than a Loan Party, and (iii) any such Indebtedness shall be subordinated to the Obligations on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Administrative Agent;




(e)

Guarantees by the Borrower of Indebtedness of any Subsidiary and by any Subsidiary Loan Party of Indebtedness of the Borrower or any other Subsidiary; provided that such Indebtedness is otherwise permitted by this Agreement;




(f)

Debt of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries associated with bonds or surety obligations required by Governmental Authorities in connection with the operation of the Oil and Gas Properties;




(g)

Hedging Obligations permitted by Section 7.10; and




(h)

other unsecured Indebtedness of the Borrower or its Subsidiaries in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $1,000,000 at any time outstanding. 




The Borrower will not, and will not permit any Subsidiary to, issue any preferred stock or other preferred equity interest that (i) matures or is mandatorily redeemable pursuant to a sinking fund obligation or otherwise, (ii) is or may become redeemable or repurchaseable by the Borrower or such Subsidiary at the option of the holder thereof, in whole or in part, or (iii) is convertible or exchangeable at the option of the holder thereof for Indebtedness or preferred stock or any other preferred equity interest described in this paragraph, on or prior to, in the case of clause (i), (ii) or (iii), the first anniversary of the Commitment Termination Date.




Section 7.2.

Liens.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, create, incur, assume or suffer to exist any Lien on any of its assets or property now owned or hereafter acquired, except:




(a)

Liens securing the Obligations; provided that no Liens may secure Hedging Obligations or Bank Product Obligations without securing all other Obligations on a basis at least pari passu with such Hedging Obligations or Bank Product Obligations and subject to the priority of payments set forth in Section 2.20 and Section 8.2;




(b)

Excepted Liens;




(c)

Liens on any property or asset of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries existing on the date hereof and set forth on Schedule 7.2; provided that such Liens shall not apply to any other property or asset of the Borrower or any Subsidiary;




(d)

purchase money Liens upon or in any fixed or capital assets to secure the purchase price or the cost of construction or improvement of such fixed or capital assets or to secure Indebtedness incurred solely for the purpose of financing the acquisition, construction or improvement of such fixed or capital assets (including Liens securing any Capital Lease Obligations); provided that (i) such Lien secures Indebtedness permitted by Section 7.1(c), (ii) such Lien attaches to such asset concurrently or within 90 days after the acquisition or the completion of the construction or improvements thereof, (iii) such Lien does not extend to any other asset, and (iv) the Indebtedness secured thereby does not exceed the cost of acquiring, constructing or improving such fixed or capital assets; and




(e)

extensions, renewals, or replacements of any Lien referred to in subsections (b) through (d) of this Section; provided that the principal amount of the Indebtedness secured thereby is not increased and that any such extension, renewal or replacement is limited to the assets originally encumbered thereby.




Section 7.3.

Fundamental Changes.




(a)

The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, merge into or consolidate into any other Person, or permit any other Person to merge into or consolidate with it, or sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of (in a single transaction or a series of transactions) all or substantially all of its assets (in each case, whether now owned or hereafter acquired) or all or substantially all of the stock of any of its Subsidiaries (in each case, whether now owned or hereafter acquired) or liquidate or dissolve; provided that if, at the time thereof and immediately after giving effect thereto, no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, (i) the Borrower or any other Loan Party may merge with a Loan Party if the Borrower (or such Loan Party if the Borrower is not a party to such merger) is the surviving Person and (ii) any Subsidiary may sell, transfer, lease or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets to another Loan Party.






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(b)

The Borrower will not, and will not permit any Loan Party to, allow any material change to be made in the character of its business as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company.  From and after the date hereof, the Borrower will not, and will not permit any Loan Party to, acquire or make any other expenditure (whether such expenditure is capital, operating or otherwise) in or related to any Oil and Gas Properties not located within the geographical boundaries of the United States of America.




(c)

The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, form or acquire any Subsidiary other than a wholly owned Subsidiary.




Section 7.4.

Investments, Loans.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, purchase, hold or acquire (including pursuant to any merger with any Person that was not a wholly owned Subsidiary prior to such merger) any Capital Stock, evidence of Indebtedness or other securities (including any option, warrant, or other right to acquire any of the foregoing) of, make or permit to exist any loans or advances to, Guarantee any obligations of, or make or permit to exist any investment or any other interest in, any other Person (all of the foregoing being collectively called “Investments”), or purchase or otherwise acquire (in one transaction or a series of transactions) any assets of any other Person that constitute a business unit, or create or form any Subsidiary, except: 




(a)

Investments (other than Permitted Investments) existing on the date hereof and set forth on Schedule 7.4 (including Investments in Subsidiaries);




(b)

Permitted Investments;




(c)

Guarantees by the Borrower and its Subsidiaries constituting Indebtedness permitted by Section 7.1;




(d)

Investments made by the Borrower in or to any Subsidiary (other than Stanford) and by any Subsidiary to the Borrower or in or to another Subsidiary (other than Stanford);




(e)

loans or advances to employees, officers or directors of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business for travel, relocation and related expenses; provided that the aggregate amount of all such loans and advances does not exceed $1,000,000 at any time outstanding; 




(f)

Hedging Transactions permitted by Section 7.10; 




(g)

Investments by the Borrower and its Subsidiaries (other than Stanford) in ownership interests in additional Oil and Gas Properties located within the geographic boundaries of the United States of America; and




(h)

other Investments which in the aggregate do not exceed $1,000,000 in any Fiscal Year. 




Section 7.5.

Restricted Payments.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, declare or make, or agree to pay or make, directly or indirectly, any Restricted Payment, except: 




(i)

dividends payable by the Borrower solely in interests of any class of its common equity;




(ii)

Restricted Payments made by any Subsidiary to the Borrower or to another Subsidiary.




Section 7.6.

Sale of Properties; Termination of Hedging Transactions.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, convey, sell, lease, assign, farm-out, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of its assets, business or Property or, in the case of any Subsidiary, any shares of such Subsidiary’s Capital Stock, in each case whether now owned or hereafter acquired, to any Person other than the Borrower or any other Loan Party, or terminate or otherwise monetize any Hedging Transaction in respect of commodities except:




(a)

the sale or other disposition for fair market value of obsolete or worn out equipment that is no longer necessary for operations disposed of in the ordinary course of business; 




(b)

the sale of Hydrocarbons and Permitted Investments in the ordinary course of business; and




(c)

the sale or other disposition (including casualty events) of any Oil and Gas Property by the Borrower and its Subsidiaries or any interest therein and the termination or monetization of any Hedging Transaction in respect of commodities; provided that: 






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(i)

no Default or Borrowing Base Deficiency exists or, after giving effect to Section 2.11(b), results from such sale or disposition of Oil and Gas Property or termination or monetization of any Hedging Transaction in respect of commodities;




(ii)

the Borrower notifies the Administrative Agent and the Lenders not less than ten (10) Business Days prior to such sale or disposition of Oil and Gas Property or termination or monetization of any Hedging Transaction in respect of commodities;




(iii)

100% of the consideration received in respect of such sale or other disposition or termination shall be cash;




(iv)

the consideration received in respect of such sale or other disposition or termination or monetization of any Hedging Transaction in respect of commodities shall be equal to or greater than the fair market value of the Oil and Gas Property, interest therein or Subsidiary subject of such sale or other disposition, or Hedging Transaction subject of such termination or monetization (as reasonably determined by the board of directors (or comparable governing body) of the Borrower and, if requested by the Administrative Agent, the Borrower shall deliver a certificate of the principal executive officer or the principal financial officer of the Borrower certifying to that effect); and




(v)

(A) such event is not a Triggering Event or (B) such event is a Triggering Event and (x) the Required Lenders consent to such event, (y) the Borrowing Base is redetermined pursuant to Section 2.4(e) and (z) the Borrower shall have made the payments, if any, required under Section 2.11(b).




Section 7.7.

Transactions with Affiliates.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, sell, lease or otherwise transfer any property or assets to, or purchase, lease or otherwise acquire any property or assets from, or otherwise engage in any other transactions with, any of its Affiliates, except: 




(a)

in the ordinary course of business at prices and on terms and conditions not less favorable to the Borrower or such Subsidiary than could be obtained on an arm’s-length basis from unrelated third parties; 




(b)

transactions between or among the Loan Parties; and 




(c)

any Restricted Payment permitted by Section 7.5.




Section 7.8.

Restrictive Agreements.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, directly or indirectly, enter into, incur or permit to exist any agreement that prohibits, restricts or imposes any condition upon (a) the ability of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries to create, incur or permit any Lien upon any of its assets or properties, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, or (b) the ability of any of its Subsidiaries to pay dividends or other distributions with respect to its Capital Stock, to make or repay loans or advances to the Borrower or any other Subsidiary thereof, to Guarantee Indebtedness of the Borrower or any other Subsidiary thereof or to transfer any of its prop­erty or assets to the Borrower or any other Subsidiary thereof; provided that (i) the foregoing shall not apply to restrictions or conditions imposed by law or by this Agreement or any other Loan Document and (ii) clause (a) shall not apply to restrictions or conditions imposed by any agreement relating to secured Indebtedness permitted by this Agreement if such restrictions and conditions apply only to the property or assets securing such Indebtedness. 




Section 7.9.

Sale and Leaseback Transactions.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, enter into any arrangement, directly or indirectly, whereby it shall sell or transfer any property, real or personal, used or useful in its business, whether now owned or hereinafter acquired, and thereafter rent or lease such property or other property that it intends to use for substantially the same purpose or purposes as the property sold or transferred.




Section 7.10.

Hedging Transactions.




(a)

The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, enter into or be a party to any Hedging Transaction, other than:






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(i)

Subject to clause (b) of this Section 7.10, Hedging Transactions by the Borrower with a Lender-Related Hedge Provider in respect of commodities entered into not for speculative purposes the notional volumes for which (when aggregated with other commodity Hedging Transactions then in effect other than basis differential swaps on volumes already hedged pursuant to other Hedging Transactions) do not exceed, as of the date such Hedging Transaction is entered into, (A) for the period from one to forty-eight months following the date of execution of the Hedging Transaction, (1) eighty percent (80%) of the reasonably anticipated production of crude oil, (2) eighty percent (80%) of the reasonably anticipated production of natural gas and (3) eighty percent (80%) of the reasonably anticipated production of natural gas liquids and condensate, in each case, as such production is projected from the Borrower’s and its Subsidiaries’ proved, developed, producing Oil and Gas Properties as set forth on the most recent Reserve Report delivered pursuant to the terms of this Agreement,  and (B) for the period forty-nine to sixty months following the date of execution for such Hedging Transaction, (1) fifty percent (50%) of the reasonably anticipated production of crude oil, (2) fifty percent (50%) of the reasonably anticipated production of natural gas and (3) fifty percent (50%) of the reasonably anticipated production of natural gas liquids and condensate, in each case, as such production is projected from the Borrower’s and its Subsidiaries’ proved, developed, producing Oil and Gas Properties as set forth on the most recent Reserve Report delivered pursuant to the terms of this Agreement.  It is understood that Hedging Transactions in respect of commodities which may, from time to time, “hedge” the same volumes, but different elements of commodity risk thereof, shall not be aggregated together when calculating the foregoing limitations on notional volumes. 




(ii)

Hedging Transactions effectively converting interest rates from floating to fixed, the notional amounts of which (when aggregated with all other Hedging Transactions of the Borrower then in effect effectively converting interest rates from floating to fixed) do not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the then outstanding principal amount of the Loan Parties’ Indebtedness for borrowed money which bears interest at a floating rate, and which Hedging Transactions shall not, in any case, have a tenor beyond the maturity date of such Indebtedness. 




(b)

In no event shall any Hedging Transaction contain any requirement, agreement or covenant for any Loan Party to post collateral or margin to secure their obligations under such Hedging Transaction or to cover market exposures




(c)

The Borrower will not terminate or monetize any Hedging Transaction in respect of commodities without the prior written consent of the Required Lenders, except to the extent such terminations are permitted pursuant to Section 7.6.




Section 7.11.

Amendment to Material Documents.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, amend, modify or waive any of its rights under (a) its certificate of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational documents or (b) any Material Agreements, except in any manner that would not have an adverse effect on the Lenders, the Administrative Agent, the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries.




Section 7.12.

Sale or Discount of Receivables.  Except for receivables obtained by any Loan Party out of the ordinary course of business or the settlement of joint interest billing accounts in the ordinary course of business or discounts granted to settle collection of accounts receivable or the sale of defaulted accounts arising in the ordinary course of business in connection with the compromise or collection thereof and not in connection with any financing transaction, the Borrower will not, and will not permit any Subsidiary to, discount or sell (with or without recourse) any of its notes receivable or accounts receivable.




Section 7.13.

Accounting Changes.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, make any significant change in accounting treatment or reporting practices, except as required by GAAP, or change the fiscal year of the Borrower or of any of its Subsidiaries, except to change the fiscal year of a Subsidiary to conform its fiscal year to that of the Borrower.




Section 7.14.

Lease Obligations.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, create or suffer to exist any obligations for the payment under operating leases or agreements to lease (but excluding any obligations under leases required to be classified as Capital Leases under GAAP having a term of five years or more and leases of Hydrocarbon Interests) which would cause the present value of the direct or contingent liabilities of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries under such leases or agreements to lease, on a consolidated basis, to exceed $1,000,000 in the aggregate in any Fiscal Year. 




Section 7.15.

Government Regulation.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, (a) be or become subject at any time to any law, regulation or list of any Governmental Authority of the United States (including, without limitation, the OFAC list) that prohibits or limits the Lenders or the Administrative Agent from making any advance or extension of credit to the Borrower or from otherwise conducting business with the Loan Parties, or (b) fail to provide documentary and other evidence of the identity of the Loan Parties as may be requested by the Lenders or the Administrative Agent at any time to enable the Lenders or the Administrative Agent to verify the identity of the Loan Parties or to comply with any applicable law or regulation, including, without limitation, Section 326 of the Patriot Act at 31 U.S.C. Section 5318.






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Section 7.16.

Gas Imbalances, Take-or-Pay or Other Prepayments.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, allow gas imbalances, take-or-pay or other prepayments with respect to the Oil and Gas Properties of any Loan Party that would require such Loan Party to deliver Hydrocarbons at some future time without then or thereafter receiving full payment therefor to exceed one percent (1%) of the value of the proved, developed, producing Oil and Gas Properties as set forth on the most recent Reserve Report delivered pursuant to the terms of this Agreement in the aggregate.




Section 7.17.

Marketing Activities.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, enter into any contracts for the sale of Hydrocarbons other than (a) contracts for the sale of Hydrocarbons reasonably estimated to be produced from the Borrower’s or its Subsidiaries’ proved Oil and Gas Properties during the period of such contract and (b) contracts for the sale of Hydrocarbons scheduled or reasonably estimated to be produced from proved Oil and Gas Properties of third parties during the period of such contract associated with the Oil and Gas Properties of the Borrower or one of its Subsidiaries that the Borrower or one of its Subsidiaries has the right to sell on behalf of such third parties.




Section 7.18.

Non-Qualified ECP Guarantors.  The Borrower shall not permit any Loan Party that is not a Qualified ECP Guarantor to own, at any time, any Oil and Gas Properties or any Capital Stock in any Subsidiaries.




Section 7.19.

Environmental Matters.  The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, cause or permit any of its Property to be in any material violation of, or do anything or permit anything to be done which will subject any such Property to a Release or threatened Release of Hazardous Materials in violation of or to any Remedial Work required under, any Environmental Laws.




Section 7.20.

Stanford.  The Borrower will not permit Stanford to own any Property.




ARTICLE VIII



EVENTS OF DEFAULT




Section 8.1.

Events of Default.  If any of the following events (each, an “Event of Default”) shall occur:




(a)

the Borrower shall fail to pay any principal of any Loan or of any reimbursement obligation in respect of any LC Disbursement, when and as the same shall become due and payable, whether at the due date thereof or at a date fixed for prepayment or otherwise; or




(b)

the Borrower shall fail to pay any interest on any Loan or any fee or any other amount (other than an amount payable under subsection (a) of this Section or an amount related to a Bank Product Obligation) payable under this Agreement or any other Loan Document, when and as the same shall become due and payable, and such failure shall continue unremedied for a period of three (3) Business Days; or




(c)

any representation or warranty made or deemed made by or on behalf of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries in or in connection with this Agreement or any other Loan Document (including the Sched­ules attached hereto and thereto), or in any amendments or modifications hereof or waivers hereunder, or in any certificate, report, financial statement or other document sub­mitted to the Administrative Agent or the Lenders by any Loan Party or any representative of any Loan Party pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall prove to be incorrect in any material respect (other than any representation or warranty that is expressly qualified by a Material Adverse Effect or other materiality, in which case such representation or warranty shall prove to be incorrect in any respect) when made or deemed made or submitted; or




(d)

the Borrower shall fail to observe or perform any covenant or agreement contained in Section 5.1, 5.2, or 5.3 (with respect to the Borrower’s legal existence) or Article VI or VII; or




(e)

any Loan Party shall fail to observe or perform any covenant or agreement contained in this Agreement (other than those referred to in subsections (a), (b) and (d) of this Section) or any other Loan Document or related to any Bank Product Obligation, and such failure shall remain unremedied for 30 days after the earlier of (i) any officer of the Borrower becomes aware of such failure, or (ii) notice thereof shall have been given to the Borrower by the Administrative Agent or any Lender; or






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(f)

(i) the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries (whether as primary obligor or as guarantor or other surety) shall fail to pay any principal of, or premium or interest on, any Material Indebtedness (other than any Hedging Obligation) that is outstanding, when and as the same shall become due and payable (whether at scheduled maturity, required prepayment, acceleration, demand or otherwise), and such failure shall continue after the applicable grace period, if any, specified in the agreement or instrument evidencing or governing such Indebtedness; or any other event shall occur or condition shall exist under any agreement or instrument relating to any Material Indebtedness and shall continue after the applicable grace period, if any, specified in such agreement or instrument, if the effect of such event or condition is to accelerate, or permit the acceleration of, the maturity of such Indebtedness; or any Material Indebtedness shall be declared to be due and payable, or required to be prepaid or redeemed (other than by a regularly scheduled required prepayment or redemption), purchased or defeased, or any offer to prepay, redeem, purchase or defease such Indebtedness shall be required to be made, in each case prior to the stated maturity thereof or (ii) there occurs under any Hedging Transaction an Early Termination Date (as defined in such Hedging Transaction) resulting from (A) any event of default under such Hedging Transaction as to which the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries is the Defaulting Party (as defined in such Hedging Transaction) and the Hedge Termination Value owed by the Borrower or such Subsidiary as a result thereof is greater than $500,000.00 or (B) any Termination Event (as so defined) under such Hedging Transaction as to which the Borrower or any Subsidiary is an Affected Party (as so defined) and the Hedge Termination Value owed by the Borrower or such Subsidiary as a result thereof is greater than $500,000.00 and is not paid; or 




(g)

the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries shall (i) commence a voluntary case or other proceeding or file any petition seeking liquidation, reorganization or other relief under any federal, state or foreign bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar law now or hereafter in effect or seeking the appointment of a custodian, trustee, receiver, liquidator or other similar official of it or any substantial part of its property, (ii) consent to the institution of, or fail to contest in a timely and appropriate manner, any proceeding or petition described in subsection (i) of this Section, (iii) apply for or consent to the appointment of a custodian, trustee, receiver, liquidator or other similar official for the Borrower or any such Subsidiary or for a substantial part of its assets, (iv) file an answer admitting the material allegations of a petition filed against it in any such proceeding, (v) make a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, or (vi) take any action for the purpose of effecting any of the foregoing; or




(h)

an involuntary proceeding shall be commenced or an involuntary petition shall be filed seeking (i) liquidation, reorganization or other relief in respect of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or its debts, or any substantial part of its assets, under any federal, state or foreign bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar law now or hereafter in effect or (ii) the appointment of a custodian, trustee, receiver, liquidator or other similar official for the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or for a substantial part of its assets, and in any such case, such proceeding or petition shall remain undismissed for a period of 60 days or an order or decree approving or ordering any of the foregoing shall be entered; or




(i)

the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries shall become unable to pay, shall admit in writing its inability to pay, or shall fail to pay, its debts as they become due; or




(j)

(i) an ERISA Event shall have occurred that, in the opinion of the Required Lenders, when taken together with other ERISA Events that have occurred, could reasonably be expected to result in liability to the Borrower and its Subsidiaries in an aggregate amount exceeding $500,000, (ii) there is or arises an Unfunded Pension Liability (not taking into account Plans with negative Unfunded Pension Liability) in an aggregate amount exceeding $500,000, or (iii) there is or arises any potential Withdrawal Liability in an aggregate amount exceeding $500,000; or 




(k)

any judgment or order for the payment of money in excess of $500,000 in the aggregate shall be rendered against the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, and either (i) enforcement proceedings shall have been commenced by any creditor upon such judgment or order or (ii) there shall be a period of 30 consecutive days during which a stay of enforcement of such judgment or order, by reason of a pending appeal or otherwise, shall not be in effect; or 




(l)

any non-monetary judgment or order shall be rendered against the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries that could reasonably be expected, either individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect, and there shall be a period of 30 consecutive days during which a stay of enforcement of such judgment or order, by reason of a pending appeal or otherwise, shall not be in effect; or




(m)

a Change in Control shall occur or exist; or




(n)

any provision of the Guaranty and Security Agreement or any other Collateral Document shall for any reason cease to be valid and binding on, or enforceable against, any Loan Party, or any Loan Party shall so state in writing, or any Loan Party shall seek to terminate its obligation under the Guaranty and Security Agreement or any other Collateral Document (other than the release of any guaranty or collateral to the extent permitted pursuant to Section 9.11); or






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(o)

any Lien purported to be created under any Collateral Document shall fail or cease to be, or shall be asserted by any Loan Party not to be, a valid and perfected Lien on any Collateral, with the priority required by the applicable Collateral Documents; or




(p)

the condition in Section 3.3 is not satisfied within the deadline stated therein; or




then, and in every such event (other than an event with respect to the Borrower described in subsection (g) or (h) of this Section) and at any time thereafter during the continuance of such event, the Administrative Agent may, and upon the written request of the Required Lenders shall, by notice to the Borrower, take any or all of the follow­ing actions, at the same or different times: (i) terminate the Commitments, whereupon the Commitment of each Lender shall terminate immediately, (ii) declare the principal of and any accrued interest on the Loans, and all other Obligations owing hereunder, to be, whereupon the same shall become, due and payable immediately, without presentment, demand, protest, notice of intent to accelerate, notice of acceleration, or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby waived by the Borrower, (iii) exercise all remedies contained in any other Loan Document, (iv) require that the Borrower cash collateralize the LC Exposure (in an amount equal to 105% of the LC Exposure) and (v) exercise any other remedies available at law or in equity; provided that, if an Event of Default specified in either subsection (g) or (h) shall occur, the Commitments shall automatically terminate and the principal of the Loans then outstanding, together with accrued interest thereon, and all fees and all other Obligations shall automatically become due and payable, without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby waived by the Borrower.




Section 8.2.

Application of Proceeds from Collateral.  All proceeds from each sale of, or other realization upon, all or any part of the Collateral by any Secured Party after an Event of Default arises shall be applied as follows: 




(a)

first, to the reimbursable expenses of the Administrative Agent incurred in connection with such sale or other realization upon the Collateral, until the same shall have been paid in full;




(b)

second, to the fees and other reimbursable expenses of the Administrative Agent and the Issuing Bank then due and payable pursuant to any of the Loan Documents, until the same shall have been paid in full; 




(c)

third, to all reimbursable expenses, if any, of the Lenders then due and payable pursuant to any of the Loan Documents, until the same shall have been paid in full;




(d)

fourth, to the fees and interest then due and payable under the terms of this Agreement, until the same shall have been paid in full; 




(e)

fifth, to the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the Loans, the LC Exposure, the Bank Product Obligations and the Net Mark-to-Market Exposure of the Hedging Obligations that constitute Obligations, until the same shall have been paid in full, allocated pro rata among the Secured Parties based on their respective pro rata shares of the aggregate amount of such Loans, LC Exposure, Bank Product Obligations and Net Mark-to-Market Exposure of such Hedging Obligations;




(f)

sixth, to additional cash collateral for the aggregate amount of all outstanding Letters of Credit until the aggregate amount of all cash collateral held by the Administrative Agent pursuant to this Agreement is at least 105% of the LC Exposure after giving effect to the foregoing clause fifth; and




(g)

seventh, to the extent any proceeds remain, to the Borrower or as otherwise provided by a court of competent jurisdiction.




All amounts allocated pursuant to the foregoing clauses third through fifth to the Lenders as a result of amounts owed to the Lenders under the Loan Documents shall be allocated among, and distributed to, the Lenders pro rata based on their respective Pro Rata Shares; provided that all amounts allocated to that portion of the LC Exposure comprised of the aggregate undrawn amount of all outstanding Letters of Credit pursuant to clauses fifth and sixth shall be distributed to the Administrative Agent, rather than to the Lenders, and held by the Administrative Agent in an account in the name of the Administrative Agent for the benefit of the Issuing Bank and the Lenders as cash collateral for the LC Exposure, such account to be administered in accordance with Section 2.21(g).  All cash collateral for LC Exposure shall be applied to satisfy drawings under the Letters of Credit as they occur; if any amount remains on deposit on cash collateral after all letters of credit have either been fully drawn or expired, such remaining amount shall be applied to other Obligations, if any, in the order set forth above.






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Notwithstanding the foregoing, (a) no amount received from any Guarantor (including any proceeds of any sale of, or other realization upon, all or any part of the Collateral owned by such Guarantor) shall be applied to any Excluded Swap Obligation of such Guarantor and (b) Bank Product Obligations and Hedging Obligations shall be excluded from the application described above if the Administrative Agent has not received written notice thereof, together with such supporting documentation as the Administrative Agent may request, from the Bank Product Provider or the Lender-Related Hedge Provider, as the case may be.  Each Bank Product Provider or Lender-Related Hedge Provider that has given the notice contemplated by the preceding sentence shall, by such notice, be deemed to have acknowledged and accepted the appointment of the Administrative Agent pursuant to the terms of Article IX hereof for itself and its Affiliates as if a “Lender” party hereto.




ARTICLE IX



THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT




Section 9.1.

Appointment of the Administrative Agent.




(a)

Each Lender irrevocably appoints SunTrust Bank as the Administrative Agent and authorizes it to take such actions on its behalf and to exercise such powers as are delegated to the Administrative Agent under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, together with all such actions and powers that are reasonably incidental thereto.  The Administrative Agent may perform any of its duties hereunder or under the other Loan Documents by or through any one or more sub-agents or attorneys-in-fact appointed by the Administrative Agent.  The Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent or attorney-in-fact may perform any and all of its duties and exercise its rights and powers through their respective Related Parties.  The exculpatory provisions set forth in this Article shall apply to any such sub-agent, attorney-in-fact or Related Party and shall apply to their respective activities in connection with the syndication of the credit facilities provided for herein as well as activities as the Administrative Agent.  




(b)

The Issuing Bank shall act on behalf of the Lenders with respect to any Letters of Credit issued by it and the documents associated therewith until such time and except for so long as the Administrative Agent may agree at the request of the Required Lenders to act for the Issuing Bank with respect thereto; provided that the Issuing Bank shall have all the benefits and immunities (i) provided to the Administrative Agent in this Article with respect to any acts taken or omissions suffered by the Issuing Bank in connection with Letters of Credit issued by it or proposed to be issued by it and the application and agreements for letters of credit pertaining to the Letters of Credit as fully as if the term “Administrative Agent” as used in this Article included the Issuing Bank with respect to such acts or omissions and (ii) as additionally provided in this Agreement with respect to the Issuing Bank.






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Section 9.2.

Nature of Duties of the Administrative Agent.  The Administrative Agent shall not have any duties or obligations except those expressly set forth in this Agreement and the other Loan Document, and its duties hereunder and thereunder shall be purely administrative in nature.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, (a) the Administrative Agent shall not be subject to any fiduciary or other implied duties, regardless of whether a Default or an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, (b) the Administrative Agent shall not have any duty to take any discretionary action or exercise any discretionary powers, except those discretionary rights and powers expressly contemplated by the Loan Documents that the Administrative Agent is required to exercise in writing by the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary under the circumstances as provided in Section 10.2), provided that the Administrative Agent shall not be required to take any action that, in its opinion or the opinion of its counsel, may expose the Administrative Agent to liability or that is contrary to any Loan Document or applicable law, including for the avoidance of doubt any action that may be in violation of the automatic stay under any Debtor Relief Law or that may effect a forfeiture, modification or termination of property of a Defaulting Lender in violation of any Debtor Relief Law; and (c) except as expressly set forth in the Loan Documents, the Administrative Agent shall not have any duty to disclose, and shall not be liable for the failure to disclose, any information relating to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries that is communicated to or obtained by the Administrative Agent or any of its Affiliates in any capacity.  The Administrative Agent shall not be li­able for any action taken or not taken by it, its sub-agents or its attorneys-in-fact with the consent or at the request of the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary, or as the Administrative Agent shall believe in good faith shall be necessary,  under the circumstances as provided in Section 10.2 and Section 8.1) or in the absence of its own gross negli­gence or willful misconduct as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction by final and nonappealable judgment.  The Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for the negligence or misconduct of any sub-agents or attorneys-in-fact except to the extent that a court of competent jurisdiction determines in a final nonappealable judgment that the Administrative Agent acted with gross negligence or willful misconduct in the selection of  such sub-agent or attorneys-in-fact. The Administrative Agent shall not be deemed to have knowledge of any Default or Event of Default unless and until written notice thereof (which notice shall include an express reference to such event being a “Default” or “Event of Default” hereunder) is given to the Administrative Agent by the Borrower or any Lender, and the Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for or have any duty to ascertain or inquire into (i) any statement, warranty or representation made in or in connection with any Loan Document, (ii) the contents of any certificate, report or other document delivered hereunder or thereunder or in connection herewith or therewith, (iii) the performance or observance of any of the covenants, agreements, or other terms and conditions set forth in any Loan Document, (iv) the validity, enforceability, effectiveness or genuineness of any Loan Document or any other agreement, instrument or document, or (v) the satisfaction of any condition set forth in Article III or elsewhere in any Loan Document, other than to confirm receipt of items expressly required to be delivered to the Administrative Agent.  The Administrative Agent may consult with legal counsel (including counsel for the Borrower), independent accountants and other experts selected by it, and shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it in accordance the advice of any such counsel, account or experts.




Section 9.3.

Lack of Reliance on the Administrative Agent.  Each of the Lenders and the Issuing Bank acknowledges that it has, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any other Lender and based on such documents and information as it has deemed appropriate, made its own credit analysis and decision to enter into this Agreement.  Each of the Lenders and the Issuing Bank also acknowledges that it will, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any other Lender and based on such documents and information as it has deemed appropriate, continue to make its own decisions in taking or not taking any action under or based on this Agreement, any related agreement or any document furnished hereunder or thereunder.




Section 9.4.

Certain Rights of the Administrative Agent.  If the Administrative Agent shall request instructions from the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary, or as the Administrative Agent shall believe in good faith shall be necessary,  under the circumstances as provided in Section 10.2 and Section 8.1) with respect to any action or ac­tions (including the failure to act) in connection with this Agreement, the Administrative Agent shall be entitled to refrain from such act or taking such act unless and until it shall have received instructions from such Lenders, and the Administrative Agent shall not incur liability to any Person by rea­son of so refraining.  Without limiting the foregoing, no Lender shall have any right of action whatsoever against the Administrative Agent as a result of the Administrative Agent acting or refraining from acting hereunder in ac­cordance with the instructions of the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary, or as the Administrative Agent shall believe in good faith shall be necessary,  under the circumstances as provided in Section 10.2 and Section 8.1) where required by the terms of this Agreement.




Section 9.5.

Reliance by the Administrative Agent.  The Administrative Agent shall be entitled to rely upon, and shall not incur any liability for relying upon, any notice, request, certificate, consent, statement, instrument, document or other writing (including any electronic message, posting or other distribution) believed by it to be genuine and to have been signed, sent or made by the proper Person.  The Administrative Agent may also rely upon any statement made to it orally or by telephone and believed by it to be made by the proper Person and shall not incur any liability for relying thereon.  The Administrative Agent may consult with legal counsel (including counsel for the Borrower), independent public accountants and other experts selected by it and shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it in accordance with the advice of such counsel, accountants or experts.






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Section 9.6.

The Administrative Agent in its Individual Capacity.  The bank serving as the Administrative Agent shall have the same rights and powers under this Agreement and any other Loan Document in its capacity as a Lender as any other Lender and may exercise or refrain from exercising the same as though it were not the Administrative Agent; and the terms “Lenders”, “Required Lenders”, or any similar terms shall, unless the context clearly otherwise indicates, include the Administrative Agent in its individual capacity.  The bank acting as the Administrative Agent and its Affiliates may accept de­posits from, lend money to, and generally engage in any kind of business with the Borrower or any Subsidiary or Affiliate of the Borrower as if it were not the Administrative Agent hereunder.




Section 9.7.

Successor Administrative Agent.




(a)

The Administrative Agent may resign at any time by giving notice thereof to the Lenders and the Borrower.  Upon any such resignation, the Required Lenders shall have the right to appoint a successor Administrative Agent, subject to approval by the Borrower provided that no Default or Event of Default shall exist at such time.  If no successor Administrative Agent shall have been so appointed, and shall have accepted such appointment within 30 days after the retiring Administrative Agent gives notice of resignation, then the retiring Administrative Agent may, on behalf of the Lenders, appoint a successor Administrative Agent which shall be a commercial bank organized under the laws of the United States or any state thereof or a bank which maintains an office in the United States.




(b)

Upon the acceptance of its appointment as the Administrative Agent hereunder by a successor, such successor Administrative Agent shall there­upon succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring Administrative Agent, and the retiring Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents.  If, within 45 days after written notice is given of the retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation under this Section, no successor Administrative Agent shall have been appointed and shall have accepted such appointment, then on such 45th day (i) the retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation shall become effective, (ii) the retiring Administrative Agent shall thereupon be discharged from its duties and obligations under the Loan Documents and (iii) the Required Lenders shall thereafter perform all duties of the retiring Administrative Agent under the Loan Documents until such time as the Required Lenders appoint a successor Administrative Agent as provided above.  After any retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation hereunder, the provi­sions of this Article shall continue in effect for the benefit of such retiring Administrative Agent and its representatives and agents in respect of any ac­tions taken or not taken by any of them while it was serving as the Administrative Agent. 




(c)

In addition to the foregoing, if a Lender becomes, and during the period it remains, a Defaulting Lender, and if any Default has arisen from a failure of the Borrower to comply with Section 2.24(a), then the Issuing Bank may, upon prior written notice to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent, resign as Issuing Bank effective at 5 p.m. on the Business Day specified in such notice (which date may not be less than five (5) Business Days after the date of such notice).




Section 9.8.

Withholding Tax.  To the extent required by any applicable law, the Administrative Agent may withhold from any interest payment to any Lender an amount equivalent to any applicable withholding tax.  If the Internal Revenue Service or any authority of the United States or any other jurisdiction asserts a claim that the Administrative Agent did not properly withhold tax from amounts paid to or for the account of any Lender (because the appropriate form was not delivered or was not properly executed, or because such Lender failed to notify the Administrative Agent of a change in circumstances that rendered the exemption from, or reduction of, withholding tax ineffective, or for any other reason), such Lender shall indemnify the Administrative Agent (to the extent that the Administrative Agent has not already been reimbursed by the Borrower and without limiting the obligation of the Borrower to do so) fully for all amounts paid, directly or indirectly, by the Administrative Agent as tax or otherwise, including penalties and interest, together with all expenses incurred, including legal expenses, allocated staff costs and any out of pocket expenses.




Section 9.9.

The Administrative Agent May File Proofs of Claim.




(a)

In case of the pendency of any receivership, insolvency, liquidation, bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, adjustment, composition or other judicial proceeding relative to any Loan Party, the Administrative Agent (irrespective of whether the principal of any Loan or any Credit Exposure shall then be due and payable as herein expressed or by declaration or otherwise and irrespective of whether the Administrative Agent shall have made any demand on the Borrower) shall be entitled and empowered, by intervention in such proceeding or otherwise:




(i)

to file and prove a claim for the whole amount of the principal and interest owing and unpaid in respect of the Loans or Credit Exposure and all other Obligations that are owing and unpaid and to file such other documents as may be necessary or advisable in order to have the claims of the Lenders, the Issuing Bank and the Administrative Agent (including any claim for the reasonable compensation, expenses, disbursements and advances of the Lenders, the Issuing Bank and the Administrative Agent and its agents and counsel and all other amounts due the Lenders, the Issuing Bank and the Administrative Agent under Section 10.3) allowed in such judicial proceeding; and






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(ii)

to collect and receive any monies or other property payable or deliverable on any such claims and to distribute the same.




(b)

Any custodian, receiver, assignee, trustee, liquidator, sequestrator or other similar official in any such judicial proceeding is hereby authorized by each Lender and the Issuing Bank to make such payments to the Administrative Agent and, if the Administrative Agent shall consent to the making of such payments directly to the Lenders and the Issuing Bank, to pay to the Administrative Agent any amount due for the reasonable compensation, expenses, disbursements and advances of the Administrative Agent and its agents and counsel, and any other amounts due the Administrative Agent under Section 10.3.




Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to authorize the Administrative Agent to authorize or consent to or accept or adopt on behalf of any Lender or the Issuing Bank any plan of reorganization, arrangement, adjustment or composition affecting the Obligations or the rights of any Lender or to authorize the Administrative Agent to vote in respect of the claim of any Lender in any such proceeding.




Section 9.10.

Authorization to Execute Other Loan Documents.  Each Lender hereby authorizes the Administrative Agent to execute on behalf of all Lenders all Loan Documents (including, without limitation, the Collateral Documents and any subordination agreements) other than this Agreement.




Section 9.11.

Collateral and Guaranty Matters.  The Lenders irrevocably authorize the Administrative Agent, at its option and in its discretion:




(a)

to release any Lien on any property granted to or held by the Administrative Agent under any Loan Document (i) upon the termination of all Commitments, the Cash Collateralization of all reimbursement obligations with respect to Letters of Credit in an amount equal to 105% of the aggregate LC Exposure of all Lenders, and the payment in full of all Obligations (other than contingent indemnification obligations and such Cash Collateralized reimbursement obligations), (ii) that is sold or to be sold as part of or in connection with any sale permitted hereunder or under any other Loan Document, or (iii) if approved, authorized or ratified in writing in accordance with Section 10.2; and 




(b)

to release any Loan Party from its obligations under the applicable Collateral Documents if such Person ceases to be a Subsidiary as a result of a transaction permitted hereunder.




Upon request by the Administrative Agent at any time, the Required Lenders will confirm in writing the Administrative Agent’s authority to release its interest in particular types or items of property, or to release any Loan Party from its obligations under the applicable Collateral Documents pursuant to this Section.  In each case as specified in this Section, the Administrative Agent is authorized, at the Borrower’s expense, to execute and deliver to the applicable Loan Party such documents as such Loan Party may reasonably request to evidence the release of such item of Collateral from the Liens granted under the applicable Collateral Documents, or to release such Loan Party from its obligations under the applicable Collateral Documents, in each case in accordance with the terms of the Loan Documents and this Section.




Section 9.12.

Right to Realize on Collateral and Enforce Guarantee.  Anything contained in any of the Loan Documents to the contrary notwithstanding, the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and each Lender hereby agree that (i) no Lender shall have any right individually to realize upon any of the Collateral or to enforce the Collateral Documents, it being understood and agreed that all powers, rights and remedies hereunder and under the Collateral Documents may be exercised solely by the Administrative Agent, and (ii) in the event of a foreclosure by the Administrative Agent on any of the Collateral pursuant to a public or private sale or other disposition, the Administrative Agent or any Lender may be the purchaser or licensor of any or all of such Collateral at any such sale or other disposition and the Administrative Agent, as agent for and representative of the Lenders (but not any Lender or Lenders in its or their respective individual capacities unless the Required Lenders shall otherwise agree in writing), shall be entitled, for the purpose of bidding and making settlement or payment of the purchase price for all or any portion of the Collateral sold at any such public sale, to use and apply any of the Obligations as a credit on account of the purchase price for any collateral payable by the Administrative Agent at such sale or other disposition.




Section 9.13.

Secured Bank Product Obligations and Hedging Obligations.  No Bank Product Provider or Lender-Related Hedge Provider that obtains the benefits of Section 8.2, the Collateral Documents or any Collateral by virtue of the provisions hereof or of any other Loan Document shall have any right to notice of any action or to consent to, direct or object to any action hereunder or under any other Loan Document or otherwise in respect of the Collateral (including the release or impairment of any Collateral) other than in its capacity as a Lender and, in such case, only to the extent expressly provided in the Loan Documents.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article to the contrary, the Administrative Agent shall not be required to verify the payment of, or that other satisfactory arrangements have been made with respect to, Bank Product Obligations and Hedging Obligations unless the Administrative Agent has received written notice of such Obligations, together with such supporting documentation as the Administrative Agent may request, from the applicable Bank Product Provider or Lender-Related Hedge Provider, as the case may be.






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ARTICLE X



MISCELLANEOUS




Section 10.1.

Notices.




(a)

Written Notices.




(i)

Except in the case of notices and other communications expressly permitted to be given by telephone, all notices and other communications to any party herein to be effective shall be in writing and shall be delivered by hand or overnight courier service, mailed by certified or registered mail or sent by telecopy, as follows: 




To the Borrower:

Ring Energy Inc.

6555 S. Lewis Avenue

Suite 200

Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136

Attention: William R. Broaddrick

Telecopy Number: (918) 499-1238




With a copy to (for

information purposes only):

Johnson & Jones, P.C.

2200 Bank of America Center15 West 6th Street

Tulsa, Oklahoma  74119

Attention: Randy R. Shorb

Telecopy Number: (888) 789-0940




To the Administrative Agent:

SunTrust Bank

3333 Peachtree Street, N.E.

Atlanta, Georgia 30326

Attention: Yann Pirio

Telecopy Number: (404) 827-6270




With a copy to (for 

Information purposes only):

SunTrust Bank

Agency Services 

303 Peachtree Street, N.E. / 25th Floor

Atlanta, Georgia 30308

Attention: Doug Weltz

Telecopy Number: (404) 221-2001




To the Issuing Bank:

SunTrust Bank

25 Park Place, N.E. / Mail Code 3706 / 16th Floor

Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Attention: Standby Letter of Credit Dept.

Telecopy Number: (404) 588-8129




To any other Lender:

the address set forth in the Administrative Questionnaire or the Assignment

and Acceptance executed by such Lender




Any party hereto may change its address or telecopy number for notices and other communications hereunder by notice to the other parties hereto.  All such notices and other communications shall be effective upon actual receipt by the relevant Person or, if delivered by overnight courier service, upon the first Business Day after the date deposited with such courier service for overnight (next-day) delivery or, if sent by telecopy, upon transmittal in legible form by facsimile machine or, if mailed, upon the third Business Day after the date deposited into the mail or, if delivered by hand, upon delivery; provided that notices delivered to the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank shall not be effective until actually received by such Person at its address specified in this Section.






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(ii)

Any agreement of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender herein to receive certain notices by telephone or facsimile is solely for the convenience and at the request of the Borrower.  The Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and each Lender shall be entitled to rely on the authority of any Person purporting to be a Person authorized by the Borrower to give such notice and the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and the Lenders shall not have any liability to the Borrower or other Person on account of any action taken or not taken by the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender in reliance upon such telephonic or facsimile notice.  The obligation of the Borrower to repay the Loans and all other Obligations hereunder shall not be affected in any way or to any extent by any failure of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender to receive written confirmation of any telephonic or facsimile notice or the receipt by the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender of a confirmation which is at variance with the terms understood by the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and such Lender to be contained in any such telephonic or facsimile notice.




(b)

Electronic Communications.  




(i)

Notices and other communications to the Lenders and the Issuing Bank hereunder may be delivered or furnished by electronic communication (including e-mail and Internet or intranet websites) pursuant to procedures approved by the Administrative Agent, provided that the foregoing shall not apply to notices to any Lender or the Issuing Bank pursuant to Article II unless such Lender, the Issuing Bank, as applicable, and the Administrative Agent have agreed to receive notices under any Section thereof by electronic communication and have agreed to the procedures governing such communications.  The Administrative Agent or the Borrower may, in its discretion, agree to accept notices and other communications to it hereunder by electronic communications pursuant to procedures approved by it; provided that approval of such procedures may be limited to particular notices or communications. 




(ii)

Unless the Administrative Agent otherwise prescribes, (i) notices and other communications sent to an e-mail address shall be deemed received upon the sender’s receipt of an acknowledgement from the intended recipient (such as by the “return receipt requested” function, as available, return e-mail or other written acknowledgement); provided that if such notice or other communication is not sent during the normal business hours of the recipient, such notice or communication shall be deemed to have been sent at the opening of business on the next Business Day for the recipient, and (ii) notices or communications posted to an Internet or intranet website shall be deemed received upon the deemed receipt by the intended recipient at its e-mail address as described in the foregoing clause (i) of notification that such notice or communication is available and identifying the website address therefor. 




Section 10.2.

Waiver; Amendments.




(a)

No failure or delay by the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender in exercising any right or power hereunder or under any other Loan Document, and no course of dealing between the Borrower and the Administrative Agent or any Lender, shall oper­ate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right or power, or any abandonment or discontinuance of steps to enforce such right or power, preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exer­cise of any other right or power hereunder or thereunder.  The rights and remedies of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and the Lenders hereunder and under the other Loan Documents are cumulative and are not exclu­sive of any rights or remedies provided by law.  No waiver of any provision of this Agreement or of any other Loan Document or consent to any departure by the Borrower therefrom shall in any event be effective unless the same shall be permitted by subsection (b) of this Section, and then such waiver or consent shall be effective only in the specific instance and for the purpose for which given.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the making of a Loan or the issuance of a Letter of Credit shall not be construed as a waiver of any Default or Event of Default, regardless of whether the Administrative Agent, any Lender or the Issuing Bank may have had notice or knowledge of such Default or Event of Default at the time.




(b)

No amendment or waiver of any provision of this Agreement or of the other Loan Documents, nor consent to any departure by the Borrower therefrom, shall in any event be effective unless the same shall be in writing and signed by the Borrower and the Required Lenders, or the Borrower and the Administrative Agent with the consent of the Required Lenders, and then such amendment, waiver or consent shall be effective only in the specific instance and for the spe­cific purpose for which given; provided that, in addition to the consent of the Required Lenders, no amendment, waiver or consent shall:




(i)

increase the Commitment of any Lender without the written consent of such Lender;




(ii)

increase the Borrowing Base without the written consent of each Lender;




(iii)

modify Section 2.4 in any manner without the consent of each Lender; provided that a Scheduled Redetermination may be postponed by the Required Lenders;






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(iv)

reduce the principal amount of any Loan or LC Disbursement or reduce the rate of interest thereon, or reduce any fees payable hereunder, without the written consent of each Lender entitled to such payment; 




(v)

postpone the date fixed for any payment of any princi­pal of, or interest on, any Loan or LC Disbursement or any fees hereunder or reduce the amount of, waive or excuse any such payment, without the written consent of each Lender entitled to such payment, or postpone the scheduled date for the termination or reduction of the Commitment of any Lender, without the written consent of such Lender; 




(vi)

change Section 2.20(b) or (c) in a manner that would alter the pro rata sharing of payments required thereby, without the written consent of each Lender;




(vii)

change any of the provisions of this subsection (b) or the definition of “Required Lenders” or any other provision of this Agreement specifying the number or percentage of Lenders which are re­quired to waive, amend or modify any rights hereunder or make any determination or grant any consent hereunder, without the consent of each Lender; 




(viii)

release all or substantially all of the guarantors, or limit the liability of such guarantors, under any guaranty agreement guaranteeing any of the Obligations, without the written consent of each Lender; or 




(ix)

release all or substantially all collateral (if any) securing any of the Obligations, without the written consent of each Lender;




provided, further, that no such amendment, waiver or consent shall amend, modify or otherwise affect the rights, duties or obligations of the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank without the prior written consent of such Person.




Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, no Defaulting Lender shall have any right to approve or disapprove any amendment, waiver or consent hereunder, except that the Commitment of such Lender may not be increased or extended, and amounts payable to such Lender hereunder may not be permanently reduced, without the consent of such Lender (other than reductions in fees and interest in which such reduction does not disproportionately affect such Lender).  Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, this Agreement may be amended and restated without the consent of any Lender (but with the consent of the Borrower and the Administrative Agent) if, upon giving effect to such amendment and restatement, such Lender shall no longer be a party to this Agreement (as so amended and restated), the Commitments of such Lender shall have terminated (but such Lender shall continue to be entitled to the benefits of Sections 2.17, 2.18, 2.19 and 10.3), such Lender shall have no other commitment or other obligation hereunder and such Lender shall have been paid in full all principal, interest and other amounts owing to it or accrued for its account under this Agreement.




Section 10.3.

Expenses; Indemnification.




(a)

The Borrower shall pay (i) all reasonable, out-of-pocket costs and expenses of the Administrative Agent and its Affiliates, including the reasonable fees, charges and disbursements of counsel for the Administrative Agent and its Affiliates, in connection with the syndication of the credit facility provided for herein, the preparation and administration of the Loan Documents and any amendments, modifications or waivers thereof (whether or not the transactions contemplated in this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall be consummated), including the fees, charges and disbursements of counsel for the Administrative Agent and its Affiliates, (ii) all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Issuing Bank in connection with the issuance, amendment, renewal or extension of any Letter of Credit or any demand for payment thereunder and (iii) all out-of-pocket costs and expenses (including, without limitation, the reasonable fees, charges and disbursements of outside coun­sel and the allocated cost of inside counsel) incurred by the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender in connection with the enforcement or protection of its rights in connection with this Agreement, including its rights under this Section, or in connection with the Loans made or any Letters of Credit issued hereunder, including all such out-of-pocket expenses incurred during any workout, restructuring or negotiations in respect of such Loans or Letters of Credit.






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(b)

The Borrower shall indemnify the Administrative Agent (and any sub-agent thereof), each Lender and the Issuing Bank, and each Related Party of any of the foregoing Persons (each such Person being called an “Indemnitee”) against, and hold each Indemnitee harmless from, any and all losses, claims, damages, liabilities and related expenses (including the fees, charges and disbursements of any counsel for any Indemnitee), and shall indemnify and hold harmless each Indemnitee from all fees and time charges and disbursements for attorneys who may be employees of any Indemnitee, incurred by any Indemnitee or asserted against any Indemnitee by any third party or by the Borrower or any other Loan Party arising out of, in connection with, or as a result of (i) the execution or delivery of this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any agreement or instrument contemplated hereby or thereby, the performance by the parties hereto of their respective obligations hereunder or thereunder or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, (ii) any Loan or Letter of Credit or the use or proposed use of the proceeds therefrom (including any refusal by the Issuing Bank to honor a demand for payment under a Letter of Credit if the documents presented in connection with such demand do not strictly comply with the terms of such Letter of Credit), (iii) any actual or alleged presence or Release of Hazardous Materials on or from any property owned or operated by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, or any Environmental Liability related in any way to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, or (iv) any actual or prospective claim, litigation, investigation or proceeding relating to any of the foregoing, whether based on contract, tort or any other theory, whether brought by a third party or by the Borrower or any other Loan Party, regardless of whether any Indemnitee is a party thereto, IN ALL CASES, WHETHER OR NOT CAUSED BY OR ARISING, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, OUT OF THE COMPARATIVE CONTRIBUTORY OR SOLE NEGLIGENCE OF THE INDEMNITEE; provided that such indemnity shall not, as to any Indemnitee, be available to the extent that such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or related expenses are determined by a court of competent jurisdiction by final and non-appealable judgment to have resulted from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of such Indemnitee or (y) a claim brought by the Borrower or any other Loan Party against an Indemnitee for breach in bad faith of such Indemnitee’s obligations hereunder.  No Indemnitee shall be liable for any damages arising from the use by others of any information or other materials obtained through Syndtrak, Intralinks or any other Internet or intranet website, except as a result of such Indemnitee’s gross negligence or willful misconduct as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in a final and non-appealable judgment. 




(c)

The Borrower shall pay, and hold the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and each of the Lenders harmless from and against, any and all present and future stamp, documentary, and other similar taxes with re­spect to this Agreement and any other Loan Documents, any collateral described therein or any payments due thereunder, and save the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and each Lender harmless from and against any and all liabilities with respect to or resulting from any delay or omission to pay such taxes.




(d)

To the extent that the Borrower fails to pay any amount required to be paid to the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank under subsection (a), (b) or (c) hereof, each Lender severally agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be, such Lender’s pro rata share (in accordance with its respective Commitment (or Credit Exposure, as applicable) determined as of the time that the unreimbursed expense or indemnity payment is sought) of such unpaid amount; provided that the unreimbursed expense or indemnified payment, claim, damage, liability or related expense, as the case may be, was incurred by or asserted against the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank in its capacity as such.




(e)

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the Lenders shall not assert, and each hereby waives, any claim against the others (including any Indemnitee), on any theory of liability, for special, indirect, consequential or punitive damages (as opposed to actual or direct damages) arising out of, in connection with or as a result of this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any agreement or instrument contemplated hereby, the transactions contemplated therein, any Loan or any Letter of Credit or the use of proceeds thereof.




(f)

All amounts due under this Section shall be payable promptly after written demand therefor. 




Section 10.4.

Successors and Assigns.




(a)

The provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby, except that the Borrower may not assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent and each Lender, and no Lender may assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder except (i) to an assignee in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section, (ii) by way of participation in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of this Section or (iii) by way of pledge or assignment of a security interest subject to the restrictions of subsection (e) of this Section (and any other attempted assignment or transfer by any party hereto shall be null and void).  Nothing in this Agreement, expressed or implied, shall be construed to confer upon any Person (other than the parties hereto, their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby, Participants to the extent provided in subsection (d) of this Section and, to the extent expressly contemplated hereby, the Related Parties of each of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders) any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or by reason of this Agreement.






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(b)

Any Lender may at any time assign to one or more assignees all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement (including all or a portion of its Commitments, Loans and other Credit Exposure at the time owing to it); provided that any such assignment shall be subject to the following conditions: 




(i)

Minimum Amounts.




(A)

in the case of an assignment of the entire remaining amount of the assigning Lender’s Commitments, Loans and other Credit Exposure at the time owing to it or in the case of an assignment to a Lender, an Affiliate of a Lender or an Approved Fund, no minimum amount need be assigned; and




(B) 

in any case not described in subsection (b)(i)(A) of this Section, the aggregate amount of the Commitment (which for this purpose includes Loans and Credit Exposure outstanding thereunder) or, if the applicable Commitment is not then in effect, the principal outstanding balance of the Loans and Credit Exposure of the assigning Lender subject to each such assignment (determined as of the date the Assignment and Acceptance with respect to such assignment is delivered to the Administrative Agent or, if “Trade Date” is specified in the Assignment and Acceptance, as of the Trade Date) shall not be less and $5,000,000 and in minimum increments of $1,000,000, unless each of the Administrative Agent and, so long as no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, the Borrower otherwise consents (each such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed). 




(ii)

Proportionate Amounts.  Each partial assignment shall be made as an assignment of a proportionate part of all the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement with respect to the Loans, other Credit Exposure or the Commitments assigned.




(iii)

Required Consents.  No consent shall be required for any assignment except to the extent required by subsection (b)(i)(B) of this Section and, in addition:




(A)

the consent of the Borrower (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) shall be required unless (x) an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing at the time of such assignment or (y) such assignment is to a Lender, an Affiliate of such Lender or an Approved Fund of such Lender; provided that the Borrower shall be deemed to have consented to any such assignment unless if shall object thereto by written notice to the Administrative Agent within five (5) Business Days after having received notice thereof;   




(B)

the consent of the Administrative Agent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) shall be required; and




(C)

the consent of the Issuing Bank (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) shall be required for any assignment that increases the obligation of the assignee to participate in exposure under one or more Letters of Credit (whether or not then outstanding).




(iv)

Assignment and Acceptance.  The parties to each assignment shall deliver to the Administrative Agent (A) a duly executed Assignment and Acceptance, (B) a processing and recordation fee of $3,500, (C) an Administrative Questionnaire unless the assignee is already a Lender and (D) the documents required under Section 2.19.




(v)

No Assignment to the certain Persons.  No such assignment shall be made to (A) the Borrower or any of the Borrower’s Affiliates or Subsidiaries or (B) to any Defaulting Lender or any of its Subsidiaries, or any Person who, upon becoming a Lender hereunder, would constitute any of the foregoing Persons described in this clause (B).




(vi)

No Assignment to Natural Persons.  No such assignment shall be made to a natural person.






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(vii)

Certain Additional Payments.  In connection with any assignment of rights and obligations of any Defaulting Lender hereunder, no such assignment shall be effective unless and until, in addition to the other conditions thereto set forth herein, the parties to the assignment shall make such additional payments to the Administrative Agent in an aggregate amount sufficient, upon distribution thereof as appropriate (which may be outright payment, purchases by the assignee of participations or subparticipations, or other compensating actions, including funding, with the consent of the Borrower and the Administrative Agent, the applicable pro rata share of Loans previously requested but not funded by the Defaulting Lender, to each of which the applicable assignee and assignor hereby irrevocably consent), to (x) pay and satisfy in full all payment liabilities then owed by such Defaulting Lender to the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and each other Lender hereunder (and interest accrued thereon), and (y) acquire (and fund as appropriate) its full pro rata share of all Loans and participations in Letters of Credit.   Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that any assignment of rights and obligations of any Defaulting Lender hereunder shall become effective under applicable law without compliance with the provisions of this paragraph, then the assignee of such interest shall be deemed to be a Defaulting Lender for all purposes of this Agreement until such compliance occurs.




Subject to acceptance and recording thereof by the Administrative Agent pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section, from and after the effective date specified in each Assignment and Acceptance, the assignee thereunder shall be a party to this Agreement and, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Acceptance, have the rights and obligations of a Lender under this Agreement, and the assigning Lender thereunder shall, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Acceptance, be released from its obligations under this Agreement (and, in the case of an Assignment and Acceptance covering all of the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto) but shall continue to be entitled to the benefits of Sections 2.17, 2.18, 2.19 and 10.3 with respect to facts and circumstances occurring prior to the effective date of such assignment; provided that, except to the extent otherwise expressly agreed by the affected parties, no assignment by a Defaulting Lender will constitute a waiver or release of any claim of any party hereunder arising from such Lender’s having been a Defaulting Lender.  Any assignment or transfer by a Lender of rights or obligations under this Agreement that does not comply with this subsection shall be treated for purposes of this Agreement as a sale by such Lender of a participation in such rights and obligations in accordance with subsection (d) of this Section.  




(c)

The Administrative Agent, acting solely for this purpose as an agent of the Borrower, shall maintain at one of its offices in Atlanta, Georgia a copy of each Assignment and Acceptance delivered to it and a register for the recordation of the names and addresses of the Lenders, and the Commitments of, and principal amount of the Loans and Credit Exposure owing to, each Lender pursuant to the terms hereof from time to time (the “Register”).  Information contained in the Register with respect to any Lender shall be available for inspection by such Lender at any reasonable time and from time to time upon reasonable prior notice; information contained in the Register shall also be available for inspection by the Borrower at any reasonable time and from time to time upon reasonable prior notice.  In establishing and maintaining the Register, the Administrative Agent shall serve as a nonfiduciary agent of the Borrower solely for tax purposes and solely with respect to the actions described in this Section, and the Borrower hereby agrees that, to the extent SunTrust Bank serves in such capacity, SunTrust Bank and its officers, directors, employees, agents, sub-agents and affiliates shall constitute “Indemnitees”.




(d)

Any Lender may at any time, without the consent of, or notice to, the Borrower, the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Bank, sell participations to any Person (other than a natural person, the Borrower or any of the Borrower’s Affiliates or Subsidiaries) (each, a “Participant”) in all or a portion of such Lender’s rights and/or obligations under this Agreement (including all or a portion of its Commitment and/or the Loans owing to it); provided that (i) such Lender’s obligations under this Agreement shall remain unchanged, (ii) such Lender shall remain solely responsible to the other parties hereto for the performance of such obligations and (iii) the Borrower, the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and the other Lenders shall continue to deal solely and directly with such Lender in connection with such Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement.  




Any agreement or instrument pursuant to which a Lender sells such a participation shall provide that such Lender shall retain the sole right to enforce this Agreement and to approve any amendment, modification or waiver of any provision of this Agreement; provided that such agreement or instrument may provide that such Lender will not, without the consent of the Participant, agree to any amendment, modification or waiver that is described in clauses (i) through (x) of Section 10.2(b) and that directly affects such Participant.  the Borrower agrees that each Participant shall be entitled to the benefits of Section 2.17, Section 2.18 and Section 2.19, to the same extent as if it were a Lender and had acquired its interest by assignment pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section; provided that such Participant (A) agrees to be subject to Section 2.22 as though it were an assignee under subsection (b) of this Section; and (B) shall not be entitled to receive any greater payment under Section 2.17 or Section 2.19 , with respect to any participation, than its participating Lender would have been entitled to receive, except to the extent such entitlement to receive a greater payment results from a Change in Law that occurs after the Participant acquired the applicable participation.  Each Lender that sells participation agrees, at the Borrower’s request and expense, to use reasonable efforts to cooperate with the Borrower to effectuate the provisions of Section 2.23 with respect to any Participation.  






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Each Lender that sells a participation shall, acting solely for this purpose as a non-fiduciary agent of the Borrower, maintain a register in the United States on which it enters the name and address of each Participant and the principal amounts (and stated interest) of each Participant’s interest in the Loans or other obligations under the Loan Documents (the “Participant Register”).  The entries in the Participant Register shall be conclusive, absent manifest error, and such Lender shall treat each person whose name is recorded in the Participant Register as the owner of such participation for all purposes of this Agreement notwithstanding any notice to the contrary.  The Borrower and the Administrative Agent shall have inspection rights to such Participant Register (upon reasonable prior notice to the applicable Lender) solely for purposes of demonstrating that such Loans or other obligations under the Loan Documents are in “registered form” for purposes of the Code.




(e)

Any Lender may at any time pledge or assign a security interest in all or any portion of its rights under this Agreement to secure obligations of such Lender, including any pledge or assignment to secure obligations to a Federal Reserve Bank; provided that no such pledge or assignment shall release such Lender from any of its obligations hereunder or substitute any such pledgee or assignee for such Lender as a party hereto.  




Section 10.5.

Governing Law; Jurisdiction; Consent to Service of Process.




(a)

This Agreement and the other Loan Documents and any claims, controversy, dispute or cause of action (whether in contract or tort or otherwise) based upon, arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document (except, as to any other Loan Document, as expressly set forth therein) and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby shall be construed in accordance with and be governed by the law (without giving effect to the conflict of law principles thereof) of the State of Texas. 




(b)

THE BORROWER HEREBY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY SUBMITS, FOR ITSELF AND ITS PROPERTY, TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, AND OF ANY APPELLATE COURT THEREOF, IN ANY ACTION OR PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER LOAN DOCUMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY, OR FOR RECOGNITION OR ENFORCEMENT OF ANY JUDGMENT, AND EACH OF THE PARTIES HERETO HEREBY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY AGREES THAT ALL CLAIMS IN RESPECT OF ANY SUCH ACTION OR PROCEEDING MAY BE HEARD AND DETERMINED IN SUCH DISTRICT COURT OR, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, SUCH APPELLATE COURT.  Each of the parties hereto agrees that a final judgment in any such action or proceeding shall be conclusive and may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner provided by law.  Nothing in this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall affect any right that the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender may otherwise have to bring any action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document against the Borrower or its properties in the courts of any jurisdiction.




(c)

The Borrower irrevocably and unconditionally waives any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any such suit, action or proceeding described in subsection (b) of this Section and brought in any court referred to in subsection (b) of this Section.  Each of the parties hereto irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the defense of an inconvenient forum to the maintenance of such action or proceeding in any such court.




(d)

Each party to this Agreement irrevocably consents to the service of process in the manner provided for notices in Section 10.1.  Nothing in this Agreement or in any other Loan Document will affect the right of any party hereto to serve process in any other manner permitted by law.




Section 10.6.

WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL.  EACH PARTY HERETO IRREVOCABLY WAIVES, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER LOAN DOCUMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY (WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER THEORY).  EACH PARTY HERETO (A) CERTIFIES THAT NO REPRESENTATIVE, AGENT OR ATTORNEY OF ANY OTHER PARTY HAS REPRESENTED, EXPRESSLY OR OTHERWISE, THAT SUCH OTHER PARTY WOULD NOT, IN THE EVENT OF LITIGATION, SEEK TO ENFORCE THE FOREGOING WAIVER, AND (B) ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT AND THE OTHER PARTIES HERETO HAVE BEEN INDUCED TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT AND THE OTHER LOAN DOCUMENTS BY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE MUTUAL WAIVERS AND CERTIFICATIONS IN THIS SECTION.






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Section 10.7.

Right of Set-off.  In addition to any rights now or hereafter granted under applicable law and not by way of limitation of any such rights, each Lender and the Issuing Bank shall have the right, at any time or from time to time upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, without prior notice to the Borrower, any such notice being expressly waived by the Borrower to the extent permitted by applicable law, to set off and apply against all deposits (general or special, time or demand, provisional or final) of the Borrower at any time held or other obligations at any time owing by such Lender and the Issuing Bank to or for the credit or the account of the Borrower against any and all Obligations held by such Lender or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be, irrespective of whether such Lender or the Issuing Bank shall have made demand hereunder and although such Obligations may be unmatured; provided that in the event that any Defaulting Lender shall exercise any such right of setoff, (x) all amounts so set off shall be paid over immediately to the Administrative Agent for further application in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.24(b) and, pending such payment, shall be segregated by such Defaulting Lender from its other funds and deemed held in trust for the benefit of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Banks, and the Lenders, and (y) the Defaulting Lender shall provide promptly to the Administrative Agent a statement describing in reasonable detail the Obligations owing to such Defaulting Lender as to which it exercised such right of setoff.  Each Lender and the Issuing Bank agrees promptly to notify the Administrative Agent and the Borrower after any such set-off and any application made by such Lender or the Issuing Bank, as the case may be; provided that the failure to give such notice shall not affect the validity of such set-off and application.  Each Lender and the Issuing Bank agrees to apply all amounts collected from any such set-off to the Obligations before applying such amounts to any other Indebtedness or other obligations owed by the Borrower and any of its Subsidiaries to such Lender or the Issuing Bank.




Section 10.8.

Counterparts; Integration.  This Agreement may be executed by one or more of the parties to this Agreement on any number of separate counterparts, and all of said counterparts taken together shall be deemed to constitute one and the same instrument.  This Agreement, the other Loan Documents, and any separate letter agreements relating to any fees payable to the Administrative Agent and its Affiliates constitute the entire agreement among the parties hereto and thereto and their affiliates regarding the subject matters hereof and thereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, oral or written, regarding such subject matters.  Delivery of an executed counterpart to this Agreement or any other Loan Document by facsimile transmission or by electronic mail in pdf format shall be as effective as delivery of a manually executed counterpart hereof.




Section 10.9.

Survival.  All covenants, agreements, representations and warranties made by the Borrower herein and in the certificates, reports, notices or other instruments delivered in connection with or pursuant to this Agreement shall be considered to have been relied upon by the other parties hereto and shall survive the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents and the making of any Loans and issuance of any Letters of Credit, regardless of any investigation made by any such other party or on its behalf and notwithstanding that the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender may have had notice or knowledge of any Default or incorrect representation or warranty at the time any credit is extended hereunder, and shall continue in full force and effect as long as the principal of or any accrued interest on any Loan or any fee or any other amount payable under this Agreement is outstanding and unpaid or any Letter of Credit is outstanding and so long as the Commitments have not expired or terminated.  The provisions of Sections 2.17, 2.18, 2.19, and 10.3 and Article IX shall survive and remain in full force and effect regardless of the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, the repayment of the Loans, the expiration or termination of the Letters of Credit and the Commitments or the termination of this Agreement or any provision hereof.  




Section 10.10.

Severability.  Any provision of this Agreement or any other Loan Document held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such illegality, invalidity or unenforceability without affecting the legality, validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions hereof or thereof; and the illegality, invalidity or unenforceability of a particular provision in a particular jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction.






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Section 10.11.

Confidentiality.  Each of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank and the Lenders agrees to take normal and reasonable precautions to maintain the confidentiality of any information relating to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective businesses, to the extent designated in writing as confidential and provided to it by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, other than any such information that is available to the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender on a non-confidential basis prior to disclosure by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, except that such information may be disclosed (i) to any Related Party of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any such Lender including, without limitation, accountants, legal counsel and other advisors, (ii) to the extent required by applicable laws or regulations or by any subpoena or similar legal process, (iii) to the extent requested by any regulatory agency or authority purporting to have jurisdiction over it (including any self-regulatory authority such as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners), (iv) to the extent that such information becomes publicly available other than as a result of a breach of this Section, or which becomes available to the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank, any Lender or any Related Party of any of the foregoing on a non-confidential basis from a source other than the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, (v) in connection with the exercise of any remedy hereunder or under any other Loan Documents or any suit, action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Documents or the enforcement of rights hereunder or thereunder, (vi) subject to execution by such Person of an agreement containing provisions substantially the same as those of this Section, to (A) any assignee of or Participant in, or any prospective assignee of or Participant in, any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement, or (B) any actual or prospective party (or its Related Parties) to any swap or derivative or other transaction under which payments are to be made by reference to the Borrower and its obligations, this Agreement or payments hereunder, (vii) to any rating agency, (viii) to the CUSIP Service Bureau or any similar organization, or (ix) with the consent of the Borrower.  Any Person required to maintain the confidentiality of any information as provided for in this Section shall be considered to have complied with its obligation to do so if such Person has exercised the same degree of care to maintain the confidentiality of such information as such Person would accord its own confidential information.  In the event of any conflict between the terms of this Section and those of any other Contractual Obligation entered into with any Loan Party (whether or not a Loan Document), the terms of this Section shall govern.




Section 10.12.

Interest Rate Limitation.  Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, if at any time the interest rate applicable to any Loan, together with all fees, charges and other amounts which may be treated as interest on such Loan under applicable law (collectively, the “Charges”), shall exceed the maximum lawful rate of interest (the “Maximum Rate”) which may be contracted for, charged, taken, received or reserved by a Lender holding such Loan in accordance with applicable law, the rate of interest payable in respect of such Loan hereunder, together with all Charges payable in respect thereof, shall be limited to the Maximum Rate and, to the extent lawful, the interest and Charges that would have been payable in respect of such Loan but were not payable as a result of the operation of this Section shall be cumulated and the interest and Charges payable to such Lender in respect of other Loans or periods shall be increased (but not above the Maximum Rate therefor) until such cumulated amount, together with interest thereon at the Federal Funds Rate to the date of repayment (to the extent permitted by applicable law), shall have been received by such Lender.  To the extent that Chapter 303 of the Texas Finance Code is relevant for the purpose of determining the Maximum Rate applicable to a Lender, such Lender elects to determine the applicable rate ceiling under such Chapter by the weekly ceiling from time to time in effect.  Chapter 346 of the Texas Finance Code does not apply to the Borrower’s obligations hereunder.




Section 10.13.

Waiver of Effect of Corporate Seal.  The Borrower represents and warrants that neither it nor any other Loan Party is required to affix its corporate seal to this Agreement or any other Loan Document pursuant to any Requirement of Law, agrees that this Agreement is delivered by the Borrower under seal and waives any shortening of the statute of limitations that may result from not affixing the corporate seal to this Agreement or such other Loan Documents.




Section 10.14.

Patriot Act.  The Administrative Agent and each Lender hereby notifies the Loan Parties that, pursuant to the requirements of the Patriot Act, it is required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each Loan Party, which information includes the name and address of such Loan Party and other information that will allow such Lender or the Administrative Agent, as applicable, to identify such Loan Party in accordance with the Patriot Act.






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Section 10.15.

No Advisory or Fiduciary Responsibility.  In connection with all aspects of each transaction contemplated hereby (including in connection with any amendment, waiver or other modification hereof or of any other Loan Document), the Borrower and each other Loan Party acknowledges and agrees and acknowledges its Affiliates’ understanding that (i) (A) the services regarding this Agreement provided by the Administrative Agent, the Sole Lead Arranger and/or the Lenders are arm’s-length commercial transactions between the Borrower, each other Loan Party and their respective Affiliates, on the one hand, and the Administrative Agent, the Sole Lead Arranger and the Lenders, on the other hand, (B) each of the Borrower and the other Loan Parties have consulted their own legal, accounting, regulatory and tax advisors to the extent they have deemed appropriate, and (C) the Borrower and each other Loan Party is capable of evaluating and understanding, and understands and accepts, the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated hereby and by the other Loan Documents; (ii) (A) each of the Administrative Agent, the Sole Lead Arranger and the Lenders is and has been acting solely as a principal and, except as expressly agreed in writing by the relevant parties, has not been, is not, and will not be acting as an advisor, agent or fiduciary for the Borrower, any other Loan Party or any of their respective Affiliates, or any other Person, and (B) none of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders have no obligation to the Borrower, any other Loan Party or any of their Affiliates with respect to the transaction contemplated hereby except those obligations expressly set forth herein and in the other Loan Documents; and (iii) the Administrative Agent, the Sole Lead Arranger, the Lenders and their respective Affiliates may be engaged in a broad range of transactions that involve interests that differ from those of the Borrower, the other Loan Parties and their respective Affiliates, and each of the Administrative Agent, the Sole Lead Arranger and the Lenders has no obligation to disclose any of such interests to the Borrower, any other Loan Party or any of their respective Affiliates.  To the fullest extent permitted by law, each of the Borrower and the other Loan Parties hereby waives and releases any claims that it may have against the Administrative Agent, the Sole Lead Arranger or any Lender with respect to any breach or alleged breach of agency or fiduciary duty in connection with any aspect of any transaction contemplated hereby.  




(remainder of page left intentionally blank)






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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed by their respective authorized officers as of the day and year first above written.




BORROWER:




RING ENERGY INC.







By:   /s/ William R. Broaddrick                                              

William R. Broaddrick

        Chief Financial Officer and Secretary






























Signature Page to

Credit Agreement












ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT, ISSUING BANK, AND LENDER:




SUNTRUST BANK

as the Administrative Agent, as the Issuing Bank and as a Lender







By:  /s/ Scott Mackey                                                   

       Scott Mackey

       Director

































Signature Page to

Credit Agreement