EMPIRE PETROLEUM CORP 10-Q

Item 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES As of the end of the period covered by this report, the Company conducted an evaluation under the supervision of the Company's Chief Executive Officer and President (and principal financial officer) of the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Securities Exchange Act Rules 13a - 15(e) and 15d - 15(e). Based on this evaluation, the Company's Chief Executive Officer and President (and principal financial officer) have concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report are not effective. As described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 31, 2022, our Chief Executive Officer and President (principal financial officer) concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective at a reasonable assurance level as we do not have sufficient resources in our accounting function, which restricts the Company’s ability to gather, analyze and properly review information related to financial reporting in a timely manner. Upon hiring the Chief Accounting Officer in October 2021, additional controls were implemented, and other controls were enhanced as initial steps to mitigate the risk of a material weakness on a go-forward basis. In the first quarter of 2022, the Chief Accounting Officer engaged an outside company to undertake an internal controls review. This review is scheduled to conclude in the second quarter of 2022. Controls that would strengthen the Company’s internal control structure that are identified during the course of the review are being implemented on an ongoing basis. Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting New and enhanced controls have been implemented in 2022 as identified by the Chief Accounting Officer to aid in the mitigation of the weakness discussed in the Annual Report on the Form 10-K that was filed on March 31, 2022. It is management’s expectation that the Company will implement enhanced controls throughout 2022 with additional controls implemented as they are identified by the outside consultants. Management will continue to diligently and rigorously review the financial reporting controls and procedures on an ongoing basis. - 21 - PART II. OTHER INFORMATION Item 1. Legal Proceedings For information regarding legal proceedings, see Note 14 of the Notes to Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Item 1A. Risk Factors Not applicable.