Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies | 9 Months Ended |
Sep. 30, 2013 |
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ' |
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies | ' |
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NOTE 1. Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies |
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Regent Technologies, Inc., formerly Regent Petroleum Corporation, was incorporated under the laws of the State of Colorado on January 18, 1980. During 1999, the Company had re-entered the development stage pursuant to ASC No. 915, “Development Stage Activities” (“ASC 915”) of the “Financial Accounting Standards Codification (“Codification” or “ASC”) and the Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.” As of January 1, 2013, due to our ongoing oil and natural gas development activities and future plans for exploration and production, management has determined that ASC No. 915 is no longer applicable and accordingly, the ASC No. 915 development stage reporting format has been discontinued. In this Form 10-Q, references to “we,” “our,” “us,” the “Company,” or “Regent” refer to Regent Technologies, Inc. and Regent’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Regent Natural Resources Co., a Texas corporation, is referred to herein as, the “Subsidiary,” or “Regent NRCo.” |
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The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. Significant accounting policies are defined as those accounting policies which are most critical to the understanding of a company’s financial condition and results of operation. We consider an accounting estimate or judgment to be critical if (i) it requires assumptions to be made that were uncertain at the time the estimate was made, and (ii) changes in the estimate or different estimates that could have been selected and could have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition. A summary of the significant accounting policies consistently applied by the Company in preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements are as follows: |
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Consolidation Principles |
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The consolidated financial statements of the Company included in this report have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP”). The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary and include all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain data in prior periods’ financial statements have been adjusted to conform to the presentation of the current period. |
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Estimates and Assumptions |
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The preparation of financial statements in conformity US GAAP requires our management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. The accounting policies most affected by management’s estimates and assumptions are provisions for depreciation, depletion and amortization, estimates of proved reserves, impairment of long-lived assets based on estimates of future net cash flows, and asset retirement obligations based on estimates regarding timing and cost of future asset retirements. |
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Oil and Natural Gas Properties |
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The Company follows the full-cost method of accounting under which all costs associated with property acquisition, exploration and development activities are capitalized. We capitalize internal costs that can be directly identified with our acquisition, exploration and development activities and do not include any costs related to production, general corporate overhead or similar activities. Estimates of our proved reserves as of December 31, 2012 were prepared by a third party engineering firm and are incorporated herein from our report filed on Form 10-K for December 31, 2012 and may be reviewed therein. |
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Proceeds from the sale of properties are accounted for as reductions of capitalized costs unless such sales involve a significant change in the relationship between costs and the value of proved reserves or the underlying value of unproved properties, in which case a gain or loss is recognized. The costs of unproved properties are excluded from amortization until the properties are evaluated. We review all of our unevaluated properties quarterly to determine whether or not and to what extent proved reserves have been assigned to the properties and otherwise if impairment has occurred. Unevaluated properties are grouped by major prospect area where individual property costs are not significant and are assessed individually when individual costs are significant. We review the carrying value of our properties under the full-cost accounting rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission on a quarterly basis. This quarterly review is referred to as a ceiling test. Under the ceiling test, capitalized costs, less accumulated amortization and related deferred income taxes, may not exceed an amount equal to the sum of the present value of estimated future net revenues (adjusted for hedges) less estimated future costs to be incurred in developing and producing the proved reserves, less any related income tax effects. |
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Valuation of Property and Equipment |
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Our long-lived assets, including proved oil and natural gas properties and equipment, are assessed for potential impairment in their carrying values whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate such impairment may have occurred. Estimates of oil and natural gas reserves, by necessity, are projections based on geologic and engineering data, and there are uncertainties inherent in the interpretation of such data as well as the projection of future rates of production and the timing of development expenditures. Reserve engineering is a subjective process of estimating underground accumulations of oil and natural gas that are difficult to measure. |
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Estimates of economically recoverable oil and natural gas reserves and future net cash flows necessarily depend upon a number of variable factors and assumptions, such as historical production from the area compared with production from other producing areas, the assumed effects of regulations by governmental agencies and assumptions governing future oil and natural gas prices, future operating costs, severance taxes, development costs and workover costs, all of which may in fact vary considerably from actual results. For these reasons, estimates of the economically recoverable quantities of oil and natural gas attributable to any particular group of properties may vary substantially. Furniture and equipment are stated at cost. |
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Depreciation and depletion of producing oil and natural gas properties are calculated using the units-of-production method. Proved developed reserves are used to compute unit rates for unamortized tangible and intangible development costs, and proved reserves are used for unamortized leasehold costs. Gains and losses on disposals or retirements that are significant or include an entire depreciable or depletable property unit are included in operating income. Depreciation of furniture, fixtures and equipment, consisting of office furniture, computer hardware and software and leasehold improvements is computed using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives, which vary from three to five years. |
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Revenue Recognition |
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Oil and natural gas revenues are recognized when production is sold to a purchaser at a fixed or determinable price, when delivery has occurred and title has transferred, and if collectability of the revenue is probable. Revenues from the production of crude oil and natural gas properties in which we have an interest with other producers are recognized using the entitlements method. Differences between actual production and net working interest volumes are routinely adjusted. |
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Asset Retirement Obligation |
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Our asset retirement obligation primarily represents the estimated present value of the amount we will incur to plug, abandon and remediate our producing properties at the end of their productive lives, in accordance with federal, state and local laws. We account for asset retirement obligations based on the guidance of ASC No. 410, “Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations” (“ASC 410”), which addresses the required accounting and reporting for obligations associated with the retirement of tangible long-lived assets and the associated asset retirement costs. ASC 410 requires that the fair value of an asset’s retirement obligation be recorded as a liability in the period in which it is incurred and the corresponding cost capitalized by increasing the carrying amount of the related long-lived asset. Periodic accretion of the discount of the estimated liability is treated as accretion expense included in depreciation, depletion and amortization on our Consolidated Statements of Operations. |
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Income Taxes |
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We utilize the asset and liability method to account for income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, and are measured currently enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those differences are expected to reverse. |
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Share-Based Compensation |
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We account for equity based compensation under the provisions of ASC No. 718, “Compensation - Stock Compensation” (“ASC 718”). ASC 718 requires the recognition of the fair value of equity-based compensation in operations. The fair value of our stock option awards are estimated using a Black-Scholes option valuation model. This model requires the input of subjective assumptions and elections including expected stock price volatility and the estimated life of each award. In addition, the calculation of equity-based compensation costs requires that we estimate the number of awards that will be forfeited during the vesting period. The fair value of equity-based awards is amortized over the vesting period of the award and we elected to use the straight-line method for awards granted after the adoption of ASC 718 with no forfeitures. |
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Fair Value Measurements |
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Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The fair value of an asset should reflect its highest and best use by market participants, whether in-use or an in-exchange valuation premise. The fair value of a liability should reflect the risk of nonperformance, which includes, among other things, the Company’s credit risk. In accordance with the requirements of ASC No. 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”), the Company calculates the fair value of its assets and liabilities which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820 and includes this additional information in the notes to the financial statements when the fair value is different than the carrying value of those financial instruments. The estimated fair value of cash and accounts payable approximate their carrying value due to the short term nature of these instruments. The carrying value of the notes payable also approximate fair value based on the terms of these instruments. Hierarchical levels directly related to the amount of subjectivity associated with the inputs to fair valuation of these assets and liabilities are as follows: |
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| • | | Level 1 Inputs—unadjusted quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Included in this level are our notes payable; |
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| • | | Level 2 Inputs—quotes which are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data. Included in this level are interest rate information and commodity pricing data obtained from third party pricing sources and our creditworthiness; and |
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| • | | Level 3 Inputs—unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, such as discounted cash flow models or valuations, based on the Company’s various assumptions and future commodity prices. Included in this level is the carrying value of our investment in MacuCLEAR Preferred Stock (see Note 4). None of our investments are held for trading purposes. |
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Other Accounting Policies |
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The remaining significant accounting policies of the Company are described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements of the 2012 Form 10-K. In management’s opinion, the accounting policies and estimates presented in the 2012 Form 10-K have not changed and therefore the unaudited consolidated financial statements herein should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited financial statements on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, which was previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There were other accounting standards and interpretations issued in 2012 and 2013, all of which have been determined to not be applicable or significant by management and are not expected to have a material impact on the financial position of the Company. |