As
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21,
2005
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SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
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Washington,
D.C. 20549
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FORM
10-K/A
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AMENDMENT
NO. 4 TO
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ANNUAL
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
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OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
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For
the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
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Commission
File No. 001-31852
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TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
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(Exact
Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
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Delaware
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84-0617433
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(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
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(I.R.S.
Employer Identification No.)
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5555
Business Park South, Suite 200, Bakersfield, California
93309
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(Address
of Principal Executive Offices)
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Registrant's
Telephone Number Including Area Code: (661)
864-0500
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Securities
Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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None
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Securities
Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
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Common
Stock, $0.001 par value
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(Title
of Class)
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Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required
to
be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934
during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject
to
such requirement for the past 90 days. Yes
[x] No [ ]
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Indicate
by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item
405 of
Regulation S-K (Section 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained
herein,
and will not be contained to the best of the registrant's knowledge,
in
definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference
in
Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form
10-K. [x]
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Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as
defined
in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes [x] No [ ]
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As
of June 30, 2005, 22,460,302 common shares were issued and outstanding.
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The
aggregate market value of the common shares of Tri-Valley Corporation
held
by non-affiliates on June 30, 2005, was approximately
$295,930,424.
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DOCUMENTS
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: None
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TABLE
OF CONTENTS
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PART
I
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ITEM
1
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Business
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1
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Competition
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1
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Governmental
Regulation
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1
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Environmental
Regulation
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2
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Employees
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3
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Available
Information
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3
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ITEM
2
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Properties
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3
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Oil
and Gas Operations
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4
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Mining
Activity
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6
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ITEM
4
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Submission
of Matters To A Vote Of Security Holders
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6
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PART
II
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ITEM
5
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Market
Price Of The Registrant's Common Stock And Related Security Holder
Matters
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7
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Recent
Sales of Unregistered Securities
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7
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ITEM
6
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Selected
Historical Financial Data
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8
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ITEM
7
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Management's
Discussion And Analysis Of Financial Condition
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8
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Notice
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
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8
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Overview
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8
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Restatements
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9
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Critical
Accounting Policies
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9
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Results
of Operations
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12
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Financial
Condition
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14
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ITEM
8
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Financial
Statements
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17
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ITEM
9A
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Controls
and Procedures
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50
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Evaluation
of Disclosure Controls
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50
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Management
Report on Internal Control
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50
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Report
of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
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51
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PART
III
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ITEM
10
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Directors
and Executive Officers of the Registrant
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53
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ITEM
11
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Executive
Compensation
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56
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Employment
Agreement with Our President
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56
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Compensation
Committee Report
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56
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Aggregated
2003 Option Exercises and Year-End Values
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57
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Compensation
of Directors
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57
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Performance
Graph
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58
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ITEM
12
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Security
Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and
Management
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58
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ITEM
14
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Principal
Accountant Fees and Services
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59
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ITEM
15
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Exhibits
and Financial Statement Schedules
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59
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SIGNATURES
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60
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PART
I
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ITEM
1 Business
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Tri-Valley
Corporation, a Delaware corporation formed in 1971, is in the business
of
exploring, acquiring and developing prospective and producing petroleum,
industrial minerals and precious metals properties and interests
therein.
Substantially all of our oil and gas reserves are located in northern
California. In 2004, Tri-Valley had three wholly owned subsidiaries:
Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Company, Select Resources Corporation Inc., and
Tri-Valley Power Corporation.
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Tri-Valley
Oil & Gas Company ("TVOG") operates the oil & gas activities. TVOG
derives the majority of its revenue from oil and gas drilling and
development. TVOG primarily generates its own exploration prospects
from
its internal database, and also screens prospects from other geologists
and companies. TVOG generates these geological "plays" within a certain
geographic area of mutual interest. The prospect is then presented
to
potential co-ventures. The company deals with both accredited individual
investors and energy industry companies. TVOG is the operator of
these
co-ventures.
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We
sell substantially all of our oil and gas production to ConocoPhillips.
Other gatherers of oil and gas production operate within our area
of
operations in California, and we are confident that if ConocoPhillips
ceased purchasing our production we could find another purchaser
on
similar terms with no adverse consequences to our income or
operations.
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In
1987, we acquired precious metals claims on Alaska state lands. We
have
conducted exploration operations on these properties and have reduced
our
original claims to a block of approximately 28,720 acres (44.9 square
miles). We have conducted trenching, core drilling, bulk sampling
and
assaying activities to date and have reason to believe that mineralization
exists to justify additional exploration activities. However, to
date, we
have not identified probable mineral reserves on these properties.
There
is no assurance that a commercially viable mineral deposit exists
on any
of these above-mentioned mineral properties. Further exploration
is
required before a final evaluation as to the economic and legal
feasibility can be determined.
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In
December 2004, we created Select Resources Corporation as a wholly
owned
subsidiary. In 2004, Select Resources engaged in limited activities
associated with its organization. We expect to transfer our existing
gold
mining properties located near Richardson, Alaska, to this new subsidiary.
In addition, the new subsidiary will endeavor to acquire and develop
new
precious metals and other industrial mineral properties.
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Tri-Valley
Power Corporation is the third wholly owned subsidiary. However,
this
subsidiary is inactive at the present time.
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Competition
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The
oil and gas industry is highly competitive in all its phases. Competition
is particularly intense with respect to the acquisition of desirable
producing properties, the acquisition of oil and gas prospects suitable
for enhanced production efforts, and the hiring of experienced personnel.
Our competitors in oil and gas acquisition, development, and production
include the major oil companies in addition to numerous independent
oil
and gas companies, individual proprietors and drilling programs.
Many of
these competitors possess and employ financial and personnel resources
substantially greater than those which are available to us and may
be able
to pay more for desirable producing properties and prospects and
to
define, evaluate, bid for, and purchase a greater number of producing
properties and prospects than we can. Our financial or personnel
resources
to generate reserves in the future will be dependent on our ability
to
select and acquire suitable producing properties and prospects in
competition with these companies.
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Governmental
Regulation
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Domestic
exploration for the production and sale of oil and gas is extensively
regulated at both the federal and state levels. Legislation affecting
the
oil and gas industry is under constant review for amendment or expansion,
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frequently
increasing the regulatory burden. Also, numerous departments and
agencies,
both federal and state, are
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1
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authorized
by statute to issue, and have issued, rules and regulations affecting
the
oil and gas industry which often are difficult and costly to comply
with
and which carry substantial penalties for noncompliance. State statutes
and regulations require permits for drilling operations, drilling
bonds,
and reports concerning operations. Most states in which we will operate
also have statutes and regulations governing conservation matters,
including the unitization or pooling of properties and the establishment
of maximum rates of production from wells. Many state statutes and
regulations may limit the rate at which oil and gas could otherwise
be
produced from acquired properties. Some states
have also enacted statutes prescribing ceiling prices for natural
gas sold
within their states. Our operations are also subject to numerous
laws and
regulations governing plugging and abandonment, the discharge of
materials
into the environment or otherwise relating to environmental protection.
The heavy regulatory burden on the oil and gas industry increases
its
costs of doing business and consequently affects its profitability.
We
cannot be sure that a change in such laws, rules, regulations, or
interpretations, will not harm our financial condition or operating
results.
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Environmental
Regulation
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Mining
Activities
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Mining
activities in the United States are subject to federal and state
laws and
regulations covering mining safety and environmental quality. However,
because we do not have active mining operations at present, these
regulations have little impact on our current activities. In 2004,
2003
and 2002, the regulatory requirements had no significant effect on
our
precious metals activity as we continued our exploration
efforts.
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Should
we seek to develop our precious metals claims, development efforts
would
require compliance with mining laws and regulations. State and federal
laws impose minimum safety standards to protect workers in the
construction and development of mines and conduct of mining operations.
Mining activities are subject to environmental regulation of the
output of
mines, particularly in the storage and disposal of waste from mining
operations. Environmental regulations restrict the storage, use and
disposal of both the materials used in mining operations and the
waste
contained in mineral ore, all of which contain toxic materials that
would
damage the surrounding land and ground water if not carefully
handled.
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In
addition, federal and state regulations call for reclamation of land
which
has been altered by mining activities. These regulations may require
significant expenditures to clean up a mining site during and after
mining.
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Before
we could begin actual mining operations on our claims, we would have
to
develop a feasibility study which would, among other things, address
the
potential costs of labor, safety and environmental regulation on
any
proposed mining activity.
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Energy
Operations
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Our
energy operations are subject to risks of fire, explosions, blow-outs,
pipe failure, abnormally pressured formations and environmental hazards,
such as oil spills, natural gas leaks, ruptures or discharges of
toxic
gases, the occurrence of any of which could result in substantial
losses
due to injury or loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of
property, natural resources and equipment, pollution or other
environmental damage, clean-up responsibilities, regulatory investigation
and penalties and suspension of operations. In accordance with customary
industry practice, we maintain insurance against these kinds of risks,
but
we cannot be sure that our level of insurance will cover all losses
in the
event of a drilling or production catastrophe. Insurance is not available
for all operational risks, such as risks that we will drill a dry
hole,
fail in an attempt to complete a well or have problems maintaining
production from existing wells.
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Oil
and gas activities can result in liability under federal, state,
and local
environmental regulations for activities involving, among other things,
water pollution and hazardous waste transport, storage, and disposal.
Such
liability can attach not only to the operator of record of the well,
but
also to other parties that may be deemed to be current or prior operators
or owners of the wells or the equipment involved. Numerous governmental
agencies issue rules and regulations to implement and enforce such
laws,
which are often difficult and costly to comply with and which carry
substantial administrative, civil and criminal penalties and in some
cases
injunctive relief for failure to comply. Some laws, rules and regulations
relating to the protection of the environment may, in certain
circumstances, impose "strict liability" for environmental contamination.
These laws render a person or company liable for environmental
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2
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and
natural resource damages, cleanup costs and, in the case of oil spills
in
certain states, consequential damages without regard to negligence
or
fault. Other laws, rules and regulations may require the rate of
oil and
gas production to be below the economically optimal rate or may even
prohibit exploration or production activities in environmentally
sensitive
areas. In addition, state laws often require some form of remedial
action,
such as closure of inactive pits and plugging of abandoned wells,
to
prevent pollution from former or suspended operations.
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The
federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability
Act, or CERCLA, also known as the "Superfund" law, imposes liability,
without regard to fault, on certain classes of persons with respect
to the
release of a "hazardous substance" into the environment. These persons
include the current or prior owner or operator of the disposal site
or
sites where the release occurred and companies that transported,
disposed
or arranged for the transport or disposal of the hazardous substances
found at the site. Persons who are or were responsible for releases
of
hazardous substances under CERCLA may be subject to joint and several
liability for the costs of cleaning up the hazardous substances that
have
been released into the environment and for damages to natural resources,
and it is not uncommon for the federal or state government to pursue
such
claims. It is also not uncommon for neighboring landowners and other
third
parties to file claims for personal injury or property or natural
resource
damages allegedly caused by the hazardous substances released into
the
environment. Under CERCLA, certain oil and gas materials and products
are,
by definition, excluded from the term "hazardous substances." At
least two
federal courts have held that certain wastes associated with the
production of crude oil may be classified as hazardous substances
under
CERCLA. Similarly, under the federal Resource, Conservation and Recovery
Act, or RCRA, which governs the generation, treatment, storage and
disposal of "solid wastes" and "hazardous wastes," certain oil and
gas
materials and wastes are exempt from the definition of "hazardous
wastes."
This exemption continues to be subject to judicial interpretation
and
increasingly stringent state interpretation. During the normal course
of
operations on properties in which we have an interest, exempt and
non-exempt wastes, including hazardous wastes, that are subject to
RCRA
and comparable state statutes and implementing regulations are generated
or have been generated in the past. The federal Environmental Protection
Agency and various state agencies continue to promulgate regulations
that
limit the disposal and permitting options for certain hazardous and
non-hazardous wastes.
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Compliance
with environmental requirements, including financial assurance
requirements and the costs associated with the cleanup of any spill,
could
have a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures or earnings.
These laws and regulations have not had a material affect on our
capital
expenditures or earnings to date. Nevertheless, changes in environmental
laws have the potential to adversely affect operations. At this time,
we
have no plans to make any material capital expenditures for environmental
control facilities.
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Employees
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We
had a total of five full-time employees, one part-time bookkeeper,
and
three consultants on December 31, 2004.
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Available
Information
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We
file annual and quarterly reports, proxy statements and other information
with the Securities and Exchange Commission using SEC's EDGAR system.
The
SEC maintains a site on the Internet at http://www.sec.gov that contains
reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding
us and other registrants that file reports electronically with the
SEC.
You may read and copy any materials that we file with the SEC at
its
Public Reference Room at 450 5th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549.
Our
common stock is listed on the American Stock Exchange, under the
symbol
TIV. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information
about
their public reference rooms. Our website is located at
http://www.tri-valleycorp.com.
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We
furnish our shareholders with a copy of our annual report on Form
10-K,
which contains audited financial statements, and such other reports
as we,
from time to time, deem appropriate or as may be required by law.
We use
the calendar year as our fiscal year.
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ITEM
2 Properties
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Our
headquarters and administrative offices are located at 5555 Business
Park
South, Suite 200, Bakersfield, California 93309. We lease approximately
4,500 square feet of office space at that location. Our principal
properties
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3
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consist
of proven and unproven oil and gas properties, mining claims on unproven
precious metals properties, maps and geologic records related to
prospective oil and gas and unproven precious metal properties, office
and
other equipment. TVOG has a worldwide geologic library with data
on every
continent except Antarctica including over 700 leads and prospects
in
California, our
present area of emphasis.
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Oil
and Gas Operations
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The
oil and gas properties in which we
hold interests are primarily located in the area of central California
known as the Sacramento Valley. We
also lease
exploration acreage in the San Joaquin and Santa Maria Valleys.
Tri-Valley
contracts for the drilling of all wells and do not own any drilling
equipment, bulk storage facilities, or refineries. Tri-Valley do
own a
small segment of pipeline at Tracy, California.
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Tri-Valley
has retained the services of Cecil Engineering, an independent engineer
qualified to estimate our
net share of proved developed oil and gas reserves on all of
our oil and gas properties at December 31, 2004 for SEC filing.
We
do not include any undeveloped reserves in these reserve
studies.
Only proved developed reserves are listed
in our reserve report. Price is a material factor in our
stated reserves,
because higher prices permit relatively higher-cost reserves to be
produced economically. Higher prices generally permit longer recovery,
hence larger reserves at higher values. Conversely, lower prices
generally
limit recovery to lower-cost reserves, hence smaller reserves. The
process
of estimating oil and gas reserve quantities is inherently imprecise.
Ascribing monetary values to those reserves, therefore, yields imprecise
estimated data at best.
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Our
estimated future net recoverable oil and gas reserves from proved
developed properties as of December 31, 2004, December 31, 2003 and
December 31, 2002 were as follows:
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BBL
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MCF
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||
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December
31, 2004
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Condensate
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162
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Natural
Gas
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742,401
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December
31, 2003
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Condensate
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162
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Natural
Gas
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1,251,548
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December
31, 2002
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Condensate
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150
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Natural
Gas
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1,492,245
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Using
year-end oil and gas prices and current levels of lease operating
expenses, the estimated present value of the future net revenue to
be
derived from our
proved developed oil and gas reserves, discounted at 10%, was $1,958,238
at December 31, 2004, $2,270,632 at December 31, 2003, and $2,224,270
at
December 31, 2002. At December 31, 2004, we had no significant proved
undeveloped reserves. The unaudited supplemental information attached
to
the consolidated financial statements provides more information on
oil and
gas reserves and estimated values.
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The
following table sets forth the net quantities of natural gas and
crude oil
that
we produced
during:
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Year
Ended
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Year
Ended
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Year
Ended
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December
31,
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December
31,
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December
31,
|
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2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
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Natural
Gas (MCF)
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126,942
|
162,314
|
232,578
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Crude
Oil (BBL)
|
22
|
25
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29
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The
following table sets forth
our
average sales price and average production (lifting) cost per unit
of oil
and gas produced
during:
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4
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|
Year
Ended December 31,
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|||||
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2004
|
2003
|
2002
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|||
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Gas
(Mcf)
|
Oil*
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Gas
(Mcf)
|
Oil*
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Gas
(Mcf)
|
Oil*
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Sales
Price
|
$5.66
|
$40.60
|
$5.07
|
$29.46
|
$3.07
|
$19.13
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|
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|
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Production
Costs
|
$1.14
|
0
|
$0.78
|
0
|
$0.98
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Net
Profit
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$4.52
|
$40.60
|
$4.29
|
$29.46
|
$2.09
|
$19.13
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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*
|
The
only oil produced in each year was condensate (oil related to natural
gas
that must be separated to produce the gas). The cost of separation
is
included in our gas production costs, and we do not separately determine
the cost of producing oil condensate. Condensate forms an insignificant
amount of our production revenue and costs
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|
As
of December 31, 2004 we
had the following gross and net position in wells and developed
acreage:
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|
Wells
(1)
|
Acres
(2)
|
||
Gross
|
Net
|
Gross
|
Net
|
11
|
4.537
|
2,192
|
645
|
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(1)
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"Gross"
wells represent the total number of producing wells in which we
have a working interest. "Net" wells represent the number of gross
producing wells multiplied by the percentages of the working interests
which
we own. "Net wells" recognizes only those wells in which we
hold an earned working interest. Working interests earned at payout
have
not been included.
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(2)
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"Gross"
acres represent the total acres in which we
have a working interest; "net" acres represent the aggregate of the
working interests which
we own in the gross acres.
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The
following table sets forth the number of productive and dry exploratory
and development wells which
we drilled during:
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|
Year
Ended
|
Year
Ended
|
Year
Ended
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2004
|
2003*
|
2002
|
|
|
|
|
Exploratory
|
|
|
|
Producing
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
Recompleting
|
|
|
1
|
Dry
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
Total
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
|
|
|
Development
|
|
|
|
Producing
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
Dry
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
Total
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
*
|
We
drilled three wells in 2003, which were still being evaluated at
December
31, 2003. In 2004 we determined to abandon two of those wells as
dry
holes. We have attempted to complete the third well drilled in 2003,
and
as of August 15, 2005, were still evaluating whether that well can
be
successfully completed as a commercial well and whether additional
work is
necessary.
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|
|
The
following table sets forth information regarding undeveloped oil
and gas
acreage in which we
had an interest on December 31, 2004:
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|
5
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|
State
|
Gross
Acres
|
Net
Acres
|
||
California
|
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34,879
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|
29,971
|
Nevada
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|
21,737
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|
21,737
|
Some
of our
undeveloped acreage is held pursuant to leases from landowners. Such
leases have varying dates of execution and generally expire one to
five
years after the date of the lease. In the next three years, the following
lease gross acreage expires:
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|
Expires
in 2005
|
7,151
acres
|
Expires
in 2006
|
4,260
acres
|
Expires
in 2007
|
160
acres
|
|
|
Mining
Activity
|
|
The
precious metals properties are located in interior Alaska. They are
comprised of 626 40-acre claims and 15 160-acre claims, of which
104
claims are leased from others, all are located solely on State owned
lands
requiring annual assessment work, and an annual per claim fee. All
fees
are current. During 2004, the Company staked 12 new 40-acre claims
and 5
new 160-acre claims for a total of 1,280 additional acres.
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|
The
mining claim block covers about 44.9 square miles or 28,720 acres
of land,
all of which is owned by the State of Alaska. The claims lie within
T-5-6-7 S, R 5-6-7-8 E, Fairbanks Meridian, immediately north of
the
Richardson Highway, an all-weather paved highway that connects Fairbanks,
Alaska, with points south and east. Fairbanks is approximately 65
miles
northwest of Richardson, and Delta Junction, also on the highway,
is about
30 miles to the southeast. The Trans Alaska Pipeline corridor is
near the
northeastern edge of the claim block and the service road along the
pipeline provides access to the claims from the north. Numerous good
to
fair dirt roads traverse the claims.
|
|
The
following table sets forth the information regarding the acreage
position
we have under lease in Alaska as of December 31, 2004:
|
|
State
|
|
Gross
Acres
|
|
Net
Acres
|
Alaska
|
|
28,720
|
|
27,926
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mineral
properties claimed on open
state land require minimum annual assessment work of $100 worth per
State
of Alaska claim. Expenditures on the Richardson, Alaska acreage have
already carried forward annual assessment requirements more than
four
years on all its claims. We have no Federal claims.
|
|
We
have had a joint scientific research agreement with TsNIGRI, the
Central
Research Institute of Geological Prospecting for Base and Precious
Metals,
based in Moscow, Russia since 1991. The proprietary technology they
use
for evaluating large areas of covered sub-arctic terrain has been
impressive and encouraging to our efforts. Minute amounts of gold
have
been found in samples at 60 locations along a 20-mile swath and
over 1,000 samples have been assayed by Bondar-Clegg, a respected
assay
house.
|
|
We
intend to continue our exploration efforts for precious metals on
our
claim block in Richardson, Alaska. With the help of TsNIGRI, we have
explored and evaluated this property during the summer months, due
to the
constraints of the weather in the winter months. This work will consist
of
field activity which includes drilling core holes, mapping and other
geological work.
|
|
ITEM
4 Submission of Matters To A Vote Of Security
Holders
|
|
We
held our annual meeting on October 25, 2004. At the meeting, the
shareholders re-elected all of the six directors who were recommended
by
the board.
|
The
shareholder votes were as follows:
|
|
|
6
|
|
Measure
#1 - Election of Directors
|
|
|
FOR
|
AGAINST
|
ABSTAIN
|
F.
Lynn Blystone
|
19,344,013
|
37,630
|
|
Milton
J. Carlson
|
19,344,088
|
37,555
|
|
C.
Chase Hoffman
|
19,344,088
|
37,555
|
|
Dennis
P. Lockhart
|
19,342,588
|
39,055
|
|
Loren
J. Miller
|
19,344,088
|
37,555
|
|
Harold
J. Noyes
|
19,344,088
|
37,555
|
|
|
PART
II
|
|
ITEM
5 Market Price Of The Registrant's Common Stock And Related Security
Holder Matters
|
|
On
October 29, 2003, shares of Tri-Valley Corporation stock began trading
on
the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "TIV". Prior to that,
shares
had been traded over-the-counter on the Electronic Bulletin Board
under
the symbol "TRIL." The following table shows the high and low sales
prices
reported on AMEX for the year ended December 31, 2004 as well as
for the
period from 10/29/03 to 12/31/03, and the high and low bid and asked
prices of Tri-Valley stock for the quarterly periods indicated as
reported
by the OTC Stock Journal:
|
|
|
|
Sales
Prices
|
Closing
Prices
|
||
|
|
High
|
Low
|
High
|
Low
|
2004
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fourth
Quarter
|
$12.98
|
$4.40
|
$12.23
|
$4.46
|
|
Third
Quarter
|
$4.70
|
$3.73
|
$4.70
|
$3.89
|
|
Second
Quarter
|
$4.94
|
$3.90
|
$4.91
|
$3.98
|
|
First
Quarter
|
$5.40
|
$4.30
|
$5.40
|
$4.36
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bid
Prices
|
Asked
Prices
|
|||
|
|
High
|
Low
|
High
|
Low
|
|
2003
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Fourth
Quarter
|
$6.20
|
$3.44
|
$6.75
|
$3.35
|
|
|
Third
Quarter
|
$3.74
|
$2.90
|
$3.93
|
$2.95
|
|
|
Second
Quarter
|
$3.79
|
$1.21
|
$4.20
|
$1.21
|
|
|
First
Quarter
|
$1.60
|
$1.25
|
$1.67
|
$1.21
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
of December 31, 2004, we estimate that our common stock was held
by
approximately 4,500 shareholders in 40 states and at least 4 foreign
countries.
|
|
We
historically have paid no dividends and at this time do not plan
to pay
any dividends in the immediate future. Rather, we strive to add share
value through discovery success. In 2004 trading volume exceeded
8.2
million shares.
|
|
Recent
Sales of Unregistered Securities
|
|
The
Company issued 41,000 shares of common stock without registration
under
the Securities Act of 1933. One former employee exercised stock options
for 10,000 shares on October 15, 2004 and 11,000 shares on December
14,
2004. The exercise price of the stock options was $0.50 per share,
granted
in 1993 and the options were exercised on two occasions when the
closing
price of our common stock was $4.64 and $7.09 per share. On December
24,
2004, a total of 20,000 shares were awarded to five outside directors
for
services. The closing price of our common stock on December 23, 2004,
was
$9.86 per share. All of these shares issued in privately negotiated
transactions in reliance on the exemption contained in Section 4(2)
of the
Securities Act.
|
|
|
|
7
|
|
|
ITEM
6 Selected Historical Financial Data
|
|
|
Year
Ended December 31,
|
||||
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
2001
|
2000
|
Income
Statement Data:
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
|
|
|
Revenues
|
$ 4,498,670
|
$ 6,464,245
|
$ 6,284,908
|
$ 2,130,187
|
$ 2,197,369
|
Operating
Income (Loss)
|
$(1,171,005)
|
$ 456,109
|
$
769,130
|
$ (117,972)
|
$ (1,360,263)
|
Basic
Earnings Per Share
|
$ (.06)
|
$ .02
|
$ .04
|
$ -
|
$ (0.07)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
Sheet Data:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Property
and Equipment, net
|
$ 1,778,208
|
$ 1,543,121
|
$ 1,974,501
|
$ 2,010,457
|
$ 1,357,959
|
Total
Assets
|
$ 14,473,326
|
$ 8,341,782
|
$ 4,634,874
|
$ 3,381,757
|
$ 4,053,257
|
Long
Term Obligations
|
$ 6,799
|
$ 16,805
|
$ 26,791
|
$ 8,371
|
$ 12,038
|
Stockholder's
Equity
|
$ 6,796,903
|
$ 1,851,783
|
$ 1,262,306
|
$ 353,776
|
$ 391,651
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ITEM
7 Management's Discussion And Analysis Of Financial
Condition
|
|
Notice
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
|
|
This
report contains forward-looking statements. The words, "anticipate,"
"believe," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "project," "could,"
"may," "foresee," and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These statements include information
regarding
expected development of the Company's business, lending activities,
relationship with customers, and development in the oil and gas industry.
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or should
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
and adversely from those anticipated, believed, estimated or otherwise
indicated.
|
|
Overview
|
|
Production
from TVOG's existing reserves continues to decline, while demand
increases. While the trend for demand to outstrip available supplies
is
worldwide as well as national, we believe that it is particularly
acute in
California, our primary venue for exploration and production, which
imports nearly 60% of its oil and nearly 90% of its natural gas demand.
Oil prices tend to be set based on worldwide supplies and prices,
while
natural gas prices seem to be more dependent on local conditions.
We
expect that gas prices will hold steady or possibly increase over
this
year. If, however, prices should fall, for instance due to new regulatory
measures or the discovery of new and easily producible reserves,
our
revenue from oil and gas sales would also fall.
|
|
In
2002 we created a limited partnership called the Opus-I. The purpose
of
this partnership is to raise one hundred million dollars by selling
partnership interests. With the funds raised we will drill up to
twenty-six exploratory wells, mostly in California, of which three
are
targeted for Nevada. We begin drilling for the Opus I partnership
as
sufficient funds are invested to drill the next target. For the year
ended
December 31, 2004, we have raised $9,173,550 and spent $6,861,245
on
evaluating previously drilled wells on the Oil Creek, Oil Lake and
Elk
Ridge prospects. We have determined to abandon these wells. Additionally,
in 2004 we drilled one well on the Los Gatos prospect which was a
dry hole
and was abandoned.
|
|
Tri-Valley
continues grading and prioritizing our geologic library, which contains
over 700 California leads and prospects, for exploratory drilling.
We use
our library to decide where we should seek oil and gas leases for
future
exploration. From this library we were able to put together many
of the
prospects currently in Opus-I. Of course, we cannot be sure that
any
future prospect can be obtained at an attractive lease price or that
any
exploration efforts would result in a commercially successful
well.
|
|
Tri-Valley
seeks to fund and drill enough exploratory wells for commercial
discoveries to make up for the cost of the inevitable dry holes that
we
can expect in the exploration business. The Company believes our
existing
inventory of projects bears a high enough ratio of potentially successful
to unsuccessful projects to deliver value to our drilling partners
and our
shareholders from successful wells, in excess of the total costs
of all
successful and unsuccessful projects. Our future results will depend
on
our success in finding new reserves and commercial production, and
there
can be no assurance what revenue we can ultimately expect from any
new
discoveries. Tri-Valley Corporation
|
|
8
|
|
|
does
not engage in hedging activities and does not use commodity futures
or
forward contracts for cash management functions.
|
|
Restatements
|
|
Management
discovered in 2005 that the stocks issued to the board of directors
were
inadvertently over-priced at the end of 2004 for total of $105,000.
As the
result the Company restated its 2004 financial statement to correct
this
error.
|
|
During
2004, the Company documented and tested its system of internal controls
in
compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404. From this activity, management
determined its historic accounting procedures, surrounding revenue
and
cost recognition for its sales and performance surrounding turnkey
drilling, were no longer appropriate and required an adjustment for
fiscal
year 2003 and the first two quarters for fiscal 2004. Management
therefore
reported that its financial statements for the year 2003, and for
the
first and second quarters of 2004 should no longer be relied upon
because
of these pending restatements. The restatements decreased net income
approximately $704,000 for the year ended December 31, 2003, increased
net
income by approximately $799,000 for the quarter ended March 31,
2004 and
approximately $1,240,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 2004. The
restatements for the December 31, 2003, 10-K and the quarter ended
March
31, 2004 result from a change in revenue recognition policy. The
restatement for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004 was due to
the
discovery of an expense that had been double charged and has now
been
corrected. Management determined these mismatching and accounting
errors,
which resulted in the restatements, were caused by a significant
deficiency in internal control over financial reporting. In the third
quarter of 2004, management implemented procedures to prevent this
in the
future, See
Item 9A, Controls and Procedures.
|
|
The
Company receives monies from third parties who participate in drilling
oil
and gas wells and records this as revenue. Previously we recognized
revenue and associated costs when the well was begun, as long as
drilling
was completed by close of books based on accrual accounting. At the
end of
fiscal 2003, we began drilling a turnkey well, which was taken to
total
depth by January 8, 2004. Although we had collected all payment for
the
drilling by December 31, 2003, we had not completely performed the
turnkey
contract to total depth until after December 31, 2003. Because the
collected turnkey revenue was essentially nonrefundable, we had recorded
the entire turnkey revenue and its associated drilling costs before
the
close of books based on accrual accounting rather than the date certain
of
the close of the fiscal year on December 31. Upon review of this
practice,
to remove all doubt, we now believe turnkey revenue and associated
costs
should be recorded when the well is drilled to total target depth
and/or
logged. We have changed our revenue recognition policy to recognize
these
payments as revenue only when drilling is actually completed and
the well
has been logged within the actual dates of the fiscal/calendar year.
This
change caused reported drilling revenue and related costs in 2003
to
decrease and reported revenue and related costs in 2004 to increase.
Additionally, reported revenue for the June 30, 2004 quarter increased
approximately $441,000 due to a double entry of an expense. During
management's review of internal controls the double entry was discovered
and the adjustment resulted in the increase in fiscal 2004
earnings.
|
|
The
anticipated changes discussed above do not affect the Company's ongoing
cash flows.
|
|
Critical
Accounting Policies
|
|
We
prepare Consolidated Financial Statements for inclusion in this Report
in
accordance with accounting principles that are generally accepted
in the
United States ("GAAP"). Note
3
to
our Consolidated Financial Statements (contained in Item 8 of this
Annual
Report) contains a comprehensive discussion of our significant accounting
policies. Critical accounting policies are those that may have a
material
impact on our financial statements and also require management to
exercise
significant judgment due to a high degree of uncertainty at the time
the
estimate is made. Our senior management has discussed the development
and
selection of our accounting policies, related accounting estimates
and
disclosures with the Audit Committee of our Board of
Directors.
|
|
Successful
Efforts Method Of Accounting
|
|
The
Company utilizes the successful efforts method of accounting for
oil and
gas activities as opposed to the alternate acceptable full cost method.
In
general, the Company believes that, during periods of active exploration,
|
|
9
|
|
|
net
assets and net income are more conservatively measured under the
successful efforts method of accounting for oil and gas producing
activities than under the full cost method. The critical difference
between the successful efforts method of accounting and the full
cost
method of accounting is as follows: Under the successful efforts
method,
exploratory dry holes and geological and geophysical exploration
costs are
charged against earnings during the periods in which they occur;
whereas,
under the full cost method of accounting, such costs and expenses
are
capitalized as assets, pooled with the costs of successful wells
and
charged against the earnings of future periods as a component of
depletion
expense.
|
|
Use
of Estimates
|
|
Preparation
of our Consolidated Financial Statements under GAAP requires management
to
make estimates and assumptions that affect reported assets, liabilities,
revenues, expenses, and some narrative disclosures. The estimates
that are
most critical to our Consolidated Financial Statements involve oil
and gas
reserves, recoverability and impairment of reserves, and useful lives
of
assets.
|
|
Oil
and Gas Reserve Estimates. Estimates
of our proved reserves included in this Report are prepared in accordance
with GAAP and SEC guidelines and were based on evaluations audited
by
independent petroleum engineers with respect to our major properties.
The
accuracy of a reserve report estimate is a function of:
|
|
-
|
The
quality and quantity of available data;
|
-
|
The
interpretation of that data;
|
-
|
The
accuracy of various mandated economic assumptions; and
|
-
|
The
judgment of the persons preparing the estimate.
|
|
|
Because
these estimates depend on many assumptions, all of which may substantially
differ from future actual results, reserve estimates will be different
from the quantities of oil and gas that are ultimately recovered.
In
addition, results of drilling, testing and production after the date
of an
estimate may justify material revisions to the estimate.
|
|
In
2004 and 2004, our proved, developed gas reserve estimates were revised
downward by a total of approximately 490 million cubic feet. These
downward revisions were the result of reducing the potential future
recoverable reserves from a single well. Production data indicated
that
the initial reserve estimates would not be achievable, so reserve
estimates were reduced accordingly.
|
|
It
should not be assumed that the present value of future net cash flows
included in this Report as of December 31, 2004 is the current market
value of our estimated proved reserves. In accordance with SEC
requirements, we have based the estimated present value of future
net cash
flows from proved reserves on prices and costs on the date of the
estimate. Actual future prices and cost may be materially higher
or lower
than the prices and costs as of the date of the estimate.
|
|
Estimates
of proved reserves materially impact depletion expense. If the estimates
of proved reserves decline, the rate at which we record depletion
expense
will increase, reducing future net income. Such a decline may result
from
lower market prices, which may make it uneconomic to drill for and
produce
higher cost fields. In addition, a decline in proved reserve estimates
may
impact the outcome of our assessment of its oil and gas producing
properties for impairment.
|
|
Impairment
of Proved Oil and Gas Properties.
We
review our long-lived proved properties, consisting of oil and gas
reserves, at least annually and record impairments to those properties,
whenever management determines that events or circumstances indicate
that
the recorded carrying value of the properties may not be recoverable.
Proved oil and gas properties are reviewed for impairment by depletable
field pool, which is the lowest level at which depletion of proved
properties are calculated. Management assesses whether or not an
impairment provision is necessary based upon its outlook of future
commodity prices and net cash flows that may be generated by the
properties. We determine that a property is impaired when prices
being
paid for oil or gas make it no longer profitable to drill on, or
to
continue production on, that property. Price increases over that
past
three years have reduced the instances where impairment of reserves
appeared to be required, though we did record impairment expense
of
$112,395 in 2004 as a result of reducing potential future recoverable
reserves from a single well.
|
|
10
|
|
|
Additional
production data indicated the initial reserve estimates would not
be
achievable, so we reduced reserves accordingly. If petroleum prices,
particularly natural gas prices, in Northern California, begin to
fall in
the future, more of our proved developed reserves could become impaired,
which would reduce our estimates of future revenue, our proved reserve
estimates and our profitability.
|
|
Asset
Retirement Obligations. We
adopted SFAS No. 143, "Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations"
effective January 1, 2003. Under this guidance, management is required
to
make judgments based on historical experience and future expectations
regarding the future abandonment cost of its oil and gas properties
and
equipment as well as an estimate of thin e discount rate to be used
in
order to bring the estimated future cost to a present value. The
discount
rate is based on the risk free interest rate which is adjusted for
our
credit worthiness. The adjusted risk free rate is then applied to
the
estimated abandonment costs to arrive at the obligation existing
at the
end of the period under review. We review our estimate of the future
obligation quarterly and accrue the estimated obligation based on
the
above.
|
|
Other
Significant Accounting Policies
|
|
In
addition to those significant accounting policies described in Note
3 to
our Consolidated Financial Statements, we have adopted the following
accounting policies which may require the use of estimates.
|
|
Deferred
Tax Asset Valuation Allowances.
We
maintain a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets, which
result from net operating losses and statutory depletion carryforwards
from prior years. We continually assess whether it is more likely
than not
that deferred tax assets can be realized prior to their expiration,
but we
currently have a valuation allowance of 100% of the value of the
deferred
tax assets. See
Note 8 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.
|
|
Commitments
and contingencies.
We
make judgments and estimates regarding possible liabilities for litigation
and environmental remediation. We have no ongoing litigation. We
routinely
have clean-up and maintenance obligations in connection with oil
and gas
drilling and production activities, but we have never had a material
environmental liability or claim.
See Note 12 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.
|
|
Goodwill.
We evaluate goodwill at least annually in December. At December 31,
2004,
goodwill, which consists of purchased assets of our subsidiary, TVOG,
constituted less than 2% of our total assets. See
Note 3 - Goodwill - of our Consolidated Financial
Statements.
|
|
Petroleum
Activities
|
|
The
Company generally sells a percentage of production at the monthly
spot
price. In times when we expect the price of gas to weaken, we try
to
increase the amount we sell under fixed prices. When we expect the
price
of gas to rise, we seek to sell more gas in the spot market. In 2004,
2003
and 2002, we sold our gas 100% on the spot market. Because we expect
gas
prices to rise, we intend to sell 100% of our production on the spot
market in 2005. Thus, a drop in the price of gas in 2005 could possibly
have a more adverse impact on us than if we entered into some fixed
price
contracts for sale of future production.
|
|
Our
proved hydrocarbon reserves were valued using a standardized measure
of
discounted future net cash flows of $1,958,238 at December 31, 2004,
compared to $2,270,632 and $2,224,270 on December 31, 2003 and 2002,
respectively, after taking into account a 10% discount rate and also
taking into consideration the effect of income tax. This reduction
was due
primarily to the declines in production rates from our existing wells,
which have not been supplemented with new discoveries. Estimates
such as
these are subject to numerous uncertainties inherent in the estimation
of
quantities of proved reserves. Because of unpredictable variances
in
expenses and capital forecasts, crude oil and natural gas price changes,
largely influenced and controlled by U.S. and foreign government
actions,
and the fact that the basis for such estimates vary significantly,
management believes the usefulness of these projections is limited.
Estimates of future net cash flows presented do not represent management's
assessment of future profitability or future cash flows to the Company.
This value does not appear on the balance sheet because accounting
rules
require discovered reserves to be carried on the balance sheet at
the cost
of obtaining them rather than the actual future net revenue from
producing
them. Tri-Valley typically has no discovery cost to put on the balance
sheet as explained below.
|
|
11
|
|
|
Tri-Valley
sold working interests in its test wells on prospects to the Opus-1
drilling partnership. The sales price of the interest is intended
to pay
for all drilling and testing costs on the property. Tri-Valley retains
a
minority "carried" ownership interest in the well and does not pay
its
proportionate share of drilling and testing costs for the first well
drilled on each prospect. However, the Company does pay its proportionate
cost of any subsequent well drilled on each prospect. Under these
arrangements, we usually minimize the Company's cost to drill and
also
receive a minority interest from the reserves we discover. On the
other
hand, we occasionally incur extra expenses for drilling or development
that we choose, in our discretion, not to pass on to other venture
participants.
|
|
In
2003 we drilled the Oil Creek, Oil Lake and Elk Ridge Prospects.
After
thorough review it was determined the prospects would not be commercially
successful and will be abandoned. In 2004 we drilled the Los Gatos
prospect which was a dry hole and was abandoned.
|
|
We
fraced the deep Ekho well and redrilled a horizontal test of the
Sunrise-Mayel #2 in the first quarter of 2005.
|
|
Mining
Activity
|
|
The
price of gold has fluctuated between $374 and $438 per ounce rekindling
interest of investors to support junior exploration ventures. Accordingly,
management implemented its plan to establish a wholly owned subsidiary
to
handle all mining business for eventual spin off to Tri-Valley
shareholders.
|
|
The
Company began the buyout of royalty and carried working interest
burdens
on its Richardson, Alaska gold exploration project in order to transfer
the property into our new subsidiary, Select Resources Corporation,
free
of royalty burdens. Tri-Valley Corporation expects to record substantial
non cash losses as a result of issuing stock for these interests
which are
non producing at this time and cannot be booked as assets equal to
the
value of the stock paid. The Company believes the ultimate return
it can
realize on the property unburdened by royalty and carried interests
will
handily exceed the upfront costs of the buyout.
|
|
Select
Resources Corporation is initially staffed by F. Lynn Blystone, Chairman
and CEO, Dr. Harold J. Noyes, President, Dr. Henry J. "Rick" Sandri,
Executive Vice President, Thomas J. Cunningham, Chief Financial Officer,
Dr. Odin Christensen, consulting geologist and technical team leader,
Dr.
Craig Beagle, consulting geophysicist, Dr. Jeffrey Jaecks, consulting
geochemist and Sandra Perry, consulting remote sensing
specialist.
|
|
In
December 2004, Select Resources acquired another gold/copper property
in
Alaska, the 5,000 acre Shorty Creek Prospect near Livengood some
70 miles
north of Fairbanks on the Dalton Highway pipeline haul road. Select
has
recently completed staking another 5,300 acres of claims adjoining
and
speculated to be on trend with mapped mineralization of the initial
claim
block acquisition. There are no proven reserves at this time. Select
plans
extensive prospecting on Shorty Creek and drilling on one or more
targets
on Richardson in this 2005 season. Tri-Valley advanced to Select
$500,000
for geological and geophysical mapping and drilling.
|
|
Select's
most ambitious initial effort has been the establishment and operation
of
the Alpha Minerals and Chemicals LLC joint venture to mine, process
and
sell high chemical grade-high whitener calcium carbonate from the
Monarch
Mine in eastern Kern County, California. Select is in the process
of
refining a business plan and establishing operations in 2005. Select
is
the operator of the 50-50 joint venture with Trans Western Materials,
a
privately held Nevada LLC that owns the mineral leases. Select's
business
objective is to establish a positive cash flow to help support its
exploration activities. Select's parent, Tri-Valley Corporation has
committed $2.5 million to establish the joint venture with Trans
Western
Materials contributing its leases and business relationships.
|
Results
of Operations
|
|
The
Company lost $1,171,005 in 2004 compared to profits of $456,109 in
2003
and $769,130 in 2002. Total revenue was $1,965,575 lower in 2004
than in
2003.
|
|
|
|
|
12
|
|
|
Revenues
|
|
In
2004, 2003 and 2002, our largest source of revenue has been oil and
gas
drilling and development. We record revenue received by us from joint
ventures for drilling and development when we complete drilling wells
that
have been sold to venture partners, including the Opus-I drilling
partnership sponsored by Tri-Valley. In 2004, our revenue from drilling
and development fell to about $3.56 million, compared to $5.44 million
in
2003 and $5.42 million in 2002. In 2004 we recorded drilling and
development revenues from drilling only one well, compared to revenues
recorded from drilling three wells in 2003 and drilling two wells
and
recompleting one well in 2002. We expect that our 2005 from drilling
activity and consequent income will equal or exceed 2004. However,
we do
not develop annual drilling budgets but drill according to availability
of
funds and equipment to drill prospects that we consider attractive.
|
|
Our
drilling activities are also affected by factors beyond our control,
such
as availability of drilling equipment and delays in the regulatory
permitting process to drill new wells. In 2004, unavailability of
drilling
equipment caused us to drill fewer wells than we had originally expected
to drill that year. We expect to drill more wells as a smaller cost
per
well in 2005, but unavailability of drilling equipment continues
to create
delays in beginning project s in northern California and may curtail
our
drilling activity for the rest of 2005 below the level that we otherwise
could comfortably manage and afford.
|
|
Our
natural gas production continued to decline in 2004, with total gas
production down 22% from 2003 and 45% from 2002 levels. However,
because
of continuing natural gas price increases our revenues from sales
of oil
and gas remained relatively stable, declining only 11% from 2003
and
rising 6% from 2002 revenues. We have not added significant producing
reserves for the past two years, and in addition to normal declines
in
production over time, two wells that produced in 2003 have been shut
in
since early 2004 and remain shut in as of the date of this amended
report.
We are considering whether these two wells can be reworked to restart
production in commercial quantities. In the first half of 2005 production
continued to decline by another 22% from production in the first
half of
2004, and we expect that gas production for 2004 will continue to
be below
2004 levels and that total revenues realized from that production
will
also be lower for 2005 than 2004, despite the continuing rise in
gas
prices. If gas prices were to once again fall, our revenues would,
of
course, fall even further. We cannot predict what our total production
of
oil and gas will be in 2005.
|
|
We
also derive a small amount of revenue from interest income received
on
cash from equity investments and cash advanced from joint venture
partners. Interest income rose by 33% in 2004 over 2003 as we increased
the amount of cash held pending investment in oil and gas and other
projects. Interest income has continued to rise in the first half
of 2005
and will likely be higher in 2005 than 2004, though it may fall as
we
expend funds on drilling projects. Interest income is, however, a
relatively insignificant part of our total revenues (about 1% in
2004).
|
|
Costs
and Expenses
|
|
Because
of our reduced drilling activity in 2004, our drilling and development
costs also fell. Our 2004 drilling and development costs fell 45%
from
2003 and 39% from 2002 expenditures. As with drilling and development
revenue, against which these drilling and development costs are incurred,
we expect that drilling and development costs will remain about the
same
in 2005 as 2004 or increase slightly, but our expenditures for these
activities are subject to the same uncertainties as described above
for
drilling and development revenue.
|
|
Likewise,
oil and gas lease expense fell as our production activity fell in
2004,
mainly due to having two shut in wells for much of 2004, for which
we
incurred fewer operating costs. We expect that oil and gas producing
activities in 2005 will remain below 2004 as these wells continue
to be
shut in and, in the first half of 2005, we brought no new wells into
production. Likewise, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense
fell in 2004 compared to 2003 and 2002 due to lower production levels,
but
this is a minor component of our current operating costs.
|
|
We
evaluate our oil and gas properties regularly for possible impairment.
In
2004, we wrote down our proved reserves by $112,395 as a result of
reducing the potential future recoverable reserves from a single
well,
based on our analysis of production data from that well. We recorded
no
impairment expense in 2003 and had a $45,143
|
|
13
|
|
|
write-down
for impairment in 2002. Due to the unpredictable nature of exploration
drilling activities, the amount and timing of impairment expenses
are
difficult to predict with any certainty
|
|
Our
lower costs of drilling and development and oil and gas production
in 2004
were counterbalanced by rises in mining exploration costs and general
and
administrative expenses. We recorded just over $1 million for mining
exploration in 2004, a rise of more than 180% from 2003 and 500%
from
2002, because we recorded $804,000 in costs of issuance of our common
stock to repurchase royalty interests that we had previously sold
in our
Richardson, Alaska gold claims. We repurchased these interests in
order to
make the claims more attractive for outside investors to either acquire
the claims or to invest jointly with us in their development. During
2005,
we are seeking outside investments to develop these claims, and in
the
first half of 2005 we recorded an additional $2.01 million in expense
from
issuance of restricted common stock issued to reacquire more royalty
interests in the Richardson property. We expect that we may continue
to
incur costs to reacquire additional royalty interests as well as
other
precious metals interests in Alaska during 2005, but we do not have
a
budgeted or projected amount for these acquisitions.
|
|
General
and administrative expenses rose by about $730,000 (53%) in 2004
over
2003, to about $2.10 million, compared to about $1.37 million in
2003 and
$1.32 million in 2002. The increase resulted from small increases
in
several administrative areas, but chiefly were caused by increased
legal
costs associated with payment of a judgment and other costs of a
lawsuit
in 2004 (approximately $186,000), increased payroll and consulting
costs
for consultants and directors' fees (up $160,000) and more than $100,000
in direct costs associated with the acquisition of our industrial
minerals
interests late in the year. Travel and investor relation expense
rose over
$107,000 in 2004 over 2003. Insurance costs rose by about $48,000
and
insurance costs rose by nearly $34,000, both of which costs we attribute
to increased costs of compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and
attendant
increases in directors' officers' insurance. The costs associated
with the
judgment were a one-time expense. General and administrative expenses
can
be expected to continue to rise in 2005 because of costs associated
with
the start-up of Select Resources and beginning industrial mineral
production, which we have not incurred in prior years. These costs
include
increased payroll, equipment acquisition and direct expenses to be
incurred in mining, plus continued increases in accounting costs
associated with compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
|
|
Financial
Condition
|
|
Balance
Sheet
|
|
At
December 31, 2004 we had $11,812,920 in cash compared to $6,006,975
for
December 31, 2003. This represents, for the most part, cash invested
by
the Opus I partners for the drilling of oil and gas wells in that
limited
partnership. Property and equipment is $235,087 more for the current
period compared to last year because of increased leasehold interest
acquired. Deposits decreased $171,698 in 2004 compared to 2003 due
to the
settlement of a lawsuit and the payment of the award, which was secured
by
a bond.
|
|
Commitments
|
|
Generally,
our financial commitments arise from selling interests in our drilling
prospects to third parties, which results in an obligation to drill
and
develop the prospect. If we are unable to sell sufficient interests
in a
prospect to fund its drilling and development, we must either amend
our
agreements to drill the prospect, locate a substitute prospect acceptable
to the participants or refund the participants' funds.
|
|
The
Company sponsored Opus I, a private placement drilling program intended
to
raise up to one hundred million dollars to drill and complete 26
prospects. We turnkey the drilling portion and the completion portion
is
based on costs incurred. In a turnkey program we guarantee to drill
a
well(s) for a certain amount. If the drilling amount is greater than
the
turnkey costs the Company would lose money on that well, if the cost
is
less than the turnkey costs the Company would make a profit on that
well.
|
|
Delay
rentals for oil and gas leases amounted to $159,188 in 2004. Advance
royalty payments and gold mining claims maintenance fees were $205,555
for
the same period. We expect that approximately equal delay rentals
and fees
will be paid in 2005 from operating revenues.
|
|
|
14
|
|
|
The
following schedule summarizes our known contractual cash obligations
at
December 31, 2004, and the effect such obligations are expected to
have on
our liquidity and cash flow in future periods. At December 31, 2004,
our
only long term obligation consisted of a small outstanding loan incurred
for automobile loans.
|
|
|
Total
Obligations
|
2005
|
2006-2007
|
2008-2009
|
Beyond
|
Long-term
debt
|
$16,784
|
$9,985
|
$6799
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating
Activities
|
|
Net
cash provided by operating activities was $1,023,187 for the year-end
December 31, 2004, compared to $3,548,941 for the same period in
2003.
Our
operating loss of $1.17 million included non-cash charges of $916,000,
including $112,000 for impairment of oil and gas property and $804,000
for
stock issued to acquire royalty interests in our Richardson, Alaska,
gold
claim. See,
MD&A - Mining Activity, page 12.
In addition, our accounts payable increased by $552,064 because at
year
end we had ongoing drilling and reworking projects which caused a
temporary rise in payables. Accounts payable remained at their year
end
levels during the first quarter of 2005 and decreased during the
second
quarter as we completed and paid for the drilling and reworking projects
on hand. We pay our bills as they come due and expect to continue
to do so
in the future. Rises in accounts payable such as occurred at 2004
year end
are temporary and are nearly always attributable to then-current
drilling
and development activity.
|
|
Advances
from joint venture participants are funds received from partners
in the
Opus I drilling partnership and other, similar ventures. These funds
rose
at the end of 2004 by $1,196,430 over year end 2003 as we held funds
received from participants for investment in future drilling. Advances
from joint venture participants have continued to rise in 2005 but
are
expected to decrease as we apply those funds to drilling and development
activities. We cannot predict with any certainty the timing of receipt
of
funds from joint venture participants for future activities. These
advances do not contribute to operating income when received but
are held
until expended for drilling and development and then recorded as
drilling
and development revenue.
|
|
Investing
Activities
|
|
Cash
used by investing activities in 2004 was $519,181 compared to cash
provided of $402,164 for the same period in 2003. We used $$369,181
for
capital expenditures, including $112,000 for oil and gas prospect
acquisitions and $257,181 to purchase equipment for our new Tri-Western
mining joint venture. We used $150,000 in 2004 for investment in
start-up
costs on Tri-Western. We did not realize any proceeds from sales
of oil
and gas leases to joint ventures in 2004, compared to sales of $401,164
to
joint ventures in 2003. Through the first six months of 2005 we greatly
increased our investing activities, spending $2.964 million to purchase
an
oil and gas subsidiary with prospective oil and gas properties and
investing about $4 million in our Tri-Western joint venture. We expect
that the Tri-Western venture will begin to produce revenue in the
third
quarter of 2005, but we may need to invest more cash in property
and
equipment for Tri-Western in the second half of 2005 to meet new
demands
for products by customers after that project starts to yield products
and
revenue.
|
|
Financing
Activities
|
|
Cash
provided by financing activities was $5,301,939 for the period ending
December 31, 2004 compared to $119,576 for the same period in 2003.
The
financing activities consisted of sales of restricted common stock
in
private transactions and the exercise of stock options by directors.
The
proceeds of the stock sales are expected to be used for property
acquisitions and working capital. The trend of increased equity
investments in our restricted common stock continued in the first
half of
2005. We do not have a target amount for raising additional equity
in 2005
and cannot predict what our total stock sales may be. Any additional
proceeds from equity sales will be added to working capital.
|
|
Liquidity
|
|
The
recoverability of the our oil and gas reserves depends on future
events,
including obtaining adequate financing for our exploration and development
program, successfully completing our planned drilling program, and
achieving
|
|
15
|
|
|
a
level of operating revenues that is sufficient to support our cost
structure. At various times in our history, it has been necessary
for us
to raise additional capital through private placements of equity
financing. When such a need has arisen, we have met it successfully.
It is
management's belief that we will continue to be able to meet our
needs for
additional capital as such needs arise in the future. We may need
additional capital to pay for our share of costs relating to the
drilling
prospects and development of those that are successful, and to acquire
additional oil and gas leases. The total amount of our capital needs
will
be determined in part by the number of prospects generated within
our
exploration program and by the working interest that we retain in
those
prospects.
|
|
During
2005, we expect to expend approximately $2.5 million on drilling
activities. In the first half of 2005, we spent approximately $1.2
million
of this amount. Funds for these activities will be provided by sales
of
partnership interests in the Opus-I drilling partnership. At June
30,
2005, we had more than enough funds on hand from prior sales of limited
partnership units to fund the balance of our drilling activities
for 2005.
We have not yet planned our proposed prospect drilling and development
activities for 2006. Our ability to complete our planned drilling
activities in 2005 depends on some factors beyond our control, such
as the
availability of drilling rigs and equipment, which continue to be
in short
supply in northern California.
|
|
In
2005, we expect expenditures of approximately $3.8 million on mining
activities, including mining lease and exploration expenses, in connection
with beginning operation of the Monarch Mine in California. We had
spent
approximately $2.8 million on mining lease and exploration expense
in the
first half of the year and expect approximately another $1 million
in
expenses in the remainder of the year, after production at the Monarch
Mine begins, to improve our production capacity. The source of these
funds
has been sales of restricted stock in late 2004 and the first half
of
2005. We believe that proceeds from our prior stock sales are more
than
sufficient to fund our remaining mining activities as well as our
operating capital needs for the balance of 2005. We expect that revenue
from mining operations will begin to offset mine operating expenses
beginning in the third quarter of 2005.
|
|
Should
we choose to make an acquisition of producing oil and gas properties,
such
an acquisition would likely require that some portion of the purchase
price be paid in cash, and thus would create the need for additional
capital. Additional capital could be obtained from a combination
of
funding sources. The potential funding sources include:
|
|
-
|
Cash
flow from operating activities,
|
-
|
Borrowings
from financial institutions,
|
-
|
Debt
offerings, which could increase our leverage and add to our need
for cash
to service such debt,
|
-
|
Additional
offerings of our equity securities, which would cause dilution of
our
common stock,
|
-
|
Sales
of portions of our working interest in the prospects within our
exploration program, which would reduce future revenues from its
exploration program,
|
-
|
Sale
to an industry partner of a participation in our exploration
program,
|
-
|
Sale
of all or a portion of our producing oil and gas properties, which
would
reduce future revenues.
|
|
|
Our
ability to raise additional capital will depend on the results of
our
operations and the status of various capital and industry markets
at the
time such additional capital is sought. Accordingly, there can be
no
assurances that capital will be available to us from any source or
that,
if available, it will be on terms acceptable to us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16
|
|
|
ITEM
8: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
INDEX
|
|
|
|
Page(s)
|
|
|
Report
of Independent Auditor
|
18
|
|
|
Consolidated
Balance Sheets at December 31, 2004 and 2003
|
19
|
|
|
Consolidated
Statements of Operations for the Years Ended
|
|
December
31, 2004, 2003 and 2002
|
21
|
|
|
Consolidated
Statements of Changes in Shareholders' Equity for the
|
|
Years
Ended December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002
|
22
|
|
|
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended
|
|
December
31, 2004, 2003 and 2002
|
23
|
|
|
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
|
25
|
|
|
Supplemental
Information about Oil and Gas Producing
|
|
Activities
(Unaudited)
|
43
|
|
|
|
|
|
17
|
|
|
REPORT
OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
|
PUBLIC
ACCOUNTING FIRM
|
|
|
|
|
The
Board of Directors
|
Tri-Valley
Corporation
|
Bakersfield,
California
|
|
|
We
have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Tri-Valley
Corporation (the "Company") as of December 31, 2004 and 2003 and
the
related consolidated statements of operations, changes in shareholders'
equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended
December 31, 2004. These financial statements are the responsibility
of
the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion
on
these financial statements based on our audits.
|
|
We
conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards of the
Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable
assurance
about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement.
An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the
amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also
includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable
basis for our opinion.
|
|
In
our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above
present fairly in all material respects the financial position of
Tri-Valley Corporation at December 31, 2004 and 2003, and the results
of
their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years
in the
period ended December 31, 2004, in conformity with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America.
|
|
As
discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, certain errors resulting
in overstatement of previously reported general and administrative
expense
for the year ended December 31, 2004 and overstatement of previously
reported drilling and development revenue and the related costs for
the
year ended December 31, 2003, were discovered by management of the
Company
during the current year. Accordingly, the 2004 and 2003 financial
statements have been restated to correct the error.
|
|
We
also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of
Tri-Valley Corporation's internal control over financial reporting
as of
December 31, 2004, based on criteria established in Internal
Control-Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (COSO), and our report dated March 29, 2005 expressed
an
unqualified opinion on management's assessment of internal control
over
financial reporting and an adverse opinion on the effectiveness of
internal control over financial reporting.
|
|
|
BROWN
ARMSTRONG PAULDEN
|
McCOWN
STARBUCK & KEETER
|
ACCOUNTANCY
CORPORATION
|
|
|
Bakersfield,
California
|
March
29, 2005, except for Note 13
whose
date is December 21, 2005
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
18
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
CONSOLIDATED
BALANCE SHEETS
|
December
31,
|
||
2004
|
2003
|
|
ASSETS
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
Current
assets
|
|
|
Cash
|
$ 11,812,920
|
$ 6,006,975
|
Accounts
receivable, trade
|
192,008
|
163,825
|
Advance
receivable
|
150,000
|
-
|
Prepaid
expenses
|
96,056
|
12,029
|
Total
current assets
|
12,250,984
|
6,182,829
|
Property
and equipment, net
|
||
Proved
properties
|
131,382
|
148,482
|
Unproved
properties
|
1,381,667
|
1,251,953
|
Other
property and equipment
|
265,159
|
142,686
|
Total
property and equipment, net (Note 1 and Note 2)
|
1,778,208
|
1,543,121
|
Other
assets
|
||
Deposits
|
200,407
|
372,105
|
Investments
in partnerships (Note 1)
|
17,400
|
17,400
|
Goodwill
|
212,414
|
212,414
|
Other
|
13,913
|
13,913
|
|
||
Total
other assets
|
444,134
|
615,832
|
|
|
|
Total
assets
|
$ 14,473,326
|
$ 8,341,782
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
|
|
19
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
CONSOLIDATED
BALANCE SHEETS
|
|
LIABILITIES
AND STOCKHOLDER'S EQUITY
|
|||||||
December
31,
|
|||||||
2004
|
2003
|
||||||
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
||||||
Current
liabilities
|
|||||||
Notes
payable
|
$ 9,985
|
$ 9,985
|
|||||
Income
taxes payable
|
-
|
39,000
|
|||||
Accounts
payable and accrued expenses
|
1,237,848
|
685,784
|
|||||
Amounts
payable to joint venture participants
|
100,115
|
91,275
|
|||||
Advances
from joint venture participants, net
|
6,321,676
|
5,647,150
|
|||||
Total
current liabilities
|
7,669,624
|
6,473,194
|
|||||
Non-Current
Liabilities
|
|||||||
Deferred
tax Liability
|
|
|
|||||
Long-term
portion of notes payable
|
6,799
|
16,805
|
|||||
Total
non-current liabilities
|
-
|
16,805
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
Total
liabilities
|
7,676,423
|
6,489,999
|
|||||
Stockholder's
equity
|
|||||||
Common
stock, $.001 par value; 100,000,000 shares
|
|||||||
authorized;
21,836,052 and 20,097,627 issued and
|
|||||||
outstanding
at December 31, 2004, and 2003
|
21,836
|
20,115
|
|||||
Less:
common stock in treasury, at cost,
|
|||||||
100,025
shares at December 31, 2004 and 2003.
|
(13,370)
|
(13,370)
|
|||||
Subscription
receivable
|
(750)
|
-
|
|||||
Capital
in excess of par value
|
15,125,607
|
9,010,453
|
|||||
Accumulated
deficit
|
(8,336,420)
|
(7,165,415)
|
|||||
Total
stockholder's equity
|
6,796,903
|
1,851,783
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
Total
liabilities and stockholder's equity
|
$ 14,473,326
|
$ 8,341,782
|
|||||
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
20
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
|||||||
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
__For
the Years Ended December 31,_
|
|||||||
___2004___
|
___2003___
|
___2002___
|
|||||
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
||||||
Revenues
|
|||||||
Sale
of oil and gas
|
$ 799,474
|
$ 901,739
|
$ 752,971
|
||||
Royalty
income
|
674
|
529
|
351
|
||||
Partnership
income
|
30,000
|
30,000
|
18,299
|
||||
Gain
on sale of property
|
|
-
|
-
|
||||
Interest
income
|
45,990
|
34,479
|
19,534
|
||||
Drilling
and development
|
3,559,500
|
5,440,780
|
5,421,782
|
||||
Other
income
|
63,032
|
56,718
|
71,971
|
||||
|
|||||||
Total
revenues
|
4,498,670
|
6,464,245
|
6,284,908
|
||||
|
|||||||
Costs
and expenses
|
|
||||||
Mining
exploration costs
|
1,029,898
|
366,039
|
169,111
|
||||
Oil
and gas leases
|
144,101
|
183,362
|
224,320
|
||||
Drilling
and development costs
|
2,224,793
|
4,014,889
|
3,648,089
|
||||
General
and administrative
|
2,103,457
|
1,373,058
|
1,316,893
|
||||
Interest
|
33,332
|
2,572
|
1,838
|
||||
Depreciation,
depletion and amortization
|
21,699
|
29,216
|
34,384
|
||||
Well
write-off
|
|
-
|
-
|
||||
Impairment
of acquisition costs
|
112,395
|
-
|
45,143
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||
Total
costs and expenses
|
5,669,675
|
5,969,136
|
5,439,778
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||
Net
income (loss) before income taxes
|
(1,171,005)
|
495,109
|
845,130
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||
Tax
provision
|
-
|
39,000
|
76,000
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||
Net
income (loss)
|
$ (1,171,005)
|
$ 456,109
|
$ 769,130
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||
Basic
and diluted earnings (loss) per common share
|
|||||||
and
common equivalent share
|
$ (0.06)
|
$ 0.02
|
$ 0.04
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||
Weighted
average number of shares outstanding
|
20,507,342
|
19,801,785
|
19,702,054
|
||||
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
21
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDER'S EQUITY
|
|
Total
|
Capital
in
|
Common
|
||||||
Common
|
Treasury
|
Excess
of
|
Stock
|
Accumulated
|
Treasury
|
Stockholder's
|
||
Shares
|
Shares
|
Par
Value
|
Par
Value
|
Receivable
|
Deficit
|
Stock
|
Equity
|
|
Balance
at
December
31, 2002
|
19,726,348
|
100,025
|
$ 19,726
|
$ 8,879,724
|
$ (2,250)
|
$(7,621,524)
|
$(13,370)
|
$1,262,306
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Issuance
of common stock
|
371,279
|
-
|
389
|
1,442,439
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1,442,828
|
Stock
issuance cost
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(1,311,710)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(1,311,710)
|
Common
stock receivable
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
2,250
|
-
|
-
|
2,250
|
Net
income, as restated
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
456,109
|
-
|
456,109
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
at December 31, 2003, as restated
|
20,097,627
|
100,025
|
20,115
|
9,010,453
|
-
|
(7,165,415)
|
(13,370)
|
1,851,783
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Issuance
of common stock
|
1,738,425
|
-
|
1,721
|
6,761,354
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
6,763,075
|
Stock
issuance cost
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(646,200)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(646,200)
|
Common
stock receivable
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(750)
|
-
|
-
|
(750)
|
Net
loss
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(1,171,005)
|
-
|
(1,171,005)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
at December 31, 2004,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
restated
|
21,836,052
|
100,025
|
$ 21,836
|
$ 15,125,607
|
$ (750)
|
$ (8,336,420)
|
$ (13,370)
|
$ 6,796,903
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
|
|
22
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
|
|
For
the Years Ended December 31,
|
|||
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
||
CASH
FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
|
Net
income (loss)
|
$ (1,171,005)
|
$ 456,108
|
$ 769,130
|
Adjustments
to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash
|
|
|
|
provided
(used) by operating activities:
|
|
|
|
Depreciation,
depletion, and amortization
|
21,699
|
29,216
|
34,384
|
Impairment,
dry hole and other disposals of property
|
112,395
|
-
|
45,143
|
Land
acquisition costs sold
|
-
|
-
|
122,315
|
(Gain)
on sale of property
|
|
-
|
-
|
Non-employee
stock compensation
|
804,180
|
-
|
119,700
|
Impairment,
dry hole and other disposals of property
|
|
|
|
and
equipment
|
|
-
|
-
|
Changes
in operating capital:
|
|
|
|
(Increase)
decrease in accounts receivable
|
(28,183)
|
(12,207)
|
(44,393)
|
Increase
in prepaids
|
|
-
|
-
|
Increase
in deposits and other assets
|
87,671
|
(55,400)
|
(212,000)
|
Increase
(decrease) in income taxes payable
|
(39,000)
|
(37,000)
|
76,000
|
Increase
(decrease) in accounts payable and accrued expenses
|
552,064
|
121,544
|
267,239
|
Increase
(decrease) in amounts payable to joint venture
|
|
|
|
participants
and related parties
|
8,840
|
16,863
|
14,781
|
Increase
(decrease) in advances from joint venture
|
|
|
|
Participants
|
674,526
|
3,029,817
|
(37,380)
|
Net
Cash Provided by Operating Activities
|
1,023,187
|
3,548,941
|
1,154,919
|
CASH
FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
|
Proceeds
from sale of property
|
-
|
402,164
|
-
|
Capital
expenditures
|
(369,181)
|
-
|
(184,185)
|
(Investment
in) advance to joint project
|
(150,000)
|
-
|
-
|
(Investment
in) distribution from partnerships
|
-
|
-
|
10,000
|
Net
Cash Provided (Used) by Investing Activities
|
(519,181)
|
402,164
|
(174,185)
|
CASH
FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
|
|||
Proceeds
from long-term debt
|
-
|
-
|
29,686
|
Principal
payments on long-term debt
|
(10,006)
|
(13,792)
|
(5,739)
|
Net
Proceeds from issuance of common stock
|
5,310,224
|
133,368
|
19,700
|
Sale
of treasury stock
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Stock
issuance costs
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Net
Cash Provided by Financing Activities
|
5,301,939
|
119,576
|
43,647
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
|
|
23
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
|
|
For
the Years Ended December 31,
|
|||
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
||
Net Increase (Decrease) in Cash and Cash Equivalents
|
$ 5,805,945
|
$ 4,070,681
|
$ 1,024,381
|
|
|
|
|
Cash at Beginning of Year
|
6,006,975
|
1,936,294
|
911,913
|
Cash at End of Year
|
$11,812,920
|
$ 6,006,975
|
$ 1,936,294
|
Interest paid
|
$ 33,332
|
$ 2,572
|
$ 1,838
|
Income taxes paid
|
$ -
|
$ 40,000
|
$ 800
|
SUPPLEMENTAL NON-CASH ACTIVITIES:
|
Services paid with common stocks
|
$ 92,200
|
$ 23,247
|
$ -
|
Stock issued to exchange mining claims
|
$ 712,000
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
|
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
|
|
24
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
1 - GENERAL
|
|
History
and Business Activity
|
Tri-Valley
Corporation ("TVC" or the Company), a Delaware corporation formed
in 1971,
is in the business of exploring, acquiring and developing petroleum
and
precious metals properties and interests therein. Tri-Valley has
three
wholly owned subsidiaries. Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Company ("TVOG")
operates the oil & gas activities, and derives the majority of its
revenue from oil and gas drilling and development. Tri-Valley Power
Corporation and Select Resources are the other two wholly owned
subsidiaries which have minimum activities during 2004.
|
|
The
Company conducts its oil and gas business primarily through Tri-Valley
Oil
& Gas Company. TVOG is engaged in the exploration, acquisition and
production of oil and gas properties. Substantially all of the Company's
oil and gas reserves are located in northern California. In the fiscal
year 1987, the Company added precious metals exploration. At present,
the
precious metals exploration activities are conducted directly by
the
parent, Tri-Valley Corporation. TVC has traditionally sought acquisition
or merger opportunities within and outside of petroleum and mineral
industries.
|
|
For
purposes of reporting operating segments, the Company is involved
in three
areas. These are drilling and development, oil and gas production,
and
precious metals.
|
|
|
NOTE
2 - RESTATEMENT
|
|
2004
Restatement
|
Management
discovered in 2005 that the stocks issued to the board of directors
were
inadvertently over-priced at the end of 2004 for total of $105,000.
As the
result the Company restated its 2004 financial statement to correct
this
error.
|
|
The
following sets forth the significant effects of the aforementioned
restatements to the Company's consolidated financial statements for
the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2004:
|
As
Previously
|
As
|
|||
Reported
|
Adjustment
|
Restated
|
||
General
and administrative
|
2,208,457
|
(105,000)
|
2,103,457
|
|
Total
Cost and Expenses
|
5,774,675
|
(105,000)
|
5,669,675
|
|
Net
income (loss)
|
(1,276,005)
|
105,000
|
(1,171,005)
|
|
Capital
in excess of par value
|
15,230,607
|
(105,000)
|
15,125,607
|
|
Accumulated
deficit
|
(8,441,420)
|
105,000
|
(8,336,420)
|
2003
Restatement
|
Management
determined that its accounting procedures for revenue and costs related
to
turnkey drilling were no longer appropriate and required an adjustment
for
the fiscal year ended 2003 and the first two quarters for fiscal
2004.
|
|
The
restatements for the year ended December 31, 2003 resulted from a
change
in the Company's revenue recognition policy. The Company previously
recognized revenues on turnkey drillings before the close of the
books
because full payment had been collected and the amounts were non
refundable. The Company changed its revenue recognition policy to
book
revenue only when the well is drilled to its target depth and/or
logged.
|
|
25
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
2 - RESTATEMENT (continued)
|
|
2003
Restatement (continued)
|
This
change has caused drilling revenue and the related costs to decrease
during the year ended December 31, 2003 and increase in the first
quarter
of the year ended December 31, 2004.
|
|
The
restatement for the quarter ended June 30, 2004 relates to the correction
of an expense that was originally double booked. The adjustment has
resulted in an increase of earnings
|
|
The
following sets forth the significant effects of the aforementioned
restatements to the Company's consolidated financial statements for
the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2003:
|
|
As
Previously
|
As
|
|||
Reported
|
Adjustment
|
Restated
|
Reference
|
|
Sales
of oil and gas prospects
|
$ 6,585,780
|
$ 1,145,000)
|
$ 5,440,780
|
[1]
|
Total
Revenues
|
7,609,245
|
(1,145,000)
|
6,464,245
|
|
Cost
of oil and gas prospects sold
|
4,360,679
|
(345,790)
|
4,014,889
|
[2]
|
General
and administrative
|
1,449,589
|
(76,531)
|
1,373,058
|
[3]
|
Total
Cost and Expenses
|
6,391,463
|
(422,327)
|
5,969,136
|
|
Net
income (loss) before income tax
|
1,217,782
|
(722,673)
|
495,109
|
|
Tax
provision
|
58,000
|
(19,000)
|
39,000
|
[4]
|
Net
Income (Loss)
|
1,159,782
|
(664,673)
|
456,109
|
|
Basic
and diluted earnings (loss) per
|
||||
common
share and common
equivalent
|
0.06
|
(0.04)
|
0.02
|
|
Property
and Equipment, Net
|
$ 1,522,333
|
$ 20,788
|
$ 1,543,121
|
[5]
|
Total
Assets
|
8,320,992
|
20,790
|
8,341,782
|
|
Income
tax payable
|
58,000
|
(19,000)
|
39,000
|
[4]
|
Accounts
payable & accrued expenses
|
777,729
|
(91,945)
|
685,784
|
[3]
|
Advances
from joint venture participants
|
4,811,742
|
835,408
|
5,647,150
|
[6]
|
Total
Current Liabilities
|
5,748,731
|
724,463
|
6,473,194
|
|
Total
liabilities
|
5,765,536
|
724,463
|
6,489,999
|
|
Accumulated
deficit
|
(6,461,742)
|
(703,673)
|
(7,165,415)
|
[7]
|
Total
Shareholders' Equity
|
2,555,456
|
(703,673)
|
1,851,783
|
|
Total
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity
|
8,320,992
|
20,790
|
8,341,782
|
The
restatements to the financial statements for the year ended December
31,
2003 are due to:
|
|
1.
|
Recognition
of revenues related to turnkey drilling of $1,145,000 was deferred
to 2004
when oil or gas well was drilled to its target depth and/or
logged.
|
|
|
|
26
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
2 - RESTATEMENT (continued)
|
|
2003
Restatement (continued)
|
2.
|
This
amount of cost of oil and gas prospects was erroneously omitted in
the
previously filed statements of operations, although it was included
in the
total cost.
|
|
|
3.
|
Certain
general and administration costs associated with the deferred turnkey
revenue were also deferred to match with the revenue
recognition.
|
|
NOTE
3 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
|
|
This
summary of significant accounting policies of Tri-Valley Corporation
is
presented to assist in understanding the Company's financial statements.
The financial statements and notes are representations of the Company's
management, which is responsible for their integrity and objectivity.
These accounting policies conform to accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America and have been consistently
applied in the preparation of the financial statements.
|
|
Principles
of Consolidation
|
The
consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company
and
its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. and Selected
Resources. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have
been
eliminated in consolidation.
|
|
Use
of Estimates in the Preparation of Financial Statements
|
The
preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires
management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported
amounts of assets, liabilities and disclosures at the date of the
financial statements as well as the reported amounts of revenues
and
expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ
from
those estimates.
|
|
Material
estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change
relate
to the estimate of Company oil and gas reserves prepared by an independent
engineering consultant. Such estimates are subject to numerous
uncertainties inherent in the estimation of quantities of proved
reserves.
|
|
Estimated
reserves are used in the calculation of depletion, depreciation and
amortization as well as the Company's assessment of proved oil and
gas
properties for impairment.
|
|
Cash
Equivalent and Short-Term Investments
|
Cash
equivalents include cash on hand and on deposit, and highly liquid
debt
instruments with original maturities of three months or less. The
majority
of these funds are held at Smith Barney.
|
|
Goodwill
|
The
consolidated financial statements include the net assets purchased
of
Tri-Valley Corporation's wholly owned oil and gas subsidiary, TVOG.
Net
assets are carried at their fair market value at the acquisition
date. On
January 1, 2002, Tri-Valley Corporation adopted Financial Accounting
Standards Board (FASB) Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
(SFAS)
No. 142, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets" (SFAS 142). Under
SFAS
142, goodwill is a non-amortizable asset, and is subject to a periodic
review for impairment. Prior to the implementation of SFAS 142, the
Company had goodwill of $433,853 that was being amortized. The carrying
amount of goodwill is evaluated annually in December of each year.
Factors
used in the evaluation include the Company's ability to raise capital
as a
public company and anticipated cash flows from operating and non-operating
mineral properties. Based on management's evaluation, no impairment
has
been applied to the carrying amount of goodwill for the years ended
December 31, 2002, 2003, and 2004.
|
|
27
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
3 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
(Continued)
|
|
Advances
from Joint Venture Participants
|
Advances
received by the Company from joint venture partners for contract
drilling
projects, which are to be spent by the Company on behalf of the joint
venture partners, are classified within operating inflows on the
basis
they do not meet the definition of financing or investing activities.
When
the cash advances are spent, the payable is reduced accordingly.
These
advances do not contribute to the Company's operating profits and
are
accounted or/disclosed as balance sheet entries only i.e. within
cash and
payable to joint venture participants.
|
|
Revenue
Recognition
|
|
Sale
of Oil and Gas
|
Crude
oil and natural gas revenues are recognized as production occurs,
the
title and risk of loss transfers to a third party purchaser, net
of
royalties, discounts, and allowances, as applicable.
|
|
Sale
of Oil and Gas Prospects
|
Oil
and gas prospects are developed by the Company for sale to industry
partners and investors. These prospects are usually exploratory,
and
include costs of leasing, acquisition, and other geological and
geophysical costs (hereafter referred to as "GGLA") plus a profit
to the
Company. Prior to 2002, the Company recognized revenue and profit
from
prospect sales when sold, irrespective of drilling commencement
("spudding").
|
|
Starting
2002 the Company changed its prospect offerings by inclusion of estimated
costs of drilling in addition to GGLA costs. This offering is termed
a
"turnkey" exploratory drilling opportunity because investors are
charged
only one certain amount in return for Tri-Valley drilling a well
to the
agreed total depth.
|
|
Once
the well is spudded, investor money is not refundable. Tri-Valley
recognizes revenue when the well is logged. Amounts charged are included
in an Authority for Expenditure (AFE), which is a budget for each
project
well. Tri-Valley prepares the AFE and bears all risk of well completion
to
total depth. If the well is drilled to total depth for actual costs
less
than the AFE amounts, the Company realizes a profit. Conversely,
if actual
costs exceed the AFE, Tri-Valley realizes a loss.
|
|
Drilling
Agreements/Joint Ventures
|
Tri-Valley
frequently participates in drilling agreements whereby it acts as
operator
of drilling and producing activities. As operator, TVOG is liable
for the
activities of these ventures. In the initial well in a prospect,
the
Company owns a carried interest and/or overriding royalty interest
in such
ventures, earning a working interest upon commencement of drilling.
Costs
of subsequent wells drilled in a prospect are shared by a pro rata
interest.
|
|
Receivables
from and amounts payable to these related parties (as well as other
related parties) have been segregated in the accompanying financial
statements. For turnkey projects, amounts received for drilling
activities, which have not been spudded are deferred and remain within
the
joint venture liability, in accordance with the Company's revenue
recognition policies. Revenue is recognized upon the completion of
drilling operations and the well is logged. Actual or estimated costs
to
complete the drilling are charged as costs against this
revenue.
|
|
Oil
and Gas Property and Equipment (Successful Efforts)
|
The
Company accounts for its oil and gas exploration and development
costs
using the Successful Efforts Method. Under this method, costs to
acquire
mineral interests in oil and gas properties, to drill and complete
exploratory wells that find proved reserves and to drill and complete
development wells are capitalized. Exploratory dry-hole costs, geological
and geophysical costs and costs of carrying and retaining unproved
|
|
28
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
3 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
(Continued)
|
|
Oil
and Gas Property and Equipment (Successful Efforts,
continued)
|
properties
are expensed when incurred, except those GGLA expenditures incurred
on
behalf of joint venture drilling projects, which the Company defers
until
the GGLA is sold at the completion of project funding and the target
prospect is drilled. Expenditures incurred in drilling exploratory
wells
are accumulated as work in process until the Company determines whether
the well has encountered commercial oil and gas reserves.
|
|
If
the well has encountered commercial reserves, the accumulated cost
is
transferred to oil and gas properties; otherwise, the accumulated
cost,
net of salvage value, is charged to dry hole expense. If the well
has
encountered commercial reserves but cannot be classified as proved
within
one year after discovery, then the well is considered to be impaired,
and
the capitalized costs (net of any salvage value) of drilling the
well are
charged to expense. In 2004, 2003, and 2002 there was $112,395, $0,
and
$45,143 respectively, charged to expense for impairment of exploratory
well costs. Depletion, depreciation and amortization of oil and gas
producing properties are computed on an aggregate basis using the
units-of-production method based upon estimated proved developed
reserves.
|
|
At
December 31, 2004 and 2003, the Company carried unproved property
costs of
$1.381 million and $1.252 million, respectively. Generally accepted
accounting principles require periodic evaluation of these costs
on a
project-by-project basis in comparison to their estimated value.
These
evaluations will be affected by the results of exploration activities,
commodity price outlooks, planned future sales or expiration of all
or a
portion of the leases, contracts and permits appurtenant to such
projects.
If the quantity of potential reserves determined by such evaluations
is
not sufficient to fully recover the cost invested in each project,
the
Company will recognize non cash charges in the earnings of future
periods.
|
|
Capitalized
costs relating to proved properties are depleted using the
unit-of-production method based on proved reserves. Costs of significant
non-producing properties, wells in the process of being drilled and
development projects are excluded from depletion until such time
as the
related project is completed and proved reserves are established
or, if
unsuccessful, impairment is determined.
|
|
Upon
the sale of oil and gas reserves in place, costs less accumulated
amortization of such property are removed from the accounts and resulting
gain or loss on sale is reflected in operations. Impairment of
non-producing leasehold costs and undeveloped mineral and royalty
interests are assessed periodically on a property-by-property basis,
and
any impairment in value is currently charged to expense.
|
|
In
addition, we assess the capitalized costs of unproved properties
periodically to determine whether their value has been impaired below
the
capitalized costs. We recognize a loss to the extent that such impairment
is indicated. In making these assessments, we consider factors such
as
exploratory drilling results, future drilling plans, and lease expiration
terms. When an entire interest in an unproved property is sold, gain
or
loss is recognized, taking into consideration any recorded impairment.
When a partial interest in an unproved property is sold, the amount
is
treated as a reduction of the cost of the interest retained, with
excess
revenue and carrying costs being recognized. Upon abandonment of
properties, the reserves are deemed fully depleted and any unamortized
costs are recorded in the statement of operations under leases sold,
relinquished and impaired.
|
|
Gold
Mineral Property
|
The
Company has invested in several gold mineral properties with exploration
potential. All mineral claim acquisition costs and exploration and
development expenditures are charged to expense as incurred. We capitalize
acquisition and exploration costs only after persuasive engineering
evidence is obtained to support recoverability of these costs (ideally
upon determination of proven and/or probable reserves based upon
dense
drilling samples and feasibility studies by a recognized independent
engineer). Currently no amounts have been capitalized.
|
|
29
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
3 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
(Continued)
|
|
Other
Properties and Equipment
|
Properties
and equipment are depreciated using the straight-line method over
the
following estimated useful lives:
|
|
Office
furniture and fixtures
Building
|
3
-
7 years
40
years
|
|
|
Leasehold
improvements are amortized over the life of the lease.
|
|
Maintenance
and repairs, which neither materially add to the value of the property
nor
appreciably prolong its life, are charged to expense as incurred.
Gains or
losses on dispositions of property and equipment other than oil and
gas
are reflected in operations.
|
|
Concentration
of Credit Risk and Fair Value of Financial Instruments
|
As
discussed in Note 9, the Company sells oil, gas and natural gas liquids
to
primarily one purchaser located in the northern California
region.
|
|
The
Company places its temporary cash investments with high credit quality
financial institutions and limits the amount of credit exposure to
any one
financial institution.
|
|
Fair
value of financial instruments is estimated to approximate the related
book value, unless otherwise indicated, based on market information
available to the Company.
|
|
Stock
Based Compensation Plans
|
The
Company has adopted only the disclosure requirements of SFAS No.
123,
Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, and has elected to continue
to
record stock-based compensation expense using the intrinsic-value
approach
prescribed by Accounting Principles Board ("APB") Opinion 25. The
application of APB Opinion 25 has further been clarified by Financial
Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Interpretation No. 44, "Accounting
for
Certain Transactions involving Stock Compensation". Under APB No.
25,
because the exercise price of the company's employee stock options
equals
the market price of the underlying stock on the date of grant, no
compensation expense is recognized. However, SFAS No. 123, "Accounting
for
Stock-Based Compensation," requires presentation of pro forma information
as if the company had accounted for its employee stock options and
performance awards granted subsequent to December 31, 1994, under
the fair
value of that statement.
|
|
For
purposes of pro forma disclosure, the estimated fair value of the
options
and performance awards at the date of grant is charged to expense
as the
employee stock options are fully vested upon grant. Under the fair
value
method, the company's net income (loss) and earnings (loss) per share
would have been as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
30
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
3 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
(Continued)
|
|
Stock
Based Compensation Plans (continued)
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
||
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
||
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
|||
Net
Income
|
As
reported
|
$ (1,171,005)
|
$ 496,109
|
$ 769,130
|
Pro
forma
|
(1,171,005)
|
399,009
|
769,130
|
|
Earnings
per share
|
As
reported
|
(0.06)
|
0.02
|
0.04
|
Pro
forma
|
(0.06)
|
0.01
|
0.04
|
|
Diluted
earnings per share
|
As
reported
|
(0.06)
|
0.02
|
0.04
|
Pro
forma
|
(0.06)
|
0.01
|
0.03
|
Reclassification
|
Certain
amounts in the financial statements have been reclassified to be
consistent and comparable from year-to-year.
|
|
Treasury
Stock
|
The
Company records acquisition of its capital stock for treasury at
cost.
Differences between proceeds for reissuance of treasury stock and
average
cost are charged to retained earnings or credited thereto to the
extent of
prior charges and thereafter to capital in excess of par value.
|
|
Recently
Issued Accounting Pronouncements
|
In
April 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 145, "Rescission of FASB Statements
No. 4, 44 and 64, Amendment of FASB Statement No. 13 and Technical
Corrections". SFAS 145, which is effective for fiscal years beginning
after May 15, 2002, provides guidance for income statement classification
of gains and losses on extinguishment of debt and accounting for
certain
lease modifications that have economic effects that are similar to
sale-leaseback transactions. The adoption of this statement did not
impact
the Company's financial position, results of operations, or cash
flows.
|
|
In
June 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 146, "Accounting for Costs Associated
with Exit or Disposal Activities." SFAS 146 nullifies the guidance
of the
Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) Issue No. 94-3, "Liability Recognition
for Certain Employee Termination Benefits and Other Costs to Exit
an
Activity (including Certain Costs Incurred in a Restructuring)."
SFAS 146
requires that a liability for a cost that is associated with an exit
or
disposal activity be recognized when the liability is incurred. SFAS
146
also establishes that fair value is the objective for the initial
measurement of the liability. The provisions of SFAS 146 are required
for
exit or disposal activities that are initiated after December 31,
2003.
The adoption of this statement did not impact the Company's financial
position, results of operations, or cash flows.
|
|
In
December 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 148, "Accounting for Stock-Based
Compensation - Transition and Disclosure." SFAS 148 amends FASB Statement
No. 123, "Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation" to provide alternative
methods of transition for a voluntary change to the fair value based
method of accounting for stock-based employee compensation. In addition,
this Statement amends the disclosure requirements of Statement 123
to
require prominent disclosures in both annual and interim financial
statements about the method of accounting for stock-based employee
compensation and the effect of the method used on the reported
|
|
31
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
3 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
(Continued)
|
|
Recently
Issued Accounting Pronouncements (continued)
|
results.
The provisions of SFAS 148 are effective for financial statements
for
fiscal years ending after December 15, 2002. The adoption of this
statement did not impact the Company's financial position, results
of
operations, or cash flows.
|
|
During
January 2003, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued
interpretation No. 46, "Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities"
("FIN46"), which requires the consolidation of certain entities that
are
determined to be variable interest entities ("VIE's"). An entity
is
considered to be a VIE when either (i) the entity lacks sufficient
equity
to carry on its principal operations, (ii) the equity owners of the
entity
cannot make decisions about the entity's activities or (iii) the
entity's
equity neither absorbs losses or benefits from gains.
|
|
In
November 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 151, "Inventory Costs". SFAS
No.
151 amends the accounting for abnormal amounts of idle facility expense,
freight, handling costs, and wasted material (spoilage) under the
guidance
in ARB No. 43, Chapter 4,"Inventory Pricing". Paragraph 5 of ARB
No. 43,
Chapter 4, previously stated that ". . . under some circumstances,
items
such as idle facility expense, excessive spoilage, double freight,
and
rehandling costs may be so abnormal as to require treatment as current
period charges. . . ." This Statement requires that those items be
recognized as current-period charges regardless of whether they meet
the
criterion of "so abnormal." In addition, this Statement requires
that
allocation of fixed production overheads to the costs of conversion
be
based on the normal capacity of the production facilities. This statement
is effective for inventory costs incurred during fiscal years beginning
after June 15, 2005. Management does not expect adoption of SFAS
No. 151
to have a material impact on the Company's financial
statements.
|
|
In
December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 152, "Accounting for Real
Estate
Time-Sharing Transactions". The FASB issued this Statement as a result
of
the guidance provided in AICPA Statement of Position (SOP)
04-2,"Accounting for Real Estate Time-Sharing Transactions". SOP
04-2
applies to all real estate time-sharing transactions. Among other
items,
the SOP provides guidance on the recording of credit losses and the
treatment of selling costs, but does not change the revenue recognition
guidance in SFAS No. 66, "Accounting for Sales of Real Estate", for
real
estate time-sharing transactions. SFAS No. 152 amends Statement No.
66 to
reference the guidance provided in SOP 04-2. SFAS No. 152 also amends
SFAS
No. 67, "Accounting for Costs and Initial Rental Operations of Real
Estate
Projects", to state that SOP 04-2 provides the relevant guidance
on
accounting for incidental operations and costs related to the sale
of real
estate time-sharing transactions. SFAS No. 152 is effective for years
beginning after June 15, 2005, with restatements of previously issued
financial statements prohibited. This statement is not applicable
to the
Company.
|
|
In
December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 153, "Exchanges of Nonmonetary
Assets," an amendment to Opinion No. 29, "Accounting for Nonmonetary
Transactions". Statement No. 153 eliminates certain differences in
the
guidance in Opinion No. 29 as compared to the guidance contained
in
standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
The
amendment to Opinion No. 29 eliminates the fair value exception for
nonmonetary exchanges of similar productive assets and replaces it
with a
general exception for exchanges of nonmonetary assets that do not
have
commercial substance. Such an exchange has commercial substance if
the
future cash flows of the entity are expected to change significantly
as a
result of the exchange. SFAS No. 153 is effective for nonmonetary
asset
exchanges occurring in periods beginning after June 15, 2005. Earlier
application is permitted for nonmonetary asset exchanges occuring
in
periods beginning after December 16, 2004. Management does not expect
adoption of SFAS No. 153 to have a material impact on the Company's
financial statements.
|
|
In
December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 123(R), "Share-Based Payment"
which amends SFAS No. 123, "Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation",
and
APB Opinion 25, "Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees." SFAS
No.123(R)
requires that the cost of share-based payment transactions (including
those with
|
|
32
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
3 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
(Continued)
|
|
Recently
Issued Accounting Pronouncements
(Continued)
|
employees
and non-employees) be recognized in the financial statements. SFAS
No.
123(R) applies to all share-based payment transactions in which an
entity
acquires goods or services by issuing (or offering to issue) its
shares,
share options, or other equity instruments (except for those held
by an
ESOP) or by incurring liabilities (1) in amounts based (even in part)
on
the price of the entity's shares or other equity instruments, or
(2) that
require (or may require) settlement by the issuance of an entity's
shares
or other equity instruments. This statement is effective (1) for
public
companies qualifying as SEC small business issuers, as of the first
interim period or fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2005,
or (2)
for all other public companies, as of the first interim period or
fiscal
year beginning after June 15, 2005, or (3) for all nonpublic entities,
as
of the first fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2005. Management
is
currently assessing the effect of SFAS No. 123(R) on the Company's
financial statement.
|
|
Sarbanes-Oxley
Act Of 2002
|
Section
404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires public Companies to
report
on both internal control over financial reporting and disclosure
controls
and procedures. Internal control over financial reporting refers
to:
|
(a)
|
controls
to ensure that a Company's information systems record financial
information that allows the Company to issue fair and accurate financial
statements;
|
|
|
(b)
|
controls
that ensure against unauthorized receipts and expenditures;
and
|
|
|
(c)
|
controls
to prevent and detect unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition
of the
assets.
|
Disclosure
controls and procedures refer to controls that ensure that all information
that must be reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission is
received by management on a timely basis.
|
|
|
NOTE
4 - PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
|
|
Oil
and gas properties, and equipment and fixtures consist of the
following:
|
December
31,
|
||
2004
|
2003
|
|
Oil and gas - California
|
||
Proved properties, gross
|
$ 752,705
|
$ 752,705
|
- accumulated depletion
|
(621,323)
|
(604,223)
|
Proved properties, net
|
131,382
|
148,482
|
Unproved properties
|
1,381,667
|
1,251,953
|
Total oil and gas properties
|
1,513,049
|
1,400,435
|
|
33
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
4 - PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT (Continued)
|
December
31
|
||
2004
|
2003
|
|
Other
property and equipment
|
||
Land
|
12,281
|
12,281
|
Building
|
50,395
|
50,395
|
Transmission
tower
|
45,000
|
45,000
|
Office
equipment, vehicle, and leasehold improvements
|
345,586
|
218,514
|
453,262
|
326,190
|
|
Accumulated
depreciation
|
(188,103)
|
(183,504)
|
Total
other property and equipment, net
|
265,159
|
142,686
|
Property
and equipment, net
|
$ 1,778,208
|
$ 1,543,121
|
|
NOTE
5 - NOTES PAYABLE
|
|
December
31,
|
||
2004
|
2003
|
|
Note
payable to Union Bank dated July 29,2002;
|
||
secured
by a vehicle; interest at 8.3%; payable
|
||
in
60 monthly installments of $602.
|
$ 12,452
|
$ 22,437
|
Note
payable to Union Bank, dated January
|
||
15,
2000; secured by a vehicle; interest at 8.5%;
|
||
Payable
in 60 monthly installments of $380.
|
4,332
|
4,353
|
16,784
|
26,790
|
|
Less
current portion
|
9,985
|
9,985
|
Long-term
portion of notes payable
|
$ 6,799
|
$ 16,805
|
Maturities
of long-term debt for the years subsequent to December 31, 2004 are
as
follows:
|
|
2005
|
$ 9,985
|
|
2006
|
2,721
|
|
2007
|
4,078
|
|
$ 16,784
|
||
|
34
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
6 - RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
|
|
Employee
Stock Options
|
The
Company has a qualified and a nonqualified stock option plan, which
provides for the granting of options to key employees, consultants,
and
nonemployee directors of the Company.
|
|
The
option price, number of shares and grant date are determined at the
discretion of the Company's board of directors. Options granted under
the
plans are exercisable immediately; however, the plan expires in August
2008.
|
|
The
purpose of the Company's stock option plans is to further the interest
of
the Company by enabling officers, directors, employees, consultants
and
advisors of the Company to acquire an interest in the Company by
ownership
of its stock through the exercise of stock options and stock appreciation
rights granted under its various stock option plans.
|
|
The
fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant
the
Black-Scholes American option-pricing model with the following
weighted-average assumptions used for grant in 2003 and 2002,
respectively. There were no options granted in 2004.
|
|
Year
|
|
Expected
Life
|
|
Expected
Dividends
|
|
Expected
Volatility
|
|
Risk-Free
Interest
Rates
|
2003
|
|
4
|
|
None
|
|
88%
|
|
3.00
|
2002
|
|
5
|
|
None
|
|
98.04%
|
|
3.86
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A
summary of the status of the Company's fixed stock option plan as
of
December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002 and changes during the years ending
on
those dates is presented below:
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
||||
Weighted-
|
Weighted-
|
Weighted-
|
||||
Average
|
Average
|
Average
|
||||
Exercise
|
Exercise
|
Exercise
|
||||
Shares
|
Price
|
Shares
|
Price
|
Shares
|
Price
|
|
Fixed
Options
|
||||||
Outstanding
at
beginning
of year
|
3,018,600
|
$ 1.27
|
2,960,500
|
$ 1.25
|
3,229,000
|
$ 1.26
|
Granted
|
-
|
-
|
100,000
|
$ 1.33
|
-
|
$ -
|
Exercised
|
(465,000)
|
$ 1.20
|
(41,900)
|
$ 0.50
|
(20,500)
|
$ 0.50
|
Cancelled
|
-
|
$ -
|
-
|
$ -
|
(248,000)
|
$ 1.36
|
Outstanding
at end
of
year
|
2,553,600
|
$ 1.28
|
3,018,600
|
$ 1.27
|
2,960,500
|
$ 1.25
|
Options
exercisable
at
year-end
|
2,553,600
|
3,018,600
|
2,960,500
|
|||
Weighted-average
fair value of options granted during the year
|
||||||
n/a
|
$ 0.96
|
n/a
|
||||
Available
for
issuance
|
390,000
|
|||||
35
|
||||||
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
6 - RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (Continued)
|
|
Employee
Stock Options (continued)
|
The
following table summarizes information about fixed stock options
outstanding at December 31, 2004:
|
|
Options
Outstanding and Exercisable
|
|||
Weighted-Average
|
|||
Number
Outstanding
|
Remaining
|
Weighted-Average
|
|
Range
of Exercise Prices
|
at
December 31, 2004
|
Contractual
Life
|
Exercise
Price
|
$.50
- $2.43
|
2,553,600
|
3.72
|
$1.28
|
Partnerships
|
|
Tri-Valley
sells oil and gas prospects to partnerships that are sponsored by
Tri-Valley and sold to private investors for the purpose of oil and
gas
drilling and development. The Company accounts for these partnerships
on
the prorate combination method. Drilling and development revenue
related
to the Opus-I and Martins-Severin partnerships for the fiscal year
ended
December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002 are as follows:
|
|
|
December
31,
|
||
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
|
|
|
Drilling
and development revenue
|
$ 3,559,500
|
$ 5,440,780
|
$ 4,421,782
|
Drilling
and development costs
|
2,224,793
|
4,014,889
|
3,648,089
|
Advances
from joint venture
participants,
net
|
6,321,676
|
5,647,150
|
5,617,333
|
|
|
|
|
Oil
and gas income from the Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Exploration Programs
1971-1 for fiscal 2004, 2003 and 2002 follows:
|
|
December
31,
|
|||
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
Partnership
income, net of expenses
|
$ 30,000
|
$ 30,000
|
$ 18,299
|
NOTE
7 - EARNINGS PER SHARE
|
|
Year
|
|
Full
Year Basic Earnings (Loss) Per Share
|
|
Weighted-Average
Shares Outstanding
|
|
Diluted
Earnings (Loss) Per Share
|
|
Diluted
Earnings Weighted-Average Share Outstanding Plus Common
Stock
Equivalents
|
|
Common
Stock Equivalents Excluded from Diluted Earnings Per
Share
|
2004
|
|
$ (0.06)
|
|
20,507,342
|
|
$ (0.06)
|
|
2,553,600
|
|
$ -
|
2003
|
|
0.02
|
|
19,801,785
|
|
0.02
|
|
3,018,600
|
|
-
|
2002
|
|
0.04
|
|
19,702,054
|
|
0.03
|
|
2,698,500
|
|
960,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
diluted earning per share amounts are based on weighted-average shares
outstanding plus common stock equivalents. Common stock equivalents
include stock options and awards, and common stock warrants.
|
|
36
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
Common
stock equivalents excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings
per
share due to the effect was antidilutive.
|
|
|
NOTE
8 - INCOME TAXES
|
At
December 31, 2004, the Company had available net operating loss carry
forwards for financial statements and federal income tax purposes
of
approximately $2 million.
|
|
The
components of the net deferred tax assets were as follows
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
||
Deferred
tax assets:
|
|||
Net
operating loss carryforwards
|
$ 776,000
|
$ 345,727
|
$ 45,667
|
Statutory
depletion carryforwards
|
356,000
|
339,007
|
297,217
|
Total
deferred tax assets
|
1,132,000
|
684,734
|
342,884
|
Valuation
allowance
|
(1,132,000)
|
(684,734)
|
(342,884)
|
Net
deferred tax assets
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
A
full valuation allowance has been established for the deferred tax
assets
generated by net operating loss and statutory depletion carryforwards
due
to the uncertainty of future utilization. The net operating loss
expires
in 2022 for federal purposes and 2023 for state purposes. Depletion
carryforwards have an indefinite life.
|
|
The
reconciliation of federal taxable income follows:
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
||
Income
(loss) before tax
|
$ (1,171,005)
|
$ 495,109
|
$ 845,130
|
Computed
"expected" tax (benefit)
|
$ (398,000)
|
$ 168,000
|
$ 304,344
|
State
tax liability
|
-
|
39,000
|
76,000
|
Utilization
(non-utilization) of operating loss carryover
|
398,000
|
(168,000)
|
(304,344)
|
Total
income tax provision
|
$ -
|
$ 39,000
|
$ 76,000
|
|
|
37
|
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
|
NOTE
9 - MAJOR CUSTOMERS
|
|
Oil
and Gas
|
Substantially
all oil and gas sales have occurred in the northern California gas
market.
|
|
The
Company received substantially all of its oil and gas revenue from
one
customer. The oil and gas sales to this one customer amounted to
$799,474,
$901,739, and $752,971 for the year ended December 31, 2004, 2003,
and
2002, respectively.
|
|
NOTE
10 - FINANCIAL INFORMATION RELATING TO INDUSTRY
SEGMENTS
|
|
The
Company reports operating segments according to SFAS No. 131, "Disclosure
About Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information".
|
|
The
Company identifies reportable segments by product. The Company includes
revenues from both external customers and revenues from transactions
with
other operating segments in its measure of segment profit or loss.
The
Company also includes interest revenue and expense, DD&A, and other
operating expenses in its measure of segment profit or loss.
|
|
The
Company's operations are classified into three principal industry
segments. Following is a summary of segmented information for 2004,
2003,
and 2002:
|
Oil
and Gas
|
Precious
|
Drilling
and
|
||
Production
|
Metals
|
Development
|
Total
|
|
Year
ended December 31, 2004
|
||||
Revenues
from external customers
|
$ 830,148
|
$ -
|
$ 3,559,500
|
$ 4,389,648
|
Interest
revenue
|
$ 45,990
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 45,990
|
Interest
expense
|
$ 33,332
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 33,332
|
Expenditures
for segment assets
|
$ 369,181
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 369,181
|
Depreciation,
depletion, and amortization
|
$ 21,699
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 21,699
|
Total
assets
|
$ 14,473,326
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 14,473,326
|
Estimated
income tax benefit(expense)
|
$ 160,000
|
$ 412,000
|
$ (62,000)
|
$ 512,000
|
Net
income (loss)
|
$ (400,046)
|
$ (1,029,898)
|
$ 258,939
|
$ (1,171,005)
|
|
38
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
10 - FINANCIAL INFORMATION RELATING TO INDUSTRY SEGMENTS
(Continued)
|
|
Oil
and Gas
|
Precious
|
Drilling
and
|
||
Production
|
Metals
|
Development
|
Total
|
|
Year
ended December 31, 2003
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
||
Revenues
from external customers
|
$ 932,268
|
$ -
|
$ 5,440,780
|
$ 6,373,048
|
Interest
revenue
|
$ 34,479
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 34,479
|
Interest
expense
|
$ 2,572
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 2,572
|
Expenditures
for segment assets
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
Depreciation,
depletion, and amortization
|
$ 29,216
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 29,216
|
Total
assets
|
$ 8,320,992
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 8,341,782
|
Estimated
income tax benefit(expense)
|
$ 250,000
|
$ 146,000
|
$ (579,000)
|
$ (183,000)
|
Net
income (loss)
|
$ (624,280)
|
$ (366,039)
|
$ 1,446,428
|
$ 456,109
|
Year
ended December 31, 2002
|
||||
Revenues
from external customers
|
$ 771,621
|
$ -
|
$ 5,421,782
|
$ 6,193,403
|
Interest
revenue
|
$ 19,534
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 19,534
|
Interest
expense
|
$ 1,838
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 1,838
|
Expenditures
for segment assets
|
$ 155,132
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 155,132
|
Depreciation,
depletion, and amortization
|
$ 34,384
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 34,384
|
Total
assets
|
$ 4,634,874
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 4,634,874
|
Estimated
income tax benefit(expense)
|
$ 334,000
|
$ 68,000
|
$ (709,000)
|
$ (307,000)
|
Net
income (loss)
|
$ (835,452)
|
$ (169,111)
|
$ 1,773,693
|
$ 769,130
|
|
39
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
11 - COMMON STOCK
|
|
During
2004 the Company issued the following shares of common stock. All
of these
securities were issued pursuant to privately negotiated transactions
in
reliance on the exemption contained in Section 4(2) of the Securities
Act.
|
-
|
One
private individual purchased 1,090,000 common stock shares for total
$5,385,000 during the year: 300,000 shares at $4.5 per share, 200,000
shares at $4.75 per share, and 500,000 shares at $5.0 per share,
and
90,000 shares at $6.5 per share
|
|
|
-
|
Another
private individual purchased 3,000 shares at $4.05 per share.
|
|
|
-
|
Companies
issued 160,000 shares to two individuals to exchange mining claims
in
Alaska. The stocks were valued at $4.45 per share at the time of
the
exchange.
|
|
|
-
|
The
Company issued total 20,000 shares to directors of the Company for
services rendered during the year. At the time of the issuance the
stocks
were valuated at $4.6 per share.
|
|
|
-
|
During
the year various directors and employees of the Company exercised
stock
options previously granted. The new shares issued pursuant to the
stock
option plan amounted to 465,000 shares. Cash consideration received
totaled to $560,000.
|
|
|
-
|
During
the year the common stock issuance cost amounted to approximately
$646,200.
|
During
2003 we issued the following shares of common stock. All of these
securities were issued pursuant to privately negotiated transactions
in
reliance on the exemption contained in Section 4(2) of the Securities
Act.
|
|
-
|
One
officer, one former employee, and one private individual exercised
options
to purchase 41,900 common shares at $.50 each.
|
|
|
-
|
One
private individual purchased 3,000 common stock shares at $1.35
each.
|
|
|
-
|
The
Company issued 15,000 shares to the Company's officers. The closing
market
price of our common stock on the date we awarded these shares was
$1.36.
|
|
|
-
|
The
Company issued 50,000 shares to the Company's outside directors.
The
closing market price of our common stock on the date we awarded these
shares was $1.33
|
|
|
-
|
The
Company issued 6,000 shares to a consultant for service. The closing
market price of our common stock on the date we awarded these shares
was
$3.20.
|
|
|
-
|
The
Company issued 255,387 common shares to Swartz Private Equity,
LLC.
|
|
|
NOTE
12 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
|
|
Contingencies
|
The
Company is subject to possible loss contingencies pursuant to federal,
state and local environmental laws and regulations. These include
existing
and potential obligations to investigate the effects of the release
of
certain hydro-carbons or other substances at various sites; to remediate
or restore these sites; and to compensate
|
|
40
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
12 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Continued)
|
|
Contingencies
(continued)
|
others
for damages and to make other payments as required by law or regulation.
These obligations relate to sites owned by the Company or others,
and are
associated with past and present oil and gas operations.
|
|
The
amount of such obligations is indeterminate and will depend on such
factors as the unknown nature and extent of contamination, the unknown
timing, extent and method of remedial actions which may be required,
the
determination of the Company's liability in proportion to other
responsible parties, and the state of the law.
|
|
Natural
Gas Contracts
|
The
Company sells its gas under three separate gas contracts. Each of
the
contracts is effective for a twelve-month period and is renegotiated
annually. During 2004, 2003, and 2002, the Company sold all of its
produced gas under these agreements. The terms of the agreements
are
identical among the contracts. During 2004, 2003, and 2002, the terms
of
the agreements were as follows: 100% of the produced gas was sold
at the
monthly spot price.
|
|
Joint
Venture Advances
|
As
discussed in Note 1, the Company receives advances from joint venture
participants, which represent funds raised to drill exploratory wells.
The
Company receives a carried working interest if the well is successfully
drilled and completed. The Company acts as both the fiduciary agent
and
Operator during the period required to drill and equip the well,
and as
Operator while the well is produced. The Company is obligated to
use these
funds for expenditures of the joint venture prospect. The joint venture
agreements specify that the Company must drill the subject well or
substitute another prospect. Some agreements require that the interest
earned on joint venture advances be credited to the project account.
Expenditures of the projects are charged directly against the obligation.
|
|
The
balance of the joint venture advance represents the sum of amounts
contributed for drilling prospects, net of expenditures for the projects.
Residual project balances are held until the Company makes a final
determination concerning any remedial obligations of the joint ventures.
The balance at December 31, 2004 consists primarily of the following
projects:
|
|
Opus
|
In
May of 2001 the Company began raising funds for a one hundred million
dollar exploration drilling program named Opus-I. The program calls
for
the drilling of 26 prospects, 23 in California and 3 in Nevada. As
of
December 31, 2004 the program has drilled ten wells in which nine
were dry
holes, the remaining wells are currently being tested or evaluated
for
further work. The drilling portion of these prospects is turn-keyed,
meaning the drilling portion is done for a fixed cost and the completion
portion is done at the actual cost.
|
|
The
Opus Drilling Program joint venture status at December 31, 2004 is
as
follows:
|
Total
Opus Contributions
|
$ 28,940,988
|
Total
Opus Expenditures
|
$ 22,772,733
|
Advances
|
$ 6,168,255
|
Ekho
|
The
Ekho project was originally a three-well project, which commenced
February
7, 2000 with the first well. The first well has been drilled to its
target
depth of just over 19,000 feet. The original majority joint
|
|
41
|
|
|
TRI-VALLEY
CORPORATION
|
NOTES
TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
December
31, 2004 and 2003 and 2002
|
|
NOTE
12 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Continued)
|
|
Joint
Venture Advances (continued)
|
interest
partners were unable to fulfill their obligations to continue to
fund well
completion activities. The Company is currently seeking substitute
partners to raise funds to fracture and complete the well. Ekho joint
venture project status at December 31, 2004, which is included in
the
joint venture advance, is as follows (the vast majority of expenditures
were made in 2000):
|
Total
Ekho joint venture contributions
|
$ 10,604,300
|
Total
Ekho joint venture expenditures
|
$ 10,878,236
|
Interest
credited to the joint account
|
$ 246,749
|
Leases
|
The
Company leases its office space on a month to month basis.
|
|
NOTE
13 - SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
|
On
May 6, 2005, the Company acquired Pleasant Valley Energy Corporation,
a
private holder of oil and gas leases.
|
|
|
42
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUPPLEMENTAL
INFORMATION (unaudited)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
43
|
|
|
SUPPLEMENTAL
INFORMATION (unaudited)
|
|
|
The
following estimates of proved oil and gas reserves, both developed
and
undeveloped, represent interests owned by the Company located solely
in
the United States.
|
|
Disclosures
of oil and gas reserves, which follow, are based on estimates prepared
by
independent engineering consultants for the years ended December
31, 2004,
2003, and 2002. Such analyses are subject to numerous uncertainties
inherent in the estimation of quantities of proved reserves and in
the
projection of future rates of production and the timing of development
expenditures. These estimates do not include probable or possible
reserves.
|
|
These
estimates are furnished and calculated in accordance with requirements
of
the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC"). Because of unpredictable variances in expenses
and
capital forecasts, crude oil and natural gas price changes, largely
influenced and controlled by U.S. and foreign government actions,
and the
fact that the basis for such estimates vary significantly, management
believes the usefulness of these projections is limited. Estimates
of
future net cash flows presented do not represent management's assessment
of future profitability or future cash flows to the Company. Management's
investment and operating decisions are based upon reserve estimates
that
include proved reserves as well as probable reserves, and upon different
price and cost assumptions from those used here.
|
|
It
should be recognized that applying current costs and prices and a
10
percent standard discount rate does not convey fair market value.
The
discounted amounts arrived at are only one measure of the value of
proved
reserves.
|
|
Capitalized
costs relating to oil and gas producing activities and related accumulated
depletion, depreciation and amortization were as follows:
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
|||
Aggregate
capitalized costs:
|
|||
Proved
properties
|
$ 752,705
|
$ 752,705
|
$ 752,705
|
Unproved
properties
|
1,381,667
|
1,251,953
|
1,654,117
|
Accumulated
depletion, depreciation and amortization
|
(621,323)
|
(604,223)
|
(587,030)
|
Net
capitalized assets
|
$ 1,513,049
|
$ 1,400,435
|
$ 1,819,792
|
|
|
44
|
|
|
Supplemental
Information (unaudited)
|
Page
Two
|
|
The
following sets forth costs incurred for oil and gas property acquisition,
exploration and development activities, whether capitalized or expensed,
during:
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
|||
Acquisition
of producing properties and productive and non-productive
acreage
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
Exploration
costs and development activities
|
$ -
|
$ -
|
$ 45,143
|
Results
Of Operations From Oil And Gas Producing Activities
|
The
results of operations from oil and gas producing activities are as
follows:
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
|||
Sales
to unaffiliated parties
|
$ 830,148
|
$ 932,268
|
$ 771,621
|
Production
costs
|
(144,101)
|
(183,362)
|
(224,320)
|
Depletion,
depreciation and amortization
|
(17,100)
|
(26,551)
|
(24,719)
|
|
668,947
|
722,355
|
522,582
|
Income
tax expense
|
(240,820)
|
(264,968)
|
(187,057)
|
|
|
|
|
Results
of operations from activities before
|
|
|
|
extraordinary
items (excluding corporate
|
|
|
|
overhead
and interest costs)
|
$ 161,096
|
$ 457,387
|
$ 335,525
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
45
|
|
|
Supplemental
Information (unaudited)
|
Page
Three
|
|
Changes
In Estimated Reserve Quantities
|
The
net interest in estimated quantities of proved developed and undeveloped
reserves of crude oil and natural gas at December 31, 2004, 2003,
and
2002, and changes in such quantities during each of the years then
ended,
were as follows:
|
|
December
31, 2004
|
December
31, 2003
|
December
31, 2002
|
||||
(restated)
|
||||||
Oil
|
Gas
|
Oil
|
Gas
|
Oil
|
Gas
|
|
(BBL)
|
(MCF)
|
(BBL)
|
(MCF)
|
(BBL)
|
(MCF)
|
|
Proved
developed and undeveloped reserves:
|
||||||
Beginning
of year
|
162
|
1,251,548
|
150
|
1,492,245
|
164
|
1,684,757
|
Revisions
of previous estimates
|
-
|
(374,408)
|
37
|
(115,365)
|
15
|
40,066
|
Net
reserve additions
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
36,982
|
-
|
-
|
Production
|
-
|
(134,739)
|
(25)
|
(162,314)
|
(29)
|
(232,578)
|
End
of year
|
162
|
742,401
|
162
|
1,251,548
|
150
|
1,492,245
|
Proved
developed reserves:
|
||||||
Beginning
of year
|
162
|
1,251,548
|
150
|
1,492,245
|
164
|
1,684,757
|
End
of year
|
162
|
742,401
|
162
|
1,251,548
|
150
|
1,492,245
|
Standardized
Measure Of Discounted Future Net Cash Flows Relating To Proved Oil
And Gas
Reserves
|
A
standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows is presented
below for the year ended December 31, 2004, 2003, and 2002.
|
|
The
future net cash inflows are developed as follows:
|
|
(1)
|
Estimates
are made of quantities of proved reserves and the future periods
during
which they are expected to be produced based on year-end economic
conditions.
|
(2)
|
The
estimated future production of proved reserves is priced on the basis
of
year-end prices.
|
(3)
|
The
resulting future gross revenue streams are reduced by estimated future
costs to develop and to produce proved reserves, based on year end
cost
estimates.
|
|
|
|
|
46
|
|
|
Supplemental
Information (unaudited)
|
Page
Four
|
|
Standardized
Measure Of Discounted Future Net Cash Flows Relating To Proved Oil
And Gas
Reserves
(Continued)
|
|
(4)
|
The
resulting future net revenue streams are reduced to present value
amounts
by applying a ten percent discount.
|
|
|
|
Disclosure
of principal components of the standardized measure of discounted
future
net cash flows provides information concerning the factors involved
in
making the calculation. In addition, the disclosure of both undiscounted
and discounted net cash flows provides a measure of comparing proved
oil
and gas reserves both with and without an estimate of production
timing.
The standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows relating
to
proved reserves reflects income taxes.
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
|||
Future
cash in flows
|
$ 5,248,091
|
$ 5,973,197
|
$ 5,791,416
|
Future
production and development costs
|
(989,549)
|
(1,376,902)
|
(1,297,906)
|
Future
income tax expenses
|
(1,357,948)
|
(1,134,811)
|
(1,202,626)
|
Future
net cash flows
|
2,900,595
|
3,461,484
|
3,290,884
|
10%
annual discount for estimated timing of cash flows
|
942,358
|
1,190,852
|
1,066,614
|
Standardized
measure of discounted future net cash flow
|
$ 1,958,238
|
$ 2,270,632
|
$ 2,224,270
|
*
Refer to the following table for analysis in changes in standardized
measure.
|
|
Changes
In Standardized Measure Of Discounted Future Net Cash Flow From Proved
Reserve Quantities
|
This
statement discloses the sources of changes in the standardized measure
from year to year. The amount reported as "Net changes in prices
and
production costs" represents the present value of changes in prices
and
production costs multiplied by estimates of proved reserves as of
the
beginning of the year. The "accretion of discount" was computed by
multiplying the ten percent discount factor by the standardized measure
as
of the beginning of the year. The "Sales of oil and gas produced,
net of
production costs" is expressed in actual dollar amounts. "Revisions
of
previous quantity estimates" is expressed at year-end prices.
|
|
|
|
|
|
47
|
|
|
Supplemental
Information (unaudited)
|
Page
Five
|
|
Changes
In Standardized Measure Of Discounted Future Net Cash Flow From Proved
Reserve Quantities
(Continued)
|
|
The
"Net change in income taxes" is computed as the change in present
value of
future income taxes.
|
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
|
(restated)
|
|||
Standardized
measure - beginning of period
|
$ 2,270,632
|
$ 2,224,270
|
$ 1,005,010
|
Sales
of oil and gas produced, net of production costs
|
(655,373)
|
(748,906)
|
(547,301)
|
Revisions
of estimates of reserves provided in prior years:
|
|||
Net
changes in prices
|
1,705,515
|
969,281
|
2,432,433
|
Revisions
of previous quantity estimates
|
-
|
(171,355)
|
166,536
|
Extensions
and discoveries
|
270,891
|
102,382
|
-
|
Purchases
of minerals in place
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Accretion
of discount
|
248,494
|
263,451
|
274,545
|
Changes
in production rates (timing) and other
|
(1,658,785)
|
(436,306)
|
(334,874)
|
Net
change in income taxes
|
223,137
|
67,815
|
(772,079)
|
Net
increase (decrease)
|
(312,394)
|
46,362
|
1,219,260
|
Standardized
measure - end of period
|
$ 1,958,238
|
$ 2,270,632
|
$ 2,224,270
|
|
|
48
|
|
|
Supplemental
Information (unaudited)
|
Page
Six
|
|
Quarterly
Financial Data (unaudited)
|
|
2004
|
First
|
Second
|
Third
|
Fourth
|
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
||
Operating
Revenues
|
$ 1,386,281
|
$ 1,134,910
|
$ 223,006
|
$ 1,754,473
|
Net
Income (Loss)
|
$ 255,258
|
$ (940,409)
|
$ (479,104)
|
$ (6,750)
|
Net
Income (Loss) per Common Share
|
$ 0.01
|
$ (0.05)
|
$ (0.02)
|
$ (0.00)
|
(restated)
|
2003
|
First
|
Second
|
Third
|
Fourth
|
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
|
(restated)
|
(restated)
|
|||
Operating
Revenues
|
$ 276,780
|
$ 1,190,371
|
$ 3,137,062
|
$ 1,860,032
|
Net
Income (Loss)
|
$ (421,407)
|
$ (152,183)
|
$ 172,570
|
$ 896,129
|
Net
Income (Loss) per Common Share
|
$ (0.02)
|
$ (0.01)
|
$ 0.01
|
$ 0.04
|
2002
|
First
|
Second
|
Third
|
Fourth
|
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
Quarter
|
|
Operating
Revenues
|
$ 182,734
|
$ 857,241
|
$ 3,923,875
|
$ 1,321,058
|
Net
Income (Loss)
|
$ (264,117)
|
$ (360,283)
|
$ 1,071,553
|
$ 321,977
|
Net
Income (Loss) per Common Share
|
$ (0.01)
|
$ (0.02)
|
$ 0.05
|
$ 0.02
|
|
|
49
|
|
|
Item
9A. Controls and Procedures
|
|
Evaluation
of Disclosure Controls
|
|
The
Company conducted an evaluation, under the supervision and with the
participation of the Company's principal executive officer and principal
financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation
of the
Company's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) as of December
31,
2004.
|
|
Based
upon that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer concluded that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures
as
of the end of the period covered by this report were not effective
as a
result of material weaknesses in internal controls as of December
31, 2004
as discussed below.
|
|
Management
Report on Internal Control
|
|
Management
is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal
control
over financial reporting of the Company. Internal control over financial
reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding
the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America.
|
|
The
Company's internal control over financial reporting includes those
policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records
that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions
and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable
assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit
preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and
that
receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance
with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and
(iii)
provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection
of
unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Company's assets
that
could have a material effect on the financial statements.
|
|
Management
conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of internal control
over
financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control-Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of
the
Treadway Commission. Based on this evaluation, management concluded
that
the Company's internal control over financial reporting was not effective
as of December 31, 2004. Management identified internal control
deficiencies, which, in management's judgment, represented material
weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. The control
deficiencies generally related to:
|
(i)
|
The
following company-level controls:
|
-
|
Insufficient
personnel with appropriate qualifications and training in key accounting
roles, and ineffective assignment of authority and responsibility
resulting from the limited accounting personnel;
|
-
|
No
consistent risk assessment process;
|
-
|
Inadequate
controls to monitor the results of operations and other control
activities;
|
-
|
Inconsistent
or inadequate policies and procedures which affect the information
and
communication controls throughout the company;
|
-
|
Incompatibility
of duties surrounding financial reporting and control
activities;
|
-
|
Inadequate
controls over the period-end financial reporting process including
the
lack of procedures used for calculating significant estimates, performing
consolidation entries, and considering the possibility of unrecorded
transactions and disclosures.
|
(ii)
|
The
discovery of a material error, which resulted in a restatement of
previously issued financial statements.
|
|
|
A
material weakness in internal controls is a significant deficiency,
or
combination of significant deficiencies, that results in more than
a
remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the financial statements
would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by the Company.
|
|
Management
will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of Tri Valley Corporation's
disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial
reporting on an ongoing basis and will take further action and implement
improvements as necessary.
|
|
50
|
|
|
Management's
assessment of the effectiveness of the Company's internal control
over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2004 has been audited by Brown
Armstrong Paulden McCown Starbuck & Keeter Accountancy Corporation, an
independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their
report,
which is included herein.
|
|
There
has been no change in the Company's internal control over financial
reporting that occurred during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2004
that has
materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,
the
Company's internal control over financial reporting.
|
|
|
Report
of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
|
To
the Board of Directors and
|
Stockholders
of Tri-Valley Corporation
|
Bakersfield,
CA
|
|
We
have audited management's assessment, included in the accompanying
Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting,
that
Tri-Valley Corporation did not maintain effective internal control
over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2004, because of the material
weaknesses identified in management's assessment based on criteria
established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organization of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
Tri-Valley Corporation's management is responsible for maintaining
effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment
of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.
Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on management's assessment
and an
opinion on the effectiveness of the company's internal control over
financial reporting based on our audit.
|
|
We
conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require
that
we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether
effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained
in all
material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding
of
internal control over financial reporting, evaluating management's
assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness
of internal control, and performing such other procedures as we considered
necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides
a
reasonable basis for our opinion.
|
|
A
company's internal control over financial reporting is a process
designed
to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external
purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
A
company's internal control over financial reporting includes those
policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records
that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions
and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable
assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit
preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally
accepted
accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the
company
are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management
and
directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding
prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use,
or
disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect
on
the financial statements.
|
|
Because
of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting
may
not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation
of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls
may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the
degree
of compliance with the policies or procedures may
deteriorate.
|
|
A
material weakness is a control deficiency, or combination of control
deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that
a
material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements
will
not be prevented or detected. The following material weaknesses have
been
identified and included in management's assessment. Insufficient
personnel
with appropriate qualifications and training in key accounting roles,
and
ineffective assignment of authority and responsibility resulting
from the
limited accounting personnel; no consistent risk assessment process;
inadequate controls to monitor the results of operations and other
control
activities; inconsistent or inadequate policies and procedures which
affect the information and communication controls throughout the
|
|
51
|
|
|
company;
incompatibility of duties surrounding financial reporting and control
activities; controls over the period-end financial reporting process
including the procedures used for calculating significant estimates,
performing consolidation entries, and considering the ;possibility
of
unrecorded transactions and disclosures; and a material financial
statement error which resulted in a restatement of previously issued
financial statements
These material weaknesses were considered in determining the nature,
timing, and extent of audit tests applied in our audit of the 2004
financial statements, and this report does not affect our report
dated
March 29, 2005 on those financial statements.
|
|
In
our opinion, management's assessment that Tri-Valley Corporation
did not
maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2004, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based
on
criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued
by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(COSO). Also, in our opinion, because of the effect of the material
weaknesses described above on the achievement of the objectives of
the
control criteria, Tri-Valley Corporation has not maintained effective
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004,
based
on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework
issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(COSO).
|
|
BROWN
ARMSTRONG PAULDEN
McCOWN
STARBUCK & KEETER
ACCOUNTANCY
CORPORATION
Bakersfield,
CA
March
29, 2005
|
|
52
|
|
|
PART
III
|
|
ITEM
10 Directors and Executive Officers of the
Registrant
|
|
All
directors of the Company serve one year terms from the time of their
election to the time their successor is elected and qualified. The
following information is furnished with respect to each director
and
executive officer:
|
|
|
Year
First
|
|
|
|
Became
Director or
|
Position
With
|
Name
of Director
|
Age
|
Executive
Officer
|
Company
|
|
|
|
|
F.
Lynn Blystone
|
69
|
1974
|
President,
CEO, Director, TVC
|
|
|
|
CEO
and Director, TVOG
|
|
|
|
President,
CEO, Director, TVPC
|
|
|
|
|
Dennis
P. Lockhart(1)
|
57
|
1982
|
Director
|
|
|
|
|
Milton
J. Carlson(1)
|
74
|
1985
|
Director
|
|
|
|
|
Harold
J. Noyes (2)
|
56
|
2002
|
Director
|
|
|
|
|
Loren
J. Miller(1)
|
59
|
1992
|
Director
|
|
|
|
|
C.
Chase Hoffman (2)
|
81
|
2000
|
Director
|
|
|
|
|
Thomas
J. Cunningham
|
62
|
1997
|
Treasurer,
Chief Financial Officer and
|
|
|
|
Secretary,
TVC, TVOG, and TVPC
|
|
|
|
|
Joseph
R. Kandle
|
62
|
1999
|
President,
TVOG
|
|
|
|
|
(1)-
Member of Audit Committee
|
|
(2)
Member of Compensation Committee
|
|
F.
Lynn Blystone - 69
|
President
and Chief Executive Officer of Tri-Valley Corporation and Tri-Valley
Power
Corporation, CEO of Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Company and Select Resources
Corporation, which are three wholly owned subsidiaries of Tri-Valley
Corporation, Bakersfield, California, Chairman of Alpha Minerals
&
Chemicals. LLC
|
1974
|
|
|
|
Mr.
Blystone became president of Tri-Valley Corporation in October, 1981,
and
was nominally vice president from July to October, 1981. His background
includes institution management, venture capital and various management
functions for a mainline pipeline contractor including the Trans
Alaska
Pipeline Project. He has founded, run and sold companies in several
fields
including Learjet charter, commercial construction, municipal finance
and
land development. He is also president of a family corporation, Bandera
Land Company, Inc., with real estate interests in Kern, Riverside
and
Orange Counties California. A graduate of Whittler College, California,
he
did graduate work at George Williams College, Illinois in organization
management. He gives full time to Tri-Valley.
|
53
|
Dennis
P. Lockhart - 57
|
Director
|
1982
|
|
|
|
Mr.
Lockhart is a professor at Georgetown University. He was previously
Managing Partner of Zephyr Management L.P., an international private
equity investment fund sponsor/manager headquartered in New York.
He
remains a partner in this firm. He is also (non-executive) Chairman
of the
Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF),a not-for-profit operator
of
emerging markets venture capital funds focused on the small and mid-sized
company sector. He is a director of CapitalSource Inc. (NYSE) and
SMELoan
Asia/Maveo Systems (private, Hong Kong based). In 2002 and 2003 he
was an
Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced
International Studies. From 1988 to 2001, he was President of Heller
International Group Inc., a non-bank corporate and commercial finance
company operating in 20 countries, and a director of the group's
parent,
Heller Financial Inc. From 1971 to 1988 he held a variety of international
and domestic positions at Citibank/Citicorp (now Citigroup) including
assignments in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Iran and the bank's
Latin
American group in New York. In 1999, he was Chairman of the Advisory
Committee of the U.S. Export Import Bank. He is a graduate of Stanford
University and The John Hopkins University School of Advanced
International Studies. He also attended the Senior Executive Program
at
the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mr.
Lockhart is an independent member of our Board of Directors.
|
|
Milton
J. Carlson - 74
|
Director
|
1985
|
|
|
|
Since
1989, Mr. Carlson has been a principal in Earthsong Corporation,
which, in
part, consults on environmental matters and performs environmental
audits
for government agencies and public and private concerns. Mr. Carlson
attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University
of
Denver. Mr. Carlson is an independent member of our Board of
Directors.
|
|
Loren
J. Miller, CPA - 59
|
Director
|
1992
|
|
|
|
Mr.
Miller has served in a treasury and other senior financial capacities
at
the Jankovich Company since 1994. Prior to that he served successively
as
vice president and chief financial officer of Hershey Oil Corporation
from
1987 to 1990 and Mock Resources from 1991 to 1992. Prior to that
he was
vice president and general manager of Tosco Production Finance Corporation
from 1975 to 1986 and was a senior auditor the accounting firm of
Touche
Ross & Company from 1968 to 1973. He is experienced in exploration,
production, product trading, refining and distribution as well as
corporate finance. He holds a B.S. in accounting and a M.B.A. in
finance
from the University of Southern California. Mr. Miller is an independent
member of our Board of Directors.
|
|
Harold
J. Noyes - 56
|
Director,
President of Select Resources Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary
of
Tri-Valley Corporation, Director of Tri-Valley Corporation, Director
of
Alpha Minerals & Chemicals, LLC
|
2002
|
|
|
|
Since
January 2005 he has been president of Select Resources Corporation,
a
newly formed wholly owned subsidiary of Tri-Valley Corporation. Prior
to
that he was the president of H.J. Noyes and Associates, Inc., a firm
that
provides consulting and business development services to the minerals
industry. Dr. Noyes is currently a senior program manager with Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory. He served October 2001 through October
2002
as vice president, marketing and business development for Blake Street
Investments, Inc., a money management and investment advisory firm.
From
1997 to 2000 he was president of North Star Exploration, Inc. He
was
manager, resource development for Doyon Limited from 1983 to 1997.
Dr.
Noyes graduated from the University of Minnesota Magna Cum Laude
in
geology and took his Ph.D. in geology and geochemistry at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later he earned a Masters
in
Business Administration at the University of Chicago. In 2004, Mr.
Noyes
was an independent member of our board of directors.
|
||
|
||
|
54
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
C.
Chase Hoffman - 81
|
Director
|
2000
|
|
|
|
Since
1965 Mr. Hoffman has owned and operated a milk cow dairy and farmed
4,000
acres of land. Additionally, he has been a commercial and residential
land
developer in California and Hawaii since 1978. From 1973 to 1978
he was a
senior vice president and general manager for Knudsen for the State
of
California. Mr. Hoffman also sits as a director for two companies
whose
shares are listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange: Seine River Resources,
Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, with California gold operations
and
Guatemala oil properties, and International Powerhouse Energy Corporation,
a British Columbia, Canada, hydroelectric project. He is a graduate
of
Stanford University with a degree in Economics and Business Administration
from Graduate School of Business. Mr. Hoffman is an independent member
of
our Board of Directors.
|
|
Thomas
J. Cunningham - 62
|
Secretary,
Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Tri-Valley Corporation,
and its
wholly owned subsidiaries, Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Company, Tri-Valley
Power Corporation and Select Resources Corporation, Bakersfield,
California,
CFO
and Director of Alpha Minerals & Chemicals
|
1997
|
|
|
|
Named
as Tri-Valley Corporation's treasurer and chief financial officer
in
February 1997, and as corporate secretary on December 1998. From
1987 to
1997 he was a self employed management consultant in finance, marketing
and human resources. Prior to that he was executive vice president,
chief
financial officer and director for Star Resources from 1977 to 1987.
He
was the controller for Tucker Drilling Company from 1974 to 1977.
He has
over 25 years experience in corporate finance, Securities Exchange
Commission public company reporting, shareholder relations and employee
benefits. He received his education from Angelo State University,
Texas.
|
|
Joseph
R. Kandle - 62
|
President
and Chief Operating Officer Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Company, wholly owned
subsidiary of Tri-Valley Corporation Bakersfield, California
|
1998
|
|
|
|
Mr.
Kandle was named as president of Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. February
1999 after joining the Company June 1998 as vice president - engineering.
From 1995 to 1998 he was employed as a petroleum engineer for R & R
Resources, self-employed as a consulting petroleum engineer from
1994 to
1995. He was vice president - engineering for Atlantic Oil Company
from
1983 to 1994. From 1981 to 1983 he was vice president for Star Resources.
He was vice president and chief engineer for Great Basins Petroleum
from
1973 to 1981. He began his career with Mobil Oil (from 1965 to 1973)
after
graduating from the Montana School of Mines in 1965.
|
|
Audit
Committee
|
|
The
independent directors that serve on the audit committee are Loren
J.
Miller, Dennis P. Lockhart and Milton J. Carlson. The board of directors
has determined that Loren J. Miller is considered to be the audit
committee financial expert. Please see his biography above.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
55
|
|
|
Compliance
with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act
|
|
Section
16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities and Exchange
Commission regulations require that the Company's directors, certain
officers, and greater than 10 percent shareholders file reports of
ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC and must furnish
the
Company with copies of all such reports they file. Based solely on
the
information furnished to the Company, we believe that no person failed
to
file required Section 16(a) reports on a timely basis during or in
respect
of 2001.
|
|
Code
of Ethics
|
|
We
have adopted a code of ethics that applies to our chief executive
officer
and chief financial officer. A copy of the code of ethics is attached
to
this 10-K Report as and exhibit.
|
|
ITEM
11 Executive Compensation
|
|
The
following table summarizes the compensation of the chairman of the
board
and the president of the Company and its subsidiaries, F. Lynn Blystone
(the "Named Officer"), for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004,
2003,
and 2002.
|
|
Independent
directors C. Chase Hoffman and Harold J. Noyes served as the compensation
committee for fiscal year 2004.
|
|
|
|
|
Long
Term
|
||||
|
|
|
Compensation
|
||||
|
|
Annual
Compensation
|
Awards
|
||||
(a)
|
(b)
|
(
c
)
|
(d)
|
(e)
|
|||
|
|
|
Other
|
Securities
|
|||
Name
|
Period
Covered
|
Salary
|
Compensation
|
Underlying
Options
|
|||
F.
Lynn
|
FYE
12/31/04
|
$108,900
|
$25,000
|
|
|||
Blystone,
CEO
|
FYE
12/31/03
|
$ 99,000
|
$50,000
|
|
|||
|
FYE
12/31/02
|
$ 99,000
|
$50,000
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Employment
Agreement with Our President
|
|
We
have an employment agreement with F. Lynn Blystone, our President
and
Chief Executive Officer, which ended in August 2002, and was automatically
renewable for three one-year periods after 2002, unless terminated
by
giving 90 days written notice. The base salary amount is $99,000
per year
plus 5,000 shares of our common stock at the end of each year of
service.
Mr. Blystone is also entitled to a bonus (not to exceed $25,000)
equal to
10% of net operating cash flow before taxes, including interest income
and
excluding debt service. Mr. Blystone is also entitled to a bonus
of 4% of
the company's annual net after-tax income. The total of the bonuses
from
cash flow and net income may not exceed $50,000 per year. The
employment agreement also provides a severance payment to Mr. Blystone
if
he is terminated within 12 months after a sale of control of Tri-Valley.
The severance payment equals $150,000. For purposes of the severance
provision, a sale of control is deemed to be the sale of ownership
of 30%
of the outstanding stock of Tri-Valley or the acquisition by one
person of
enough stock to appoint a majority of the board of directors of the
company.
|
|
We
carry key man life insurance of $500,000 on Mr. Blystone's
life.
|
|
Compensation
Committee Report
|
|
The
Compensation Committee Report will be filed with the proxy statement
for
the annual shareholders meeting.
|
|
|
56
|
|
|
The
Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors and the Chairman
conducted a compensation survey during 2004 to assess the appropriateness
of the compensation of Tri-Valley's senior management team. The survey
included review of contemporary publicly available literature and
informal
discussions with representatives of other comparable companies. The
literature survey included review of published summaries of compensation
for executives and senior professionals in the oil and gas industry
and
for executives in companies of similar market capitalization. Informal
discussions with industry representatives were conducted among peers
in
the oil and gas and minerals industries. The survey indicated that
compensation of Tri-Valley's executives was substantially below industry
standards. This situation reflected Tri-Valley's conservative history
of
keeping salaries low during previous downturns in the Company's core
business. However, considering the extremely competitive nature of
the oil
and gas industry, the importance of Tri-Valley's management team,
and the
anticipated future development opportunities in Tri-Valley's business
lines, it was determined appropriate to provide salary increases
to
Tri-Valley's executives. The salary adjustments provide a compensation
package that is more consistent with similar positions in the industry.
|
|
C.
Chase Hoffman
|
Harold
J. Noyes
|
Members
of the Compensation Committee
|
|
Aggregated
2004 Option Exercises and Year-End Values
|
|
The
following table summarizes the number and value of all unexercised
stock
options held by the Named Officer and the Directors at the end of
2004.
|
|
(
a )
|
(b)
|
(c)
|
(d)
|
(e)
|
|
|
|
Number
of Securities
|
Value
of Unexercised In-
|
Underlying
Unexercised
|
The-Money
Options/SARs
|
|||
|
|
|
Options/SARs
at FY-End (#)
|
at
FY-End ($)*
|
|
Shares
Acquired
On
Exercise (#)
|
|
|
|
Name
|
Value
Realized
($)
|
Exercisable/Unexercisable
|
Exercisable/Unexercisable
|
|
F.
Lynn Blystone
|
17,000
|
$41,970
|
857,600/0
|
$9,414,148/0
|
|
|
|
|
|
C.
Chase Hoffman
|
200,000
|
$1,049,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loren
J.Miller
|
220,000
|
$1,324,500
|
50,000
|
$490,000
|
*Based
on a fair market value of $12.23 per share, which was the closing
price of
the Company's Common Stock on the American Stock Exchange on December
31,
2004.
|
|
No
additional stock options were granted in 2004.
|
|
Compensation
of Directors
|
|
The
Company compensates non-employee directors for their service on the
board
of directors.
|
|
The
following table sets forth information regarding the cash compensation
paid to outside directors in 2004.
|
|
(a)
|
(b)
|
(c)
|
Name
|
Fees
|
Restricted
Shares
|
Harry
J. Noyes
|
$5,650
|
4,000
|
|
|
|
Milton
Carlson
|
$6,600
|
4,000
|
|
|
|
57
|
|
|
(a)
|
(b)
|
(c)
|
Name
|
Fees
|
Restricted
Shares
|
|
|
|
Dennis
P. Lockhart
|
$6,350
|
4,000
|
|
|
|
Loren
J. Miller
|
$7,000
|
4,000
|
|
|
|
C.
Chase Hoffman
|
$6,050
|
4,000
|
|
|
|
Performance
Graph
|
|
The
following stock price performance graph is included in accordance
with the
SEC's executive compensation disclosure rules and is intended to
allow
stockholders to review our executive compensation policies in light
of
corresponding stockholder returns, expressed in terms of the appreciation
of our common stock relative to two broad-based stock performance
indices.
The information is included for historical comparative purposes only
and
should not be considered indicative of future stock performance.
The graph
compares the yearly percentage change in the cumulative total stockholder
return on our common stock with the cumulative total return of Royale
Energy, Inc., Parallel Petroleum Corporation and Equity Oil Company
from
December 31, 2000 through December 31,
|
|
2004.
On July 20, 2004, Whiting Petroleum Corporation and Equity Oil Company
completed their merger, resulting in Equity becoming a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Whiting.
|
|
Total
returns assume $100 invested on December 31, 2000 in shares of Tri-Valley
Corporation, Royale Energy Inc., Parallel Petroleum Corporation,
and
Equity Oil Company, assuming reinvestment of dividends for each
measurement period.
|
Total
Return Analysis
|
|||||
12/31/2000
|
12/31/2001
|
12/31/2002
|
12/31/2003
|
12/31/2004
|
|
Tri-Valley
Corp
|
$ 100.00
|
$ 98.77
|
$ 86.42
|
$ 271.60
|
$ 754.94
|
Royale
Energy, Inc.
|
$ 100.00
|
$ 101.18
|
$ 92.34
|
$ 241.06
|
$ 141.45
|
Parallel
Petroleum Corp.
|
$ 100.00
|
$ 83.46
|
$ 71.92
|
$ 114.17
|
$ 141.47
|
Equity
Oil Co.
|
$ 100.00
|
$ 51.43
|
$ 57.14
|
$ 112.29
|
$ 864.29
|
ITEM
12 Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and
Management
|
|
As
of December 31, 2004, there were 21,836,052 shares of the Company's
common
stock outstanding. The following persons were known by the Company
to be
the beneficial owners of more than 5% of such outstanding common
stock:
|
|
|
Number
of
|
Percent
of
|
Name
and Address
|
Shares
|
Total
|
|
|
|
F.
Lynn Blystone
P.O.
Box 1105
Bakersfield,
CA 93302
|
1,295,603(1)
|
5.7%
|
|
|
|
Includes
857,600 shares of stock Mr. Blystone has the right to acquire upon
the
exercise of options.
|
|
The
following table sets forth the beneficial ownership of the Company's
common stock as of December 31, 2004 by each director, by each of
the
executive officers named in Item 11, and by the executive officer
named in
Item 10 and directors as a group:
|
|
58
|
|
|
|
Number
of
|
Percent
of
|
Directors
|
Shares(1)
|
Total(2)
|
|
|
|
F.
Lynn Blystone
|
1,295,603
|
5.7%
|
|
|
|
Dennis
P. Lockhart
|
345,191
|
1.6%
|
|
|
|
Milton
J. Carlson
|
349,000
|
1.6%
|
|
|
|
Loren
J. Miller
|
309,300
|
1.4%
|
|
|
|
Harold
J. Noyes
|
114,000
|
0.5%
|
|
|
|
C.
Chase Hoffman
|
271,500
|
1.2%
|
|
|
|
Total
group
(all directors and
|
|
|
Executive
officers - 6 persons)
|
2,684,594
|
12.0%
|
|
|
|
(1)
|
Includes
shares which the listed shareholder has the right to acquire from
options
as follows: Dennis P. Lockhart 270,000; Milton J. Carlson 268,000;
Loren
J. Miller 50,000, Harold J. Noyes 100,000; F. Lynn Blystone
857,600.
|
|
|
(2)
|
Based
on total outstanding shares of 21,836,052 as of December 31, 2004.
The
persons named herein have sole voting and investment power with respect
to
all shares of common stock shown as beneficially owned by them, subject
to
community property laws where applicable.
|
|
|
ITEM
14 Principal Accountant Fees and Services
|
|
|
2004
|
2003
|
Audit
Fees
|
$71,955
|
$51,855
|
Audit-Related
Fees
|
10,464
|
6,474
|
Tax
Fees
|
11,725
|
20,096
|
All
Other Fees
|
17,882
|
5,375
|
|
|
|
Tri-Valley's
audit committee charter provides that the audit committee is responsible
for determining the independence of the company's outside auditor
and must
approve in advance, all audit and non-audit services provided by
the
outside auditor. All
services listed as "Other Fees" in the foregoing table, consisting
of
advice on compliance with SEC reporting requirements and review of
management's report on internal control over financial reporting
were
approved by the audit committee in advance.
|
||
|
||
|
||
ITEM
15 Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
|
||
|
Exhibit
|
|
|
Number
|
|
Description
of Exhibit
|
|
|
|
3.1
|
|
Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, incorporated by reference
to
Exhibit A of the Company's 2000 Proxy Statement and Definitive Schedule
14A, filed with the SEC on July 26, 2000.
|
3.2
|
|
Amended
and Restated Bylaws, incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 of
the
Company's Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 1999, filed
with the
SEC on March 24, 2000.
|
59
|
|
4.1
|
|
Rights
Agreement, incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 of the Company's
Form
10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 1999, filed with the SEC on
March
24, 2000.
|
10.1
|
|
Employment
Agreement with F. Lynn Blystone, incorporated by reference to Exhibit
10.1
of the Company's Form 10-KSB/A, Amendment No. 3 to Form 10-KSB for
the
year ended December 31, 2000, filed with the SEC on December 14,
2001.
|
10.2
|
|
Tri-Valley
Corporation 1999 Stock Option Plan, as amended, incorporated by reference
to Exhibit B of the Company's 1999 Proxy Statement and Definitive
Schedule
14A, filed with the SEC on October 1, 1999.
|
14.1
|
|
Code
of Business Conduct & Ethics, incorporated by reference to Exhibit
14.1 of the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004,
filed with the SEC on March 31, 2005
|
21.1
|
|
Subsidiaries
of the Registrant, incorporated by reference to Exhibit 21.1 of the
Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, filed with
the
SEC on March 31, 2005
|
31.1
|
|
Certification
Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) / 15d-14(a), filed herewith
|
31.2
|
|
Certification
Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) / 15d-14(a), filed herewith
|
32.1
|
|
Certification
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, filed herewith
|
32.2
|
|
Certification
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, filed herewith
|
SIGNATURES
|
|
Pursuant
to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act
of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed
on its
behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
|
|
December
21, 2005
|
/s/
F. Lynn Blystone
|
|
F.
Lynn Blystone
|
|
President,
Chief Executive Officer and Director
|
|
|
|
|
December
21, 2005
|
/s/
Arthur M. Evans
|
|
Arthur
M. Evans
|
|
Chief
Financial Officer
|
|
|
60
|
|