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Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

13. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Fair value is defined as the amount that would be received from the sale of an asset or paid for the transfer of a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants, i.e., an exit price. To estimate an exit price, a three-level hierarchy is used. The fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs, which refer broadly to assumptions market participants would use in pricing an asset or a liability, into three levels.

Level 1:

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities. The Company considers active markets as those in which transactions for the assets or liabilities occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.

Level 2:

Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs that are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability. This category includes those derivative instruments that the Company values using observable market data. Substantially all of these inputs are observable in the marketplace throughout the full term of the derivative instrument, can be derived from observable data or are supported by observable levels at which transactions are executed in the marketplace. Instruments in this category include non-exchange traded derivatives such as over-the-counter commodity fixed-price swaps and commodity options (i.e. price collars).

The Company uses an option pricing valuation model for option derivative contracts that considers various inputs including: future prices, time value, volatility factors, counterparty credit risk and current market and contractual prices for the underlying instruments. The values calculated are then compared to the values given by counterparties for reasonableness.

Level 3:

Measured based on prices or valuation models that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (or less observable) from objective sources (supported by little or no market activity).

The following table provides fair value measurement information for financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis.

	Fair Value Measurement at September 30, 2020
	Quoted Prices in Active Markets		Significant Other Observable Inputs			Significant Unobservable Inputs		Total Fair
	(Level 1)		(Level 2)			(Level 3)		Value
Financial Assets (Liabilities):
Derivative Contracts - Swaps	$	-	$	(64,801	)	$	-	$	(64,801	)
Derivative Contracts - Collars	$	-	$	(642,846	)	$	-	$	(642,846	)

	Fair Value Measurement at September 30, 2019
	Quoted Prices in Active Markets		Significant Other Observable Inputs		Significant Unobservable Inputs		Total Fair
	(Level 1)		(Level 2)		(Level 3)		Value
Financial Assets (Liabilities):
Derivative Contracts - Swaps	$	-	$	1,892,954	$	-	$	1,892,954
Derivative Contracts - Collars	$	-	$	601,190	$	-	$	601,190

The following table presents impairments associated with certain assets that have been measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.

	Year Ended September 30,
	2020				2019				2018
	Fair Value		Impairment		Fair Value		Impairment		Fair Value		Impairment

Producing Properties ^(a)	$	5,288,710	$	29,315,807	$	9,101,032	$	76,824,337	$	-	$	-

^(a)

^{At the end of each quarter, the Company assessed the carrying value of its producing properties for impairment. This assessment utilized estimates of future cash flows or fair value (selling price) less cost to sell if the property is held for sale. Significant judgments and assumptions in these assessments include estimates of future natural gas, oil and NGL prices using a forward NYMEX curve adjusted for projected inflation, locational basis differentials, drilling plans, expected capital costs and an applicable discount rate commensurate with risk of the underlying cash flow estimates. These assessments identified certain properties with carrying value in excess of their calculated fair values. This table excludes $588,721 of impairments on properties that were written off during 2020.}

At September 30, 2020, and September 30, 2019, the carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, receivables, and payables are considered to be representative of their respective fair values due to the short-term maturities of those instruments. Financial instruments include debt, which the valuation is classified as Level 2 as the carrying amount of the Company’s revolving credit facility approximates fair value because the interest rates are reflective of market rates. The estimated current market interest rates are based primarily on interest rates currently being offered on borrowings of similar amounts and terms. In addition, no valuation input adjustments were considered necessary relating to nonperformance risk for the debt agreements.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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