Other Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

Notes to Financial Statements

Note 9 - Other Contingencies

Litigation

In December 2011, we initiated civil legal proceedings against Hycarbex and others in the High Court of Islamabad, Pakistan. Our pleadings with respect to the 2.5% carried working interest positions in the Sanjawi and Zamzama North concessions sought a registration of those interests with the Government of Pakistan and simultaneously sought the imposition of an injunction preventing the transfer of the working interest in those concessions until the registration can be effected, thereby protecting our interests. In our pleadings with respect to the Yasin concession and the right to receive 18% of the gross production revenues, our pleadings sought a referral to arbitration based upon ownership of, in effect, a 25% carried working interest to which is attributed 18% of gross production revenues and the right to receive pertinent records and data, the appointment of a receiver to both protect and cause disbursement of the 18% of gross revenues since the inception of production in April 2011, and the imposition of an injunction against the transfer of the working interest in the Yasin concession. The Court immediately issued two injunction orders preserving the status quo as to the Company’s interests in each of the Yasin, Sanjawi and Zamzama North petroleum concessions.

On March 27, 2012, the Islamabad High Court issued its final order (later clarified as to certain arbitration procedures by a clarification Order dated April 4, 2012). The Court directed the parties to proceed to arbitration in London, UK under the ICC Rules of Arbitration and further reaffirmed the continuation of the pending temporary injunctions against Hycarbex’s potential transfer of interests in the concessions prior to final resolution in the arbitration forum. Our application for the appointment of a receiver was neither granted nor denied, but was instead deferred by the Court to the arbitration forum. Hycarbex appealed the March 27, 2012 Order asserting that litigation should not have been initiated by American Energy without first going to arbitration, asserting that our claims to 18% of gross production revenues were premature (despite already having made some payments toward that production interest) because a “commercial discovery” had not yet been declared, and asserting that the injunctions had the effect of enjoining all of the working interest, not just a portion. American Energy countered with an appeal that the Court should reconsider the application for a receiver due to an existing arbitration rule which would prevent the arbitration forum from granting interim relief of that type, irrespective of the merits of such an application. The appeals have become moot by virtue of the ICC Partial Final Award described below.

On April 10, 2012, pursuant to the terms of the March 27, 2012, Islamabad High Court Order, we filed our claim with the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) International Court of Arbitration. In this claim, we are seeking an order which voids, ab initio, the original 2003 Stock Purchase Agreement under which Hycarbex’s parent company acquired the stock of Hycarbex (and thus the underlying Yasin concession owned by Hycarbex) and in conjunction therewith, seeks the recovery of any financial dividends or advances which may have been made by Hycarbex to its shareholders based upon our assertions in the claim that Hydro Tur, Ltd., the original purchaser of the Hycarbex stock under the 2003 Stock Purchase Agreement, fraudulently misrepresented to American Energy that “no current or past shareholders, officers and/or directors of American Energy or Hycarbex have any interest, direct or indirect, in the ownership of Hydro Tur, Ltd.”

In February, 2013, we filed an Application For Interim Relief with the ICC which was heard by the tribunal on June 13, 2013. By Order dated September 25, 2013, the ICC granted all requests made by the Company against Hycarbex American Energy, Inc. (“Hycarbex”), Hycarbex Asia Pte, Ltd. (“Hycarbex Asia”) and Hydro Tur, Ltd. (“Hydro Tur”) in its Application For Interim Relief filed with the ICC in February, 2013 and presented to the ICC in a hearing conducted June 13, 2013. By Order dated September 25, 2013, the ICC granted to the Company all requested relief and therein ordered Hycarbex, Hycarbex Asia and Hydro Tur to do the following within fourteen (14) days of the Order: (1) to produce to the Company the records of production and sales from the Yasin petroleum concession in Pakistan for the period August 2011 through the date of the Order and to continue to do so pending further order, (2) to pay to the Company 18% of all sales proceeds of hydrocarbons received by such parties between August 2011 through December 2012, (3) to pay to the Company 18% of all sales proceeds of hydrocarbons received by such parties between December 2012 and the date of the Order, and (4) to direct the purchaser of the hydrocarbons to pay direct to the Company 18% of all future sale proceeds during the pendency of the arbitration proceedings. The ICC further ordered that in the event that Hycarbex, Hycarbex Asia and Hydro Tur fail to produce to the Company the production and sales records for the period August 2011 through December 2012 within the fourteen (14) days following the Order, that such parties are ordered to pay to the Company $1,436,138 as an approximate interim amount pending the determination of actual sale proceeds from the actual records. The ICC further ordered that in the event that Hycarbex, Hycarbex Asia and Hydro Tur fail to produce to the Company the production and sales records for the period December 2012 through the date of the Order and continue to do so, that the arbitration tribunal will consider an application from the Company for a further Order as to an approximate interim monetary amount pending the determination of actual sales proceeds for such period. Subsequent to this ICC Order, Hycarbex produced certain sales records and other records of Hycarbex but Hycarbex and Hycarbex Asia failed to pay the ordered monetary sum. Hycarbex and Hycarbex Asia also requested a modification of the Order granting interim relief. The Order was not suspended by the ICC while this request was under consideration. By communication from the ICC dated February 4, 2014, the modification requested by Hycarbex and Hycarbex Asia was denied by the arbitration tribunal. The Liquidators for Hycarbex Asia appointed in 2013 in the pending insolvency proceedings for Hycarbex Asia in Singapore replaced their legal counsel and then requested a stay of the arbitration proceedings on February 12, 2014 from the English High Court of Justice, Chancery Division. However, this request for stay of the arbitration proceedings was promptly denied by the English Court and Hycarbex Asia was directed by the Court to pay to the Company costs of £40,000, which have been paid.

On February 17, 2014, the arbitration proceedings commenced before the 3-arbitrator tribunal with the first order of business being consideration of another request to the arbitration tribunal by the Liquidators of Hycarbex Asia for suspension of the proceeding or, in the alternative, a postponement to permit newly appointed legal counsel to prepare a proper defense to the Company’s claims in arbitration. A complete suspension was rejected by the Tribunal. The Liquidators voluntarily offered to pay interim costs of $50,000 toward the actual costs determined by the Tribunal as caused by the request. We opposed the postponement and indicated that any consideration of same must be conditioned upon protection of the disputed assets and adequate measures to assure payment to us of the monies due to us under the September 25, 2013 Order granting interim relief. The tribunal adjourned the final hearing on the merits until June 16, 2014, based upon Hycarbex Asia’s assertion that the change of counsel was necessitated by a conflict arising out of a divergence of the respective interests of Hycarbex Asia and the other Defendants. We were awarded the $50,000 in inconvenience costs offered by Hycarbex Asia, which have been paid, and given the opportunity to request an increase in that sum based upon actual costs incurred. The Tribunal further issued an interim Order dated February 25, 2014, requiring Hycarbex to produce to us all records of production from August 2011 forward, including any production which occurs after the date of the Order. The Order further required Hycarbex to produce any future notices of regulatory action or default received from the Government of Pakistan. The Order further ordered that the parties prepare a joint letter to Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (the purchaser of the gas from the Haseeb #1 Well) withdrawing Hycarbex’s October 8, 2013 instruction letter to Sui Southern Gas Company and further ordered that the joint letter direct Sui Southern Gas Company Limited to pay 18% of the gross production proceeds directly to the Company going forward. The Order further directed that the joint letter be submitted to Sui Southern Gas Company Limited within 7 days after agreement is reached on the form of the letter. The Company and Hycarbex Asia reached agreement as to the form of the letter during the second week of May, 2014, and the joint letter was submitted to Sui Southern Gas Company Limited. The Order further authorized our use of any documents and transcripts from the arbitration proceedings in any ancillary proceeding initiated by the Company in Pakistan.

In August, 2014, we initiated separate legal actions in Pakistan for an injunction against Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (“Sui Southern”) and Hycarbex-American Energy, Inc. (“Hycarbex”), respectively, in furtherance of the prior interim orders of the Arbitration Tribunal. The new action filed in the Sindh, Karachi High Court named as defendants Sui Southern, Hycarbex, its parent company, Hycarbex Asia Pte. Ltd. (“Hycarbex Asia”) and two additional pro forma defendants and requests an injunction against Sui Southern against payment to Hycarbex of 18% of the total proceeds of gas sales. The requested injunction was granted to us by the Karachi Court, but later vacated as premature as it pertains to the third party gas gatherer. However, we also filed in the Islamabad Court an action against Hycarbex, Hycarbex Asia and Hydro Tur as defendants and obtained injunctive relief against Hycarbex from interference with the Arbitration Tribunal-ordered notifications to Sui Southern to pay us directly our 18% of production, and injunctive relief requiring Hycarbex to escrow the 18% of production which would have been payable to the Company. On April 15, 2015, the ICC Arbitration Tribunal rendered its Partial Final Award in the pending arbitration proceedings which declares that the November 9, 2003 Stock Purchase Agreement between the Company, Hycarbex and Hydro-Tur, which was amended on February 16, 2004, and December 15, 2009, is void ab initio and of no legal effect on account of the fraud and misrepresentations of Hycarbex, Hydro-Tur and Hycarbex-Asia and that the Company is thus the 100% owner of the common stock of Hycarbex relating back to the original Stock Purchase Agreement date of November 9, 2003. In connection with its findings, the ICC Arbitration Tribunal ordered that the register of shareholders for Hycarbex be corrected to reflect the Company as the owner of 100% of the common stock, that Hycarbex and Hycarbex-Asia take any and all steps necessary to effect the rectification of the register of shareholders of Hycarbex to reflect the Company as the owner of 100% of the common stock, and that Hycarbex and Hycarbex-Asia bear all costs of the arbitration proceedings, including the Company’s legal costs, which costs and fees are to be fixed by the ICC Arbitration Tribunal in a subsequent award after submission of the total costs and fees by AEGG. The ICC Arbitration Tribunal dismissed Hydro-Tur’s application for costs. The April 15 Award makes moot certain of the pending actions in Pakistan due to the recovery of ownership of 100% of the stock of Hycarbex. The Company has effected the shareholder and management registration changes ordered by the ICC and has caused Hycarbex to open a new office in Islamabad, Pakistan for Hycarbex's future operations. The new management of Hycarbex has also assumed control of Hycarbex's Pakistan personnel. Finally, the new management of Hycarbex has begun its efforts to assume complete control of the Pakistan-based assets, including review and appraisement of each asset, interfacing with the local oil and gas regulatory authorities with jurisdiction over those assets to assure regulatory compliance, and continuation of legal proceedings where necessary to enforce its rights. The assumption of complete control of the Hycarbex Pakistan-based assets is expected to take several months and is not expected to be completed until calendar 2017.