SEC Company Response from US ENERGY CORP (USEG) (CIK 0000101594) (BSIN) — Jan 17, 2006
US ENERGY CORP (USEG) (CIK 0000101594)
Date: Jan. 17, 2006 · CIK: 0000101594 · Accession: 0000101594-06-000017
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File numbers found in text: 333-115477
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CORRESP
1
filename1.htm
USE Letter to SEC 1-16-06
January
16, 2006
Fax
202.845.1281
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
100
F
Street, N.E.
Washington,
D.C. 20549-7010
Attn: Jennifer
Gallagher
Re: U.S.
Energy Corp.
Post-Effective
Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1
Filed
October 25, 2005
File
No.333-115477
Form
10-K
for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Filed
April 15, 2005
File
No.
0-06814
Form
10-Q
for the Period Ended September 30, 2005
Filed
November 14, 2005
Supplemental
Information
Dear
Ms.
Gallagher:
We
have
reviewed the November 18, 2005 comment letter, and propose to make conforming
changes in future periodic reports (beginning with the Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2005). We submit to you that while the subject disclosures
in
the periodic reports certainly need clarification and correction, those
disclosures, taken alone, are not of sufficient gravity to warrant amending
prior reports.
In
addition, we propose to amend the Form S-1 only to clean up the inadvertent
omissions of execution date and the prior audit firm consent, and other respects
to update disclosures for the passage of time since the initial filing. If
the
staff does not concur with our position on future conforming changes in periodic
reports, we will file amendments to those documents, then amend the S-1 as
necessary. However, in that event, because the 2004 audited financial statements
in the S-1 will go stale on February 14, 2006, we may withdraw the Form S-1
and
file a Form S-3 (after the new Form 10-K for year ended December 31, 2005 has
been filed) for the selling shareholders now identified in the Form
S-1.
If
needed, we would be pleased to arrange a conference call with the staff to
further explain our proposed responses.
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Supplemental
Information
January
16, 2006
Page
2
of
9
Post-Effective
Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1
Exhibits
1.
Please
file consent from your predecessor accountant in an amendment to
the Form
S-1.
Response:
The
consent of Grant Thornton, our predecessor independent accountant, was
inadvertently omitted. If we file an amendment to the Form S-1, we will file
the
consent. In the meantime, if desired by the staff. we will file a short-form
amendment to include the consent.
Signatures
2.
Please
revise to specify the date your document was
signed.
Response:
Thank
you. The S-1 was signed on October 25, 2005, but the date was inadvertently
omitted from the filing. If we file an amendment to the Form S-1, the execution
date will be disclosed. In the meantime, if desired by the staff, we wil file
a
short-form amendment to include the original execution date.
Form
10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Financial
Statements, page 56
Balance
Sheets, page 60
3.
We
note you present $2,599,000 and $2,726,600 as deferred gain on sale
of
asset on your consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2004 and
2003.
Similarly, we note you added an additional line item in your subsequent
reports on Form 10-Q for the deferral of gain on the sale of Rocky
Mountain Gas, Inc. at June 30 and September 30, 2005. Disclose the
origin
of these account balances in the applicable filings, including the
terms
under which they were generated, and the circumstances under which
you
will recognize the gain into income. Also disclose how each element
of
consideration was valued, and the manner by which you will account
for
changes in value until realization occurs. Please submit detailed
computations of your gains, showing the amounts ascribed to each
component, including book values of assets and liabilities
relieved.
Response:
We
reported $1,279,000 at December 31, 2004 and $1,295,700 at December 31, 2003
as
deferred gain on the sale of assets. The dollar amounts stated in the comment
are the forfeitable dollar amounts reported for the years ended December 31,
2004 and 2003. As the balance of this
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Supplemental
Information
January
16, 2006
Page 3
of
9
comment
relates to deferred gain calculations, we are responding to the deferred gain
on
sale of asset line item.
In
the
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, Note F-Mineral Claims
Transactions, page 75 (Rocky Mountain Gas, second paragraph),we made the
following disclosure on the deferred gain on the stock sale of Canyon Resources
to Cactus Group LLC.
“On
August 1, 2003, the Company sold all of the stock of Canyon Resources as a
result of Plateau entering into a Stock Purchase Agreement to sell all the
outstanding shares of Canyon Homesteads, Inc. ("Canyon") to The Cactus Group
LLC, a newly formed Colorado limited liability company. The Cactus Group
purchased all of the outstanding stock of Canyon for $3,470,000. Of that amount,
$349,300 was paid in cash at closing and the balance of $3,120,700 is to be
paid
under the terms of a promissory note.
The
sale
did not qualify for gain recognition under the full accrual method. A gain
of
$1,295,700 was deferred and reported in the consolidated balance sheet at
December 31, 2003. The sale will be recognized by the installment method as
cash
payments are received from the purchaser. An installment note receivable of
$2,988,000 at December 31, 2003 will be reduced as payments are
received.
Pursuant
to the promissory note, the Company is to receive $5,000 per month for the
months of November 2003 to March 2004 and $10,000 for the months of November
2004 to March 2005 and $24,000 per month for the months of April to October
2004
and $24,000 per month on a monthly basis after March of 2005 from The Cactus
Group until August of 2008, at which time, a balloon payment of $2.8 million
is
due. The note is secured with all the assets of The Cactus Group and Canyon
along with personal guarantees by the six principals of The Cactus Group. As
additional consideration for the sale, the Company will also receive the first
$210,000 in gross proceeds from the sale of either single family or mobile
home
lots in Ticaboo.”
The
amount of the deferred gain at December 31, 2003 was calculated as
follows:
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Supplemental
Information
January
16, 2006
Page 4
of
9
Gross
Proceeds
$
3,470,000
Net
Value of Assets
&
Liabilities
(1,803,800
)
Commission
on Sale
(165,000
)
Amount
due Cactus
(48,800
)
Subtotal
$
1,452,400
Deferred
Gain
(1,295,700
)
Net
Gain
$
156,700
The
sale
of Canyon Resources was accounted for under FAS-66 as a Real Estate Installment
Sale. The basis for the accounting was that all of the assets owned by Canyon
Resources were real estate. The assets consisted of a motel, a restaurant,
a
convenience store, a boat storage facility and a town site with electrical,
curb
and gutter, and water and sewer improvements. The amount of the sale deferred
was calculated by using the total sales price of $3,470,000 as the denominator
and the actual amount of cash received by the Company from the sale of $349,300
as the numerator, which yielded 10%. Using this logic, only 10%, allowing for
rounding, of the total gain from the sale was therefore recognized during the
year ended December 31, 2003 with the balance being deferred until actually
realized.
Although
the disclosure was shortened on the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2004, the primary components of the transaction are disclosed in Note F, page
82. None of the details of the transaction have changed since the date of the
transaction. During the year ended December 31, 2004 the amount of the deferred
gain was reduced by $16,700 from the amount of deferred gain reported at
December 31, 2003. The reduction of the gain is consistent with the disclosure
made at December 31, 2003.
The
second part of the comment refers to the deferred gain on the sale of RMG.
The
sale of RMG is described in footnote 6, page 10, MD&A pages 18, 19 and 25
for the quarter ended June 30, 2005. Although the transaction is described
in
these areas of the 10-Q, the deferred gain on the sale of RMG is not
specifically identified.
The
deferred gain on the sale of RMG is the difference between the net present
value
of the Enterra US Acquisitions Inc. shares, using a 10% discount rate that
the
Company and Crested received as consideration for the sale. The Company and
Crested received a total of 682,345 shares of Acquisitions; the shares must
be
held for one year from June 1, 2005. Thereafter, the shares automatically
convert on a one for one basis into units in Enterra, which will then be
saleable on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The
Acquisitions shares had a value of $19.00 per share (a total of $12,964,555).
Using a 10% discount factor, the shares have a net present value of $11,785,959.
The $1,178,596 difference between the value of the Acquisitions shares and
the
net present value was recorded as a deferred gain on the sale of RMG due to
the
uncertainty of what the value will be on June 1, 2006. This discount is
appropriate; we will recognize the additional gain or loss when the shares
are
ultimately sold.
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Supplemental
Information
January
16, 2006
Page 5
of
9
Value
of Acquisition Shares 682,345 @ $19
$
12,964,600
Net
Present Value of Shares
(11,786,000
)
Deferred
Gain
$
1,178,600
We
propose to make additional disclosure in the Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2005. We do not believe that the omission of this disclosure in
the
Form 10-Q requires an amendment to the Form 10-Q.
Note
B-Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, page 71
Revenue
Recognition, page 74
4.
In
your disclosure you state management fees are for operating and overseeing
coalbed methane production and oil production on the Fort Peck Reservation
in Montana. It is our understanding that you do not hold an interest
in
this property. However, on page 49 you do state that management fee
revenues increased in 2004 due to your acquisition of producing gas
properties. Tell us the extent to which you have reported as revenue
fees
paid to you for operating properties in which you hold an interest.
Please
understand that any such management and service fees should be recorded
as
reimbursements of costs, offsetting the costs that were specifically
incurred to provide the services, with any excess of fees over costs
credited to the full cost pool, to comply with Rule 4-10(c)(6)(iii)
and
(iv) of Regulation S-X. Please revise your policy disclosure to describe
your accounting for management fees and to include the amount of
such fees
that were credited to the full cost pool for each period presented.
If you
believe the amounts do not warrant disclosure due to immateriality,
you
may provide this information on a supplemental
basis.
Response:
The
breakdown of the management fees line item for the year ended December 31,
2004
is:
Management
Fees RMG
$
796,300
Oil
Sales
143,800
UPC
payments
175,000
N/R
Employee - Reserved
47,300
Miscellaneous
17,500
Total
Reported
$
1,179,900
The
management fee revenues from the sale of oil in Montana is correctly reported
as
management fees as we do not own the oil, but receive a fee from the Assiniboine
Sioux tribes as the oil is produced. The revenues from UPC, notes receivable
from employees and miscellaneous should be classified as “Other Revenues.” We
propose that in future 1934 Act filings; we change the description to
“Management Fees and Other.”
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Supplemental
Information
January
16, 2006
Page 6
of
9
The
fees
for managing the RMG wells for RMG are recognized on wells in which RMG owned
an
interest. RMG’s portion of the operating costs of these wells exceeded the
revenue recognized by the Company in its consolidated financial statements.
As
there is no excess revenue to credit against the full cost pool, the balance
sheet and net earnings as well as earnings per share do not change by a
reclassification. Lastly, all operations of RMG are now reported as discontinued
operations, which we submit resolves any