Matschke Mason H. 4

What Happened
Mason H. Matschke, a director of Empire Petroleum Corp. (EP), participated in the company’s rights offering. On 2026-03-31 he acquired 5,402 shares of common stock at $2.99 per share for a total cash outlay of $16,152. The Form 4 also reports the exercise/conversion of 40,864 derivative rights (transaction code M) with no cash consideration reported for that line.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-03-31 (reported on Form 4 filed 2026-04-02)
• Purchase: 5,402 shares at $2.99 each = $16,152 (cash paid)
• Derivative conversion: 40,864 shares reported as disposed under “exercise/conversion of derivative” at $0 cash consideration (see footnotes)
• Transaction code: M = exercise or conversion of a derivative security (rights offering)
• Shares owned after transaction: not specified in the excerpt provided
• Filing timeliness: Form 4 filed 2026-04-02 for a 2026-03-31 transaction — appears to be filed within the standard two-business-day window
• Notable footnotes: transactions were part of the Issuer’s Rights Offering; $2.99 is the exercise price; includes shares acquired under basic and over‑subscription rights (see issuer prospectus supplements dated Feb 2 and Feb 25, 2026).

Context
This was participation in a company rights offering (subscription/over-subscription rights), not an open-market trade. The 5,402-share line reflects a cash purchase at $2.99 per share; the 40,864-share line reflects conversion/exercise activity tied to the rights offering (reported as a derivative exercise with no cash amount on that line). Rights-offering activity is routine for raising equity and should be interpreted as an execution of shareholder subscription rights rather than a typical buy/sell signal.