Tulsa-based Empire Petroleum Corporation is preparing for its annual stockholders meeting.
A proxy filing by the company indicated the event will be held June 12. Stockholders will be asked to approve the election of directors, an advisory vote on Executive Officer Compensation, and the ratification of Grant Thornton LLP as the firm’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2025.
The company explained that holders of record of its Common Stock at the close of business on the record date, April 21, 2025, will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting. As of April 21, 2025, there were 33,712,727 shares of Empire’s Common Stock outstanding. Each share of Common Stock is entitled to one vote.
There are three nominees to be chosen for director including Michael Morrisett, CEO of Empire since March 2023 and President and a Director of the firm since January 2025. He has more than 25 years of experience in investment banking and in the management of non-operated oil and gas properties.
A second nominee is Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, who retired from the U.S. Navy in 2021 after a 36-year military career. He retired as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Plans and Strategy, vice director for Operations, and director of Fleet training at Fleet Forces Command. Lewis has been a director for Empire since 2022.
The third nominee is J. Kevin Vann who has been a director since April 2023. He has been Chief Financial Officer of Helmerich & Payne, Inc., a publicly traded company that designs, fabricates and operates high-performance drilling rigs in conventional and unconventional plays around the world, since August 2024. He previously was an Executive Vice President and CFO of WPX Energy Inc.
