UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): April 30, 2020

GULFPORT ENERGY CORPORATION

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

(405) 252-4600
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the Registrant under any of the following provisions:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

In reliance on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Order Under Section 36 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Modifying Exemptions From the Reporting and Proxy Delivery Requirements for Public Companies, dated March 25, 2020 (Release No. 34-88465), Gulfport Energy Corporation (the “Company”) will delay the filing of its Amendment No. 1 to Form 10-K on Form 10-K/A (the “Form 10-K/A”), including the information omitted from the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 pursuant to General Instruction G(3) of the Form 10-K (the “Part III Information”) due to the circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, COVID-19 has caused the Company’s headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to close, and the Company had to issue a work from home policy to protect its employees and their families from potential virus transmission among co-workers. The office closures and work from home policy have in turn caused a delay in the completion of the Form 10-K/A process. The Company is in the process of working on a remote basis to file the Form 10-K/A, including the Part III Information, as quickly as possible. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company expects to file the Form 10-K/A, including the Part III Information, no later than June 15, 2020 (which is the next business day after 45 days from the Form 10-K/A’s original filing deadline).

In connection with the foregoing, the Company hereby supplements the risk factors previously disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 with the following risk factor:

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has affected and may materially adversely affect, and any future outbreak of any other highly infectious or contagious diseases may materially adversely affect, our operations, financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows.

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has affected, and may materially adversely affect, our business and financial and operating results. The severity, magnitude and duration of the current COVID-19 outbreak is uncertain, rapidly changing and hard to predict. Thus far in 2020, the outbreak has significantly impacted economic activity and markets around the world, and COVID-19 or another similar outbreak could negatively impact our business in numerous ways, including, but not limited to, the following:

We expect that the principal areas of operational risk for us are availability of service providers and supply chain disruption. Active development operations, including drilling and fracking operations, represent the greatest risk for transmission given that the number of personnel and contractors on site. While we believe that we are following best practices under COVID-19 guidance, the potential for transmission still exists. In certain instances, it may be necessary or determined advisable for us to delay development operations.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased volatility and caused negative pressure in the capital and credit markets. As a result, we may experience difficulty accessing the capital or financing needed to fund our exploration and production operations, which have substantial capital requirements, or refinance our upcoming maturities on satisfactory terms or at all. We typically fund our capital expenditures with existing cash and cash generated by operations (which is subject to a number of variables, including many beyond our control) and, to the extent our capital expenditures exceed our cash resources, from borrowings under our revolving credit facility and other external sources of capital. If our cash flows from operations or the borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility are insufficient to fund our capital expenditures and we are unable to obtain the capital necessary for our planned capital budget or our operations, we could be required to curtail our operations and the development of our properties, which in turn could lead to a decline in our reserves and production, and could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial position.

To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks set forth in Item 1A., “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, such as those relating to our financial performance and debt obligations. The rapid development and fluidity of this situation precludes any prediction as to the ultimate adverse impact of COVID-19 on our business, which will depend on numerous evolving factors and future developments that we are not able to predict, including the length of time that the pandemic continues, its effect on the demand for natural gas, NGLs and oil, the response of the overall economy and the financial markets as well as the effect of governmental actions taken in response to the pandemic.

(d) Exhibits

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

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