LOAN AND
OPTION AGREEMENT
THIS
LOAN AND OPTION AGREEMENT, dated as
of 31 July, 2009 (the
"Agreement"), is by and among Lazarus Energy Holdings,
LLC, a Delaware limited
liability company ("LEH") , Lazarus
Louisiana Refinery II, LLC, a Delaware
limited liability company, ("LLRII"), Lazarus
Energy, LLC, a Delaware limited
liability company ("LE"), Lazarus
Environmental, LLC, a Delaware limited
liability company ("LEN") (LE, LEH,
LLRII, LEN are sometimes collectively
referred to herein as the "Lazarus Entities") and Blue Dolphin
Energy Company, a
Delaware corporation ("Blue Dolphin"). The Lazarus Entities and
Blue Dolphin are
sometimes referred to herein as the "Parties").
RECITALS
WHEREAS, it
has been proposed that (i) Blue
Dolphin loan certain
amounts to the Lazarus Entities, (ii) the Parties enter into
certain agreements
pursuant to which Blue Dolphin may in its discretion loan
additional amounts to
the Lazarus Entities, and (iii) the Lazarus
Entities grant an option to Blue
Dolphin to require the closing of a transaction pursuant to which
certain assets
of the Lazarus Entities will be transferred
to Blue Dolphin in exchange for
shares of the stock of Blue Dolphin;
WHEREAS, the Board
of Directors of Blue Dolphin and the managers of the
Lazarus Entity have determined that the
transactions contemplated hereby are
consistent with, and in furtherance of, the best
interests of the parties and
their respective stockholders and members;
WHEREAS, the parties desire
to make certain representations,
warranties, covenants and agreements in connection with
this transaction and
also to prescribe various conditions to various aspects of the
transactions; and
WHERAS,
in anticipation of the execution of
this Agreement, Blue
Dolphin has prior to the date hereof loaned to LLRII $300,000;
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration
of the premises and
the
representations, warranties, covenants and
agreements contained herein, the
parties hereto, intending to be
legally bound, enter into the
following
agreements.
ARTICLE
I
CONTRUCTION OF AGREEMENT
Section 1.1.
Definitions. The definitions of certain terms used in this
Agreement are set forth in Section 10.1.
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Section 1.2.
Interpretative Provisions.
(a) The words "hereof," "herein" and "hereunder" and words
of
similar impact when used in this Agreement refer
to this Agreement as a whole
and not to any particular provision of this
Agreement, and article, section,
schedule and exhibit references
are to this Agreement unless
otherwise
specified.
(b) The meaning of defined terms shall be equally
applicable
to the singular and plural forms of the defined terms.
(c) The terms "include" and "including" are
not limiting and
mean "including without limitation."
(d) No consideration shall be given to the fact or presumption
that one party had a greater or lesser hand in drafting the
Agreement.
ARTICLE II
THE LOANS
Section
2.1. The Bridge Loan. At
the Bridge Loan Closing (as
hereinafter defined), upon the satisfaction
of the conditions set forth in
Section 2.2, Blue Dolphin will loan $1,700,000 to
LLRII, resulting in a total
loan of $2,000,000 from Blue Dolphin to LLRII pursuant to the
terms hereof (the
"Bridge Loan"). The transaction described in the first
sentence of this Section
2.1 is referred to herein as the "Bridge Loan Transaction."
Section
2.2. Conditions to the Bridge Loan. Blue
Dolphin will loan
$1,700,000 to LLRII at the Bridge Loan
Closing only if all of the following
conditions are satisfied. The Lazarus Entities will cause
such conditions to be
satisfied prior to the Bridge Loan Closing.
(a) The Lazarus Entities shall have executed and delivered
to
Blue Dolphin a promissory note in the form attached
hereto as Exhibit 2.2(a),
jointly and severally payable by the
Lazarus Entities to the order of Blue
Dolphin in the original principal amount of $2,000,000 (the
"Note");
(b) LLRII shall have executed and delivered to Blue Dolphin
a
mortgage in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 2.2(b) (the
"LLRII Mortgage"),
granting to Blue Dolphin a lien second in priority only
to the Notre Dame Lien
and pari passu with the Rio Vista Lien against the real
property described as
Parcel 1 in the attached LLRII Mortgage (the
"Mermentau Property") and a lien
first in priority against the real
property described as Parcel 2 in the
attached LLRII Mortgage (the "Disposal Well Property") securing the
repayment of
the Bridge Loan;
(c) LLRII shall have executed and delivered to Blue Dolphin
a
commercial security agreement in the form attached hereto as
Exhibit 2.2(c) (the
"LLRII Security Agreement") granting to Blue Dolphin a
lien second in priority
only to the Notre Dame Lien and pari passu with the Rio Vista
Lien against the
personal property described on
Exhibit A to the attached LLRII
Security
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Agreement (the "Mermentau Personal
Property") and a lien first in priority
against the personal property
associated with the Disposal Well
Property
described in the attached LLRII Security Agreement (the
"Disposal Well Personal
Property") securing the repayment of the Bridge Loan;
(d) None of the Lazarus Entities shall have been
subject to
any Material Adverse Effect since June 1, 2009;
(f) No preliminary or permanent injunction or other
order or
decree by any federal or state court which prevents the
consummation of any of
the Transactions shall have been
issued and remain in effect (each party
agreeing to use its reasonable efforts to have any
such injunction, order or
decree lifted);
(g) No action shall have been taken, and no statute,
rule or
regulation shall have been enacted, by any
state or federal government or
governmental agency which would
prevent the consummation of any
of the
Transactions or make the consummation of the Transactions
illegal;
(h) The Lazarus Entities shall have performed in all
material
respects (or in all respects in the
case of any agreement containing any
materiality qualification) their
respective agreements contained in this
Agreement required to be performed on or prior to the Bridge
Loan Closing Date;
and
(i) The representations and warranties of
Lazarus Entities
contained in this Agreement shall be true and correct in all
material respects
(or in all respects in the case of any representation or warranty
containing any
materiality qualification) on and as of the
date made and on and as of the
Bridge Loan Closing as if made at and as of such date, and
Blue Dolphin shall
have received a certificate executed on behalf of LEH by the
Director of LEH to
that effect.
Section 2.3.
Closing. The closing of the Bridge Loan (the "Bridge Loan
Closing") shall take place at the offices of counsel to Blue
Dolphin in Houston,
Texas on July 31st, 2009 or if later on the third
business day following the
date on which the last of the conditions set forth in
Section 2.2 is fulfilled
or waived, or at such other time and place as LEH and Blue
Dolphin shall agree.
At the Bridge Loan Closing, each of the parties
hereto will take actions and
execute such documents and
instruments as may be reasonably
required to
consummate the Bridge Loan.
Section
2.4. The Regional Acquisition. LEH must
keep Blue Dolphin
apprised of the status of any
negotiations of any of the Lazarus Entities
relating to the proposed acquisition by one or more of the
Lazarus Entities of
the assets described on Exhibit 2.4-1 (the "Regional
Acquisition") at all times
prior to the payment of the Bridge Loan, and shall in particular,
but not by way
of limitation, provide Blue Dolphin
with copies of all drafts of documents
relating to the Regional Acquisition as such drafts are
provided from one party
to the other, and shall provide to Blue Dolphin prompt
and complete access to
the due diligence materials relating
to the Regional Acquisition as such
materials become available to LEH.
Section
2.5. Use of Proceeds. The Lazarus
Entities shall use the
proceeds of the Bridge Loan solely for the following purposes:
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(a) Making expenditures which are permitted to be
capitalized
under GAAP to renovate the Mermentau
Assets, the Disposal Well Assets, the
assets described on Exhibit 1.6(a) (the
"Nixon Assets"), and the Regional
Assets;
(b) Partially funding the payment of the purchase price or any
deposit thereof payable pursuant to the Regional Acquisition;
and
(c) The payment of the fees provided
for pursuant to the
Consulting Agreement (as hereinafter defined).
ARTICLE III
OPTION
Section 3.1.
Option. Each Lazarus Entity hereby grants to Blue Dolphin
the option (the "Option"), exercisable by written
notice from Blue Dolphin to
LEH at any time prior to the latter of the date of
the payment in full of the
Bridge Loan or March 1, 2010, to require that the Parties
promptly enter into a
purchase and sale agreement
substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.1 (the
"Purchase Agreement"), and thereafter close the
transaction described in the
Purchase Agreement pursuant to its terms, provided, however, that
an exercise of
the Option shall not be considered effective if LEH gives
Blue Dolphin written
notice that a Material Adverse Effect is then
applicable to Blue Dolphin until
Blue Dolphin has remedied that Material Adverse
Effect. The Lazarus Entities
agree that within thirty (30) days of the exercise of
the Option, the Lazarus
Entities shall obtain and provide to Blue
Dolphin written evidence of any
consent agreed to be granted by any third party to waive any
term or condition
set forth in any note, bond, mortgage,
indenture, deed of trust, license,
franchise, permit, concession, contract, lease or other
instrument, obligation
or agreement of any kind to which any Lazarus Entity is a
party or by which any
Lazarus Entity or any of their respective properties or
assets may be bound or
affected that is violated by the exercise of the Option and
the consummation of
any transactions contemplated in the
Purchase Agreement, including but not
limited to the 1st International Loan Agreement Blue Dolphin agrees
that it will
not exercise the Option if the Closing will cause
a violation of any material
term or condition set forth in any note, bond,
mortgage, indenture, deed of
trust, license, franchise, permit,
concession, contract, lease or
other
instrument, obligation or agreement of any kind to which Blue
Dolphin or any of
its subsidiaries is a party or by which any of them or any of
their respective
properties or assets may be bound or affected. The
Parties agree to negotiate
the final Purchase Agreement in good faith based on the
terms set forth in the
attached Purchase Agreement, recognizing that certain factual
matters may change
subsequent to the date hereof in compliance with
this Agreement. The Parties
will in addition determine pursuant to these good faith
negotiations whether the
Option transaction should be structured as an acquisition of
assets, as provided
in the attached Purchase Agreement, or as an
acquisition of the membership or
other equity interests of the Lazarus Entities which own the
respective Subject
Assets (as hereinafter defined) primarily
considering the practicality of the
transfer of the Subject Assets, and secondarily
considering the tax effect on
all parties and other reasonable factors. At any time, Blue Dolphin
may elect to
terminate the Option by written notice to LEH.
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ARTICLE IV
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF
BLUE DOLPHIN
Blue
Dolphin represents and warrants to
the Lazarus Entities as
follows:
Section
4.1. Organization. Blue Dolphin
is a corporation, duly
organized, validly existing and in good standing under the
laws of the State of
Delaware and has the requisite corporate power and
authority to own, lease and
operate its assets and properties and to carry on
its business as it is now
being conducted.
Section
4.2. Capitalization. As of June 30,
2009, the authorized
capital stock of Blue Dolphin consisted of
100,000,000 shares of Blue Dolphin
Common Stock and 2,500,000 shares of preferred stock,
par value $.10 per share
("Blue Dolphin Preferred Stock"). As of June 30, 2009, (i)
11,785,299 shares of
Blue Dolphin Common Stock were issued and outstanding, all of which
were validly
issued and are fully paid, duly
authorized, non-assessable and free of
preemptive rights, (ii) 0 shares of Blue Dolphin Preferred Stock
were issued and
outstanding and (iii) 0 shares of Blue Dolphin Common Stock and 0
shares of Blue
Dolphin Preferred Stock were held in the treasury of Blue
Dolphin.
Section 4.3.
Authority; Non-Contravention; Approvals.
(a) Blue Dolphin has full corporate power
and authority to
execute and deliver this
Agreement and to consummate the
Bridge Loan
Transaction. This Agreement has been approved by the Board of
Directors of Blue
Dolphin, and no other corporate proceedings on
the part of Blue Dolphin, are
necessary to authorize the execution
and delivery of this Agreement or the
consummation by Blue Dolphin of the Bridge Loan Transaction.
This Agreement has
been duly executed and delivered by
Blue Dolphin, and, assuming the due
authorization, execution and delivery
hereof by Carroll and the Lazarus
Entities, constitutes a valid and legally
binding agreement of Blue Dolphin
enforceable against it in
accordance with its terms, except
that such
enforcement may be subject to (i)
bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization,
moratorium or other similar laws
affecting or relating to enforcement of
creditors' rights generally and (ii) general equitable
principles.
(b) The execution and delivery of
this Agreement by Blue
Dolphin and the consummation by Blue Dolphin of the Bridge
Loan Transaction do
not and will not violate or result in
a breach of any provision of, or
constitute a default (or an event which, with notice or
lapse of time or both,
would constitute a default) under,
or result in the termination of,
or
accelerate the performance required by, or result in a
right of termination or
acceleration under, or result in the creation of any
lien, security interest,
charge or encumbrance upon any of the properties or assets of Blue
Dolphin under
any of the terms, conditions or provisions of (i) the charters or
bylaws of Blue
Dolphin, (ii) any statute, law, ordinance, rule,
regulation, judgment, decree,
order, injunction, writ, permit or
license of any court or governmental
authority applicable to Blue Dolphin or any of their
properties or assets, or
(iii) any note, bond, mortgage, indenture, deed of
trust, license, franchise,
permit, concession, contract, lease or other instrument, obligation
or agreement
of any kind to which Blue Dolphin is now a party or by which Blue
Dolphin or any
of their respective properties or assets may be bound or
affected.
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Section 4.4.
Reports and Financial Statements.
(a) Blue Dolphin has filed with the Securities
and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC") all material forms,
statements, reports and documents
(including all exhibits, amendments and
supplements thereto) required to be
filed by it under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
"Securities Act"),
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
(the "Exchange Act") and the
respective rules and regulations
thereunder, all of which complied in all
material respects with all applicable
requirements of the appropriate act and
the rules and regulations thereunder.
(b) Blue Dolphin has previously made available or delivered to
LEH copies of all reports, including annual, quarterly
and current reports, or
registration statements filed by Blue Dolphin with the
SEC including but not
limited to the Form 10-KSB with respect to the period
ending December 31, 2007
and Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2009 ("SEC
Reports"
ARTICLE V
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
OF THE LAZARUS ENTITIES
Each Lazarus
Entity jointly and severally represent and warrant to Blue
Dolphin that:
Section 5.1.
Organization and Qualification. Each Lazarus Entity is a
limited liability company duly organized, validly existing
and in good standing
under the laws of the State of Delaware and has the
requisite corporate power
and authority to own, lease and operate its assets and
properties and to carry
on its business as it is now being
conducted. Each Lazarus Entity is duly
qualified to do business as a foreign entity and
is in good standing in each
jurisdiction in which the properties owned,
leased, or operated by it or the
nature of the business conducted by it makes such qualification
necessary. True,
accurate and complete copies of the
organizational documents of each Lazarus
Entity, as amended, including all amendments
thereto, have heretofore been
delivered to Blue Dolphin.
Section
5.2. Authority; Non-Contravention; Approvals.
(a) Each Lazarus Entity has full company power and
authority
to execute and deliver this Agreement and to consummate the
Transactions. This
Agreement has been approved by the managers of each Lazarus Entity,
and no other
company proceedings on the part of
any Lazarus Entity, are necessary
to
authorize the execution and delivery of this Agreement or
the consummation by
the Lazarus Entities of any of the Transactions.
This Agreement has been duly
executed and delivered by each
Lazarus Entity, and, assuming
the due
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authorization, execution and delivery hereof by
Blue Dolphin, constitutes a
valid and legally binding agreement of each Lazarus Entity
enforceable against
each Lazarus Entity in accordance with its terms, except that
such enforcement
may be subject to (i) bankruptcy, insolvency,
reorganization, moratorium or
other similar laws affecting or relating to
enforcement of creditors' rights
generally and (ii) general equitable principles.
(b) Except as set forth in the
Disclosure Schedule, the
execution and delivery of this
Agreement by each Lazarus Entity and
the
consummation by each Lazarus Entity of the
Transactions do not and will not
violate or result in a breach of any provision of, or
constitute a default (or
an event which, with notice or lapse of
time or both, would constitute a
default) under, or result in the termination of, or
accelerate the performance
required by, or result in a right of termination
or acceleration under, or
result in the creation of any lien, security
interest, charge or encumbrance
upon any of the properties or assets of any
Lazarus Entity under any of the
terms, conditions or provisions of (i)
the organizational documents of any
Lazarus Entity, (ii) any statute, law, ordinance, rule,
regulation, judgment,
decree, order, injunction, writ, permit or license of any
court or governmental
authority applicable to any Lazarus Entity or any of their
respective properties
or assets, or (iii) any note, bond, mortgage, indenture, deed of
trust, license,
franchise, permit, concession, Contract, lease or other
instrument, obligation
or agreement of any kind to which any Lazarus Entity is now a
party or by which
any Lazarus Entity or any of their respective properties or
assets may be bound
or affected.
(c) No declaration, filing or registration with, or notice to,
or authorization, consent or approval of, any governmental or
regulatory body or
authority is necessary for the execution and delivery of
this Agreement by any
Lazarus Entity or the consummation by any Lazarus Entity of the
Transactions.
Section 5.3.
Reports and Financial Statements. LEH has furnished
Blue
Dolphin with audited and consolidated balance
sheets, income statements and
statements of cash flows for each Lazarus Entity as of and
for the period ended
December 31, 2006 and December 31, 2007, and unaudited and
consolidated balance
sheet and income statement for the period ended December 31,
2008 and as of and
for the 6th month period ending June 30, 2009
(collectively, the "Financial
Statements"). The Financial Statements have been
prepared in accordance with
GAAP and fairly present the financial condition and result of
operations of each
Lazarus Entity.
Section 5.4.
Absence of Undisclosed Liabilities. Except as disclosed in
the Disclosure Schedule, no Lazarus Entity is subject
to Liabilities, except
Liabilities which are provided for in the Financial Statements.
Section 5.5.
Absence of Certain Changes or Events. Except as disclosed
in Disclosure Schedule, since July 31, 2006 the business of
each Lazarus Entity
has been conducted in the ordinary course
of business consistent with past
practices, and there has not been any event, occurrence,
development or state of
circumstances or facts which has had, or could
reasonably be anticipated to
have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect with respect
to any Lazarus Entity.
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Section 5.6.
Title to and Condition of Assets. The Lazarus
Entities
have good and indefeasible title to the
Mermentau Assets, the Disposal Well
Assets, and the Nixon Assets (collectively, the
"Subject Assets"), free and
clear of any Liens, except for Permitted
Liens. The Subject Assets are in
adequate condition for their intended use, after the
performance of reasonable
and customary start up and refurbishment procedures. Such
assets constitute all
of the properties necessary for the
respective Lazarus Entity to conduct its
business as now conducted.
Section 5.7.
Employees. The only Lazarus Entity which has employees is
LEH.
Section
5.8. Litigation. There are no claims,
suits, actions, or
proceedings pending or, to the Knowledge of each
Lazarus Entity, threatened
against or relating to any Lazarus
Entity, before any court, governmental
department, commission, agency, instrumentality or authority, or
any arbitrator.
To the knowledge of each Lazarus Entity, there are no
state of facts, events,
conditions, or occurrences which would properly
constitute grounds for or the
basis of any material claim, suit, action, or proceeding
against or relating to
any Lazarus Entity. Except as set forth in the Disclosure
Schedule, no Lazarus
Entity is subject to any judgment, decree,
injunction, rule or order of any
court, governmental department,
commission, agency, instrumentality
or
authority, or any arbitrator.
Section 5.9. No
Violation of Law. No Lazarus Entity is in violation of
and no Lazarus Entity has been given notice or been charged
with any violation
of, any law, statute, order, rule,
regulation, ordinance or judgment of any
governmental or regulatory body or
authority. Except as disclosed in the
Disclosure Schedule, as of the date of this Agreement, to the
Knowledge of each
Lazarus Entity, no investigation or review by
any governmental or regulatory
body or authority is pending or
threatened, nor has any governmental or
regulatory body or authority indicated an
intention to conduct the same. The
Lazarus Entities have all permits, licenses, franchises,
variances, exemptions,
orders and other governmental authorizations, consents
and approvals necessary
to conduct their businesses as
presently conducted
(collectively, the
"Permits"). No Lazarus Entity is in violation of the terms of any
Permits.
Section 5.10.
Insurance Policies. No Lazarus Entity has received notice
from any current insurance carrier of the
intention of such carrier (a) to
discontinue any material insurance coverage afforded to
the Lazarus Entity; or
(b) to materially increase the premium costs of
such insurance. The types of
insurance policies maintained by the Lazarus Entities and the
coverage afforded
by such policies with respect to the operations of each
Lazarus Entity are, in
the opinion of the Lazarus Entities, reasonable
in light of the nature of the
businesses conducted and the risks associated with such
businesses.
Section
5.11. Taxes. All returns and reports,
including, without
limitation, information and withholding returns
and reports and any schedules
and attachments thereto or any
amendments of any of the foregoing
("Tax
Returns"), of or relating to any Taxes,
that are required to be filed on or
before the date hereof by or with respect to any
Lazarus Entity have been duly
and timely filed. All such Tax Returns were correct and complete in
all material
respects and all the Taxes, including
interest and penalties, owed by any
Lazarus Entity have been timely paid. There are
no pending Tax audits by U.S.
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tax authorities with respect to Tax Returns of any Lazarus
Entity. The Lazarus
Entities have made all deposits (including
estimated tax payments for taxable
years for which the federal income tax return is
not yet due) required with
respect to Taxes.
Section
5.12. Environmental Matters.
(a) Except as set forth in the Disclosure Schedule:
(i) no notice, demand, request for information,
citation,
summons or order hasbeen received by,
no complaint has been served on, no
penalty has been assessed against, and no
investigation, action, claim, suit,
proceeding or review is pending or, to the Knowledge of each
Lazarus Entity, is
threatened by any governmental entity or other person against any
Lazarus Entity
or any predecessor of any Lazarus
Entity, relating to or arising out of any
Environmental Law (as defined below);
(ii) Each Lazarus Entity is and
has been in material
compliance with all Environmental Laws and
Environmental Permits (as defined
below), and, to the Knowledge of each Lazarus
Entity, any predecessor of any
Lazarus Entity was in material
compliance with all Environmental Laws and
Environmental Permits; or
(iii)
No Lazarus Entity has, and to the Knowledge of
each
Lazarus Entity, no predecessor of any Lazarus
Entity, has, entered into any
obligation, Liability, order,
settlement, judgment, injunction or
decree
involving uncompleted, outstanding or unresolved
requirements relating to or
arising under Environmental Law and to the
Knowledge of each Lazarus Entity,
there are no facts, conditions, situations or set of
circumstances which could
reasonably be expected to result in or be the
basis for any such obligation,
Liability, order, settlement, judgment, injunction or decree.
(b) For purposes of this Agreement, (i) "Environmental
Laws"
means any and all laws, statutes, ordinances,
rules, regulations, orders or
determinations of any Governmental Authority (as defined
below) relating to the
protection of the&n