Material Agreement (Form 8-K)

Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the "Company"), previously entered into a 5% Unsecured Promissory Note (as amended from time to time, the "Note") with Gregory McCabe, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Company's largest stockholder ("Mr. McCabe") for the aggregate principal amount of up to $20,000,000. On January 7, 2026, the Company and Mr. McCabe entered into the Tenth Amendment to 5% Unsecured Promissory Note (the "Amendment") to increase the principal amount available for disbursement to the Company from $20,000,000 to up to $25,000,000. The Amendment was authorized and approved by the Audit Committee of the Company's Board of Directors. All other provisions of the Note remain in full force and effect.

A copy of the Amendment is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference, and the foregoing description of the Amendment is qualified in its entirety by reference thereto

Item 2.03 Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant.

The information relating to the Note and the Amendment contained in Item 1.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K is incorporated by reference herein.