Law Firm Predicts More Oil and Gas Bankruptcies are Looming

 

 

bankruptcies

The number of North American oil and gas producers that have entered bankruptcy court since the beginning of 2015 is up to at least 69, according to the Texas law firm Haynes and Boone which focuses on such legal matters.

The company says the bankruptcies, including Chapter 7, Chapter 11, Chapter 15 and Canadian cases involve nearly $34.3 billion in cumulative secured and unsecured debt.

Lawyers with the firm said that as of May 1, 27 producers filed bankruptcy so far in 2016. There were at least eleven Chapter 11 filings in April involving nearly $15 billion in debt—more than in any other single month covered by the company’s report. Six filings in the southern district of Texas totaled $9.3 billion.

“Despite the modest recovery in energy prices, all indications suggest many more producer bankruptcy filings will occur during 2016,” stated the firm’s Oil Patch Bankruptcy Monitor.

The Monitor indicated that the 2015-2016 secured and unsecured debt in Oklahoma totaled $138,654,484. Filings in Texas for the same time period totaled $12,334, 419,797.