The uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has rocked the global economy, and companies of all types and sizes are feeling the impacts. In recent weeks, certain high-profile retailers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Some airlines are expected to enter bankruptcy as well, and even farmers are feeling the pinch. Overall, data suggest that bankruptcies will increase almost 25 percent from last year.

On December 20, 2019, Judge Marvin Isgur in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston Division) entered a memorandum opinion which held that debtors' midstream gathering agreements formed real property covenants "running with the land" under Oklahoma law - and such agreements could not be subject to rejection under section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code. See 11 U.S.C. section 365(a) (allowing a debtor-in-possession, "subject to the court's approval," to "assume or reject any executory contract.").