THE DISPUTE

This is the first of several posts on gathering agreements in bankruptcy, covenants running with the land and rejection claims that arise when a debtor finds gathering agreements financially burdensome. As our readers know, we waited with much anticipation for theSabine ruling and wait with equal anticipation for the ruling on similar issues in QuickSilver.  Being pragmatic business lawyers we decided to blog on what parties to gathering agreements should be doing now in light of the non-binding, advisory Sabine ruling.

Since the third quarter of 2014, the appetite for lending to small and midsized exploration and production companies (E&P Companies) has decreased substantially for several reasons. The most significant reason is the drop in oil prices to the WTI Spot close at Cushing, Oklahoma in the $35 per barrel range at the end of 2015.

The recent TMA Global Annual Conference in Scottsdale Arizona gave us a great opportunity to meet with friends and colleagues old and new and swap intel and war stories!    The buzz at the conference was around the oil and gas sector.   Drilling down: Turmoil in Oil and Gas was the panel moderated by our very own Michael Cuda.   It created immediate and ongoing comment, not just at the conference but also in the wider media.  See web link from 

KEY POINTS

This week the Court of Appeal has heard the long awaited appeal in Jervis and another v Pillar Denton Limited (Game Station) and others, better known as the Game Station case, which (depending on the outcome) may trigger a drastic change to the way in which rent in administration is treated.

In the recent decision of Topland Portfolio No.1 Limited v Smiths News Trading Limited [2014] EWCA Civ 18, the Court of Appeal has given a timely reminder of the need for landlords to tread carefully when dealing with leases to ensure that a tenant guarantee remains effective.

In the event of a tenant becoming insolvent, it is clearly important for a landlord to know where rent payable ranks in administration. A recent landmark decision handed down by the High Court strengthens the position of landlords by deciding that rent can now be more widely payable as an expense of the administrator.

Background

Simply, if rent is ranked as an expense of the administration1 then it is almost always discharged in full as a mandatory expense of the administrator, rather than being placed with lower priority creditors.