Recent weeks have witnessed seismic shifts in the oil and gas industry because of crashing oil prices, demand destruction associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and crude oil storage reaching record capacity levels. Upstream producers are especially vulnerable to these market pressures and have begun shutting in wells, asserting force majeure, and cutting costs. As counterparties to distressed producers, midstream players face new challenges in navigating contractual relationships and mitigating risk.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) published the ISDA 2014 Resolution StayProtocol (the “Protocol”) on November 12, 2014 in response to continued efforts by regulators to build additional flexibility into the statutory regimes that would apply in the event of the insolvency of a major financial institution.