The bankruptcy of solar power developer SunEdison has been one of the most discussed topics of the US renewable energy market in 2016. Christy Rivera, partner in Chadbourne’s bankruptcy group, joins us to discuss outcomes, surprises and lessons learned from SunEdison’s bankruptcy filing.

The current decline in oil prices, which continues to show no signs of a long-term reversal, is having unexpected and unwanted consequences, many of which may turn into long-lasting troubles for the oil and gas industry, especially for its investors.

As many investors anticipated, the deep trough in the commodities market over recent years resulted in a number of companies in commodity industries restructuring their balance sheets through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. Because companies often reorganize in the midst of a market downturn, a commodity company’s low EBITDA during this time usually results in low values being placed on the company’s reorganized equity.

Bankruptcy

At the risk of stating the obvious, the collapse of oil and gas prices in the last several quarters has had a profound impact on the industry. Some E & P companies have been able to weather this storm, but other have not been so fortunate. In the time between 2014 and September 14, 2016, 102 oil and gas producers with cumulative debts of over $67 billion, 13 midstream companies with cumulative debts of over $17 billion and 132 oilfield service companies with cumulative debts of over $14 billion have filed bankruptcy petitions.

Arch Coal has announced that it has successfully completed financial restructuring and has emerged from bankruptcy. Shares of the reorganized company began trading last week on the NYSE under the ticker ARCH, according to the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein recently approved SunEdison’s proposed sale of $144 million of solar and wind assets to NRG Energy. The sale continues SunEd’s string of dispositions this year following its April bankruptcy filing. The company’s stunning descent has followed an equally aggressive rise over the preceding three years.

Noble Environmental Power, LLC, and several of its affiliates filed for Chapter 11 protection in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 16-12055). Noble, a renewable energy company that owns and operates wind generation assets in New York and Texas, has its principal place of business in Centerbrook, Connecticut. According to the Debtor’s first day affidavit, downward trends in energy prices have made its debt obligations untenable, leading to the commencement of this case.

Yet another company in the energy sector has filed for bankruptcy protection. On June 17, 2016, Maxus Energy Corporation, and its affiliates (“Debtors”) filed for chapter 11 protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

On March 9, 2016, Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman of the Southern District of New York issued her decision on the Debtor’s motion to reject certain contracts in Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation’s Chapter 11 case.^[i] The decision, which allowed Sabine to reject “gathering agreements”

Prior to the recent collapse in oil values, prices existed at over $100 a barrel for over three years. It made the economics of oil exploration, production and sale comparatively straightforward, but embedded costs into the industry.