Reduced Liquidity—How Will Oil Companies Feel the Pinch?
Today’s blog article, which looks at the ability of a debtor to assume, assign, or reject oil and gas “leases” under section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code, is the third in the Weil Bankruptcy Blog series, “Drilling Down,” where we review issues at the intersection of the oil and gas industry and bankruptcy law.
The recent drop in crude oil prices has been a boon to consumers and businesses alike. However, sustained lower crude prices will invariably have a negative impact on drilling activity in those states where oil and gas development has been concentrated. The current price is below production costs in some locations. Without a prompt recovery in prices, it can be expected that a sustained decrease in oil and gas activity will have an adverse financial impact on the myriad of businesses that provide supplies and services in the oil and gas sector.
For the past several years, low interest rates and higher commodity prices have resulted in generally favorable financial conditions in the energy sector, keeping energy bankruptcy activity to a minimum. With the recent sharp decline of prices in numerous commodities and forecasts of higher interest rates in the near future, there is a likelihood that the financial condition of some companies in the energy and commodities sectors could deteriorate significantly.
Oil price movement through 2014 and into 2015 is a consequence of market fundamentals. Europe’s continued economic woes, paired with the slowdown in China’s economy, have led to a fall in demand for oil.
At the same time, the growing U.S. shale-oil boom (over which OPEC has no control) and the pick-up in drilling in Libya have led to an excess of supply. However, in the past few months the issue has switched from how quickly oil prices have fallen, to how much further they have to fall.
There is a lot of chatter around the water cooler about how falling energy prices puts energy companies and service companies into distress, and—importantly for private equity investors with liquidity—provides an opportunity to acquire energy assets at distressed prices. In part one of this posting, I provided a very basic hypothetical to help la
Today’s blog article, which looks at the treatment of specific oil and gas property interests in the bankruptcy context, is the second in the Weil Bankruptcy Blog series, “Drilling Down,” where we review issues at the intersection of the oil and gas industry and bankruptcy law.
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As all restructuring eyes turn to Oil & Gas as the industry most likely to keep us busy in the coming months, we at the Weil Bankruptcy Blog want to make sure our readers are ahead of the gas curve (pun intended) in understanding the key issues that arise in this sector. With that in mind, today is the first in a Weil Bankruptcy Blog series, “Drilling Down,” which will look at emerging issues at the intersection of the oil and gas industry and bankruptcy law.