Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. and its units filed for protection from creditors in Canada after failing to cope with a prolonged slump in oil prices.
The company missed an interest payment due on March 28, making it the first Toronto-listed oil and gas company in the past year to delay a payment.
Pacific Exploration reached a deal with debtholders, including Catalyst Capital Group Inc., last week to convert almost all of its debt to equity.
The company, formerly known as Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., said on April 27 it had filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, an insolvency law in Canada that allows companies to restructure their finances and stay in business.
Pacific Exploration also said it planned to file for protection under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code at a later date.
Under U.S. bankruptcy laws, Chapter 15 grants a foreign company protection from creditors looking to seize its assets in the country.
The Toronto Stock Exchange suspended the trading of the company's shares last week. Until then, the stock had lost 65% since Dec. 17, when the company said lenders had formed a committee to negotiate the terms of a credit agreement.
Recommended Reading
Commentary: Are Renewable Incentives Degrading Powergen Reliability?
2024-02-01 - A Vistra Corp. chief, ERCOT’s vice chairman and a private investor talk about what’s really happening on the U.S. grid, and it’s not just a Texas thing.
Veriten’s Arjun Murti: Oil, Gas Prospectors Need to Step Up—Again
2024-02-08 - Arjun Murti, a partner in investment and advisory firm Veriten, says U.S. shale provided 90% of global supply growth—but the industry needs to reinvent itself, again.
Heard from the Field: US Needs More Gas Storage
2024-03-21 - The current gas working capacity fits a 60 Bcf/d market — but today, the market exceeds 100 Bcf/d, gas executives said at CERAWeek by S&P Global.
Liberty Energy CEO: NatGas is Here to Stay as Energy Transition Lags
2024-03-27 - The energy transition hasn’t really begun given record levels of global demand for oil, natural gas and coal, Liberty Energy Chairman and CEO Chris Wright said during the DUG GAS+ Conference and Expo.
Exclusive: Chevron Balancing Low Carbon Intensity, Global Oil, Gas Needs
2024-03-28 - Colin Parfitt, president of midstream at Chevron, discusses how the company continues to grow its traditional oil and gas business while focusing on growing its new energies production, in this Hart Energy Exclusive interview.