Another company has seen its borrowing base shrivel, imperiling Midstates Petroleum Co. (NYSE: MPO), which said April 1 that it will skip a $16 million interest payment on its debt.
On March 30, the company warned it might have to reorganize through bankruptcy.
On April 1, Midstates said it elected to use its right to a grace period on its interest payment that gives it 30 days to pay or slip into default.
The company chose to skip the payment after receiving notice of its scheduled borrowing base redetermination; its borrowing base was bulldozed by about 66% to $170 million. On April 1, Midstates had $252 million in aggregate outstanding borrowings, putting the company in an $82 million deficiency.
Other companies are seeing sizeable reductions due to commodity price reductions. Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) saw its borrowing base reduced by 31% to $2.75 billion from $4 billion. EXCO Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) said March 30 its lenders cut its borrowing base by 13% to $325 million.
Like Midstates, Gastar Exploration Inc. (NYSE: GST) is in a bind as well. Its borrowing base was recently reduced to $100 million from $180 million. The company is in the process of selling some of its Appalachian Basin assets, but the sale was recently delayed until April 8.
In a Midstates’ filing with theSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said its decision to forgo the interest payment was in the best interests of its stakeholders. to the company is “actively addressing the company’s debt and capital structure, and is continuing discussions with its creditors and their respective professionals.”
As of March 31 Midstates’ cash balance was about $301.4 million, which provides liquidity to fund its current operations. The company continues to pay suppliers and other trade creditors.
In February, the company borrowed about $249.2 million under its credit facility, which represented the remaining undrawn amount then available.
The company can address the deficiency by paying what the excess funds, including an option to make the payment in six monthly installments.
Midstates said the new borrowing base does not attribute appropriate value to its reserves, and that it intends to engage in discussions with its administrative agent and lenders regarding the “appropriate borrowing base amount and, if necessary, the relevant cure options, including a repayment schedule.”
Midstates has said the company’s best option could be bankruptcy and that it could have difficulty remaining a going concern. On March 30, the company hired financial and legal advisers to find strategic alternatives to address its liquidity and capital structure, SEC filings show.
In January, Moody’s Investors Service rated Midstates’ probability of default as “Caa1-PD.” Such companies are “judged to be speculative of poor standing, subject to very high default risk and may be in default on some but not all of their long-term debt obligations.”
Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com.
Recommended Reading
Decoding the Delaware: How E&Ps Are Unlocking the Future
2024-05-01 - The basin is deeper, gassier, more geologically complex and more remote than the Midland Basin to the east. But the Delaware is too sweet of a prize to pass up for many of the nation’s top oil and gas producers.
Enverus: 1Q Upstream Deals Hit $51B, but Consolidation is Slowing
2024-04-23 - Oil and gas dealmaking continued at a high clip in the first quarter, especially in the Permian Basin. But a thinning list of potential takeout targets, and an invigorated Federal Trade Commission, are chilling the red-hot M&A market.
Life on the Edge: Surge of Activity Ignites the Northern Midland Basin
2024-04-03 - Once a company with low outside expectations, Surge Energy is now a premier private producer in one of the world’s top shale plays.
‘Monster’ Gas: Aethon’s 16,000-foot Dive in Haynesville West
2024-04-09 - Aethon Energy’s COO described challenges in the far western Haynesville stepout, while other operators opened their books on the latest in the legacy Haynesville at Hart Energy’s DUG GAS+ Conference and Expo in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Mighty Midland Still Beckons Dealmakers
2024-04-05 - The Midland Basin is the center of U.S. oil drilling activity. But only those with the biggest balance sheets can afford to buy in the basin's core, following a historic consolidation trend.