US Judge to Confirm Bankrupt Linn Energy's Restructuring
A U.S. judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Linn Energy LLC said on Tuesday he is prepared to confirm its restructuring plan with slight tweaks, backing the oil-and-gas producer's goal of shedding $5.5 billion in debt and splitting into two companies. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones at the end of a hearing in Houston congratulated Linn's legal team and lawyers for working with its key stakeholders, noting the company would have faced a hard time trying to restructure had they not agreed on the plan. Jones added that he expects a final version of the plan to be filed with him by late Wednesday.
Penn Virginia Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Oil and natural gas producer Penn Virginia Corp said on Thursday it had filed for bankruptcy protection, the latest company to fall victim to the oil price rout. Dozens of U.S. shale companies have sought bankruptcy protection in recent months as a near-60 percent slump in oil prices since mid-2014 erodes cash flows. This has forced companies to restructure debt taken on during a frenzy of development in recent years. Penn Virginia said its restructuring was supported by 86 percent of its senior noteholders and all of its bank lenders, and would reduce its long-term debt by more than $1 billion.
Upstream O&G Companies Face Interest Payments Friday
At least 10 upstream oil and gas companies, cramped for cash in the oil downturn, must make coupon payments Friday, April 15, according to Thomson Reuters data. Among them are oil and gas giant Chesapeake Energy Corp , which completed a debt swap last year, and Linn Energy LLC. Linn skipped interest payments due last month. (Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
US Shale Firms Squeezed by Tightening Credit
Nearly two years into an epic oil rout, U.S. shale drillers that have upended global energy markets are finally feeling a credit squeeze as banks make their biggest cuts yet to their loans. Every six months, oil and gas producers and their banks negotiate how much credit they should be given based on the value of their reserves in the ground. In previous reviews, banks were willing to offer borrowers some leeway, encouraged by producers' hedges against falling prices and their ability to keep cutting costs in step with crude's slide that began in mid-2014.
Linn Energy Skips Interest Payment
Struggling oil-and-gas producer Linn Energy LLC said there was substantial doubt about its ability to continue operations on a sustainable basis after it decided to skip an interest payment on some senior notes. Hit by a slump in crude oil prices, the company has lost more than 90 percent of its market value in the past 12 months. The company, which exercised its 30-day grace period for paying a total interest of about $60 million that was due on Tuesday, said it was evaluating strategic options to shore up its balance sheet.
Mansion Sales, Discount Dining: Oil Woes hit Houston's Rich
Prices for mansions in Houston's swankiest neighborhood have tumbled in lock step with crude prices. The Houston Opera has offered free season tickets to patrons who lost their jobs in the oil bust. A fancy restaurant offers cut-price dinners. Twenty months into the worst oil price crash since the 1980s, well-heeled residents of the world's oil capital are among the hardest hit largely because tanking energy firm shares make up much of oil and gas executives' compensation. In River Oaks, a neighborhood of palatial mansions and lush gardens…
Linn Energy CEO Eligible for $6.9 mln Award
The chief executive officer of Linn Energy LLC, a U.S. oil and gas company that is exploring strategic options and looking for ways to fix its balance sheet, is eligible for a $6.9 million cash award this year, according to a regulatory filing. Linn Energy, a master limited partnership (MLP) which has been hit hard by the more than 70 percent drop in crude prices, said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that its board altered its compensation plan to enable the company's executives to earn cash compensation in 2016.
Linn Energy Exploring Debt Options to Weather Oil Collapse
Indebted Linn Energy LLC is exploring distressed restructuring options with Barclays as stubbornly low oil and natural gas prices test its ability to service $10 billion of debt after next year, sources with knowledge of the matter said. Houston-based Linn Energy, an independent U.S. oil and gas producer, suffered a 12 percent reduction in its reserve-based lending (RBL) in an October review of credit lines to exploration and production firms. The most leveraged among its peers with a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.57, Linn said last month that it had amended credit facilities to allow it to raise fresh cash.
Linn Energy CFO Exits for 'Other Opportunities'
Oil and natural gas producer Linn Energy LLC said late on Monday that Chief Financial Officer Kolja Rockov had left the company to pursue other opportunities and that it had promoted David Rottino to the role, effective immediately. Shares of Linn rose 4 percent to $2.34 on Tuesday as the broader markets jumped. Rockov, who's biography still appeared on the Linn website as of Tuesday morning, joined the Houston-based company as CFO in 2005 and helped it launch its initial public offering in 2006.
Linn Energy Slashes 2015 CapEx Budget
Linn Energy LLC cut its 2015 capital budget by 53 percent to $730 million, joining other oil and gas producers in reducing expenditure in response to falling oil prices. Linn also said it had reduced its distribution per unit and the dividend per share for subsidiary LinnCo to $1.25 each from $2.90 on an annualized basis. Linn said it expected to fund its total 2015 oil and natural gas capital program, along with the distribution, from internally generated cash flow. Reporting By Tanvi Mehta
ExxonMobil 3Q 2014 Net up 3%
* Earnings of $8,070 million increased $200 million or 3 percent from the third quarter of 2013. * Earnings per share (assuming dilution) were $1.89, an increase of 6 percent. * Capital and exploration expenditures were $9.8 billion, down 7 percent from the third quarter of 2013. * Oil-equivalent production decreased 4.7 percent from the third quarter of 2013. Excluding the impact of the expiry of the Abu Dhabi onshore concession, production decreased 1 percent, with liquids up 0.6 percent and gas down 2.9 percent.
Linn Energy Assets Sales to Raise $2.3 bln
Linn Energy LLC said it had struck deals to sell oil and gas assets in Texas and western Oklahoma for $2.3 billion to repay debt taken to buy assets from Devon Energy Corp. Linn bought natural gas-rich assets across the Rockies, onshore Gulf Coast and some mid-continent regions from Devon. The transaction closed in August. Linn will sell all its Granite Wash and Cleveland properties to affiliates of investment group EnerVest Ltd for $1.95 billion, the oil and gas producer said on Friday. The properties span 145,000 net acres and produce 195 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day.
Linn Energy Taps Banks for $2b Oil Asset Sale
Linn Energy LLC has hired banks to sell its oil production assets in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma in an auction that could raise as much as $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The Houston-based oil and gas company said in June it would sell the assets, referred to collectively as Granite Wash, to pay back debt it took on to finance its $2.3 billion acquisition of oil and gas assets from Devon Energy Corp. Linn has turned to Bank of Nova Scotia and Royal Bank of Canada to identify prospective buyers and manage the sale process, the people said this week.
Devon Sells Gas Assets to Focus on Oil Production
Devon Energy Corp said it would sell its remaining non-core gas-rich properties to peer Linn Energy LLC for $2.3 billion to focus on more lucrative oil assets and cut debt. This is Linn's biggest deal since it bought Berry Petroleum Co in December through a holding company set up for acquisitions. The asset sale by Devon includes about 900,000 net acres spread across the Rockies, onshore Gulf Coast and some mid-continent regions, including all or parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
ExxonMobil Increases Liquids-rich Wolfcamp Acreage in Permian Basin
Exxon Mobil Corporation today announced that it has executed an agreement to add nearly 26,000 acres to its U.S. oil and natural gas portfolio managed by subsidiary XTO Energy Inc., through a non-monetary exchange with LINN Energy, LLC. Virtually all of the acreage is located within the portion of the Midland Basin that is most prospective for horizontal Wolfcamp and Spraberry development. In exchange, LINN Energy will receive a portion of XTO’s interest in the Hugoton gas field in Kansas and Oklahoma.
