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The Troubled Energy and Production (Oil and Gas) Sector

BY Mark S. Melickian
September 01, 2016

The oil and gas exploration sector in North America has been crushed by high debt, globally low oil prices and regional overcapacity. The result: Over 100 oil and gas exploration and production companies have filed for bankruptcy over the past 18 months, and dozens more are expected to follow. The stress on the producers is threatening a secondary wave of bankruptcies among the downstream counterparties to the producers ' in particular, the so-called “midstream” entities that move the oil and gas produced into the broader system and are tied to the producers through gathering and similar agreements.

The vast majority of recent oil and gas filings have occurred solely in the United States, with filings in Texas leading the way. A few filings have occurred solely in Canada under its insolvency regime. A very small subset of those have filed in both jurisdictions.

Of the 15 largest oil and gas filings over the past 18 months, two involved filings for corporate families (Quicksilver Resources, Inc. and Pacific Resources) in both the U.S. and Canada, and of those two, only Pacific Resources involved a cross-border proceeding, defined as a proceeding in which the orders pursued and obtained in one proceeding are intended to be recognized and have effect in the other proceeding. Quicksilver filed separate proceedings in the U.S. and Canada one year apart, with neither proceeding referencing the other.

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