Bankruptcies in the Oil Patch

Alta Mesa & PetroShare File

“…the Alta Mesa Debtors filed a motion seeking approval of an auction and bidding procedures in connection with the sale of substantially all of their assets…” - AMR Sale Process

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AN EXPENSIVE AFFAIR.

A little over a year & a half after Silver Run Acquisition II SPAC acquired Alta Mesa (AMR), the publicly traded firm has filed for bankruptcy.

The STACK focused AMR was originally backed by Riverstone. Jim Hackett, formerly Chairman & CEO of Anadarko, has been running Alta Mesa since its previous executive team resigned in late 2018.

Alta Mesa has acknowledged internal financial reporting issues, and has admitted its failings in financial reporting to the SEC.

AMR’s September Chapter 11 filing comes after PetroShare - a Denver-Basin player - filed, citing Colorado regulatory uncertainty -

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WTI VOL.
WTI whipped up & down on global political headlines, including:

• The King of Saudi Arabia abruptly replaced the Kingdom’s Oil Minister

• OPEC+ members met in Abu Dhabi to discuss production targets

• API data showed a decline in American crude inventories for a fourth week

• The resignation of U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton

Crude prices will almost certainly be driven by headlines out of the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia for the rest of the year.

Speculation surrounding the Aramco IPO & US Foreign Policy will continue to feature prominently in global headlines, translating to volatility in crude prices -

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ARAMCO.
The Saudi state oil giant has hired nine banks as joint global coordinators to lead its planned IPO. The long awaited IPO is expected to be the world’s largest initial public offering.

Elsewhere in oil news:

• Philanthropist, Environmentalist, and US Energy Independence Advocate T. Boone Pickens passed away; the late oil tycoon made his fame and fortune as a corporate raider, most notably in the 1980s, while leading Mesa Petroleum

• Mexico’s budget for next year assumes that PEMEX, its oil company, will boost production by about 17%; I’ll say it now, that’s not going to happen

• The Philippines have been offered a controlling stake in a joint energy deal from China, in exchange for ignoring an international arbitration ruling in the South China Sea

• Paulson & Co., the hedge fund best known for shorting US Real Estate in ‘08, is trying to block Callon’s proposed takeover Carrizo

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OTHER NEWS.

• The infamous Mr. Skilling (Parody) Twitter Account was blocked for ~10 hours on Thursday, and in that time, birthed a Mrs. Skilling Acct

• @EnergyCredit1 touched on suspected fraud / reserve accounting issues in AMR - I suspect we’ll see similar conversations, but with w/ different names, over the next 12 months

• David Ramsden-Wood dropped part 3 in his “Peak US Oil” series. If you’re not reading his daily posts, you’re missing out

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That’s it for this week - see y’all Tuesday -