Home Region Americas Erin Energy files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection April 27th, 2018 Donal Scully Americas, Offshore

Houston-based Erin Energy Corporation, which mainly focuses on offshore oil developments in Africa, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Under the filing, made in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, Erin and some of its subsidiaries are asking the court to approve a reorganization plan as it seeks to restructure its debt.

Erin and the subsidiaries will continue to operate under the jurisdiction of the court.

Court documents show the company listing assets of nearly $247.54 million and total debts exceeding $628.72 million.

Erin has exploration licences for offshore Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia and Kenya but the oil sector in Africa has been struggling. </s> PRETORIA - A court in Milan is considering charges against oil multinationals Eni and Shell for allegedly defrauding Nigeria of $6 billion in petroleum revenue.

The oil companies say they’re innocent in what could become one of the biggest corruption cases in history.

The corruption, conflict and environmental abuse watchdog Global Witness says Eni and Shell knew full well that their payments securing exploration rights to the Nigerian Block 245 seven years ago would stick to corrupt fingers.

The court is looking at evidence that in order to secure exploration rights, the oil companies altered earlier contractual terms, depriving Nigeria of billions in revenue.

Global Witness reckons the amount stolen would pay for twice the Nigerian giant’s annual education and health care budget. </s> (Reuters) - Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (BCEI.N) and two other energy firms announced on Friday plans to file for bankruptcy in coming weeks, joining a long list of U.S. energy companies that have succumbed to a drop in oil prices.

Oil and gas producers Bonanza Creek and Memorial Production Partners LP MEMP.O and oilfield services provider Forbes Energy Services Ltd FESL.PK each said they had a plan to reduce debt and transfer ownership to creditors.

Global oil prices LCOc1 have fallen more than 50 percent since mid-2014, eroding cash flows of oil producers and crimping their ability to meet debt and interest payments.

As of Dec. 14, 114 oil and gas producers had filed for bankruptcy in 2016 with $57 billion in total debt, more than double the number of filings in 2015, according to Haynes & Boone, a law firm that specializes in energy restructuring.

Among companies like Forbes that provide well-site services to energy exploration firms, 110 had filed for Chapter 11 protection with $17 billion of debt as of Dec. 14, also more than double the 2015 number, according to Haynes & Boone.

Looking ahead to next year, restructuring advisers said they expect more energy-related bankruptcy filings, as the sector prepares for an upturn that could follow implementation of President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-drilling agenda or OPEC’s plan to cut oil production for the first time in eight years.

Denver-based Bonanza Creek, with oil and natural gas assets in Colorado and Arkansas, said it would file for bankruptcy on or before Jan. 5 with a plan to eliminate $850 million in debt and provide $200 million in new equity.

The company said it expects to exit bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2017. Bonanza Creek’s shares slid 55 percent to $0.88 in morning trade.

Memorial Production, with oil and gas assets in Texas, Louisiana, Colorado and California, said it would file for Chapter 11 in coming weeks with a plan to eliminate $1.3 billion of debt. Its shares were down 55 percent to $0.18.

Meanwhile, Forbes Energy said it had reached a prepackaged plan with lenders and would file for bankruptcy in Houston on or before Jan. 23, 2017. Its shares lost 6.3 percent to $0.04 in over-the-counter trading on Friday.

Earlier this month, Stone Energy Corp SGY.N filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it would eliminate about $1.2 billion in debt by transferring control of the company to its noteholders. </s> A new analysis by Global Witness has revealed that the deal involving Malabu Oil and Gas Limited in Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 deprived Nigeria of an estimated $6 billion, double the country’s annual budget for education and health.

Global Witness said it had spent years investigating the deal, which gave Shell and Eni the rights to explore OPL 245, an offshore oil field in the Niger Delta.It has commissioned new analysis of the way the contract was altered in favour of the energy companies and concluded Nigeria’s losses over the lifetime of the project would amount to $5.86 billion, compared to terms in place before 2011.

BBC reported that the analysis was carried out by Resources for Development Consulting on behalf of Global Witness.

The estimated losses were calculated using an oil price of $70 per barrel as a basis.

However, Eni has criticised the way it was calculated because the calculation allegedly ignored the possibility that Nigeria had the right to revise the deal to claim a 50 per cent share of the production revenues.

“We discovered that Shell had constructed a deal that cut Nigeria out of their share of profit from the block,” a campaigner at Global Witness, Ava Lee, told the BBC’s World Business Report, adding,”This amount of money would be enough to educate six million teachers in Nigeria. It really can’t be underestimated just how big a deal this could be for a country that right now has the highest rates of extreme poverty in the world.”

A court in Milan is considering charges of corruption against Eni and Shell in the controversial oil deal.

Eni and Shell are accused of knowing the money they paid to Nigeria would be used for bribes.

The Italian and Anglo-Dutch energy giants deny any wrongdoing.

This unfolding scandal, which is being played out in an Italian court, has involved former MI6 officers, the FBI, a former President of Nigeria, as well as current and former senior executives at the two oil companies.

The former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete, was found guilty by a court in France of money laundering and it emerged he used illicit funds to buy a speed boat and a chateau. It is also claimed he had so much cash in $100 bills that it weighed five tonnes.

It is understandable why Eni and Shell wanted to acquire the rights to develop OPL 245, because it is estimated to contain nine billion barrels of oil.

But the process of how they secured the contract is dogged by claims of corruption.

The court in Milan is weighing evidence of how Etete, awarded ownership of OPL 245 to Malabu, a company he secretly controlled.

He is accused of paying bribes to others in the government to ensure that process went smoothly.

Shell and Eni are accused of knowing the $1.1bn they paid to Nigeria would be used for bribes, claims based on the content of emails which have since emerged.

“Looking at the emails it seems that Shell knew that the deal they were constructing was misleading but they went ahead with it anyway even though a number of Nigerian officials raised concerns about this scandalous, scandalous deal,” Ava Lee of Global Witness, said.

The Anglo-Dutch and Italian energy giants insist they have done nothing wrong, because they paid the money to secure the exploration rights directly to the Nigerian government.

Shell issued a statement to BBC World Business Report saying: “Since this matter is before the Tribunal of Milan it would not be appropriate for us to comment in detail. Issues that are under consideration as part of a trial process should be adjudicated in court and we do not wish to interfere with this process.

“We maintain that the settlement was a fully legal transaction and we believe the trial judges in Italy will conclude that there is no case against Shell or its former employees.”

Eni has also denied any wrongdoing and told the BBC that it questions the competence of the experts commissioned by Global Witness and its “partners”, as well as raising the possibility that the report by the campaign group is defamatory.

The Italian oil and gas company said “as this matter is currently before the Tribunal of Milan, we are unable to comment in detail”.

In a statement it noted: “Global Witness together with its partners Corner House, HEDA Resource Centre and Re: Common had requested twice to be admitted as aggrieved parties in the Milan proceedings. On both occasions, the request was firmly denied by the Tribunal of Milan.”

Eni also said it “continues to reject any allegation of impropriety or irregularity in connection with this transaction”.

Nigeria’s leader is being encouraged to intervene by Olanrewaju Suraju, from HEDA. “President Buhari should reject any deal,” he said.

The outcome of the unprecedented court case in Milan could force the oil industry to change how it conducts its business, especially in countries where corruption is rife, because more transparency about contracts and payments made would discourage fraud. </s> Nengi James-Eriworio, a spokesman for the Nembe Chiefs Council, told The Associated Press that the blast on Friday caused a massive oil spill in the Nembe Kingdom in Bayelsa State.

There was no immediate word on injuries or other casualties beyond those missing.

The Nembe trunk line is operated by the Port Harcourt-based Aiteo Group and carries crude to the Bonny export terminal. The pipeline is jointly owned by Agip, Oando and Shell Petroleum Development Company.

Aiteo has not yet commented on the explosion. It was not immediately clear whether the pipeline had been shut down.

Nigeria is among the world’s largest oil producers. Nigerian oil companies say that the majority of oil spills are caused by sabotage, ﻿theft and illegal refining﻿.

Spills have left the Niger Delta highly polluted. In years past, it has endured the equivalent of the ﻿Exxon Valdez﻿ spill every year for more than 50 years, by some estimates, with the crude spewing from rusted and aging pipes, unchecked by what analysts say is ineffectual or collusive regulation, and enabled by poor maintenance and sabotage.

In 2016, local community leaders ﻿initiated a court action in London ﻿against the energy giant Royal Dutch Shell, in a case with potentially far-reaching consequences for whether companies could be sued in Britain for pollution and damages caused by their activities in other countries.

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The farming and fishing communities said they had suffered years of damage because of repeated large spills from oil pipelines in their home areas. The Court of Appeal in London ruled last year that British courts ﻿do not have jurisdiction﻿ over the claims. </s> Dec 23 (Reuters) - Oil and gas producer Bonanza Creek Energy said it would file for bankruptcy on or before Jan. 5, joining a long list of energy companies that have succumbed to a drop in oil prices.

The Denver-based company said bondholders would eliminate $850 million in debt and that some would provide $200 million in new equity.

Bonanza Creek's shares were down 47.5 percent at $1.01 before the opening bell on Friday.

Global oil prices have fallen more than 50 percent since mid-2014, eroding cash flows of oil producers and crimping their ability to meet debt and interest payments.

Earlier this month, Stone Energy Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it would eliminate about $1.2 billion in debt by transferring control of the company to its noteholders. (Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter. </s> The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

WARRI, Nigeria (AP) — A local official says more than 50 people are missing after a leaking oil pipeline exploded and caused a stampede in southern Nigeria.

The Nembe Chiefs Council spokesman, Chief Nengi James-Eriworio, tells The Associated Press that the blast early Friday caused massive oil spillage in the Nembe kingdom in Bayelsa state.

The Nembe trunk line is operated by the Port Harcourt-based Aiteo Group and carries crude to the Bonny export terminal. The pipeline is jointly owned by Agip, Oando and Shell Petroleum Development Company.

Aiteo is yet to comment on the explosion. It is not immediately clear if the pipeline has been shut down.

The Niger Delta is highly polluted. Nigerian oil companies usually assert that the majority of oil spills are caused by sabotage, theft and illegal refining.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards. </s> A court in Milan is considering charges of corruption against Eni and Shell in a controversial oil deal that led to Nigeria losing an estimated $6 billion.

The campaign group Global Witness has calculated the OPL 245 deal in 2011 deprived Nigeria of double its annual education and healthcare budget.

Eni and Shell are accused of knowing the money they paid to Nigeria would be used for bribes.

The Italian and Anglo-Dutch energy giants deny any wrongdoing.

This unfolding scandal, which is being played out in an Italian court, has involved former MI6 officers, the FBI, a former President of Nigeria, as well as current and former senior executives at the two oil companies.

Global Witness has spent years investigating the deal which gave Shell and Eni the rights to explore OPL 245, an offshore oil field in the Niger Delta.

It has commissioned new analysis of the way the contract was altered in favour of the energy companies and concluded Nigeria’s losses over the lifetime of the project would amount to $5.86 billion, compared to terms in place before 2011.

The analysis was carried out by Resources for Development Consulting on behalf of Global Witness, as well as the NGOs HEDA, RE: Common and The Corner. The estimated losses were calculated using an oil price of $70 a barrel as a basis.

Eni has criticised the way it was calculated because it ignores the possibility that Nigeria had the right to revise the deal to claim a 50% share of the production revenues.

Campaigners say the deal should be cancelled.

“We discovered that Shell had constructed a deal that cut Nigeria out of their share of profit oil from the block,” Ava Lee, a campaigner at Global Witness told the BBC’s World Business Report.

“This amount of money would be enough to educate six million teachers in Nigeria. It really can’t be underestimated just how big a deal this could be for a country that right now has the highest rates of extreme poverty in the world.”

Nigeria is the richest economy in Africa, but despite having large resources of oil and gas millions of people are poor.(BBC) </s> Wracked by instability in Ukraine, a private energy giant owned by one of the Eastern European county’s wealthiest men is seeking a U.S. bankruptcy court’s assistance to execute a debt restructuring scheme developed overseas.

An affiliate of DTEK BV, Ukraine’s largest privately held energy company, filed papers in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York Friday seeking protection under Chapter 15 of the bankruptcy code, which covers...
Erin Energy, a Texas company specialising in African offshore oil deposits with licences to explore off Nigeria, The Gambia, Ghana, and Kenya, files for bankruptcy protection.