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Oasis Petroleum Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Amid Coronavirus

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Oasis Petroleum Inc. recently announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas after coronavirus-induced oil price crash dried up the available capital in the energy industry.

The company filed for Chapter 11 with an intention to improve its financial position and significantly lower its debt. It does not include its midstream services pipeline unit Oasis Midstream Partners LP in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Management of this currently Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company felt that the bankruptcy protection route will be the best option for the stock’s turnaround. Under the Chapter 11 protection, the company will be able toreduce its total debt by $1.8 billion, comprising its both senior unsecured notes and senior unsecured convertible notes while protecting the interests of its shareholders as its balance sheet is restructured to fit the present demand scenario. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The company expects to carry out this restructuring on an accelerated timeframe, which will enable it to emerge from bankruptcy latest by November 2020 following an approval from the court. After resurfacing from bankruptcy, the company expects to have $340 million of borrowings under its credit facility.

Last month, another energy player Whiting Petroleum Corporation emerged from bankruptcy and its ownership was made available to the public on the New York Stock Exchange. The company also completed its financial streamlining, thereby minimizing its funded debt by about $3 billion. Whiting Petroleum filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Apr 1, 2020 and finally overcame the crisis through a strenuous realigning process on Sep 1. Moelis & Company (MC - Free Report) , Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Jackson Walker and Alvarez & Marsal were Whiting Petroleum’s financial, legal and restructuring advisors.

The firm struggled with fund crunch due to the global oil market collapse amid slackened world energy demand and weakness in oil prices triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Saudi Arabia price war. The entity was the first publicly traded shale producer to file for bankruptcy after the historic plunge in crude prices during March.

About Oasis Petroleum

Established in 2007, Houston, TX-based Oasis Petroleum is an independent explorer, engaged in acquiring and developing oil and natural gas resources. The company’s asset base primarily focuses on the Bakken shale oil play of the Williston Basin where it has more than 400,000 net leasehold acres.

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