ENERGY BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY

Bankruptcy Counsel for Energy Companies, Creditors, and Industry Participants

Bankruptcy can create complicated issues for energy companies because the value of an energy business often depends on contracts, leases, mineral interests, production rights, regulatory approvals, and other assets that do not fit neatly within a traditional bankruptcy framework.

A Chapter 11 filing can raise fundamental questions about whether an energy lease can be assumed or rejected, what happens to federal oil and gas leases, how executory contracts are treated, whether royalty and working interests remain enforceable, and how bankruptcy affects the rights of lessors, operators, creditors, and other parties.

Perry, PLLC advises energy companies, creditors, lessors, and other parties regarding the intersection ofenergy law and bankruptcy law, with particular experience involving federal oil and gas leasing and bankruptcy.

The firm's practice focuses on bankruptcy issues involving energy assets, oil and gas leases, executory contracts, Chapter 11 reorganizations, creditor rights, and the preservation and enforcement of contractual and property interests.

  • Federal oil and gas leases can present particularly complex bankruptcy issues. When a debtor holds federal oil and gas leases, the bankruptcy analysis may involve the Bankruptcy Code as well as federal statutes, regulations, lease provisions, and the government's rights as lessor and regulator. More.

  • Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code provides an important framework for the treatment of executory contracts and unexpired leases in bankruptcy.

    For an energy company, the characterization of a particular agreement can have significant consequences.

    If an agreement is subject to §365, the debtor may seek to assume, reject, or potentially assign the agreement subject to the requirements of the Bankruptcy Code. More.

  • Energy bankruptcies frequently involve obligations that extend beyond ordinary commercial contracts.

    Oil and gas operators may have obligations concerning:

    • Plugging and abandonment

    • Environmental remediation

    • Bonding

    • Decommissioning

    The bankruptcy treatment of these obligations can affect creditors, regulators, lessors, purchasers, and the bankruptcy estate. The characterization and treatment of these obligations should be evaluated early in the bankruptcy case, particularly when an energy company is selling assets or seeking to reject contracts or leases. More.