Hercules Offshore Inc. may become the first big energy-sector business to exit bankruptcy since the crude slump triggered insolvencies among oil and gas drillers and the companies that serve them, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Hercules, the owner of the largest fleet of shallow-water drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, won court approval of its reorganization plan Thursday, less than two months after it filed chapter 11 to implement a deal with creditors. The Houston-based company should complete all of the necessary paperwork to officially exit bankruptcy by the end of October. The case is In re Hercules Offshore Inc., 15-11685, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).
