Natural gas driller Augustus Energy Resources LLC filed for chapter 11 protection Friday and intends to sell its assets which include wells in eastern Colorado to oil and gas investor OWN Resources Inc., subject to higher bids, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Augustus Energy, which is privately owned, said it has been squeezed by falling natural gas prices and significant debt service payments that forced the company to stop drilling new wells, according to court papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The driller owns approximately 1,575 natural gas wells in the DJ Basin, located primarily in Yuma County in eastern Colorado. Augustus Energy President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Durrett said in a declaration filed with the court that his company entered into an asset purchase agreement with OWN Resources on Thursday. The stalking-horse agreement, which must be approved by a judge, would set the floor for the price of Augustus Energy’s assets at a potential auction. The terms of the purchase agreement with OWN Resources weren’t immediately disclosed.
