Hilltop Energy LLC, a money-losing Texas oil and gas drilling company, filed for bankruptcy Thursday with a “prepackaged” plan that hands ownership to Dallas-based Rivershore Operating LLC and bondholder J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Hilltop, whose roots go back to failed oil company Cubic Energy Inc., filed for chapter 11 after years of red ink left the company unable to cover its expenses, according to papers filed in U.S Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The company has been servicing most of its debt by paying interest in the form of issuing additional notes, but given the anticipated decline in revenue, the company wouldn’t likely be able to pay off its debt set to mature in 2021, said manager Claude A. Pupkin in court filings. Hilltop has no employees, and its oil and gas properties are managed and operated by Rivershore, an affiliate of Dallas-based energy company Rivershore Resources. Hilltop’s predecessor company, Cubic Energy, filed for bankruptcy in 2015. Cubic emerged from bankruptcy in 2016 under the control of a group of bondholders led by funds managed by Anchorage Capital Group LLC. Read more.
Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition.
