Troubled Pioneer Energy Services on Sunday filed for chapter 11, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The San Antonio oil-field services firm said that it had reached an agreement with key stakeholders for a “comprehensive financial restructuring” that will allow noteholders to swap debt for equity in Pioneer. Company officials said they had started seeking noteholders’ approval for its restructuring plan before filing for bankruptcy protection today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. The company plans to continue to operate during the court-supervised bankruptcy process. The bankruptcy filing does not affect the company’s operations in Columbia. “Over the course of the last several years, Pioneer has been challenged by the difficult economics of the oil and gas industry,” Pioneer President and CEO Stacy Locke said. “We have continued to adapt to the challenging market environment in which we operate, but our strong underlying business has continued to labor under a heavy debt burden.”
