Pioneer Energy Services Corp. bondholders want to renegotiate a debt-for-equity swap they agreed to weeks before the precipitous decline in U.S. oil prices and major economic disruption caused by the coronavirus, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A group holding Pioneer bond debt said in a court filing that the market downturn would have a negative impact on the Texas oilfield-service company for years to come. The proposed chapter 11 plan they agreed to in February needs a second look to determine “whether the contemplated restructuring can, or should, be consummated as planned,” the court filing said. The assumptions underpinning the restructuring transaction were based on market conditions in “the old world that we used to live in,” Damian Schaible, a lawyer representing the bondholder group, said during a court hearing held over the telephone yesterday. The San Antonio-based company’s proposed chapter 11 restructuring is the latest energy deal to face trouble in recent weeks because of the coronavirus and plunging U.S. oil prices. Bankruptcy exit financing for shale driller EP Energy Corp. collapsed late last month, Sanchez Energy Corp. has warned it won’t be able to repay a chapter 11 loan, and Tri-Point Oil & Gas Production Systems LLC is liquidating after a possible rescue deal fell through. West Texas Intermediate futures, the primary gauge of U.S. crude, was at around $26 a barrel yesterday.
