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Oklahoma shale driller Chaparral Energy Inc. filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday, the latest U.S. energy sector casualty in recent months as COVID-19 crushes oil demand, Reuters reported. The company’s assets and liabilities were in the range of $500 million to $1 billion, according to a court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. It had around $421 million of debt outstanding at the end of 2019. Chaparral said that it will restructure its balance sheet by equitizing all $300 million of its unsecured debt and will operate during the bankruptcy process with the help of $32 million in cash on hand as of Aug. 14 and operating cash flow. Lenders have been reining in on credit for shale drillers and Chaparral’s borrowing limit was recently reduced to $175 million from $325 million. Reuters reported in March Chaparral was working with debt restructuring advisers to shore up its cash position. This is the second time the company has filed for bankruptcy protection. The last time was during the oil price slump in 2014-16, from which it emerged in March 2017.

A judge presiding over the longtime FirstEnergy subsidiary that is looking to become Energy Harbor put a hold on the final wave of millions of dollars in fees and expenses charged by outside law firms and consultants, the Columbus Dispatch reported. About 10 minutes before the judge handling Energy Harbor’s bankruptcy walked into his Akron courtroom on July 21, someone handed him a newspaper story about the FBI arresting Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others on racketeering charges that morning. Judge Alan Koschik had been poised that day to approve the final wave of millions of dollars in fees and expenses charged by outside law firms and consultants to help FirstEnergy Solutions break free of its parent company, FirstEnergy Corp., reorganize through its bankruptcy and emerge as Energy Harbor. But the news — that Householder and the others were accused of leading a $60 million corruption scheme to secure a $1 billion public bailout aimed largely at Energy Harbor’s two nuclear power plants — appears to have upended the judge’s plan, according to a transcript of court proceedings that day. After reading part of the newspaper article about Householder aloud and into the court record, Koschik put off making a decision about approving the final fees owed to 19 firms involved in the bankruptcy until he had more information about how at least one of them may have been involved in lobbying and other efforts to get House Bill 6 passed. Judge Koschik then set a new hearing, Aug. 18, to consider the fees. In the meantime, Judge Koschik said he would consult with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Cincinnati handling the corruption case to determine how best to proceed.

Rocky Mountain fracker Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. handed out $10 million in political contributions on its way into chapter 11, but its bankruptcy paperwork doesn’t mention who got the money, the Wall Street Journal reported. Much of the Denver-based company’s political cash, $4.6 million, went to Protect Colorado, a group that supports oil and gas projects and that has battled environmental activists, a Wall Street Journal review of state records revealed. A spokesperson for Protect Colorado said recently that the group was determined to defeat “divisive ballot measures that would effectively ban new oil and natural gas development in Colorado.” Additional cash went to statewide Republican political-action committees and other energy-industry pro-development groups in Colorado. An arm of an organization that supports the election of Democrats to the position of state attorneys general received $100,000 from Extraction, according to Colorado records. The Republican Attorneys General Association received $250,000, according to data from OpenSecrets.org. State political contribution reports explain only part of political spending shown in Extraction’s bankruptcy records, which detail payments from mid-2018 to March 2020. Data from OpenSecrets.org shows minor contributions on the national scene. Where the standard bankruptcy form asks for “name,” Extraction wrote “political contribution,” 60 times.

Whiting Petroleum Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Brad Holly will leave the company just five months after receiving a $6.4 million payout to see the company through bankruptcy proceedings, Bloomberg News reported. The Bakken oil producer expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection on Sept. 1, when Holly will resign and be replaced by Lynn Peterson, who previously led SRC Energy Inc., according to a statement on Friday. Holly and fellow executives were granted a combined $14.6 million worth of bonuses just days before filing for chapter 11 on April 1. The payout was designed to retain their expertise during the bankruptcy process but criticized by some governance experts as excessive, given that the company had essentially failed, wiping out shareholders, jobs and leaving about $3.6 billion of debt. To put the $6.4 million payout in perspective, Holly received $5.5 million in total pay for 2019, including stock awards, much of which lost value as the company plunged toward bankruptcy. That excludes stock options, much of which lost value as the company plunged toward bankruptcy. Whiting will have a new board after its restructuring, consisting of six directors previously unconnected with the company. It will be led by Kevin McCarthy, a managing partner at Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, and include Daniel Rice, who sits on the board of gas producer EQT Corp.

A wide range of economists are expressing exasperation that Congress would leave town without first finishing work on a new coronavirus relief package they say is critical to the country’s recovery, and to millions depending on help from the government, The Hill reported. More than 28 million Americans on some form of unemployment insurance lost a crucial source of income after a $600 weekly boost to those benefits lapsed last month. Those households now have far less money to cover basic expenses, including rent and home payments they can no longer forgo after the expiration of federal bans on evictions and foreclosures. While it could take weeks to see the effects of the lapse in aid, progressive economists in particular are raising alarms about the potential toll on unemployed Americans and those who depend on them. Lawmakers are feeling little pressure to move from their positions, however. Democrats have offered to reduce the price tag on their legislation from more than $3 trillion to the neighborhood of $2 trillion, but the White House has refused to go higher than $1 trillion. If the lapse in support is having an impact, the first hard evidence may come in the August jobs report. But it won’t be released until Sept. 4. Consumer spending and income data for August won’t come out until Oct. 1. Foreclosures and evictions can also take months to process, but missed rent payments have risen steadily since the start of the pandemic, according to data from insurance company LeaseLock.

A federal judge approved a plan that allows Thomas Health Systems to emerge from bankruptcy and keep open Thomas Memorial Hospital, the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail reported. Employees keep their jobs under the restructuring plan Judge Frank Volk approved on Friday during a teleconference hearing slightly more than seven months after Thomas Health filed for chapter 11 protection. The health care system will emerge from bankruptcy with support from a $60.1 million bond sale that will help pay down $145 million in debts at a discounted rate from a 2008 bond sale and keep enough cash on hand for hospital operations. Judge Volk described it as a “resolution that preserved a health care entity that has had a long presence in this state” and protected the jobs of people working the front lines of the novel coronavirus pandemic. “Thomas is relied upon daily by not only those who are employed there, but also those who seek care within its walls,” he said. “That’s especially so, given the challenges we currently confront.” Judge Volk commended the involved parties for reaching a quick resolution. Thomas Health employs more than 1,650 people and serves about 275,000 patients annually.

A group of lenders to Ascena Retail Group Inc., owner of the Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant clothing chains, is objecting to the company’s plan for a rescue financing package to see it through bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The group is working with law firm King & Spalding as it resists a debt proposal put forward by another set of term loan holders, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. The objecting group includes Z Capital Credit Partners, Marathon Asset Management and Man GLG, the people said. It’s the latest in a series of creditor brawls that have broken out as the pandemic triggers a wave of bankruptcies. Rising corporate distress is pitting beleaguered companies, their sponsors and lenders against each other in fights many say are uglier, dirtier and more vicious than ever before. In the case of Ascena, the objection relates to the debtor-in-possession loan proposed as part of a restructuring support agreement when the company filed for bankruptcy in July. The RSA had the support of 68 percent of the term loan lenders and the DIP includes $150 million of new money, though creditors had to hold at least $20 million to be part of the group.

Arandell Holdings Inc., the third biggest commercial printer in the U.S., has filed for bankruptcy after facing business disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic and operational problems at a printing facility in Kentucky, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The 100-year-old company is a major producer of shopping catalogs and counts some big retailers as customers, according to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Store closings, supply chain disruptions since the coronavirus pandemic began and increasing online shopping also hurt Arandell, Chief Executive Bradley Hoffman said in a declaration filed with the court. The Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based company, owned by Hoffman and a handful of key employees, is looking for a buyer while in bankruptcy and will sell or close the Kentucky plant. At a hearing on Friday in Wilmington, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey approved a bankruptcy loan of up to $7.5 million from CIBC Bank USA, Arandell’s top lender, on an interim basis. The company will have immediate access to only $600,000 under the CIBC revolver loan, since it drew down on $6.7 million of the CIBC credit line before filing for chapter 11 protection on Thursday.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. promoted its chief accounting officer to chief financial officer, succeeding Jamere Jackson, who the company said resigned to pursue a new opportunity, the Wall Street Journal reported. The bankrupt car-rental company appointed R. Eric Esper, its head of accounting since November 2018, as CFO, effective immediately. Esper previously served as the company’s controller and before that worked in various finance roles at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. His annual base salary will increase to $510,000 from $375,000 as part of the move, Hertz said. Esper will retain responsibility for accounting, according to a spokeswoman. Jackson, who had been CFO since September 2018, will remain with Hertz until Sept. 11 to assist with the transition and will forfeit his retention bonus, the Estero, Fla.-based company said in a filing with regulators.

In a major reversal, the IRS now says many low-income parents who missed a deadline to request the $500 stimulus payments for their children can still use the agency’s non-filers tool to get their money this year, the Washington Post reported. The decision will help people receiving federal benefits, such as Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), who missed brief windows earlier in the pandemic to claim those payments online — or wait until next year. Many parents have been complaining that although they received their $1,200 stimulus payment as part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (Cares) Act, the Internal Revenue Service failed to include the extra $500 promised for each dependent child under 17. The distribution of stimulus payments has been plagued by glitches — including missing or incorrect payments for the dependent children of the most economically fragile Americans. To get stimulus payments to people who aren’t required to file or who earn too little to file a tax return, the IRS created a special online non-filers tool to help process payments and collect information for dependent children. Individuals receiving certain federal benefits — Social Security retirement benefits, survivor or disability benefits, or Railroad Retirement benefits — automatically received stimulus payments even if they didn’t file tax returns. But they had to go online and use the non-filers tool to claim the extra $500 they were owed for each dependent child. In a controversial move, the IRS issued a special alert on its website on April 20 giving these federal beneficiaries about 48 hours to claim their $500 payments. If they missed that very short window, they would have to wait until next year when they filed a 2020 federal tax return to get the money. An additional deadline of May 5 was set for people who receive SSI or Veterans Affairs benefits.