The drama between Sports Authority Holdings Inc. and consignment suppliers is coming to an end with a settlement that looks to resolve more than 160 lawsuits, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Sellers of shoes, gloves and other winter gear sold on consignment sought the return of their goods after Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy last month. The retailer, which is liquidating some 140 stores, said that it needed the gear to sell at its remaining stores and sued the consignment sellers to block them from seizing the goods. The dispute revolves around about $85 million worth of winter gear currently being sold at the struggling retailer’s stores. The settlement, if approved by Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath would keep these products on Sports Authority’s shelves throughout the chapter 11 proceedings.
Sabine Oil & Gas Corp. won an important court ruling yesterday that will allow the bankrupt energy producer to shed certain pipeline contracts, potentially exposing companies that transport and process gas to the crisis in the energy industry, Reuters reported. The bankruptcy court ruling is the first major test of whether chapter 11 can be used to end a contract with companies in what is known as the midstream sector of the energy industry. "The debtors have satisfied the standard for the rejection of the contracts," said Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman. Her decision can be appealed and is not binding. But it may encourage other struggling producers to follow suit at a time when scores of oil and gas companies are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Judge Chapman's decision clears the way for Sabine to seek a new midstream operator to build a pipeline system in southern Texas to replace the existing one built by an affiliate of Cheniere Energy Inc. The company's lawyers have also said they may use the ruling to renegotiate with Cheniere. Sabine said in court papers a new midstream operator would save it $35 million. Read more.
Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt with ABI’s When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy.
Will exploration and production hit bottom in 2016? Be sure to attend ABI's Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., from April 14-17, as a panel of experts will be addressing this topic. Register today!
Quicksilver Resources Inc.’s bid to tear up pipeline agreements ahead of the sale of its oil-and-natural gas drilling operations raised novel and perplexing legal questions that a bankruptcy judge wants time to consider, the Wall Street Journal reported today. “I will do my best” to decide the issue, a condition of Quicksilver’s pending sale, by the company’s March 31 deadline to close the $245 million deal, Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein said on Friday. Pipeline operators and midstream operators are closely watching Fort Worth, Texas-based Quicksilver and other oil exploration and production bankruptcies out of fear that rulings letting these companies exit their contracts — negotiated before oil prices took a nosedive, and therefore favorable to pipeline companies — could spur a mass exodus. More importantly to Quicksilver, buyer BlueStone Natural Resources II LLC said that it would walk away from its $245 million cash offer if there is a risk it would be bound by Quicksilver’s pipeline agreements with Crestwood Midstream Partners LP. Read more. (Subscription required.)
Will exploration and production hit bottom in 2016? Be sure to attend ABI's Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., from April 14-17, as a panel of experts will be addressing this topic. Register today!
Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt with ABI’s When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy.
