First-day Motions

Ivanhoe Energy Inc. said on Friday it will seek protection under Canada's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, as the company becomes the latest small oil-sands developer to struggle with oil prices that have fallen by more than half since June, Reuters reported on Friday. The company has been unable to make a C$2.1 million ($1.7 million) payment on a debenture issue and received a default notice earlier this week for the C$73.3 million issue. Ivanhoe was founded by famed mining investor Robert Friedland, who has lent the company $2.74 million since October. Ivanhoe is the latest small oil sands developer struggling to survive low oil prices while operating in one of the world's highest-cost regions. It owns the Tamarack thermal oil sands property in northern Alberta and controls another heavy oil property in Ecuador. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/20/ivanh-engy-bankruptcy-idUSL1N…

For further analysis of issues in oil and gas bankruptcies, be sure to purchase a copy of ABI’s When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy. http://www.abi.org/books/when-gushers-go-dry-essentials-oil-gas-bankrup…