Battered by low oil prices and Alberta fires, Connacher again seeks court protection
by The Canadian Press
Connacher had just exited 12 months of court-supervised restructuring
CALGARY—Twelve months after emerging from a court-supervised restructuring, junior oilsands producer Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd. is again seeking court protection from creditors.
The Calgary company announced May 16 that it had asked the Court of Queen’s Bench for shielding under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act while it tries to arrange a sale of its business in whole or in part.
Its restructuring last May resulted in creditors owed $1 billion taking over almost the entire company.
Connacher’s oilsands project reduced production when recent wildfires prevented access to its site south of Fort McMurray, but the company said its decision was related to current depressed prices for oil and its limited ability to access capital to carry on.
In March, the company launched a process to review financing alternatives.
And it deferred until June an interest payment due March 31 on debt of US$35 million issued under last May’s restructuring agreement.
