Oil And Gas Industries Face Uncertain Future

Five Major Players Declare Financial Distress: Industry Outlook Unclear and Concerning

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May 17, 2016, 09:10 ET

ALLENTOWN, Pa., May 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Creditsafe USA, the world's most used supplier of company business intelligence, today released startling statistics about the troubled oil and gas sector. This report comes on the heels of Chapter 11 filings by four significant industry powerhouses: Breitburn Energy Partners, Linn Energy, Pennsylvania Virginia Corp., and Sand Ridge Energy, as well as the restructuring announcement by Seventy Seven Energy, Inc.

"The oil and gas sector is incredibly important industry to the United States. Our research estimates oil and gas companies contributed $220B to the US economy in 2015. This represents a significant percentage of the country's GDP. With five companies declaring financial duress in less than five days, it is obvious the industry is in trouble. And it is only going to get worse," said Matthew Debbage, CEO, Creditsafe USA and Asia.

Debbage continued,"The oil and gas industry ranks in the top 5% of slowest paying industries with construction being the slowest. And, the industry has seen a 25% increase in its days beyond terms, which is now at 7.3. Breitburn Energy Partners, Linn Energy, Pennsylvania Virginia Corp., Sand Ridge Energy and Seventy Severn Energy, Inc., have all displayed negative payment behavior with respect to paying their suppliers."

Oil and Gas companies recently filing for Chapter 11 or restructuring:

**Breitburn Energy Partners: Involved in the acquisition, exploitation and development of properties in the United States that bear oil, natural gas and NGL.

**Linn Energy: Top-20 independent U.S. E&P company with approximately 7.3 Tcfe of proved reserves in producing U.S. basins. The Company's core focus areas are the Rockies, California, Hugoton Basin, Mid-Continent, Permian Basin, east Texas and north Louisiana ("TexLa"), Michigan, Illinois and South Texas.

**Penn Virginia Corporation: Engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, NGLs and natural gas in various domestic onshore regions of the United States, with a primary focus in the Eagle Ford Shale of south Texas.

**SandRidge Energy: Focused on exploration and production activities in the Mid-Continent and Rockies regions of the United States.

**Seventy Seven Energy Inc.: Provides range of well-site services and equipment to land-based exploration and production customers in the United States.

Oil and Gas Industry Snapshot:

**Oil and gas industry consists of 1,000 companies with over one million employees.

**Sixty oil and gas companies have filed for bankruptcy since 2014.

**Bankruptcies in this sector are expected to sextuple in 2016 according to Deloitte.

**Eleven oil and gas companies filed for bankruptcy in April 2016 with an accumulated debt of $14.9 billion.

About The Creditsafe Group

The Creditsafe Group is the world's most used supplier of company business intelligence, with ten Creditsafe Group reports downloaded every second. Privately owned and independently minded, Creditsafe is looking to change the way business Information is used by providing high-quality data in an easy to use format that everyone in an organization can benefit from.

Founded in Norway in 1997, The Creditsafe Group has offices in countries all over the world including: the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States. Globally, Creditsafe employs over 1,200 people and has more than 90,000 subscription customers. Three years ago, the Creditsafe Group opened offices in the U.S. under the name Creditsafe USA. Its U.S. operations are headquartered in Allentown, Pa. with another facility in Phoenix, AZ. For more information, please visit www.creditsafe.com.