Louisiana and Mississippi driller Goodrich files bankruptcy

quote:

---

Houston-based Goodrich Petroleum filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday after securities owners rejected swapping their holdings for common stock to lower debt payments. The company cites $99 million in assets against $507 million in debts.

---

quote:

---

Goodrich is a small player in the oil world, and had focused on developing the Tuscaloosa shale formation. Wells in that region of southwest Mississippi and the Florida Parishes of Louisiana were among the highest-cost oil wells being drilled when prices began to fall, and drilling activity quickly dwindled. A number of wells were drilled but not hydraulically fractured, as companies wait for higher prices to start pumping.

Chief Operating Officer Robert Turnham, in court papers, said the plunge in oil prices punctured company finances. While Goodrich was getting $105 a barrel for Tuscaloosa Marine Shale crude in 2013, it got less than $50 per barrel last year.

Goodrich wants a federal bankruptcy judge to approve a plan cutting debt to $40 million and reducing interest payments by more than $30 million a year. Junior debtholders would have to approve.

---