Haynes and Boone reports that there has been an uptick in the number of North American oil and gas producer bankruptcies so far this year, with 33 filings as of the end of September. And 27 of those files have come since the beginning of May.

The firm’s Oil Patch Bankruptcy Monitor reports:

“Since our August 12 report, an additional 7 producers have filed bankruptcy with an aggregate amount of total debt in excess of $2.0 billion. This increase in year-over-year filings indicates that the reverberations of the 2015 oil price crash continue to be heard in the industry.”

Read the article.

POWER magazine has posted the first of a two-part series examining what dealmakers need to know before making any power industry mergers and acquisitions.

The authors, Jeff M. Dobbs and Robert S. Goldberg, are partners with Mayer Brown LLP in the firm’s Houston office.

The series is designed to describe the legal due diligence process, the types of agreements, and issues that are frequently encountered in the diligence review of operating electric power generation assets. It also will outline the structure of a typical acquisition agreement for these assets, and highlight typical provisions and issues that are heavily negotiated between buyers and sellers.

Read the article.

The current decline in oil prices is having a great many unexpected and unwanted consequences, many of which may turn into long-lasting troubles for the oil and gas industry − and especially for its investors, according to an article published by DLA Piper.

Michael A. Silva and Vince Slusher write that investors who own shares in companies and partnerships that are suffering from the hard times in the oil patch will face an ever-bigger headache thanks to the tax consequences of the price drop.

“The problem – essentially a situation that requires investors to book income for tax purposes and to pay hefty federal taxes even though they don’t actually receive any cash – is a direct result of the ongoing restructuring of the industry and its debt, triggered by the crash in oil prices,” Silva and Slusher write.

Read the article.

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Bracewell’s next event in its Power Regulatory Webinar Series will be a July 20 webinar titled “Qualifying Facilities, Exempt Wholesale Generators and Market-Based Rates: The Basics and Beyond.”

The Wednesday, July 20, webinar will begin at noon Central time.

Speakers will be Catherine P. McCarthy, Stephen J. Hug, and Blake Urban.

Future events and speakers in the series will be:

Wednesday, September 14
“Developments in Western Markets”
Deanna E. King and Stephen J. Hug

Wednesday, October 12
“FERC Audits”
Robert E. Pease and Tyler S. Johnson

Wednesday, November 9
“FERC Update on Anti-Market Manipulation – Power”
Michael W. Brooks and Serena A. Rwejuna

Register for the next webinar.

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It is estimated that roughly 300 upstream energy companies will file for bankruptcy in 2016, and many management teams are curious about hedging alternatives during the restructuring and bankruptcy process, write Ryan Bouley & Shane Randolph, Managing Directors at Opportune LLP.

“There are various alternatives management teams can take with their hedging programs, ranging from full liquidation to actually increasing hedge coverage,” they write.

In an article posted on Opportune’s website, they discuss the purpose of an effective risk management program, what typically happens to hedges during the bankruptcy process, and the hedging alternatives for a distressed company.

Read the article.

Baker Botts has posted an on-demand video webinar hosted by partners Manny Grillo, Shalla Prichard and Jim Prince titled “Baker Botts Corporate Series: Staring Down the Barrel,” in which the moderators discuss the state of the energy finance market and the related legal developments.

The firm says the video shares insights from the finance and restructuring market and highlights some of the latest developments and trends. The program takes a look at the impact of last year’s deal activity and what it will mean for this year. The panelists comment on what they have seen and expect to see this year from both a legal and business perspective and the opportunities created by the markets.

Watch the video.