First-day Motions

Ivanhoe Energy Seeks Bankruptcy Protection as Oil Prices Weigh

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-idUSL1N0VU2EF20150220

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-bankruptcy