What happened
Whiting Petroleum (WLL) shares are up 7.7% as of 11:40 a.m. EDT after the company completed its restructuring and resumed trading on the NYSE yesterday. Whiting was the first publicly traded shale producer to file for bankruptcy protection in April, after the March crash in the oil market.
So what
Whiting said its restructuring plan lowered its debt by approximately $3 billion, leaving it with a debt load of $425 million and $336 million in total liquidity as of Sept. 1, 2020. Its total debt does not include outstanding letters of credit or capital lease obligations, it said.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Whiting had previously reported that CEO Bradley Holly would be replaced once the company emerged from bankruptcy protection. It has now also announced that James Henderson is replacing Correne Loeffler as CFO. Henderson previously served as CFO at SRC Energy.
Holly received a $6.4 million payout just prior to the bankruptcy filing, and four other executives, including Loeffler, collected another $8.2 million combined at that time.
"We are excited to begin our new chapter at Whiting, with a focus on capital discipline and free cash flow generation to create long-term value for our shareholders," said new CEO Lynn Peterson in a statement.
Previous Whiting shareholders received one share of the reorganized common stock for every 75 shares of previously owned shares, the company said.
