Seventy Seven Energy (SSE) is the former Chesapeake Oilfield Operating company, the oilfield services subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy that Chessy spun out into its own company in July 2014 after it couldn’t find anyone to buy it (see Long Labor & Delivery: Seventy Seven Energy Born Yesterday). It was an ill-fated venture from the beginning. SSE never turned a profit after becoming its own company. In June 2016, SSE, which has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica, filed for bankruptcy, then emerged from bankruptcy two months later borrowing $100 million (see Seventy Seven Energy Pops Out of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2 Mos.). In the third quarter of last year, the red ink continued to flow, with SSE losing $36.5 million. SSE finally had enough and threw in the towel. In December, Patterson-UTI Energy, another oilfield services company with major operations in the northeast, cut a deal to buy out and merge in SSE in an all-stock deal worth $1.76 billion (see Seventy Seven Energy Throws in the Towel, Sells to Paterson-UTI). However, that deal is not yet done and won’t be until mid-year this year. In the meantime, SSE has just released its fourth quarter and full year 2016 update. And yes, the red ink continued to flow, although not was fast as it was…
