Help Wanted: Warren Resources Launches Search for New CEO
Warren Resources is a small, independent exploration and production company headquartered in New York City. Warren has ongoing drilling programs in California, Wyoming, and in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale. Warren’s Marcellus program is very small–they previously announced they would drill and complete two Marcellus wells in 2015 (see New Entrant in the Marcellus: Warren Resources Drilling 2 Wells in 2015). However, Warren has faced some serious challenges. Last December Warren’s CEO and Chairman of the Board, Philip Epstein, suddenly quit (see CEO of Warren Resources Quits, Replaced by Citrus Energy CEO). Since Epstein’s departure, Citrus Energy CEO Lance Peterson (a Warren board member) has taken the reigns as interim CEO. Now that the company has successfully “navigated the critical liquidity and debt issues,” they’re ready to find a new, permanent CEO. The search has begun…
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David Fessler is energy and infrastructure strategist (i.e. stock analyst/researcher) with The Oxford Club–a publisher based in Baltimore, Maryland that publishes the Oxford Resource Explorer, among other financial publications. Fessler spends his days immersed in the energy industry and in the stocks of companies in that industry. Fessler and The Oxford Club have produced a special report called “The Oil Company Death List” which is a list of 19 publicly-traded oil and gas companies that, according to a formula worked out by Fessler, will “die soon.” That is, they’ll go bankrupt if they don’t sell themselves or otherwise sell off major assets. Why? They’re “swimming in debt” and way over leveraged with “ugly balance sheets.” Fessler’s simple formula is all about a company’s debt ratio. When a company’s debts reach 4 times or higher its earnings (EBITDA), that’s a huge red flag. Below we have the list of 19 on the “death list” along with a copy of Fessler’s full report (describing his methodology). The interesting/troubling aspect is that 8 of the 19 are Marcellus/Utica operators–one of which is #1 for highest debt-to-earnings ratios. Some companies in the list surprised us–others did not. Is your favorite Marcellus/Utica driller in the list?…
Not much to report on this, thankfully. MDN has told you in the past one of the most under-appreciated stories we know of is that the only Proctor & Gamble manufacturing plant out of their 150 plants worldwide that is 100% energy self-sufficient is a plant in Wyoming County, PA–near Wilkes-Barre in northeast Pennsylvania (see