Contrary to what anti-drillers say, lack of drilling in New York does have serious consequences—the latest consequence being the bankruptcy of Norse Energy Corp. MDN has reported over the past several years on Norse, the “little energy company that could” (we had hoped) hang on until New York released new shale drilling rules. But New York’s moratorium has now stretched on nearly 4 1/2 years and frankly, there’s no end in sight.

In mid-November Norse issued a press release saying they would run out of money in December unless they could restructure their debt (see this MDN story). They only had $1.5 million cash on hand at the time. Then, a few weeks later, a judge ordered Norse to put $7.65 million into an escrow account to cover potential losses in a dispute (see this Norse press release). Apparently the escrow judgment pushed Norse over the financial cliff. They’ve now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection:

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