Suzzanne Uhland draws on extensive professional experience in bankruptcy, insolvency, and restructuring litigation in her work as a partner at O’Melveny & Myers LLP in San Francisco and Newport Beach. As the chair of the firm’s U.S. restructuring practice, Suzzanne Uhland often represents clients in distress transactions, reorganizations, out-of-court restructuring efforts, and bankruptcy proceedings.

2.  Suzzanne Uhland draws on extensive
professional experience in bankruptcy,
insolvency, and restructuring litigation in her
work as a partner at O’Melveny & Myers LLP in
San Francisco and Newport Beach. As the
chair of the firm’s U.S. restructuring practice,
Suzzanne Uhland often represents clients in
distress transactions, reorganizations, out-of-
court restructuring efforts, and bankruptcy
proceedings.
In the United States, the price of crude oil has
recently plummeted to its lowest point in five
years.

3.  While this change has been widely welcomed by
consumers, it represents a host of difficulties for oil
exploration and production (E&P) firms and service
companies, many of which may soon be at risk of
bankruptcy due to declining cash flow. WBH Energy filed
for chapter 11 bankruptcy in early January 2015,
becoming the first E&P firm to do so in 2015.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has projected
that oil prices will continue to drop throughout the year,
and market speculators predict that WBH Energy is only
the first of several crude oil E&P and services firms to file for
chapter 11 in 2015. Declining oil prices have also resulted
in high options market uncertainty, as indicated by the
current values of oil future and options contracts.

4.  These market developments may require
crude oil companies to consider
defensive operations such as
restructuring, while others may move
offensively to gain an advantage during
this uncertain period.