North sea operator Noreco has warned it could go into liquidation this week if it fails in a bid to get support for a refinancing scheme.
The Norwegian firm announced last month it was looking to raise £325million through refinancing bonds after seeing lending facilities reduced by almost two thirds.
Tomorrow bondholders will meet ahead of an extraordinary general meeting on November 15, with the company’s future at stake.
“Should any of the bondholders’ meetings on 5 November 2013 nevertheless fail to approve the proposed refinancing, Noreco’s board will in the current circumstances be forced to promptly initiate preparations for a liquidation of the parent company and possibly other companies in the group in order to preserve value for creditors,” the company said in a statement today.
“A failure to approve the refinancing plan and the implications thereof may however also trigger other negative effects and have further unforeseen consequences.”
The beleaguered oil firm warned it does not have enough cash to pay bond interests due over the next two months, or to pay operation costs in the second half of November for its stake in the Huntington field.
Noreco has been hit by major production problems this year, with its entire output shut in at one point due to technical issues.
The company’s fields in the Danish North Sea have not been in production since the summer, after problems with the Siri platform forced them to shut-in. The Huntington North Sea gas field remains at 40% capacity, with production due to ramp up this month, after problems with the gas pipeline to the UK.
Noreco said it expected the Siri field to be back in production – albeit in a reduced capacity – in the first half of 2014.