Murphy Energy Approved to Sell Natural-Gas Terminals
A judge approved the $33.1 million sale of natural-gas transporter Murphy Energy Corp.’s Port Hudson terminal in Louisiana, which was auctioned along with several other terminals as part of the company’s bankruptcy.
With his signature, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale cleared Murphy Energy officials to execute a series of sales that will leave the Tulsa, Okla.-based company with a pool of money to pay some of its debts.
The 210-worker company filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 4 amid natural-gas prices that have yet to recover after their 2014 plunge. Dozens of other suppliers that work for energy firms that pull oil and natural gas from underground deposits have filed for chapter 11 protection, blaming the “ripple effect” by felt those drilling firms that scaled back operations.
Murphy Energy officials told Judge Hale that the company owed roughly $57 million to investors organized by Bank of America, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.
Murphy Energy officials who held an auction for the company’s Port Hudson terminal announced that NGL Supply Terminal Co. beat competitors after 24 rounds of bidding. NGL Supply Terminal also won an auction for Murphy Energy’s Oklahoma terminal with a $16.6 million bid.
