Securities Lawyers Blog
The investment attorneys with Gana Weinstein LLP continue to report on investor related losses in oil and gas and commodities related investments. Investors may have potential legal remedies due to unsuitable recommendations by their broker to invest in this speculative and volatile area. Swift Energy Co., a U.S. shale driller, recently sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Houston driller was founded in 1979 by Aubrey Earl Swift and had trimmed 60 percent of its capital budget, cut 20 percent of its workforce, and made other capital expenditure reductions in order to adjust to a 68% percent fall in oil prices over the past 19 months.
Swift Energy operates oil fields in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas and in Louisiana fields with listed assets of about $1 billion and with debts of $1.35 billion. The company’s revenues sank 55 percent from the same period last year and posted a $354.6 million net loss from July to September. In November lenders reduced the company’s borrowing base by $45 million.
Our firm continues to file complaints on behalf of investors who have been overconcentrated in oil and gas investments. Oil and gas and commodities related investments have been recommended by brokers under the assumption that commodities prices would continue to go up. Some experts are saying that if production volume continues to be as high as it currently is and demand growth weak that the return to $100 a barrel is years away.
