The small Australian independent filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on May 31. The filing covers Buccaneer Energy and its eight subsidiaries: Buccaneer Resources LLC, Buccaneer Royalties LLC, Buccaneer Alaska LLC and Kenai Land Ventures LLC, as well as Buccaneer Alaska Drilling LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary Kenai Drilling LLC, and Buccaneer Energy Holdings Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Buccaneer Alaska Operations LLC. The court has agreed to consider the proceedings of all nine companies together.

As part of the filing, Buccaneer said it has reached an agreement in principle with a secured lender to sell "substantially all" of its assets, which the company believes would allow it to pay off its secured creditors, as well as potentially some of its unsecured creditors.

While Buccaneer holds considerable debt through loans and credit facilities, it is also accumulating more debt daily from two outstanding rig contracts, including one for the Endeavour jack-up rig that it acquired with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority in late 2011. Buccaneer is asking the court to end those rig contracts.

- ERIC LIDJI