High Court extends Barryroe gas and oil exploration firm's period of protection from creditors
Protection Creditors The Court Of O'rourke Energy's Finbarr Barryroe From Offshore Period Extended Picture:
The High Court has extended the period of protection granted to gas and oil exploration firm Barryroe Offshore Energy (BOE) from its creditors by an additional 35 days.
The extension was sought by the company's examiner Kieran Wallace to enable further discussions with potential investors in the firm.
The additional time, Mr Wallace said, would allow him to formulate a scheme of arrangement that would ensure the company's survival.
The company was placed into examinership in late July following an application by Vevan Unlimited, a company of businessman Larry Goodman, which holds a 20% stake in BOE.
BOE had been facing liquidation, but a shareholder vote to wind up the firm was called off to allow Vevan to put BOE into examinership.
The court was told that while the company was insolvent, a report from an independent expert stated that BOE has a reasonable prospect of survival if a scheme of arrangement can be agreed with the creditors, and ultimately approved by the court.
Its sole asset is its wholly-owned subsidiary Exola DAC, which operates the Barryroe field off the Co Cork coast.
The application to extend BOE's period of protection from its creditors from 35 to 70 days was sought by Kelley Smith SC on behalf of Mr Wallace, an insolvency practitioner with Interpath, who was formally appointed as the company's examiner in late July.
In a report to the court, Mr Wallace said he believes that the company can survive if certain steps are taken, including agreeing to a scheme of arrangement with BOE's creditors and bringing in additional investment to the firm.
Outlining the steps taken by him to date, Mr Wallace said he had met with both creditors and potential investors, one of which he said meets the BOC's funding requirements.
There was no opposition to the extension application.
Arthur Cunningham BL, for the Revenue Commissioners, who are owed some €20,000, said his client was not opposing the extension application.
The extension was granted by Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan during Thursday's vacation sitting of the High Court.
The matter will return before the court in October.
The company, which has two employees, got into difficulty in May when the Government refused to extend a lease allowing the firm to continue work on its oil-drilling project off the Cork coast.
This impacted the company's ability to raise working capital.
The Government's decision was based on the firm not meeting the investment cover criterion which requires lease applicants to have net tangible assets of 3.5 times the cost of works the firm plans to undertake.
A separate legal challenge has been brought against that decision.