Interpath Advisory selected for Waldorf Production administration

Fossil fuels group Waldorf Production has filed a notice to appoint administrators. Professionals from Interpath Advisory are reported to be working on the sale of its remaining assets.

Earlier in the summer, the directors of Waldorf Production, the key holding company of the Waldorf UKCS oil and gas group, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators from Interpath Advisory. A further non-trading group HoldCo, Waldorf Energy Partners, has also today been placed into administration, with administrators from the same professional services firm.

Jim Tucker, managing director at Interpath Advisory, said “While we will be speaking to bondholders and other key stakeholders as a matter of priority, it is important to stress that Waldorf’s operating companies are not in administration, and continue to trade as normal under the control of their directors.”

Waldorf Production is an obligor under a $150 million bond issued by Waldorf Energy Finance (WEF). A number of Waldorf Production’s subsidiaries are also obligors under this $150 million bond, which is secured over various group assets. These assets include a 20% interest in the Catcher field, owned by Waldorf CNS, and interests in Bittern and Scolty Crathes fields owned by other OpCos.

The complex set-up means that Waldorf’s Aberdeen-headquartered operating companies (OpCos) – which hold the Group’s participating interests in a number of UKCS oil and gas fields, such as Catcher and Kraken – are not in administration. Waldorf’s OpCos employ all of the group’s 40 staff, and will continue to trade as normal, while day-to-day operations remain unaffected.

However, the subsequent decision of Waldorf Production to go into administration highlights a growing problem for the fossil fuel industry. As the shift to renewables means demand for energy slowly moves elsewhere, booms in the production of oil are fading, meaning larger producers are selling wells to a string of ever-smaller companies – some of which struggle to keep up with maintenance costs and other inflationary pressures.

According to the Waldorf’s own LinkedIn profile, its model is “focused on growing the business through the acquisition of long life producing or near development assets and strategic partnerships with like-minded companies.”