Planning for bankruptcy of a major counterparty

Paul Turner and Mark Sherrill discuss how to minimise exposure to the bankruptcy of a major energy counterparty

With the major oil spill last year in the Gulf of Mexico came a rash of media stories about the possibility of a BP bankruptcy. For example, a New York Times headline on July 9, 2010 read "Weighing the Possibility of Bankruptcy for BP", and in June, the Atlantic Monthly ran a story suggesting a "reasonably high" chance of a Chapter 11 filing. Since the well was plugged in September, that notion has largely faded away.

Even if a BP bankruptcy has now become a moot point, however, the concept