Cobalt International Energy, Inc. is a development stage petroleum exploration and production company headquartered in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Cobalt International Energy Inc. filed for bankruptcy on December 14, 2017.

Current operations

The company has reserves deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Angola and Gabon in West Africa. The company owns a 9.375% working interest in the Heidelberg field, approximately 140 miles south of Port Fourchon off the Louisiana coast, which is operated by Anadarko Petroleum.

History

The company was founded in November 2005. In December 2009, the company became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $850 million. In 2012, the United States Department of Justice initiated an investigation into allegations that the company engaged in bribery in Angola, in violation of the

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applicable world ...

. The investigation was closed in 2017. In April 2013, James Painter, the president of the company, resigned. In 2015, the company reached an agreement to sell its Angolan assets for $1.75 billion to Sonangol Group. However, the deal fell through after Isabel dos Santos took over the company. In May 2016, Timothy J. Cutt, formerly of BHP, was named chief executive officer of the company. Cobalt International Energy filed for bankruptcy on December 14, 2017 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. At the time, it had 82 workers, with 31 temporary workers and 19 independent contractors. To the dismay of many, on April 10, 2018 Cobalt International Energy terminated shareholders interest in the company as part of the bankruptcy agreement.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.cobaltintl.com/ Oil companies of the United States Natural gas companies of the United States Petroleum in Texas Companies based in Houston Energy companies established in 2005 Non-renewable resource companies established in 2005 2005 establishments in Texas Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017