Linn Energy, Inc. was a

hydrocarbon exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods ...

company based in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. In 2018, the company split into Roan Resources and Riviera Resources. As of December 31, 2017, the company had 1.968 trillion cubic feet equivalent of estimated proved reserves, of which 8% were

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

, 70% were

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

, and 22% were

natural gas liquids Natural-gas condensate, also called natural gas liquids, is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields. Some gas species within the raw natura ...

. The company's core assets were in

Western Oklahoma On a simple east/west basis, Western Oklahoma is popularly considered that part of the state west of I-35. I-35 creates a north/south line through the approximate center of the main body of the state (i.e., without regard for the Oklahoma Panhand ...

. The company also pursued directional drilling in the

Mid-Continent oil province The Mid-continent oil field is a broad area containing hundreds of Petroleum reservoir, oil fields in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The area, which consists of various geological Stratum, strata a ...

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

North Louisiana North Louisiana (), also known locally as Sportsman's Paradise, (a name sometimes attributed to the state as a whole) is a region in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The region has two metropolitan areas: Shreveport-Bossier City and Monroe-West Monr ...

and

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

History

The company was founded in 2003 by Michael C. Linn. In 2006, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

that raised over $200 million. In 2007, the company doubled its holdings by acquiring many of the oil and gas assets of Hogshead Spouter and Dominion Energy, mainly in Oklahoma, for $2.05 billion. In 2011, the founder of the company, Michael C. Linn, retired. In March 2012, the company acquired the holdings of BP in the

Hugoton Natural Gas Area Hugoton Gas Field is a large natural gas field in the U.S. states of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Its name is derived from the town of Hugoton, Kansas, near which the Hugoton Field was first discovered. History Natural gas in the Hugoton area was ...

, the large gas-producing region from southwestern

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

into the Texas Panhandle for $1.2 billion. The purchase included 2,400 active wells on 600,000 acres and a gas processing plant. In June 2012, the company acquired 12,500 acres in the Jonah Field in southwest Wyoming from BP for approximately $1 billion. In February 2013, the company acquired Berry Petroleum Company in a stock deal valued at $4.3 billion. In September 2013, the company acquired assets in the Permian Basin for $525 million. In June 2014, the company acquired assets from

Devon Energy Devon Energy Corporation is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States. It is organized in Delaware with operational headquarters in the 50-story Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its primary operations are ...

for $2.3 billion. In August 2014, the company acquired assets in the

from

Pioneer Natural Resources Pioneer Natural Resources Company, headquartered in Irving, Texas, was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It operated in the Cline Shale, which is part of the Spraberry Trend of the Permian Basin, where the company was the larges ...

for $340 million. The company also sold its interests in non-producing acreage in the

Anadarko Basin The Anadarko Basin is a geologic depositional and structural basin centered in the western part of the state of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, and extending into southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado. The basin covers an area of . By t ...

for $90 million. In March 2016, the company missed a debt payment and announced that a

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

filing was likely. On May 11, 2016, the company filed for bankruptcy under

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

. In February 2017, the company completed a financial restructuring, which included the

corporate spin-off A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. It is distinct ...

of Berry Petroleum Company and the sale of assets to Hogshead Spouter Company. In May 2017, the company sold its interest in properties in the Salt Creek Field in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Denbury Resources Denbury Inc. was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and extraction via enhanced oil recovery, utilizing carbon dioxide to extract petroleum from fields that have been previously exploited. In November 2023 it was acquired by ExxonMobil ...

for $71.5 million. In June 2017, the company sold its properties in the Jonah Field for $581.5 million. In September 2017, the company formed Roan Resources, a joint venture with Citizen Energy. In October 2017, the company sold properties in

for $200 million. In 2018, the company split into Roan Resources and Riviera Resources.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linn Energy 2003 establishments in Texas Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016 Defunct oil and gas companies of the United States Energy companies established in 2003 Energy companies disestablished in 2018 2018 disestablishments in Texas American companies established in 2003 American companies disestablished in 2018