ATP Oil & Gas equity committee withdraws examiner appointment motion

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Jan. 4 - ATP Oil & Gas Corp.'s official committee of equity security holders has withdrawn its motion for appointment of an examiner for the company's Chapter 11 case, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

The committee reserved its right to re-file the motion.

As previously reported, the committee said in its Dec. 3 motion that a debtor-in-possession lenders' report either incorrectly undervalued ATP's reserves, "indicating perhaps poor execution or bad faith manipulation," or a company report incorrectly overvalued the reserves.

If the lenders' report is flawed, the shareholder group said there is no basis for forcing the liquidation of the ATP.

Meanwhile, if the company's estimates were significantly misleading, the committee said the estate may have substantial causes of action against ATP's management and officers.

The equity committee also said it was troubled by the company's "abrupt, complete and inexplicable capitulation" on the lenders' report.

ATP Oil & Gas is a Houston-based offshore oil and gas development and production company focused in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea. The company filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 17 under Chapter 11 case number 12-36187.

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