Whiting Petroleum Corp. fell the most in more than six years after giving up on finding a buyer and instead selling shares and raising debt to clean up its balance sheet.
The largest oil producer in North Dakota’s Bakken shale region is tapping capital markets after shopping itself to Exxon Mobil Corp. and at least three other companies, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions weren’t public.
“We are currently exploring asset sales of noncore properties,” the Denver-based company said in a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “We are not, however, pursuing any significant strategic transaction at this time.”
Whiting shares fell 19.5 percent Tuesday to close at $30.91.
As oil prices have fallen by more than half since June, Whiting joins other shale producers that have issued more than $8 billion in additional shares this quarter to shore up their finances as the downturn persists, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The new $1.9 billion of debt will be used to repay short-term revolving credit Whiting used to finance some of its $3.8 billion acquisition of Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp., which closed in December, said Daniel Katzenberg, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co.
Whiting also is offering 35 million shares at $30 apiece, 22 percent less than Monday’s closing price.
