Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
There have been no material changes from the risk factors previously disclosed in Item 1A., "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 other than those listed in this section.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has affected and may materially adversely affect, and any future outbreak of any other highly infectious or contagious diseases may materially adversely affect, our operations, financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows.
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has affected, and may materially adversely affect, our business and financial and operating results. The severity, magnitude and duration of the current COVID-19 outbreak is uncertain, rapidly changing and hard to predict. Thus far in 2020, the outbreak has significantly impacted economic activity and markets around the world, and COVID-19 or another similar outbreak could negatively impact our business in numerous ways, including, but not limited to, the following:
• our revenue may be reduced if, as many experts predict, the outbreak results in an economic downturn or recession that leads to a prolonged decrease in the demand for natural gas and, to a lesser extent, NGLs and oil;
• our operations may be disrupted or impaired (thus lowering our production level), if a significant portion of our employees or contractors are unable to work due to illness or if our field operations are suspended or temporarily shut-down or restricted due to control measures designed to contain the outbreak;
• the operations of our midstream service providers, on whom we rely for the transmission, gathering and processing of a significant portion of our produced natural gas, NGLs and oil, may be disrupted or suspended in response to containing the outbreak, and/or the difficult economic environment may lead to the bankruptcy or closing of the facilities and infrastructure of our midstream service providers, which may result in substantial discounts in the prices we receive for our produced natural gas, NGLs and oil or result in the shut-in of producing wells or the delay or discontinuance of development plans for our properties; and
• the disruption and instability in the financial markets and the uncertainty in the general business environment may affect our ability to find attractive asset monetization opportunities and successfully execute our plan to deleverage our business within our anticipated timeframe or at all; for example, the market value of the assets to be monetized may be reduced and the financial condition or prospects of prospective purchasers and other counterparties, and such parties'
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access to financing on acceptable terms, may be adversely affected. If we are not able to successfully execute our Deleveraging Plan or otherwise reduce absolute debt to a level we believe appropriate, our credit ratings may be lowered, we may reduce or delay our planned capital expenditures or investments and we may revise or delay our strategic plans.
Prior to the declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 15, 2020, we established a COVID-19 Response Team (the Response Team) consisting of a multi-disciplinary group of senior leaders. The primary functions of the Response Team are to analyze areas of risk, scenario plan and assess business continuity matters. The Response Team meets regularly and has been in consistent communication with our Board of Directors. We expect that the principal areas of operational risk for us are availability of service providers and supply chain disruption. Active development operations, including drilling and fracking operations, represent the greatest risk for transmission given the number of personnel and contractors on site. While we believe that we are following best practices under COVID-19 guidance, the potential for transmission still exists. In certain instances, it may be necessary or determined advisable for us to delay development operations. The Response Team continues to monitor potential areas of risk for us.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased volatility and caused negative pressure in the capital and credit markets. As a result, we may experience difficulty accessing the capital or financing needed to fund our exploration and production operations, which have substantial capital requirements, or refinance our upcoming maturities on satisfactory terms or at all. We typically fund our capital expenditures with existing cash and cash generated by operations (which is subject to a number of variables, including many beyond our control) and, to the extent our capital expenditures exceed our cash resources, from borrowings under our revolving credit facility and other external sources of capital. If our cash flows from operations or the borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility are insufficient to fund our capital expenditures and we are unable to obtain the capital necessary for our planned capital budget or our operations, we could be required to curtail our operations and the development of our properties, which in turn could lead to a decline in our reserves and production, and could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial position.
As of December 31, 2019, our senior notes were rated "Baa3" by Moody's, "BBB–" by S&P and "BBB–" by Fitch, each with a "Negative" outlook. In January 2020, Moody's downgraded our senior notes credit rating to "Ba1." In February 2020, S&P downgraded our senior notes credit rating to "BB+," and Fitch downgraded our senior notes credit rating to "BB." In April 2020, S&P further downgraded our senior notes credit rating to "BB–," and Moody's further downgraded our senior notes credit rating to "Ba3." In June 2020, Fitch revised our outlook to "Positive." As a result of the February 2020 and April 2020 downgrades, the interest rate on our 6.125% senior notes will increase to 7.875% and the interest rate on our 7.000% senior notes will increase to 8.750% beginning with the interest payment period that starts on August 1, 2020. Although we are not aware of any current plans of Moody's, S&P or Fitch to further downgrade its rating of our senior notes, we cannot be assured that one or more will not further downgrade or withdraw entirely their rating of our senior notes. Further impacts to our business as a result of the recent outbreak of COVID-19, including low prices for natural gas, NGLs and oil, or an increase in the level of our indebtedness or failure to significantly execute the Deleveraging Plan, may result in Moody's, S&P or Fitch further downgrading its rating of our senior notes. If there are further downgrades to our credit rating, our access to the capital markets may be impacted, the cost of short-term debt through interest rates and fees under our lines of credit may increase, the interest rate on our Adjustable Rate Notes will further increase, the rates available on new long-term debt may increase, our pool of investors and funding sources may decrease, the borrowing costs and margin deposit requirements on our derivative instruments may increase and we may be required to provide additional credit assurances, including collateral, in support of our midstream service contracts, joint venture arrangements or construction contracts, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and liquidity. As of July 22, 2020, we had sufficient unused borrowing capacity, net of letters of credit, under our credit facility to satisfy any requests for margin deposit or other collateral that our counterparties are permitted to request of us pursuant to our derivative instruments, midstream services contracts and other contracts. As of July 22, 2020, such assurances could be up to approximately $1.1 billion, inclusive of letters of credit, margin deposits and other collateral posted of approximately $0.9 billion in the aggregate.
To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks set forth in Item 1A., "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, such as those relating to our financial performance and debt obligations. The rapid development and fluidity of this situation precludes any prediction as to the ultimate adverse impact of COVID-19 on our business, which will depend on numerous evolving factors and future developments that we are not able to predict, including the length of time that the pandemic continues, its effect on the demand for natural gas, NGLs and oil, the response of the overall economy and the financial markets as well as the effect of governmental actions taken in response to the pandemic.
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The accounting for the Convertible Notes may have a material effect on our reported financial results.
On April 28, 2020, we issued the Convertible Notes due May 1, 2026 unless earlier redeemed, repurchased or converted. In accordance with GAAP, an issuer must separately account for the liability and equity components of certain convertible debt instruments that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects the issuer's economic interest cost. The effect on the accounting for the Convertible Notes is that the equity component is required to be included in additional paid-in capital of shareholders' equity on our condensed consolidated balance sheet, and the value of the equity component is treated as a debt discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the Convertible Notes. As a result, we will be required to record a greater amount of non-cash interest expense in current and future periods as a result of the amortization of the discounted carrying value of the Convertible Notes to their face amount over the term of the Convertible Notes. We will report lower net income (or greater net loss) in our financial results because GAAP requires interest to include both the current period's amortization of the debt discount and the instrument's coupon interest, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the market price of our common stock and the trading price of the Convertible Notes.
In addition, because we have the ability and intent to settle the Convertible Notes, upon conversion, by paying or delivering cash equal to the principal amount of the obligation and common stock for amounts over the principal amount, the shares issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Notes are accounted for using the treasury stock method and, as such, are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of the Convertible Notes exceeds their principal amount. Further, under the treasury stock method, the transaction is accounted for as if the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle such excess are issued. We cannot be sure that we will be able to continue to demonstrate the ability or intent to settle in cash or that the accounting standards will continue to permit the use of the treasury stock method. If we are unable to use the treasury stock method in accounting for the shares issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, our diluted earnings per share could be adversely affected.
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