Background

Premier Oil plc (now Harbour Energy plc) (‘Premier’) is incorporated in Scotland and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). It is an oil and gas exploration and production company with interests in the UK, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Falkland Islands, Mexico and Brazil. Following the reverse takeover by Premier of Chrysaor Holdings Limited (‘Chrysaor’) on 31 March 2021, Harbour Energy plc is now the largest UK listed independent oil and gas company.

Premier will be familiar to those in the restructuring market as it initially restructured in 2017 and was the subject of considerable press attention when it unsuccessfully attempted to restructure its debts again in 2020. Both the 2017 and 2020 debt restructurings were based on the use of Scottish schemes of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). In 2020, Premier’s proposed restructuring was the subject of a rare creditor challenge during the proceedings,