Pismo Energy Ltd., Receivership

Pismo Energy Ltd., a privately-owned, Calgary, Alberta-based oil and gas company, was placed in receivership on December 6 by its parent company Northshore Petroleum Ltd. and its principal John Zang, who is also a debenture holder.

Pismo holds licenses issued by the AER to operate 79 wells, 13 pipelines and 7 facilities across Alberta.

The company is insolvent, has negative cash flow and owes creditors over $14 million.

In September 2024, the AER issued an Order requiring Pismo to pay nearly $1 million, and it became apparent that Pismo would be unable to raise the funds necessary to address its obligations. As a result, Pismo commenced a sales process that has not yet resulted in any sales, however, Pismo’s working interest participants, Poker Chip Exploration Ltd. and North Fork Resources Ltd. expressed a willingness to assume Pismo’s interests in jointly owned assets, resulting in a reduction of Pismo’s liabilities by approximately $2.4 million.

Due to an existing Ministerial Order which prohibits Pismo from transferring its licenses due to municipal tax arrears in the absence of the appointment of a receiver, the transaction was effected pursuant to a pre-packaged receivership.

KSV is the receiver.

Counsel is Bennett Jones for North Shore and John Zang.