Samson Resources is now a post-confirmation case administered through a Settlement Trust, with claims reconciliation still open and the trust targeting a final-decree application by December 31, 2026, according to the post-confirmation report for the quarter ended March 31, 2026Dkt. 3603. The case began as an energy balance-sheet restructuring: Samson filed chapter 11 in September 2015 after commodity-price declines left a leveraged exploration-and-production platform unable to carry roughly $4.9 billion of liabilities, despite drilling reductions, workforce cuts, and other liquidity measures described in the Cook first-day declarationDkt. 2.
At filing, Samson was a Tulsa-based onshore oil and gas producer with approximately 1.6 million net acres and interests in about 8,700 production sites across multiple U.S. basins. Its funded-debt stack included a $942 million first-lien revolving credit facility, a $1.0 billion second-lien term loan, and $2.25 billion of senior unsecured notes, while the proposed restructuring centered on second-lien lender support, a debt-for-equity conversion, and a new-money rights offering intended to delever the company and preserve liquidity for operations, as set out in the Cook first-day declarationDkt. 2 and the contemporaneous disclosure statementDkt. 16.
The plan path ultimately moved through a long negotiation and amendment cycle rather than a quick first-day confirmation. Samson filed a fourth amended joint chapter 11 plan at the end of 2016, structured as a reorganization with nine classes, and the court confirmed the global-settlement plan on February 13, 2017 through the . The plan became effective on March 1, 2017, leaving the post-confirmation estate to administer recoveries, claims reconciliation, and residual trust matters.
The current economics are those of a mature trust winding down rather than an operating debtor seeking new case relief. The Settlement Trust’s latest report shows $24,539 in quarterly cash disbursements and $171.5 million in cumulative cash disbursements since the effective date; general unsecured creditors have received $138.0 million against estimated allowed claims of $2.42 billion, or about a 6% recovery to date, with total anticipated GUC payments estimated at $143.5 million in the latest post-confirmation reportDkt. 3603. The principal near-term milestone is completion of remaining trust administration and pursuit of a final decree by year-end 2026.
