Unable to reach a debt-restructuring deal for its $3.9 billion in unsecured debt, Ultra Petroleum Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Apr. 29 in Houston. Source: News

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has cancelled a $4.6-billion contract with South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. for three floating LNG vessels. Source: News

Midstates Petroleum Co. Inc. and Midstates Petroleum LLC, Tulsa, have filed for voluntary bankruptcy and will reorganize under a prearranged financial restructuring. Source: News

Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. have ended their plan to merge. Source: News

Light, sweet crude prices for June delivery varied widely on the New York market during Apr. 29 trading, closing at $45.92/bbl after swinging from a daily high of $46.78 and a low of $45.24. Source: News

Apr. 20 was the sixth anniversary of the Macondo deepwater well blowout and oil spill. The Center for Biological Diversity marked the occasion by suing the US Department of the Interior for allegedly failing to meaningfully revise procedures for authorizing offshore oil and gas activity, including outright elimination of categorical exclusions. Source: News

The Independent Petroleum Association of America and three other associations representing US independent oil and gas producers jointly urged the US Bureau of Land Management to withdraw its proposed venting and flaring rule. Source: News