Moody's rates Whiting notes B2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a B2 rating to Whiting Petroleum's $220 million of eight-year senior subordinated notes.

Moody's also affirmed Whiting's Ba3 senior implied rating and existing B2 senior subordinated note rating. Whiting's liquidity rating is SGL-2.

The outlook is stable.

Note proceeds will be used to term out Whiting's existing $215 million of secured bank debt.

Moody's said the ratings are supported by substantially reduced debt after Whiting's fourth quarter 2004 $240 million common equity offering; resulting relatively conservative leverage on proven developed (PD) reserves; and a strong nine-year PD reserve life, among other factors.

Whiting's ratings are restrained, Moody's said, by a sequential decline in first quarter production in the range of 1.5%; still modest reserve scale; escalating total full-cycle costs due to higher unit production costs due to acquisitions of higher cost Permian Basin properties and higher all-sources reserve replacement costs, among other factors.

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