Moody’s ups Whiting, Kodiak

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Whiting Petroleum Corp.’s corporate family rating to Ba1 from Ba2 and its probability of default rating to Ba1-PD from Ba2-PD.

At the same time, the agency confirmed Whiting's Ba2 rated senior unsecured notes and Ba3 rated senior subordinated notes, and changed its speculative grade liquidity rating to SGL-3 from SGL-2.

Moody's also upgraded Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp.'s senior unsecured notes to Ba2 from B3 and withdrew the corporate family, probability of default and speculative grade liquidity ratings at Kodiak.

The outlooks are stable.

These actions follow the completion of Whiting's acquisition of Kodiak in an all-stock transaction valued at about $4.2 billion, including Kodiak's debt of $2.4 billion. Whiting's senior management team will run the combined company, and two of Kodiak's directors, its chairman and chief executive officer and its executive vice president of business development, will join Whiting's board of directors.

Effective with the close of the transaction, Kodiak will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Whiting.

"The upgrade of Whiting's CFR to Ba1 reflects the benefits of the Kodiak acquisition, with Whiting gaining basin intensification in its already established position in the Williston Basin," Moody's vice president Gretchen French said in a news release. "With the Kodiak assets, Whiting will have a larger production base and deeper drilling inventory, which should enable enhanced drilling and operating efficiencies."

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