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Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration No. 333-178929

 

PROSPECTUS

Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.

Offer to Exchange

$200,000,000 of 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018

that have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933

for any and all outstanding

$200,000,000 of 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018

that have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933

 

 

Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. is offering to exchange registered 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018, or the “exchange notes,” for any and all of its $200.0 million aggregate principal amount of unregistered 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018 that were issued pursuant to a private placement on November 17, 2011, or the “outstanding notes.” We refer to the outstanding notes, the exchange notes and the senior notes that were previously registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or the “existing senior notes,” collectively in this prospectus as the “notes.” We refer to this exchange as the “exchange offer.” The exchange notes are substantially identical to the outstanding notes, except the exchange notes are registered under the Securities Act, and the transfer restrictions and registration rights, and related additional interest provisions, applicable to the outstanding notes will not apply to the exchange notes. The exchange notes will represent the same debt as the outstanding notes and we will issue the exchange notes under the same indenture used in issuing the outstanding notes. The exchange notes will be substantially identical to, and are expected to bear the same CUSIP and ISIN number as, the existing senior notes, but will bear different CUSIP and ISIN numbers from any unexchanged outstanding notes.

The outstanding notes issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act bear the CUSIP number 144577AD5 and the ISIN number US144577AD53, and the outstanding notes issued pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act bear the CUSIP number U14535AB1 and the ISIN number USU14535AB13.

Terms of the exchange offer:

 

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The exchange offer expires at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on February 22, 2012, unless we extend it.

 

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The exchange offer is subject to customary conditions, which we may waive.

 

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We will exchange all outstanding notes that are validly tendered and not withdrawn prior to the expiration of the exchange offer for an equal principal amount of exchange notes. All interest due and payable on the outstanding notes will become due on the same terms under the exchange notes.

 

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You may withdraw your tender of outstanding notes at any time prior to the expiration of the exchange offer.

 

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If you fail to tender your outstanding notes, you will continue to hold unregistered, restricted securities, and your ability to transfer them could be adversely affected.

 

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We believe that the exchange of outstanding notes for exchange notes will not be a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, but you should see the discussion under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income and Estate Tax Considerations” for more information.

 

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We will not receive any proceeds from the exchange offer.

 

 

Please read “Risk Factors” beginning on page 8 for a discussion of factors you should consider before deciding whether to participate in the exchange offer.

Each broker-dealer that receives the exchange notes for its own account pursuant to this exchange offer must acknowledge by way of the letter of transmittal that it will deliver a prospectus in connection with any resale of the exchange notes. The letter of transmittal states that by so acknowledging and by delivering a prospectus, such broker-dealer will not be deemed to admit that it is an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act. This prospectus, as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, may be used by a broker-dealer in connection with resales of the exchange notes received in exchange for outstanding notes where such outstanding notes were acquired by such broker-dealer as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities. Until March 3, 2012 all dealers that effect transactions in the exchange notes, whether or not participating in this exchange offer, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions. We have agreed that, until August 20, 2012, we will make this prospectus available to any broker-dealer for use in connection with any such resale. See “Plan of Distribution.”

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

YOU SHOULD READ THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT AND THE ACCOMPANYING LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND RELATED DOCUMENTS AND ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS CAREFULLY BEFORE MAKING YOUR DECISION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EXCHANGE OFFER.

The date of this prospectus is January 23, 2012.

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This prospectus is part of a registration statement we filed with the SEC. In making your decision whether to participate in this exchange offer, you should rely only on the information contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus and in the letter of transmittal accompanying this prospectus. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with additional or different information. If you receive any unauthorized information, you must not rely on it. We are not making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus or in the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front cover of this prospectus or the date of such incorporated documents, as the case may be.

This prospectus incorporates by reference business and financial information about us that is not included in or delivered with this prospectus. This information is available without charge upon written or oral request directed to: Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 500 Dallas Street, Suite 2300, Houston, Texas 77002; telephone number: (713) 328-1000.

 

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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus, including the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus, contains statements concerning our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements are “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding:

 

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our growth strategies;

 

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our ability to explore for and develop natural gas and oil resources successfully and economically;

 

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our estimates of the timing and number of wells we expect to drill and other exploration activities;

 

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our estimates regarding timing and levels of production;

 

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anticipated trends in our business;

 

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the effects of competition on us;

 

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our future results of operations;

 

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our liquidity and our ability to finance our exploration and development activities;

 

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our capital expenditure plan;

 

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plans regarding our North Sea assets;

 

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future market conditions in the oil and gas industry;

 

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our ability to make, integrate and develop acquisitions;

 

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the impact of governmental regulation, taxes, market changes and world events; and

 

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the consummation of the exchange offer.

You generally can identify our forward-looking statements by the words “anticipate,” “believe,” budgeted,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “projection,” “scheduled,” “should,” or other similar words. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those relating to the worldwide economic downturn, availability of financing, our dependence on our exploratory drilling activities, the volatility of and changes in oil and gas prices, the need to replace reserves depleted by production, operating risks of oil and gas operations, our dependence on our key personnel, factors that affect our ability to manage our growth and achieve our business strategy, results, delays and uncertainties that may be encountered in drilling, development or production, interpretations and impact of new oil and gas reserve estimation and disclosure requirements, activities and approvals of our partners and parties with whom we have alliances, technological changes, capital requirements, borrowing base determinations and availability under our senior secured revolving credit facility, evaluations of the Company by lenders under our senior secured revolving credit facility, the potential impact of government regulations, including current and proposed legislation and regulations related to hydraulic fracturing, natural gas drilling, air emissions and climate change, regulatory determinations, litigation, competition, the uncertainty of reserve information and future net revenue estimates, property acquisition risks, availability of equipment, actions by our midstream and other industry partners, weather, availability of financing, actions by lenders, our ability to obtain permits and licenses, the results of audits and assessments, the failure to obtain certain bank and lease consents, the existence and resolution of title defects, new taxes and impact fees, delays, costs and difficulties relating to our joint ventures, actions by joint venture partners, results of exploration activities, the availability and completion of land acquisitions, completion and connection of wells and other factors detailed in this prospectus and in our filings with the SEC.

We have based our forward-looking statements on our management’s beliefs and assumptions based on information available to our management at the time the statements are made. We caution you that assumptions,

 

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beliefs, expectations, intentions and projections about future events may and often do vary materially from actual results. Therefore, we cannot assure you that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements.

Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements are described under “Risk Factors” and in other sections of this prospectus and described under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the documents that we incorporate by reference into this prospectus, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, and all other documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus, as updated by our subsequent filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those indicated. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to these risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and, except as required by law, we undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement.

 

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RISK FACTORS

You should consider carefully the risks discussed below as well as those described under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30, 2011 and September 30, 2011 and in our other filings with the SEC before making a decision whether to participate in the exchange offer. Additional risks and uncertainties described elsewhere in this prospectus or in the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus may also adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects, as well as the value of the exchange notes.

If any of the following risks actually were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow could be affected materially and adversely. In that case, you could lose all or part of your investment in or fail to achieve the expected return on the notes.

Risks Related to the Exchange Offer

If you fail to exchange outstanding notes, existing transfer restrictions will remain in effect and the market value of outstanding notes may be adversely affected because they may be more difficult to sell.

If you fail to exchange outstanding notes for exchange notes under the exchange offer, you will continue to be subject to the existing transfer restrictions on your outstanding notes. In general, the outstanding notes may not be offered or sold unless they are registered or exempt from registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. Except in connection with this exchange offer or as required by the registration rights agreement, we do not intend to register resales of the outstanding notes.

Any tenders of outstanding notes under the exchange offer will reduce the principal amount of the currently outstanding notes. Due to the corresponding reduction in liquidity, this may have an adverse effect upon, and increase the volatility of, the market price of any currently outstanding notes that you continue to hold following completion of the exchange offer.

Risks Related to the Notes

Servicing our debt will require a significant amount of cash. Our ability to generate sufficient cash depends on numerous factors beyond our control, and we may be unable to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt obligations, including making payments on the notes.

Our cash flow from operating activities and other sources may not be sufficient to fund our liquidity needs. Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our existing and future indebtedness, including the notes, will depend on our current and future ability to generate cash from our operations. Our ability to generate cash from our operations is subject to oil and natural gas prices, economic and financial conditions in our industry, the global economy and legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations, or that future borrowings will be available to us under our senior secured revolving credit facility or otherwise, in an amount sufficient to fund our liquidity needs, including the payment of principal and interest on the notes.

A substantial decrease in our operating cash flow or an increase in our expenses could make it difficult for us to meet debt service requirements and could require us to modify our operations, including by curtailing portions of our drilling program, selling assets, reducing our capital expenditures, refinancing all or a portion of our existing debt or obtaining additional financing. These alternative measures may not be successful and may not permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. Our ability to restructure or refinance our debt will depend on the condition of the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Any refinancing of our debt could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations. In addition, the terms of future debt agreements may, and our senior

 

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secured revolving credit facility and the indenture governing the notes and our convertible senior notes do, restrict us from implementing some of these alternatives. In the absence of such operating results and resources, we could face substantial liquidity problems and might be required to dispose of material assets or operations to meet our debt service and other obligations. We may not be able to consummate these dispositions for fair market value or at all. Furthermore, any proceeds that we could realize from any dispositions may not be adequate to meet our debt service obligations then due.

If we default on our obligations to pay our other indebtedness, we may not be able to make payments on the notes.

Any default under the agreements governing our indebtedness could prohibit us from making payments of principal, premium, if any, or interest on the notes and could substantially decrease the market value of the notes. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow and are otherwise unable to obtain funds necessary to meet required payments of principal, premium, if any, or interest on our indebtedness, or if we otherwise fail to comply with the various covenants, including financial and operating covenants, in the instruments governing our indebtedness, we could be in default under the terms of the agreements governing such indebtedness. In the event of such default, the holders of such indebtedness could elect to declare all the funds borrowed thereunder to be due and payable, together with accrued and unpaid interest. More specifically, the lenders under our senior secured revolving credit facility could elect to terminate their commitments, cease making further loans and institute foreclosure proceedings against our assets, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or litigation.

Despite our current levels of debt, we may still incur substantially more debt and increase the risks associated with our leverage, and the debt issued in the offering of the outstanding notes has a much higher interest rate than the debt that we repaid with the proceeds of that offering.

As of September 30, 2011, after giving pro forma effect to the November 17, 2011 offering of the outstanding notes and the application of the net proceeds therefrom to repay borrowings under our senior secured revolving credit facility, we would have had no outstanding secured senior indebtedness, $600.0 million of unsecured senior indebtedness outstanding under the notes, $73.8 million of unsecured senior indebtedness outstanding under our convertible senior notes and $3.2 million of limited recourse debt of the subsidiary holding our U.K. North Sea assets. The debt issued in the November 17, 2011 offering of the outstanding notes has a much higher interest rate than the borrowings under our senior secured revolving credit facility that we repaid with the proceeds of that offering. The provisions contained in the agreements relating to our indebtedness, including the senior secured revolving credit facility and the indenture governing the notes, do not completely prohibit us from incurring additional indebtedness, and the amount of indebtedness that we could incur could be substantial. Accordingly, we or our subsidiaries could incur significant additional indebtedness in the future, some of which could constitute secured indebtedness which would have priority in any proceeds distributed in connection with any bankruptcy, liquidation, reorganization or similar proceeding to the extent derived from the collateral securing such debt. If we incur additional unsecured senior indebtedness, the holders of that debt will be entitled to share ratably with the holders of the notes in any proceeds distributed in connection with any bankruptcy, liquidation, reorganization or similar proceedings. This may have the effect of reducing the amount of proceeds paid to holders of the notes. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the related risks that we now face could intensify.

We may not have the funds necessary or otherwise be allowed to repurchase the notes as required by the indenture in the event of a change of control.

Upon the occurrence of specific change of control events, holders of notes will have the right to require us to repurchase their notes at a price equal to 101% of the principal amount of the notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the date of purchase. The source of funds for any repurchase required as a result of a change of control will be our available cash or cash generated from our operations or other sources, including borrowings under our senior secured revolving credit facility, sales of assets or sales of equity.

 

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However, it is possible that we will not have sufficient funds at such time to make the required repurchase of notes and our current credit agreement will not allow such repurchases and our future credit agreements or other indebtedness may also not allow such repurchases. Our failure to repurchase the notes as required under the indenture would result in a default under the indenture governing the notes and a cross default under our senior secured revolving credit facility, each of which could have material adverse consequences for us and the holders of the notes. A “change of control” (as defined in the indenture governing the notes) may also be an event of default under our senior secured revolving credit facility that would permit the lenders to accelerate the debt outstanding under our senior secured revolving credit facility and/or a fundamental change under the provisions of our convertible senior notes that would require us to make an offer to purchase our outstanding convertible senior notes. Finally, using available cash to fund the potential consequences of a change of control may impair our ability to obtain additional financing in the future, which could negatively impact our ability to conduct our business operations.

You may not be able to determine when a change of control has occurred and may not be able to require us to purchase notes as a result of a change in the composition of the directors on our board.

The definition of change of control includes a phrase relating to the sale, lease or transfer of “all or substantially all” of our assets. There is no precisely established definition of the phrase “substantially all” under applicable law. Accordingly, your ability to require us to repurchase your notes as a result of a sale, lease or transfer of less than all of our assets to another individual, group or entity may be uncertain.

In addition, a Delaware Chancery Court decision found that incumbent directors are permitted to approve as a continuing director any person, including one nominated by a dissident stockholder and not recommended by the board, as long as the approval is granted in good faith and in accordance with the board’s fiduciary duties. Accordingly if a court were to similarly rule with respect to our notes, you may not be able to require us to purchase your notes as a result of a change in the composition of the directors on our board unless a court were to find that such approval was not granted in good faith or violated the board’s fiduciary duties. The court also observed that certain provisions in indentures, such as continuing director provisions, could function to entrench an incumbent board of directors and could raise enforcement concerns if adopted in violation of a board’s fiduciary duties. If such a provision were found unenforceable, you would not be able to require us to purchase your notes upon a change of control resulting from a change in the composition of our board. A court could make a similar finding with respect to a Texas corporation such as our company. See “Description of the Exchange Notes—Change of Control.”

Many of the covenants contained in the indenture will not apply to us during periods that the notes are rated investment grade by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s and no default or event of default has occurred and is continuing.

We will cease to be subject to many of the covenants in the indenture governing the notes during any period that the notes are rated investment grade by both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s and no default or event of default has occurred and is continuing. These covenants restrict, among other things, our ability to incur additional debt and enter into certain other transactions. During periods when these covenants are not in force, we would be permitted to engage in certain transactions that would not be permitted while these covenants were in force. See “Description of the Exchange Notes—Certain Covenants—Effectiveness of Covenants.”

A limited public market currently exists for the existing senior notes, and an active trading market for the exchange notes may not develop.

If the exchange notes are traded after their initial issuance, they may trade at a discount from the initial offering price of the outstanding notes, depending on prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities, the price and volatility of our common stock, our performance and other factors. Historically, the market for non-investment grade debt has been subject to disruptions that have caused substantial volatility in the prices of

 

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securities similar to the exchange notes. We cannot assure you that the market, if any, for the exchange notes will be free from similar disruptions. Any such disruption may adversely affect the prices at which you may sell your exchange notes.

A limited public market exists for the existing senior notes, and an active trading market for the exchange notes may not develop. To the extent that an active trading market for the exchange notes does not develop, the liquidity and trading prices for the exchange notes may be harmed. Thus, you may not be able to liquidate your investment rapidly, and your lenders may not readily accept the exchange notes as collateral for loans.

Changes in our credit ratings or the debt markets may adversely affect the market price of the exchange notes.

The price for the exchange notes will depend on a number of factors, including:

 

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our credit ratings with major credit rating agencies;

 

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the prevailing interest rates being paid by other companies similar to us;

 

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the market price of our common stock;

 

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our financial condition, operating performance and future prospects; and

 

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the overall condition of the financial markets and global and domestic economies.

The condition of the financial markets and prevailing interest rates have fluctuated in the past and are likely to fluctuate in the future. Such fluctuations could have an adverse effect on the price of the exchange notes. In addition, credit rating agencies continually review their ratings for the companies that they follow, including us. The credit rating agencies also evaluate the industries in which we operate as a whole and may change their credit rating for us based on their overall view of such industries. A negative change in our rating could have an adverse effect on the price of the exchange notes.

The notes are unsecured and effectively junior to the claims of any existing and future secured creditors.

The outstanding notes and the exchange notes are unsecured obligations and will rank equally in right of payment with all of our other existing and future unsecured, unsubordinated obligations, including our existing senior notes that were previously registered under the Securities Act and our convertible senior notes. The outstanding notes and the exchange notes are not secured by any of our assets and are effectively junior to the claims of any secured creditors and to the existing and future secured liabilities of our subsidiaries. As of September 30, 2011, the amount of our secured debt was approximately $154.0 million. Our obligations under our senior secured revolving credit facility are secured by substantially all of our proved oil and gas assets and guaranteed by the same subsidiaries that guarantee the notes. In addition, we may incur other senior indebtedness, which may be substantial in amount, and which may, in certain circumstances, be secured. Any future claims of secured lenders, including the lenders under our senior secured revolving credit facility with respect to assets securing their loans will be prior to any claim of the holders of the notes with respect to those assets. As a result, our assets may be insufficient to pay amounts due on your notes or holders of the notes may receive less, ratably, than holders of secured indebtedness.

A subsidiary guarantee could be voided if it constitutes a fraudulent transfer under U.S. bankruptcy or similar state law, which would prevent the holders of the notes from relying on that subsidiary to satisfy claims.

Under U.S. bankruptcy law and comparable provisions of state fraudulent transfer laws, our subsidiary guarantees can be voided, or claims under the subsidiary guarantees may be subordinated to all other debts of that subsidiary guarantor if, among other things, the subsidiary guarantor, at the time it incurred the indebtedness

 

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evidenced by its guarantee or, in some states, when payments become due under the guarantee, received less than reasonably equivalent value or fair consideration for the incurrence of the guarantee and:

 

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was insolvent or rendered insolvent by reason of such incurrence;

 

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was engaged in a business or transaction for which the guarantor’s remaining assets constituted unreasonably small capital; or

 

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intended to incur, or believed that it would incur, debts beyond its ability to pay those debts as they mature.

Our subsidiary guarantees may also be voided, without regard to the above factors, if a court finds that the subsidiary guarantor entered into the guarantee with the actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud its creditors.

A court would likely find that a subsidiary guarantor did not receive reasonably equivalent value or fair consideration for its guarantee if the subsidiary guarantor did not substantially benefit directly or indirectly from the issuance of the guarantees. If a court were to void a subsidiary guarantee, you would no longer have a claim against the subsidiary guarantor. Sufficient funds to repay the notes may not be available from other sources, including the remaining subsidiary guarantors, if any. In addition, the court might direct you to repay any amounts that you already received from the subsidiary guarantor.

The measures of insolvency for purposes of fraudulent transfer laws vary depending upon the governing law. Generally, a subsidiary guarantor would be considered insolvent if:

 

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the sum of its debts, including contingent liabilities, were greater than the fair saleable value of all its assets;

 

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the present fair saleable value of its assets is less than the amount that would be required to pay its probable liability on its existing debts, including contingent liabilities, as they become absolute and mature; or

 

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it could not pay its debts as they become due.

Each subsidiary guarantee contains a provision intended to limit the subsidiary guarantor’s liability to the maximum amount that it could incur without causing the incurrence of obligations under its subsidiary guarantee to be a fraudulent transfer. Such provision may not be effective to protect the subsidiary guarantees from being voided under fraudulent transfer law.

If a bankruptcy petition is filed by or against us, holders of the outstanding notes or the exchange notes may receive a lesser amount for their claim than they would have been entitled to receive under the indenture governing the outstanding notes and the exchange notes.

If a bankruptcy petition were filed by or against us under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code after the issuance of the outstanding notes, the claim by any holder of the outstanding notes or the exchange notes for the principal amount of the outstanding notes or the exchange notes may be limited to an amount equal to the sum of:

 

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the original issue price for the outstanding notes; and

 

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that portion of any original issue discount that does not constitute “unmatured interest” for purposes of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The outstanding notes may be deemed to have been issued with original issue discount for bankruptcy purposes even though the outstanding notes were not issued with original issue discount for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Any such original issue discount that was not amortized as of the date of the bankruptcy filing would constitute unmatured interest. Accordingly, holders of the outstanding notes or the exchange notes under these circumstances may receive a lesser amount than they would be entitled to under the terms of the indentures governing the notes, even if sufficient funds are available.

 

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Our ability to obtain cash from our subsidiaries to make payments on the notes may be limited.

Our interests in the Marcellus Shale, Barnett Shale, Utica Shale, Eagle Ford Shale and Niobrara Formation are conducted, in whole or in part, through our wholly-owned subsidiaries. A portion of our U.K. North Sea and other interests and operations are also held or conducted through subsidiaries that will not be guarantors of the notes or, in the case of our Utica Shale operations, will not initially be guarantors of the notes. Contractual provisions or laws, as well as our subsidiaries’ financial condition and operating requirements, may limit our ability to obtain cash from our subsidiaries that we use to pay our debt service obligations, including payments on the notes.

 

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THE EXCHANGE OFFER

Purpose of the Exchange Offer

We sold the outstanding notes in transactions that were exempt from or not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Accordingly, the outstanding notes are subject to transfer restrictions. In general, you may not offer or sell the outstanding notes unless either they are registered under the Securities Act or the offer or sale is exempt from or not subject to registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

In connection with the sale of the outstanding notes, we entered into a registration rights agreement with the initial purchasers of the outstanding notes. We are offering the exchange notes under this prospectus in an exchange offer for the outstanding notes to satisfy our obligations under the registration rights agreement. The exchange offer will be open for at least 20 business days (or longer, if required by applicable law). During the exchange offer period, we will exchange the exchange notes for all outstanding notes properly surrendered and not withdrawn before the expiration date. The exchange notes will be registered and the transfer restrictions, registration rights and provisions for additional interest relating to the outstanding notes will not apply to the exchange notes.

The exchange notes issued in exchange for the outstanding notes are expected to bear the same CUSIP number and ISIN number as our existing senior notes and a different CUSIP number and ISIN number from any unexchanged outstanding notes. The exchange notes will be treated as a single series of debt securities with our existing senior notes. Holders of the exchange notes, the outstanding notes and the existing senior notes will vote as one series under the indenture governing the notes.

Resale of Exchange Notes

Based on no-action letters of the SEC staff issued to third parties, we believe that exchange notes may be offered for resale, resold and otherwise transferred by you without further compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery provisions of the Securities Act if:

 

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you are not an “affiliate” of us or any of the subsidiary guarantors within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act;

 

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such exchange notes are acquired in the ordinary course of your business; and

 

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you do not intend to participate in a distribution of the exchange notes you have no arrangement or understanding with any person or entity to participate in the distribution of the exchange notes.

The SEC staff, however, has not considered the exchange offer for the exchange notes in the context of a no-action letter, and the SEC staff may not make a similar determination as in the no-action letters issued to these third parties.

If you tender in the exchange offer with the intention of participating in any manner in a distribution of the exchange notes, you

 

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cannot rely on such interpretations by the SEC staff; and

 

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must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with a secondary resale transaction.

Unless an exemption from registration is otherwise available, any securityholder intending to distribute exchange notes must be covered by an effective registration statement under the Securities Act. The registration statement should contain the selling securityholder’s information required by Item 507 or 508, as applicable, of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act.

 

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This prospectus may be used for an offer to resell, resale or other transfer of exchange notes only as specifically described in this prospectus. If you are a broker-dealer, you may participate in the exchange offer only if you acquired the outstanding notes as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities. Each broker-dealer that receives exchange notes for its own account in exchange for outstanding notes, where such outstanding notes were acquired by such broker-dealer as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities, must acknowledge by way of the letter of transmittal that it will deliver this prospectus in connection with any resale of the exchange notes. Please read the section captioned “Plan of Distribution” for more details regarding the transfer of exchange notes.

Terms of the Exchange Offer

Subject to the terms and conditions described in this prospectus and in the letter of transmittal, we will accept for exchange any outstanding notes properly tendered and not withdrawn prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date of the exchange offer. We will issue exchange notes in principal amount equal to the principal amount of outstanding notes surrendered in the exchange offer. Outstanding notes may be tendered only for exchange notes and only in denominations of $2,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof.

The exchange offer is not conditioned upon any minimum aggregate principal amount of outstanding notes being tendered in the exchange offer.

As of the date of this prospectus, $600,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018 are outstanding, which amount includes the existing senior notes. This prospectus is being sent to DTC, the sole registered holder of the outstanding notes. There will be no fixed record date for determining registered holders of outstanding notes entitled to participate in the exchange offer. This exchange offer is made only to holders of the $200,000,000 principal amount of the 8.625% senior notes that were issued in November 2011 and have not been registered under the Securities Act. This exchange offer is not being made to the holders of existing senior notes.

We intend to conduct the exchange offer in accordance with the provisions of the registration rights agreement, the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and the rules and regulations of the SEC. Outstanding notes whose holders do not tender for exchange in the exchange offer will remain outstanding and continue to accrue interest. These outstanding notes will be entitled to the rights and benefits such holders have under the indenture governing the outstanding notes and the registration rights agreement.

We will be deemed to have accepted for exchange properly tendered outstanding notes when we have given oral or written notice of the acceptance to the exchange agent and complied with the applicable provisions of the registration rights agreement. The exchange agent will act as agent for the tendering holders for the purposes of receiving the exchange notes from us.

If you tender outstanding notes in the exchange offer, you will be responsible for brokerage fees and commissions, transfer taxes and the fees and expenses of any legal counsel and any other advisors you engage with respect to the exchange of outstanding notes. Please read “—Fees and Expenses” for more details regarding fees and expenses that we expect to pay in connection with the exchange offer.

We will return any outstanding notes that we do not accept for exchange for any reason without expense to their tendering holders promptly after the expiration or termination of the exchange offer.

Expiration Date

The exchange offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on February 22, 2012, unless, in our sole discretion, we extend it.

 

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Extensions, Delays in Acceptance, Termination or Amendment

We expressly reserve the right, at any time or various times, to extend the period of time during which the exchange offer is open. We may delay acceptance of any outstanding notes by giving oral or written notice of such extension to their holders at any time until the exchange offer expires or terminates. During any such extensions, all outstanding notes previously tendered will remain subject to the exchange offer, and we may accept them for exchange.

To extend the exchange offer, we will notify the exchange agent orally or in writing of any extension. We will notify the holders of outstanding notes of the extension via a press release issued no later than 9:00 a.m. New York City time on the business day after the previously scheduled expiration date.

If any of the conditions described below under “—Conditions to the Exchange Offer” have not been satisfied, we reserve the right, in our sole discretion

 

•

to delay accepting for exchange any outstanding notes,

 

•

to extend the exchange offer, or

 

•

to terminate the exchange offer,

by giving oral or written notice of such delay, extension or termination to the exchange agent. Subject to the terms of the registration rights agreement, we also reserve the right to amend the terms of the exchange offer in any manner.

Any such delay in acceptance, extension, termination or amendment will be followed promptly by oral or written notice thereof to holders of the outstanding notes. If we amend the exchange offer in a manner that we determine to constitute a material change, we will promptly disclose such amendment by means of a prospectus supplement. The prospectus supplement will be distributed to holders of the outstanding notes. Depending upon the significance of the amendment and the manner of disclosure to holders, we will extend the exchange offer if it would otherwise expire during such period. If an amendment constitutes a material change to the exchange offer, including the waiver of a material condition, we will extend the exchange offer, if necessary, to remain open for at least five business days after the date of the amendment. In the event of any increase or decrease in the consideration we are offering for the outstanding notes or in the percentage of outstanding notes being sought by us, we will extend the exchange offer to remain open for at least 10 business days after the date we provide notice of such increase or decrease to the registered holders of outstanding notes.

Conditions to the Exchange Offer

We will not be required to accept for exchange, or exchange any exchange notes for, any outstanding notes if the exchange offer, or the making of any exchange by a holder of outstanding notes, would violate applicable law or SEC policy. Similarly, we may terminate the exchange offer as provided in this prospectus before accepting outstanding notes for exchange in the event of such a potential violation.

We will not be obligated to accept for exchange the outstanding notes of any holder that has not made to us the representations described under “—Procedures for Tendering” and “Plan of Distribution” and such other representations as may be reasonably necessary under applicable SEC rules, regulations or interpretations to allow us to use an appropriate form to register the exchange notes under the Securities Act.

Additionally, we will not accept for exchange any outstanding notes tendered, and will not issue exchange notes in exchange for any such outstanding notes, if at such time any stop order has been threatened or is in effect with respect to the exchange offer registration statement of which this prospectus constitutes a part or the qualification of the indenture under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939.

 

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We expressly reserve the right to amend or terminate the exchange offer, and to reject for exchange any outstanding notes not previously accepted for exchange, upon the occurrence of any of the conditions to the exchange offer specified above. We will promptly give oral or written notice of any extension, amendment, non-acceptance or termination to the holders of the outstanding notes.

These conditions are for our sole benefit, and we may assert them or waive them in whole or in part at any time or at various times prior to the expiration of the exchange offer in our sole discretion. If we fail at any time to exercise any of these rights, this failure will not mean that we have waived our rights. Each such right will be deemed an ongoing right that we may assert at any time or at various times prior to the expiration of the exchange offer.

Procedures for Tendering

To participate in the exchange offer, you must properly tender your outstanding notes to the exchange agent as described below. We will only issue exchange notes in exchange for outstanding notes that you timely and properly tender. Therefore, you should allow sufficient time to ensure timely delivery of the outstanding notes, and you should follow carefully the instructions on how to tender your outstanding notes. It is your responsibility to properly tender your outstanding notes. We have the right to waive any defects. However, we are not required to waive defects, and neither we nor the exchange agent is required to notify you of any defects in your tender.

If you have any questions or need help in exchanging your outstanding notes, please call the exchange agent whose address and phone number are included in the letter of transmittal included as Annex A to this prospectus.

All of the outstanding notes were issued in book-entry form, and all of the outstanding notes are currently represented by global certificates registered in the name of Cede & Co., the nominee of DTC. We have confirmed with DTC that the outstanding notes may be tendered using ATOP. The exchange agent will establish an account with DTC for purposes of the exchange offer promptly after the commencement of the exchange offer, and DTC participants may electronically transmit their acceptance of the exchange offer by causing DTC to transfer their outstanding notes to the exchange agent using the ATOP procedures. In connection with the transfer, DTC will send an “agent’s message” to the exchange agent. The agent’s message will state that DTC has received instructions from the participant to tender outstanding notes and that the participant agrees to be bound by the terms of the letter of transmittal.

By using the ATOP procedures to exchange outstanding notes, you will not be required to deliver a letter of transmittal to the exchange agent. However, you will be bound by its terms just as if you had signed it.

There is no procedure for guaranteed late delivery of the outstanding notes.

Determinations Under the Exchange Offer. We will determine in our sole discretion all questions as to the validity, form, eligibility, time of receipt, acceptance of tendered outstanding notes and withdrawal of tendered outstanding notes. Our determination will be final and binding. We reserve the absolute right to reject any outstanding notes not properly tendered or any outstanding notes our acceptance of which would, in the opinion of our counsel, be unlawful. We also reserve the right to waive any defect, irregularities or conditions of tender as to particular outstanding notes. Our interpretation of the terms and conditions of the exchange offer, including the instructions in the letter of transmittal, will be final and binding on all parties. Unless waived, all defects or irregularities in connection with tenders of outstanding notes must be cured within such time as we shall determine. Although we intend to notify holders of defects or irregularities with respect to tenders of outstanding notes, neither we, the exchange agent nor any other person will incur any liability for failure to give such notification. Tenders of outstanding notes will not be deemed made until such defects or irregularities have been cured or waived. Any outstanding notes received by the exchange agent that are not properly tendered and as to which the defects or irregularities have not been cured or waived will be returned to the tendering holder promptly following the expiration date of the exchange.

 

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When We Will Issue Exchange Notes. In all cases, we will issue exchange notes for outstanding notes that we have accepted for exchange under the exchange offer only after the exchange agent receives, prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date,

 

•

a book-entry confirmation of such outstanding notes into the exchange agent’s account at DTC; and

 

•

a properly transmitted agent’s message.

Such exchange notes will be issued promptly following the expiration or termination of the offer.

Return of Outstanding Notes Not Accepted or Exchanged. If we do not accept a holder’s tendered outstanding notes for exchange or if outstanding notes are submitted for a greater principal amount than the holder desires to exchange, the unaccepted or non-exchanged outstanding notes will be returned without expense to their tendering holder. Such non-exchanged outstanding notes will be credited to an account maintained with DTC. These actions will occur promptly after the expiration or termination of the exchange offer.

Your Representations to Us. By agreeing to be bound by the letter of transmittal, you will represent to us that, among other things:

 

•

any exchange notes that you receive will be acquired in the ordinary course of your business;

 

•

you are not engaged in and do not intend to engage in the distribution of the exchange notes;

 

•

you have no arrangement or understanding with any person or entity to participate in the distribution of the exchange notes;

 

•

you are not an “affiliate,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, of us or our subsidiary guarantors or, if you are an affiliate, that you will comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act to the extent applicable; and

 

•

if you are a broker-dealer that will receive exchange notes for your own account in exchange for outstanding notes, you acquired those outstanding notes as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities and you will deliver this prospectus, as required by law, in connection with any resale of the exchange notes.

Withdrawal of Tenders

Except as otherwise provided in this prospectus, you may withdraw your tender at any time prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date of the exchange offer. For a withdrawal to be effective you must comply with the appropriate ATOP procedures. Any notice of withdrawal must specify the name and number of the account at DTC to be credited with withdrawn outstanding notes and otherwise comply with the ATOP procedures.

We will determine all questions as to the validity, form, eligibility and time of receipt of a notice of withdrawal. Our determination shall be final and binding on all parties. We will deem any outstanding notes so withdrawn not to have been validly tendered for exchange for purposes of the exchange offer.

Any outstanding notes that have been tendered for exchange but that are not exchanged for any reason will be credited to an account maintained with DTC for the outstanding notes. This return or crediting will take place promptly after withdrawal, rejection of tender, expiration or termination of the exchange offer. You may retender properly withdrawn outstanding notes by following the procedures described under “—Procedures for Tendering” above at any time on or prior to the expiration date of the exchange offer.

 

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Fees and Expenses

We will bear the expenses of soliciting tenders. The principal solicitation is being made by mail; however, we may make additional solicitation by e-mail, telephone or in person by our officers and regular employees and those of our affiliates.

We have not retained any dealer-manager in connection with the exchange offer and will not make any payments to broker-dealers or others soliciting acceptances of the exchange offer. We will, however, pay the exchange agent reasonable and customary fees for its services and reimburse it for its related reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

We will pay the cash expenses to be incurred in connection with the exchange offer. They include:

 

•

SEC registration fees;

 

•

fees and expenses of the exchange agent and trustee;

 

•

our accounting and legal fees and printing costs; and

 

•

related fees and expenses.

Transfer Taxes

Each tendering holder will pay all transfer taxes, if any, applicable to the exchange of outstanding notes under the exchange offer.

Consequences of Failure to Exchange

If you do not exchange your outstanding notes for exchange notes under the exchange offer, the outstanding notes you hold will continue to be subject to the existing restrictions on transfer. In general, you may not offer or sell the outstanding notes except under an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. We do not intend to register outstanding notes under the Securities Act unless the registration rights agreement requires us to do so.

Any tenders of outstanding notes under the exchange offer will reduce the principal amount of the outstanding notes. Due to the corresponding reduction in liquidity, this may have an adverse effect upon, and increase the volatility of, the market price of any outstanding notes that you continue to hold following completion of the exchange offer.

Accounting Treatment

We will record the exchange notes in our accounting records at the same carrying value as the outstanding notes. This carrying value is the face value of the outstanding notes, less the original issue discount (net of amortization) as reflected in our accounting records on the date of exchange. Accordingly, we will not recognize any gain or loss for accounting purposes in connection with the exchange offer, other than the recognition of the fees and expenses of the offering as stated under “—Fees and Expenses.”

Other

Participation in the exchange offer is voluntary, and you should consider carefully whether to accept. You are urged to consult your financial and tax advisors in making your own decision on what action to take.

We may in the future seek to acquire untendered outstanding notes in open market or privately negotiated transactions, through subsequent exchange offers or otherwise. We have no present plans to acquire any outstanding notes that are not tendered in the exchange offer or to file a registration statement to permit resales of any untendered outstanding notes.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

The exchange offer is intended to satisfy our obligations under the registration rights agreement. We will not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of the exchange notes in the exchange offer. In consideration for issuing the exchange notes as contemplated by this prospectus, we will receive outstanding notes in a like principal amount. The form and terms of the exchange notes are identical in all respects to the form and terms of the outstanding notes, except the exchange notes do not include certain transfer restrictions, registration rights or provisions for additional interest. Outstanding notes surrendered in exchange for the exchange notes will be retired and cancelled and will not be reissued. Accordingly, the issuance of the exchange notes will not result in any change in our outstanding indebtedness.

RATIO OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES AND EARNINGS TO COMBINED FIXED CHARGES

AND PREFERRED STOCK DIVIDENDS

The following table presents our historical ratio of earnings to fixed charges and historical ratio of earnings to combined fixed charges and preferred stock dividends for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2010.

 

		Year Ended December 31,																				Nine months ended September  30,
		2010				2009				2008				2007				2006				2011				2010
Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges			0.89x				—				—				1.47x				1.94x				1.80x				2.23x
Ratio of Earnings to Combined Fixed Charges and Preferred Stock Dividends			0.89x				—				—				1.47x				1.94x				1.80x				2.23x

For purposes of this table, “earnings” consist of pre-tax income from continuing operations before adjustment for income or loss from equity investees, plus fixed charges, plus amortization of capitalized interest, plus distributed income of equity investees, plus our share of pre-tax losses of equity investees for which charges arising from guarantees are included in fixed charges. “Fixed charges” consist of interest expensed and capitalized, amortized premiums, discounts and capitalized expenses related to indebtedness and an estimate of the interest within rental expense.

For the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, earnings were insufficient to cover fixed charges by $5.1 million, $337.8 million and $86.3 million, respectively, primarily due to non-cash impairment charges of $2.7 million, $338.9 million and $178.5 million, respectively.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF THE EXCHANGE NOTES

You can find the definitions of certain terms used in this description under the subheading “—Certain Definitions.” In this description, the term “Company,” “us,” “our” or “we” refers only to Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. and not to any of its subsidiaries, and the term “Issuer” refers to the Company. The term “outstanding notes” refers to the outstanding notes issued on November 17, 2011, the term “exchange notes” refers to the registered notes offered hereby in exchange for the outstanding notes, the term “existing senior notes” refers to the $400 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of our senior notes that were previously registered under the Securities Act, and the term “notes” refers to the outstanding notes, the exchange notes and the existing senior notes, collectively, in each case, unless the context otherwise requires.

The exchange notes will be issued and the outstanding notes and the existing senior notes were issued under an indenture dated as of May 28, 2008, as amended or supplemented from time to time, among the Company, the Guarantors (as defined below) and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as trustee, the fourth supplemental indenture dated November 2, 2010, which we refer to as the supplemental indenture and that established the terms of the existing senior notes, the sixth supplemental indenture and the eight supplemental indenture, which released and added guarantors, and an officer’s certificate dated November 17, 2011 that established the outstanding notes. Unless the context indicates otherwise, we refer to the indenture, as amended and supplemented, including by the supplemental indentures and the officer’s certificate listed in the previous sentence, as the indenture. The terms of the notes include those stated in the indenture, the supplemental indentures and the officer’s certificate and those made part of the indenture by reference to the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (the “Trust Indenture Act”).

The following description is a summary of the material provisions of the indenture, the supplemental indentures, the officer’s certificate and the notes. This summary is not complete and is subject to, and qualified by reference to, all of the provisions of the indenture, the supplemental indentures, the officer’s certificate and the notes. We urge you to read the indenture, the supplemental indentures, the officer’s certificate and the notes because they, and not this description, define your rights as Holders of the notes. Certain defined terms used in this description but not defined below under “—Certain Definitions” have the meanings assigned to them in the indenture.

If the exchange offer is consummated, the exchange notes, the outstanding notes and the existing senior notes will together constitute a single series of debt securities under the indenture. The exchange notes are expected to bear the same CUSIP number and ISIN number as our existing senior notes, and a different CUSIP number and ISIN number than our outstanding notes. Holders of outstanding notes who do not exchange their outstanding notes for exchange notes will vote together with the Holders of the exchange notes and the existing senior notes for all relevant purposes under the indenture. In that regard, the indenture requires that certain actions by the Holders under the indenture (including acceleration after an Event of Default) must be taken, and certain rights must be exercised, by specified minimum percentages of the aggregate principal amount of the notes issued under the indenture then outstanding. In determining whether Holders of the requisite percentage in principal amount have given any notice, consent or waiver or taken any other action permitted under the indenture, any unexchanged outstanding notes that remain outstanding after the exchange offer will be aggregated with the exchange notes and the existing senior notes, and the Holders of the notes will vote together as a single series for all such purposes. Accordingly, all references in this section of the prospectus to specified percentages in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding notes mean, at any time after the exchange offer is consummated, such percentage in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding notes, the exchange notes and the existing senior notes.

The registered Holder of a note will be treated as the owner of it for all purposes. Only registered Holders will have rights under the indenture.

 

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Brief Description of the Notes and the Subsidiary Guarantees

The Notes. The notes:

 

•

are general unsecured obligations of the Issuer;

 

•

rank equal in right of payment with all existing and future Senior Debt of the Issuer;

 

•

rank effectively junior in right of payment to any secured Indebtedness of the Issuer, including Indebtedness under the Credit Agreement, to the extent of the value of the collateral securing such Indebtedness;

 

•

rank senior in right of payment to any future subordinated Indebtedness of the Issuer; and

 

•

are unconditionally guaranteed by the Guarantors on a senior unsecured basis.

The Subsidiary Guarantees. The notes are guaranteed by all of the Company’s existing Subsidiaries (other than Carrizo UK Bardolph Ltd., Carrizo UK Huntington Ltd., Monument Exploration LLC and Carrizo (Utica) LLC).

Each guarantee of the notes:

 

•

is a general unsecured obligation of the Guarantor;

 

•

ranks equal in right of payment with all existing and future Senior Debt of that Guarantor;

 

•

ranks effectively junior in right of payment to any secured Indebtedness of that Guarantor, including Indebtedness under the Credit Agreement, to the extent of the value of the collateral securing such Indebtedness; and

 

•

ranks senior in right of payment to any future subordinated Indebtedness of that Guarantor.

At September 30, 2011, after giving effect to (i) the offering of the outstanding notes and (ii) the application of the net proceeds therefrom to repay borrowings outstanding under the Credit Agreement, the Company (excluding its subsidiaries) would have had:

 

•

total Senior Debt of approximately $673.8 million, consisting of Indebtedness under the Credit Agreement, the notes, and the Convertible Notes; and

 

•

no Indebtedness subordinated in right of payment to the notes.

On the same basis, the Guarantors would have had:

 

•

total Senior Debt of approximately $673.8 million, including their guarantees of Indebtedness under the Credit Agreement, the notes, and the Convertible Notes; and

 

•

no Indebtedness subordinated in right of payment to their guarantees of the notes.

In connection with the original offering on November 2, 2010 of our existing senior notes, the Guarantors also became guarantors of the Convertible Notes on a senior, unsecured basis and the indebtedness under the Credit Agreement.

The indenture permits us and the Guarantors to incur additional Indebtedness, including additional Senior Debt.

Restricted Subsidiaries of the Company (including any newly created or acquired Restricted Subsidiaries of the Company) are required to guarantee the notes only under the circumstances described below under the subheading “—Certain Covenants—Additional Subsidiary Guarantees.” In the event of a bankruptcy, liquidation

 

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or reorganization of any non-guarantor Subsidiary, the non-guarantor Subsidiary will pay the holders of its debt and its trade creditors before it will be able to distribute any of its assets to us.

Currently, all of our Subsidiaries are “Restricted Subsidiaries” other than Carrizo UK Huntington Ltd. and Monument Exploration LLC. However, under the circumstances described below under the subheading “—Certain Covenants—Designation of Restricted and Unrestricted Subsidiaries,” we will be permitted to designate certain of our Subsidiaries as “Unrestricted Subsidiaries.” Our Unrestricted Subsidiaries will not be subject to many of the restrictive covenants in the indenture.

Our Unrestricted Subsidiaries do not guarantee the notes.

Principal, Maturity and Interest

The Issuer issued the outstanding notes in an aggregate principal amount of $200.0 million and previously issued the existing senior notes in an aggregate principal amount of $400.0 million. The Issuer may issue additional notes under the indenture from time to time. Any offering of additional notes is subject to the covenant described below under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock.” The notes and any additional notes subsequently issued under the indenture will be treated as a single series for all purposes under the indenture, including, without limitation, waivers, amendments, redemptions and offers to purchase. Unless the context otherwise requires, for all purposes of the indenture and this “Description of the Exchange Notes,” references to the notes include any additional notes actually issued. The Issuer will issue exchange notes and any additional notes in denominations of $2,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess of $2,000. The notes will mature on October 15, 2018.

Interest on the notes accrues at the rate of 8.625% per annum and is payable semi-annually in arrears on October 15 and April 15. Interest on overdue principal and interest will accrue at a rate that is 1.0% higher than the then applicable interest rate on the notes. The Issuer will make each interest payment to the Holders of record on the immediately preceding April 1 and October 1.

Interest on the notes will accrue from the date of original issuance or, if interest has already been paid, from the date it was most recently paid. Interest will be computed on the basis of a 360-day year comprised of twelve 30-day months. The initial interest payment on the exchange notes will include all accrued and unpaid interest on the outstanding notes exchanged therefor.

If an interest payment date falls on a day that is not a Business Day, the interest payment to be made on such interest payment date will be made on the next succeeding Business Day with the same force and effect as if made on such interest payment date, and no additional interest will accrue solely as a result of such delayed payment.

Methods of Receiving Payments on the Notes

If a Holder has given wire transfer instructions to the Issuer, the Issuer will pay all principal, interest and premium, if any, on that Holder’s notes in accordance with those instructions. All other payments on the notes will be made at the office or agency of the paying agent and registrar within Dallas, Texas unless the Issuer elects to make interest payments by check mailed to the Holders at their addresses set forth in the register of Holders.

Paying Agent and Registrar for the Notes

The trustee currently acts as paying agent and registrar. The notes may be presented for registration of transfer and exchange at the offices of the registrar. The Issuer may change the paying agent or registrar without prior notice to the Holders, and the Company or any of its Subsidiaries may act as paying agent or registrar.

 

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Transfer and Exchange

A Holder may transfer or exchange its notes in accordance with the indenture. The registrar and the trustee may require a Holder to furnish appropriate endorsements and transfer documents in connection with a transfer of notes. No service charge will be imposed by the Issuer, the trustee or the registrar for any registration of transfer or exchange of notes, but Holders will be required to pay all taxes due on transfer. The Issuer is not required to transfer or exchange any note selected for redemption. Also, the Issuer is not required to transfer or exchange any note for a period of 15 days before a selection of notes to be redeemed.

Additional Issuances

We may, at any time and from time to time, without notice or the consent of the holders of the notes, create and issue additional notes ranking equally and ratably with the notes in all respects (except for the payment of interest accruing prior to the date such additional notes are initially issued under the indenture and the offering price and issue date), so that such additional notes form a single series with the notes and have the same terms as to status, redemption, covenants or otherwise as the notes; provided, however, that if the additional notes are not fungible with the original notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the additional notes will have a separate CUSIP number and ISIN number.

Subsidiary Guarantees

All of our existing Subsidiaries, excluding Carrizo UK Bardolph Ltd., Carrizo UK Huntington Ltd., Monument Exploration LLC and Carrizo (Utica) LLC, guarantee the notes on a senior unsecured basis. In the future, the Restricted Subsidiaries of the Company will be required to guarantee the notes under the circumstances described under “—Certain Covenants—Additional Subsidiary Guarantees.” These Subsidiary Guarantees are unconditional and joint and several obligations of the Guarantors. The obligations of each Guarantor under its Subsidiary Guarantee are limited as necessary to prevent that Subsidiary Guarantee from constituting a fraudulent conveyance under applicable law. It is uncertain, however, whether such provision will be effective under applicable law to prevent a Subsidiary Guarantee from being voidable as a fraudulent conveyance. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Notes—A subsidiary guarantee could be voided if it constitutes a fraudulent transfer under U.S. bankruptcy or similar state law, which would prevent the holders of the notes from relying on that subsidiary to satisfy claims.” On the date of original issuance of the outstanding notes, none of Carrizo UK Bardolph Ltd., Carrizo UK Huntington Ltd., Monument Exploration LLC or Carrizo (Utica) LLC were (1) a Guarantor or (2) the guarantor of any other Indebtedness of the Issuer or any Restricted Subsidiary or an obligor on any Indebtedness under any Credit Facility. If Carrizo (Utica) LLC becomes a material domestic subsidiary (as defined under our Credit Agreement), it is expected that Carrizo (Utica) LLC will become a guarantor under that facility and with respect to the notes and the Convertible Notes.

A Guarantor may not sell or otherwise dispose of, in one or more related transactions, all or substantially all of its assets to, or consolidate with or merge with or into (whether or not such Guarantor is the surviving Person), another Person, other than the Company or another Guarantor, unless:

(1) immediately after giving effect to such transaction or series of transactions, no Default or Event of Default exists; and

(2) either:

(a) the Person acquiring the assets in any such sale or other disposition or the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or merger is the Guarantor or (if other than the Guarantor) unconditionally assumes, pursuant to a supplemental indenture substantially in the form specified in the indenture, all the obligations of that Guarantor under the notes, the indenture and its Subsidiary Guarantee on terms set forth therein; or

 

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(b) such transaction complies with the “Asset Sale” provisions of the indenture. The Subsidiary Guarantee of a Guarantor will be released:

(1) in connection with any sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of that Guarantor (including by way of merger or consolidation) to a Person that is not (either before or after giving effect to such transaction) the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, if the sale or other disposition complies with the “Asset Sale” provisions of the indenture;

(2) in connection with any sale or other disposition of all of the Capital Stock of that Guarantor to a Person that is not (either before or after giving effect to such transaction) the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, if the sale or other disposition complies with the “Asset Sale” provisions of the indenture;

(3) if such Guarantor is a Restricted Subsidiary and the Company designates such Guarantor as an Unrestricted Subsidiary in accordance with the applicable provisions of the indenture;

(4) upon legal defeasance as described below under the caption “—Defeasance”;

(5) upon the liquidation or dissolution of such Guarantor provided no Default or Event of Default has occurred or is continuing;

(6) at such time as such Guarantor ceases both (x) to guarantee any other Indebtedness of the Company and any Indebtedness of any other Restricted Subsidiary and (y) to be an obligor with respect to any Indebtedness under any Credit Facility; or

(7) upon such Guarantor consolidating with, merging into or transferring all of its assets to the Company or another Guarantor, and as a result of, or in connection with, such transaction such Guarantor dissolving or otherwise ceasing to exist.

See “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Asset Sales.”

Optional Redemption

Except as otherwise described below, the notes will not be redeemable at the Issuer’s option prior to October 15, 2014. The Issuer is not, however, prohibited from acquiring the notes by means other than a redemption, whether pursuant to a tender offer, open market purchase or otherwise, so long as the acquisition does not violate the terms of the indenture.

At any time prior to October 15, 2013, the Issuer may on any one or more occasions redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of notes issued under the indenture at a redemption price of 108.625% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date (subject to the right of Holders of record on the relevant record date to receive interest due on an interest payment date that is on or prior to the redemption date), with the net cash proceeds of one or more Equity Offerings by the Company, provided that:

(1) at least 65% of the aggregate principal amount of notes issued under the indenture remains outstanding immediately after the occurrence of such redemption (excluding notes held by the Company and its Subsidiaries); and

(2) the redemption occurs within 180 days of the date of the closing of such Equity Offering.

 

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On and after October 15, 2014, the Issuer may redeem all or a part of the notes upon not less than 30 nor more than 60 days’ notice, at the redemption prices (expressed as percentages of principal amount) set forth below, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on the notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date (subject to the right of Holders of record on the relevant record date to receive interest due on an interest payment date that is on or prior to the redemption date), if redeemed during the twelve-month period beginning on October 15 of the years indicated below:

 

Year		Percentage
2014			104.313	%
2015			102.875	%
2016			101.438	%
2017 and thereafter			100.000	%

Prior to October 15, 2014, the Issuer may on any one or more occasions redeem all or part of the notes upon not less than 30 nor more than 60 days’ notice, at a redemption price equal to the sum of:

(1) the principal amount thereof, plus

(2) accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date (subject to the right of Holders of record on the relevant record date to receive interest due on an interest payment date that is on or prior to the redemption date), plus

(3) the Make Whole Premium at the redemption date.

Selection and Notice

If less than all of the notes are to be redeemed at any time, the trustee will select notes for redemption as follows:

(1) if the notes are listed on any national securities exchange, in compliance with the requirements of the principal national securities exchange on which the notes are listed; or

(2) if the notes are not listed on any national securities exchange, on a pro rata basis.

No notes of $2,000 or less can be redeemed in part. Notices of optional redemption will be mailed by first class mail at least 30 but not more than 60 days before the redemption date to each Holder of notes to be redeemed at its registered address, except that optional redemption notices may be mailed more than 60 days prior to a redemption date if the notice is issued in connection with a defeasance of the notes or a satisfaction and discharge of the indenture. Notice of any redemption, including, without limitation, upon an Equity Offering, may, at the Company’s discretion, be subject to one or more conditions precedent, including, but not limited to, completion of a related Equity Offering.

If any note is to be redeemed in part only, the notice of redemption that relates to that note will state the portion of the principal amount of that note that is to be redeemed. A new note in principal amount equal to the unredeemed portion of the original note will be issued in the name of the applicable Holder upon cancellation of the original note. Notes called for redemption become due on the date fixed for redemption. On and after the redemption date, interest ceases to accrue on notes or portions of them called for redemption.

The notice of redemption with respect to a redemption described in the fourth paragraph under “—Optional Redemption” need not set forth the Make Whole Premium but only the manner of calculation thereof.

Mandatory Redemption

Except as set forth below under “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders,” the Issuer is not required to make mandatory redemption or sinking fund payments with respect to the notes or to repurchase the notes at the option of the Holders.

 

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Repurchase at the Option of Holders

Change of Control

If a Change of Control occurs, each Holder of notes will have the right to require the Company to repurchase all or any part (equal to $2,000 or an integral multiple of $1,000 in excess of $2,000) of that Holder’s notes pursuant to an offer (“Change of Control Offer”) on the terms set forth in the supplemental indenture. In the Change of Control Offer, the Company will offer a payment in cash (the “Change of Control Payment”) equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount of notes repurchased plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on the notes repurchased, to the date of purchase (the “Change of Control Purchase Date”), subject to the right of Holders of record on the relevant record date to receive interest due on an interest payment date that is on or prior to the Change of Control Purchase Date. Within 30 days following any Change of Control, the Company will mail a notice to each Holder and the trustee describing the transaction or transactions that constitute the Change of Control and offering to repurchase notes as of the Change of Control Purchase Date specified in the notice, which date will be no earlier than 30 days and no later than 60 days from the date such notice is mailed, pursuant to the procedures required by the supplemental indenture and described in such notice.

The Company will comply with the requirements of Rule 14e-1 under the Exchange Act and any other securities laws and regulations thereunder to the extent those laws and regulations are applicable in connection with the repurchase of the notes as a result of a Change of Control. To the extent that the provisions of any securities laws or regulations conflict with the Change of Control provisions of the indenture, the Company will comply with the applicable securities laws and regulations and will not be deemed to have breached its obligations under the Change of Control provisions of the indenture by virtue of such compliance.

On the Change of Control Purchase Date, the Company will, to the extent lawful, accept for payment all notes or portions of notes properly tendered pursuant to the Change of Control Offer. Promptly thereafter on the Change of Control Purchase Date, the Company will:

(1) deposit with the paying agent an amount equal to the Change of Control Payment in respect of all notes or portions of notes properly tendered; and

(2) deliver or cause to be delivered to the trustee the notes properly accepted together with an officers’ certificate stating the aggregate principal amount of notes or portions of notes being purchased by the Company.

On the Change of Control Purchase Date, the paying agent will mail to each Holder of notes properly tendered the Change of Control Payment for such notes (or, if all the notes are then in global form, make such payment through the facilities of DTC), and the trustee will authenticate and mail (or cause to be transferred by book entry) to each Holder a new note equal in principal amount to any unpurchased portion of the notes surrendered, if any; provided, however, that each new note will be in a principal amount of $2,000 or an integral multiple of $1,000 in excess of $2,000. The Company will publicly announce the results of the Change of Control Offer on or as soon as practicable after the Change of Control Purchase Date.

The Company’s ability to repurchase notes pursuant to a Change of Control Offer may be restricted by the terms of any Credit Facility, and may be prohibited or otherwise limited by the terms of any then existing borrowing arrangements and the Company’s financial resources. The exercise by the holders of notes of their right to require the Company to repurchase the notes upon a Change of Control Offer could cause a default under these other agreements, even if the Change of Control itself does not, due to the financial effect of such repurchases on the Company or otherwise. The Company’s current Credit Agreement prohibits the Company’s repurchase of the notes pursuant to a Change of Control Offer and provides that certain change of control events with respect to the Company would constitute an event of default thereunder, entitling the lenders, among other things, to accelerate the maturity of all Senior Debt outstanding thereunder. Any future credit agreements or other agreements relating to Senior Debt to which the Company or any Guarantor becomes a party may contain similar restrictions and provisions. The supplemental indenture will provide that, prior to complying with any of the

 

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provisions of this “Change of Control” covenant, but in any event no later than the Change of Control Purchase Date, the Company or any Guarantor must either repay all of its other outstanding Senior Debt or obtain the requisite consents, if any, under all agreements governing such Senior Debt to permit the repurchase of notes required by this covenant. If the Company is unable to obtain the requisite consents or repay all of its other outstanding Senior Debt, the Company will remain prohibited from purchasing notes under those other agreements. The Company’s failure to purchase tendered notes would constitute an Event of Default under the supplemental indenture which could, in turn, constitute a default under other Indebtedness.

The provisions described above that require the Company to make a Change of Control Offer following a Change of Control will be applicable whether or not any other provisions of the indenture are applicable due to the circumstances described below under the caption “Certain Covenants—Effectiveness of Covenants.” Except as described above with respect to a Change of Control, the indenture does not contain provisions that permit the Holders of the notes to require that the Company repurchase or redeem the notes in the event of a takeover, recapitalization or similar transaction.

The Company will not be required to make a Change of Control Offer upon a Change of Control if (1) a third party makes the Change of Control Offer in the manner, at the time and otherwise in compliance with the requirements set forth in the supplemental indenture applicable to a Change of Control Offer made by the Company and purchases all notes properly tendered and not withdrawn under the Change of Control Offer or (2) notice of redemption of all notes has been given pursuant to the supplemental indenture as described above under the caption “—Optional Redemption” unless there is a default in payment of the applicable redemption price.

A Change of Control Offer may be made in advance of a Change of Control, and conditioned upon the occurrence of such Change of Control, if a definitive agreement is in place for such Change of Control at the time of making the Change of Control Offer.

The definition of Change of Control includes a phrase relating to the direct or indirect sale, lease, transfer, conveyance or other disposition of “all or substantially all” of the assets of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a whole other than to a Permitted Holder. Although there is a limited body of case law interpreting the phrase “substantially all,” there is no precise established definition of the phrase under applicable law. Accordingly, the ability of a Holder of notes to require the Company to repurchase its notes as a result of a sale, lease, transfer, conveyance or other disposition of less than all of the assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole to another Person or group may be uncertain.

Holders of notes may not be entitled to require us to purchase their notes in certain circumstances involving a significant change in the composition of our Board of Directors, including in connection with a proxy contest in which our Board of Directors does not approve a dissident slate of directors but approves them as Continuing Directors, even if our Board of Directors initially opposed the directors.

In the event that Holders of not less than 90% of the aggregate principal amount of the notes then outstanding accept a Change of Control Offer and the Company purchases all of the notes held by such Holders, the Company will have the right, upon not less than 30 nor more than 60 days’ prior notice, given not more than 30 days following the purchase pursuant to the Change of Control Offer described above, to redeem all of the notes that remain outstanding following such purchase at a purchase price equal to the Change of Control Payment plus, to the extent not included in the Change of Control Payment, accrued and unpaid interest on the notes that remain outstanding, to the date of redemption (subject to the right of Holders on the relevant record date to receive interest due on the relevant interest payment date).

The Change of Control purchase feature of the notes may in certain circumstances make more difficult or discourage a sale or takeover of the Company and, thus, the removal of incumbent management. The Change of Control purchase feature is a result of negotiations between the Company and the underwriters. Subject to the

 

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limitations discussed below, the Company could, in the future, enter into certain transactions, including acquisitions, refinancings or other recapitalizations, that would not constitute a Change of Control under the indenture, but that could increase the amount of Indebtedness outstanding at such time or otherwise affect our capital structure or credit ratings. Restrictions on the Company’s ability to incur additional Indebtedness are contained in the covenant described under “—Certain Covenants—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock.” Such restrictions can be waived only with the consent of the holders of a majority in principal amount of the notes then outstanding. Except for the limitations contained in such covenant, however, the Indenture will not contain any covenants or provisions that may afford holders of the notes protection in the event of a highly leveraged transaction.

Asset Sales

The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, consummate an Asset Sale unless:

(1) the Company (or the Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may be) receives consideration (including by way of relief from, or any Person assuming responsibilities for, any liabilities, contingent or otherwise), as determined (on the date of contractually agreeing to such Asset Sale) in good faith by senior management of the Company or, if the consideration with respect to such Asset Sale exceeds $25.0 million, the Board of Directors of the Company, at least equal to the Fair Market Value of the assets or Equity Interest issued or sold or otherwise disposed of; and

(2) at least 75% of the aggregate consideration to be received by the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries in such Asset Sale (determined on the date of contractually agreeing to such Asset Sale) is in the form of cash or Cash Equivalents. For purposes of this provision, each of the following will be deemed to be cash:

(a) any liabilities, as shown on the Company’s or such Restricted Subsidiary’s most recent balance sheet, of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary (other than contingent liabilities and liabilities that are by their terms subordinated in right of payment to the notes or any Subsidiary Guarantee) that are assumed by the transferee of any such assets pursuant to a customary novation agreement that releases the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary from further liability;

(b) any securities, notes or other obligations received by the Company or any such Restricted Subsidiary from such transferee that are, within 180 days after the Asset Sale, converted by the Company or such Subsidiary into cash or Cash Equivalents, to the extent of the cash received in that conversion;

(c) accounts receivable of a business retained by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, as the case may be, following the sale of such business, provided that such accounts receivable (i) are not past due more than 90 days and (ii) do not have a payment date greater than 120 days from the date of the invoices creating such accounts receivable; and

(d) solely in the case of any Asset Sale of Production Facility or Pipeline Assets, the Company or the Restricted Subsidiary receives Permitted MLP Securities;

provided that in the case of any Asset Sale pursuant to a condemnation, appropriation or similar taking, including by deed in lieu of condemnation, such Asset Sale shall not be required to satisfy the requirements of items (1) and (2) above. Notwithstanding the preceding, the 75% limitation referred to above shall be deemed satisfied with respect to any Asset Sale in which the cash or Cash Equivalents portion of the consideration received therefrom, determined in accordance with the preceding provision on an after-tax basis, is equal to or greater than what the after-tax proceeds would have been had such Asset Sale complied with the aforementioned 75% limitation.

 

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Within 365 days after the receipt of any Net Proceeds from an Asset Sale, the Company (or the applicable Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may be) may apply those Net Proceeds at its option to any combination of the following:

(1) to prepay, repay, redeem, defease or repurchase Senior Debt;

(2) to invest in or acquire Additional Assets; or

(3) to make capital expenditures in respect of the Company’s or its Restricted Subsidiaries’ Oil and Gas Business.

The requirement of clause (2) or (3) of the preceding paragraph shall be deemed to be satisfied if a bona fide binding contract committing to make the investment, acquisition or expenditure referred to therein is entered into by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries with a Person other than an Affiliate of the Company within the time period specified in the preceding paragraph and such Net Proceeds are subsequently applied in accordance with such contract within six months following the date such agreement is entered into.

Pending the final application of any Net Proceeds, the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company may invest the Net Proceeds in any manner that is not prohibited by the indenture. Any Net Proceeds from Asset Sales that are not applied or invested as provided in the preceding paragraph will constitute “Excess Proceeds.”

On the 366th day after an Asset Sale (or, at the Company’s option, any earlier date), if the aggregate amount of Excess Proceeds then exceeds $20.0 million, the Company will make an offer (the “Asset Sale Offer”) to all Holders of notes, and all holders of other Indebtedness that is pari passu with the notes containing provisions similar to those set forth in the supplemental indenture with respect to offers to purchase or redeem with the proceeds of sales of assets, to purchase the maximum principal amount of notes and such other pari passu Indebtedness that may be purchased out of the Excess Proceeds. The offer price in any Asset Sale Offer will be equal to 100% of principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of settlement, subject to the right of Holders of record on the relevant record date to receive interest due on an interest payment date that is on or prior to the date of settlement, and will be payable in cash. If any Excess Proceeds remain after consummation of an Asset Sale Offer, the Company may use those Excess Proceeds for any purpose not otherwise prohibited by the supplemental indenture. If the aggregate principal amount of notes and other pari passu Indebtedness tendered into such Asset Sale Offer exceeds the amount of Excess Proceeds, the trustee will select the notes and such other pari passu Indebtedness to be purchased on a pro rata basis. Upon completion of each Asset Sale Offer, the amount of Excess Proceeds will be reset at zero.

The Company will comply with the requirements of Rule 14e-1 under the Exchange Act and any other securities laws and regulations thereunder to the extent those laws and regulations are applicable in connection with each repurchase of notes pursuant to an Asset Sale Offer. To the extent that the provisions of any securities laws or regulations conflict with the Asset Sale provisions of the indenture, the Company will comply with the applicable securities laws and regulations and will not be deemed to have breached its obligations under the Asset Sale provisions of the supplemental indenture by virtue of such compliance.

The Company’s ability to repurchase notes in an Asset Sale Offer may be restricted by the terms of any Credit Facility, and may be prohibited or otherwise limited by the terms of any then existing borrowing arrangements and the Company’s financial resources. The exercise by the Holders of notes of their right to require the Company to repurchase the notes upon an Asset Sale Offer could cause a default under these other agreements, even if the Asset Sale itself does not, due to the financial effect of such repurchases on the Company or otherwise. The Company’s current Credit Agreement prohibits the Company’s repurchase of the notes pursuant to an Asset Sale Offer. Any future credit agreements or other agreements relating to Senior Debt to which the Company or any Guarantor becomes a party may contain similar restrictions and provisions. The supplemental indenture will provide that, prior to complying with any of the provisions of this “Asset Sales” covenant, but in any event no later than the date of the Asset Sale Offer, the Company or any Guarantor must

 

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either repay all of its other outstanding Senior Debt or obtain the requisite consents, if any, under all agreements governing such Senior Debt to permit the repurchase of notes required by this covenant. If the Company is unable to obtain the requisite consents or repay all of its other outstanding Senior Debt, the Company will remain prohibited from purchasing notes under those other agreements. The Company’s failure to purchase tendered notes would constitute an Event of Default under the supplemental indenture which could, in turn, constitute a default under other Indebtedness.

Certain Covenants

Effectiveness of Covenants

From and after the first day (the “Suspension Date”) on which:

(1) the notes have an Investment Grade Rating from both of the Ratings Agencies; and

(2) no Default has occurred and is continuing under the indenture;

the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries will cease to be subject to the provisions of the indenture summarized under the subheadings below:

(1) “Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock,”

(2) “Restricted Payments,”

(3) “Dividend and Other Payment Restrictions Affecting Subsidiaries,”

(4) “Asset Sales,”

(5) “Transactions with Affiliates,” and

(6) Clauses (4) and (5) of “Merger, Consolidation or Sale of Assets”

(collectively, the “Suspended Covenants”). If at any date (each such date, a “Reversion Date”) the credit rating of the notes is downgraded from an Investment Grade Rating by either Rating Agency, then the Suspended Covenants will thereafter be reinstated and again be applicable pursuant to the terms of the indenture, unless and until the notes subsequently attain an Investment Grade Rating. Neither the failure of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to comply with a Suspended Covenant after the notes attain an Investment Grade Rating and before any reinstatement of the Suspended Covenants nor compliance by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries with any contractual obligation entered into in compliance with the indenture during that period will constitute a Default, Event of Default or breach of any kind under the indenture, the notes or the Subsidiary Guarantees.

During any period when the Suspended Covenants are not in effect, the Board of Directors of the Company may not designate any of the Company’s Subsidiaries as Unrestricted Subsidiaries pursuant to the indenture.

The period of time between the Suspension Date and the Reversion Date is referred to herein as the “Suspension Period.” Calculations made after the Reversion Date of the amount available to be made as Restricted Payments under “—Restricted Payments” will be made as though the covenant described under “—Restricted Payments” had been in effect at all times since the Issue Date, including during the Suspension Period.

There can be no assurance that the notes will ever achieve or maintain an Investment Grade Rating from any Rating Agency.

Restricted Payments

The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, directly or indirectly:

(1) declare or pay any dividend or make any other payment or distribution on account of the Company’s or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries’ Equity Interests (including, without limitation, any

 

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payment in connection with any merger or consolidation involving the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries) or to the holders of the Company’s or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries’ Equity Interests in their capacity as such (other than dividends or distributions payable in Equity Interests (other than Disqualified Stock) of the Company or payable to the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company);

(2) purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire or retire for value (including, without limitation, in connection with any merger or consolidation involving the Company) any Equity Interests of the Company or any direct or indirect parent of the Company;

(3) make any principal payment on or with respect to, or purchase, redeem, defease or otherwise acquire or retire for value any Indebtedness that is subordinated in right of payment to the notes or any Subsidiary Guarantee (excluding (a) any intercompany Indebtedness between or among the Company and any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, (b) the purchase, redemption, defeasance, repurchase or other acquisition of Indebtedness that is subordinated in right of payment to the notes or the Subsidiary Guarantees purchased, redeemed, defeased or otherwise acquired in anticipation of satisfying a sinking fund obligation, principal installment or final maturity, in each case due within one year of the date of purchase, repurchase, redemption, defeasance or acquisition, and (c) any payment of principal at the Stated Maturity thereof); or

(4) make any Restricted Investment (all such payments and other actions set forth in these clauses (1) through (4) being collectively referred to as “Restricted Payments”),

unless, at the time of and after giving effect to such Restricted Payment, no Default (except a Reporting Default) or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing or would occur as a consequence of such Restricted Payment and:

(I) the Company would, at the time of such Restricted Payment immediately after giving pro forma effect thereto as if the same had occurred at the beginning of the applicable four-quarter period, be permitted to incur at least $1.00 of additional Indebtedness pursuant to the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio test set forth in the first paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption “—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock;” and

(II) such Restricted Payment, together with the aggregate amount of all other Restricted Payments made by the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries (excluding Restricted Payments permitted by clauses (2), (3), (4), (5), (8), (9), (11) and (13) of the next succeeding paragraph) since the date of the supplemental indenture, is less than the sum, without duplication, of:

(a) 50% of the aggregate Consolidated Net Income of the Company accrued on a cumulative basis during the period beginning after the Measurement Date and ending on the last day of the Company’s last fiscal quarter ending prior to the date of the Restricted Payment (or, if such aggregate cumulative Consolidated Net Income shall be a loss, minus 100% of such loss); plus

(b) 100% of the aggregate net cash proceeds, and the Fair Market Value of any Capital Stock of Persons (other than an Unrestricted Subsidiary) engaged primarily in the Oil and Gas Business or any other assets that are used or useful in the Oil and Gas Business, in each case received by the Company after the Measurement Date as a contribution to its common equity capital or from the issue or sale after the Measurement Date of Equity Interests of the Company (other than Disqualified Stock) or from the issue or sale after the Measurement Date of convertible or exchangeable Disqualified Stock or convertible or exchangeable debt securities of the Company that have been converted into or exchanged for such Equity Interests (other than Equity Interests (or Disqualified Stock or debt securities) sold to a Subsidiary of the Company) or received upon the exercise of any options, warrants or rights to purchase Equity Interests (other than Disqualified Stock) of the Company, plus

(c) the amount equal to the net reduction in Restricted Investments made by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in any Person since the Measurement Date resulting from:

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Subsidiary of the Company, repayments of loans or advances or other transfers of assets (including by way of interest payments, dividend or distribution) by such Person to the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company; plus

(ii) the redesignation of Unrestricted Subsidiaries as Restricted Subsidiaries or the merger or consolidation of an Unrestricted Subsidiary with and into the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary (valued in each case as provided in the definition of “Investment”) not to exceed, in the case of any Unrestricted Subsidiary, the amount of Investments previously made by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company in such Unrestricted Subsidiary; plus

(iii) an amount equal to any amount included as a Restricted Payment pursuant to clause (II) above on account of any guarantee entered into by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary; to the extent that such guarantee has not been called upon and the obligation arising under such guarantee no longer exists or has been reduced; plus

(iv) in the event the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary makes any Investment in a Person that, as a result of or in connection with such Investment, becomes a Restricted Subsidiary or is merged or consolidated with the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary, an amount equal to the amount included as a Restricted Payment pursuant to clause (II) above on account of the Company’s or any Restricted Subsidiary’s Investment in such Person prior to the time it became a Restricted Subsidiary or the time of such merger or consolidation; plus

(d) the amount by which Indebtedness of the Company or its Restricted Subsidiaries is reduced on the Company’s balance sheet upon the conversion or exchange (other than by a Subsidiary of the Company) subsequent to the Measurement Date of any Indebtedness of the Company or its Restricted Subsidiaries convertible into or exchangeable for Equity Interests of the Company (other than Disqualified Stock) (less the amount of cash, or the Fair Market Value of any other property, distributed by the Company upon such conversion or exchange),

in each case to the extent such amounts have not been included in Consolidated Net Income for any period commencing after the Measurement Date.

The preceding provisions will not prohibit:

(1) the payment of any dividend or distribution within 60 days after the date of its declaration if at the date of declaration the payment would have complied with the provisions of the indenture;

(2) the redemption, repurchase, retirement, defeasance or other acquisition of any subordinated Indebtedness of the Company or any Guarantor or of any Equity Interests of the Company in exchange for, or out of the net cash proceeds of the substantially concurrent (a) contribution (other than from a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company) to the equity capital of the Company or (b) sale (other than to a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company) of Equity Interests of the Company (other than Disqualified Stock), with a sale being deemed substantially concurrent if such redemption, repurchase, retirement, defeasance or acquisition occurs not more than 120 days after such sale; provided, however, that the amount of any such net cash proceeds that are utilized for any such redemption, repurchase, retirement, defeasance or other acquisition will be excluded or deducted from clause (II) above;

(3) the defeasance, redemption, repurchase, retirement or other acquisition of subordinated Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock of the Company or any Guarantor with the net cash proceeds from a substantially concurrent incurrence of, or in exchange for, Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness, with an incurrence of Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness being deemed substantially concurrent if such defeasance, redemption, repurchase, retirement or acquisition occurs not more than 120 days after such incurrence;

(4) the payment of any dividend or distribution by a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company to the holders of such Restricted Subsidiary’s Equity Interests on a pro rata basis or on a basis more favorable to the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary;

 

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(5) so long as no Default (other than a Reporting Default) or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing or would be caused thereby, the repurchase, redemption or other acquisition or retirement for value (other than for any Equity Interest) of any Equity Interests of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company pursuant to any director, employee or consultant equity subscription agreement or equity option agreement or other employee benefit plan or to satisfy obligations under any Equity Interests option plan or similar arrangement other than any rights described under clause 9(b) below; provided, however, that the aggregate price paid for all such repurchased, redeemed, acquired or retired Equity Interests may not exceed $3.0 million in any calendar year (with any portion of such $3.0 million amount that is unused in any calendar year to be carried forward to successive calendar years and added to such amount) plus, to the extent not previously applied or included, (a) the cash proceeds received by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries from sales of Equity Interests of the Company to employees, consultants or directors of the Company or its Affiliates that occur after the date of the indenture (to the extent the cash proceeds from the sale of such Equity Interests have not otherwise been applied to the payment of Restricted Payments by virtue of clause (II)(b) of the first paragraph of this covenant) and (b) the cash proceeds of key man life insurance policies received by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries after the date of the supplemental indenture;

(6) any purchase, redemption, defeasance, retirement or other acquisition of Indebtedness that is subordinated in right of payment to the notes or a Subsidiary Guarantee pursuant to the provisions of such Indebtedness in the event of a Change of Control or an Asset Sale, in each case plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon, but only if:

(a) in the case of a Change of Control, the Company has first complied with and fully satisfied its obligations under the provisions described under “Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Change of Control”; or

(b) in the case of an Asset Sale, the Company has complied with and fully satisfied its obligations in accordance with the covenant under the heading, “Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Asset Sales”;

(7) the repurchase, redemption or other acquisition for value of Equity Interests of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company representing fractional shares of such Equity Interests in connection with a merger or consolidation involving the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary or any other transaction permitted by the indenture;

(8) the repurchase, redemption or other acquisition of Equity Interests deemed to occur upon the exercise or conversion of stock options, warrants or other convertible securities if such Equity Interests represent a portion of the exercise or conversion price thereof;

(9) the defeasance, repurchase, redemption or other acquisition or retirement for value of (a) any Equity Interests of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company held by any current or former officers, directors or employees of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in connection with the exercise or vesting of any equity compensation (including, without limitation, stock options, restricted stock and phantom stock) in order to satisfy any tax withholding obligation with respect to such exercise or vesting or (b) to the extent otherwise constituting a Restricted Payment, any rights under any cash and/or equity-settled equity stock appreciation agreement or plan of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary;

(10) any payments in connection with a consolidation, merger or transfer of assets in connection with a transaction that is not prohibited by the indenture not to exceed $25.0 million in the aggregate after the date of the supplemental indenture;

(11) the payment of any dividends or distributions by the Company to the holders of its Disqualified Stock or preferred stock; provided that such Disqualified Stock or preferred stock is issued on or after the date of the supplemental indenture in accordance with the first paragraph of the covenant described below under the caption “—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock;”

 

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(12) the declaration and payment of distributions effecting “poison pill” rights plans provided that any securities or rights so distributed have a nominal Fair Market Value at the time of declaration;

(13) (i) a capital contribution to Carrizo UK Huntington Ltd. of the North Sea Properties, (ii) cash capital contributions to, and funding of expenses for the benefit of, Carrizo UK Huntington Ltd. in an amount not to exceed $50.0 million and (iii) a guarantee to fund such capital contributions; or

(14) so long as no Default (other than a Reporting Default) or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing or would be caused thereby, other Restricted Payments in an aggregate amount not to exceed $25.0 million at any time outstanding since the date of the supplemental indenture (after giving effect to any dividends, interest payments, return of capital and subsequent reduction in the amount of any Investments made pursuant to this clause as a result of the repayment or other disposition thereof, in an amount not to exceed the amount of such Investments previously made pursuant to in this clause); provided, however, that if any Investment pursuant to this clause (14) is made in any Person that is not a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company at the date of the making of such Investment and such Person becomes a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company after such date, such Investment shall thereafter be deemed to have been made pursuant to clause (1) of the definition of “Permitted Investments” and shall cease to have been made pursuant to this clause (14) for so long as such Person continues to be a Restricted Subsidiary.

The amount of all Restricted Payments (other than cash) will be the Fair Market Value on the date of the Restricted Payment of the asset(s) or securities proposed to be transferred or issued by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, as the case may be, pursuant to the Restricted Payment. The Fair Market Value of any assets or securities that are required to be valued by this covenant will be determined, in the case of amounts under $20.0 million, by an officer of the Company and, in the case of amounts over $20.0 million, by the Board of Directors of the Company, whose determination shall be evidenced by a Board Resolution. For purposes of determining compliance with this “Restricted Payments” covenant, in the event that a Restricted Payment meets the criteria of more than one of the categories of Restricted Payments described in the preceding clauses (1)-(14) or as a Permitted Investment, the Company will be permitted to divide or classify (or later divide, classify or reclassify in whole or in part in its sole discretion) such Restricted Payment in any manner that complies with this covenant.

Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock

The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, directly or indirectly, create, incur, issue, assume, guarantee or otherwise become directly or indirectly liable, contingently or otherwise, with respect to (collectively, “incur”) any Indebtedness, the Company will not issue any Disqualified Stock, and the Company will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to issue any Disqualified Stock or preferred securities; provided, however, that the Company and any of the Guarantors may incur Indebtedness and the Company may issue Disqualified Stock and any Guarantor may issue Disqualified Stock or preferred securities, if the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio for the Company’s most recently ended four full fiscal quarters for which internal financial statements are available immediately preceding the date on which such additional Indebtedness is incurred or such preferred securities or Disqualified Stock is issued, as the case may be, would have been at least 2.50 to 1.0, determined on a pro forma basis (including a pro forma application of the net proceeds therefrom), as if the additional Indebtedness had been incurred or such preferred securities or Disqualified Stock had been issued, as the case may be, at the beginning of such four-quarter period.

The first paragraph of this covenant will not prohibit the incurrence of any of the following items of Indebtedness or the issuance of any Disqualified Stock or any preferred securities described below (collectively, “Permitted Debt”):

(1) the incurrence by the Company or any of the Guarantors of additional Indebtedness (including letters of credit) under one or more Credit Facilities, provided that, after giving effect to any such incurrence, the aggregate principal amount of all Indebtedness outstanding under the Company and its

 

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Restricted Subsidiaries’ Credit Facilities incurred under this clause (1) (with letters of credit being deemed to have a principal amount equal to the maximum potential liability of the Company and its Subsidiaries thereunder) does not exceed the greater of (a) $600.0 million and (b) an amount equal to the sum of $250.0 million plus 35.0% of the Company’s Adjusted Consolidated Net Tangible Assets determined as of the date of such incurrence;

(2) the incurrence by the Company or its Restricted Subsidiaries of the Existing Indebtedness not otherwise referred to in this definition of “Permitted Debt”;

(3) the incurrence by the Company and the Guarantors of Indebtedness represented by (a) the outstanding notes (excluding any additional notes) and the related Subsidiary Guarantees and (b) the exchange notes and the related Subsidiary Guarantees issued pursuant to the registration rights agreement;

(4) the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of Indebtedness represented by Capital Lease Obligations, mortgage financings or purchase money obligations, in each case incurred for the purpose of financing all or any part of the purchase price or cost of design, installation, repair, replacement, construction or improvement of property, plant or equipment used in the business of the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary (whether through the direct purchase of such assets or the Capital Stock of any Person owning such assets (but no other material assets)) and related financing costs, and Attributable Debt in respect of Sale Leaseback Transactions, including all Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness incurred to extend, refinance, renew, replace, defease or refund any Indebtedness incurred pursuant to this clause (4), provided that after giving effect to any such incurrence, the aggregate principal amount of all Indebtedness incurred pursuant to this clause (4) and then outstanding does not exceed the greater of (a) $25.0 million and (b) 2.5% of the Company’s Adjusted Consolidated Net Tangible Assets determined as of the date of such incurrence;

(5) the incurrence or issuance by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness in exchange for, or the net proceeds of which shall be used to extend, refinance, renew, replace, defease, discharge, refund or otherwise retire for value, in whole or in part, Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries (other than intercompany Indebtedness) or Disqualified Stock of the Company, in each case that was permitted by the indenture to be incurred pursuant to the first paragraph of this covenant or clauses (2), (3), (5) and (12) of this paragraph;

(6) the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of intercompany Indebtedness between or among any of the Company and any of its Restricted Subsidiaries; provided, however, that:

(a) if the Company is the obligor on such Indebtedness and a Guarantor is not the obligee, such Indebtedness must be expressly subordinated to the prior payment in full in cash of all Obligations with respect to the notes, or if a Guarantor is the obligor on such Indebtedness and neither the Company nor another Guarantor is the obligee, such Indebtedness must be expressly subordinated to the prior payment in full in cash of all Obligations with respect to the Subsidiary Guarantee of such Guarantor; and

(b) (i) any subsequent issuance or transfer of Equity Interests that results in any such Indebtedness being held by a Person other than the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company and (ii) any sale or other transfer of any such Indebtedness to a Person that is neither the Company nor a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company will be deemed, in each case, to constitute an incurrence (as of the date of such issuance, sale or transfer) of such Indebtedness by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may be, that was not permitted by this clause (6);

(7) the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of obligations under Hedging Contracts;

(8) the guarantee by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries that was permitted to be incurred by another provision of this covenant;

(9) the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of Indebtedness relating to net gas balancing positions arising in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past practice;

 

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(10) the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of Indebtedness in respect of bid, performance, surety and similar bonds issued for the account of the Company and any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business or which are customary in the Oil and Gas Business, including guarantees and obligations of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries with respect to letters of credit supporting such obligations (in each case other than an obligation for money borrowed);

(11) the issuance by any of the Company’s Restricted Subsidiaries to the Company or to any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of any preferred securities; provided, however, that:

(a) any subsequent issuance or transfer of Equity Interests that results in any such preferred securities being held by a Person other than the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company; and

(b) any sale or other transfer of any such preferred securities to a Person that is not either the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company shall be deemed, in each case, to constitute an issuance (as of the date of such issuance, sale or transfer) of such preferred securities by such Restricted Subsidiary that was not permitted by this clause (11);

(12) Permitted Acquisition Indebtedness;

(13) the incurrence by the Company or its Restricted Subsidiaries of Indebtedness arising from the honoring by a bank or other financial institution of a check, draft or similar instrument inadvertently drawn against insufficient funds in the ordinary course of business;

(14) the incurrence by the Company or its Restricted Subsidiaries of Indebtedness consisting of the financing of insurance premiums in customary amounts consistent with the operations and business of the Company and the Restricted Subsidiaries;

(15) accounts payable or other obligations of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to trade creditors created or assumed by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary in the ordinary course of business or which is customary in the Oil and Gas Business in connection with the obtaining of goods or services;

(16) the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of Indebtedness arising from agreements of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company providing for indemnification, adjustment of purchase price, earn outs, or similar obligations, in each case, incurred or assumed in connection with the disposition or acquisition of any business, assets or Capital Stock of a Subsidiary in a transaction permitted by the indenture, other than guarantees of Indebtedness incurred or assumed by any Person acquiring all or any portion of such business, assets or Subsidiary for the purpose of financing such acquisition;

(17) the guarantee by the Company described in clause (13) under the caption “—Restricted Payments;” and

(18) the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of additional Indebtedness or the issuance by the Company of additional Disqualified Stock or the issuance by any Restricted Subsidiary of preferred securities, provided that, after giving effect to any such incurrence or issuance, the aggregate principal amount of all Indebtedness, Disqualified Stock and preferred securities incurred or issued under this clause (18) and then outstanding does not exceed the greater of (a) $25.0 million and (b) 2.5% of the Company’s Adjusted Consolidated Net Tangible Assets determined as of the date of such incurrence or issuance.

For purposes of determining compliance with this “Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock” covenant, in the event that an item of Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock or preferred securities meets the criteria of more than one of the categories of Permitted Debt described in clauses (1) through (18) above, or is entitled to be incurred or issued pursuant to the first paragraph of this covenant, the Company will be permitted to divide and classify (or later classify, reclassify or re-divide in whole or in part in its sole discretion) such item

 

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of Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock or preferred securities in any manner that complies with this covenant; provided that any Indebtedness under a Credit Facility which was incurred on or prior to, and outstanding on the date of the indenture, shall be deemed to have been initially incurred on the date of the indenture pursuant to clause (1) of the definition of “Permitted Debt” rather than the first paragraph above. For purposes of determining any particular amount of Indebtedness under this covenant, (i) guarantees of, or obligations in respect of letters of credit relating to, Indebtedness otherwise included in the determination of such amount shall not also be included except to the extent that such Indebtedness exceeds such guarantee or letter of credit and (ii) if obligations in respect of letters of credit are incurred pursuant to a Credit Facility and are being treated as incurred pursuant to clause (1) of the definition of “Permitted Debt” and the letters of credit relate to other Indebtedness, then such other Indebtedness shall not be included except to the extent that such Indebtedness exceeds such letter of credit.

The accrual of interest, accrual of dividends, the accretion or amortization of original issue discount, the payment of interest on any Indebtedness in the form of additional Indebtedness and the payment of dividends on Disqualified Stock or preferred securities in the form of additional shares of Disqualified Stock or preferred securities will not be deemed to be an incurrence of Indebtedness or an issuance of Disqualified Stock or preferred securities for purposes of this covenant, provided, in each such case, that the amount thereof is included in Fixed Charges of the Company as accrued.

For purposes of determining compliance with any U.S. dollar-denominated restriction on the incurrence of Indebtedness, the U.S. dollar-equivalent principal amount of Indebtedness denominated in a foreign currency will be calculated based on the relevant currency exchange rate in effect on the date the Indebtedness was incurred, in the case of term Indebtedness, or first committed, in the case of revolving credit Indebtedness; provided that if such Indebtedness is incurred to refinance other Indebtedness denominated in a foreign currency, and the refinancing would cause the applicable U.S. dollar-dominated restriction to be exceeded if calculated at the relevant currency exchange rate in effect on the date of the refinancing, such U.S. dollar-dominated restriction shall be deemed not to have been exceeded so long as the principal amount of such refinancing Indebtedness does not exceed the principal amount of such Indebtedness being refinanced (plus all accrued and unpaid interest on such Indebtedness, and the amount of all fees, expenses and premiums incurred in connection therewith). Notwithstanding any other provision of this covenant, the maximum amount of Indebtedness that the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary may incur pursuant to this covenant shall not be deemed to be exceeded solely as a result of fluctuations in the exchange rate of currencies. The principal amount of any Indebtedness incurred to refinance other Indebtedness, if incurred in a different currency from the Indebtedness being refinanced, will be calculated based on the currency exchange rate applicable to the currencies in which the refinancing Indebtedness is denominated that is in effect on the date of such refinancing.

Liens

The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, create, incur, assume or otherwise cause or suffer to exist or become effective any Lien of any kind (other than Permitted Liens) upon any of its assets (whether now owned or hereafter acquired), securing Indebtedness, unless the notes or the Subsidiary Guarantee of such Restricted Subsidiary, as applicable, is secured on an equal and ratable basis with (or, in the case of obligations subordinated in right of payment to the notes or such Subsidiary Guarantee, as the case may be, on a basis senior (to at least the same extent as the notes are senior in right of payment) to) the obligations so secured until such time as such obligations are no longer secured by a Lien.

Any Lien on any assets of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries created for the benefit of the Holders of the notes pursuant to the preceding paragraph shall provide by its terms that such Lien shall be automatically and unconditionally released and discharged at such time as there are no other Liens of any kind (other than Permitted Liens) on such assets securing Indebtedness.

 

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Dividend and Other Payment Restrictions Affecting Subsidiaries

The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, directly or indirectly, create or permit to exist or become effective any consensual encumbrance or restriction on the ability of any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company to:

(1) pay dividends or make any other distributions on its Capital Stock to the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, or pay any Indebtedness or other obligations owed to the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries;

(2) make loans or advances to the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries; or

(3) sell, lease or transfer any of its assets to the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries.

However, the preceding restrictions will not apply to encumbrances or restrictions existing under or by reason of:

(1) agreements (including in respect of any Credit Facilities) as in effect on the date of the supplemental indenture and any amendments, modifications, restatements, renewals, increases, supplements, refundings, replacements or refinancings of those agreements (or the agreements referred to in this clause (1)), or the Indebtedness to which those agreements (or the agreements referred to in this clause (1)) relate, provided that the amendments, modifications, restatements, renewals, increases, supplements, refundings, replacements or refinancings are no more restrictive, taken as a whole, with respect to such dividend, distribution and other payment restrictions than those contained in those agreements on the date of the supplemental indenture, as determined by the Board of Directors of the Company in its reasonable and good faith judgment;

(2) the indenture, the notes and the Subsidiary Guarantees;

(3) applicable law, rule, regulation, order, approval, license, permit or similar restriction;

(4) any agreement or instrument with respect to a Restricted Subsidiary that is not a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company on the date of the supplemental indenture, in existence at the time such Person becomes a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company and not incurred in connection with, or in contemplation of, such Person becoming a Restricted Subsidiary; provided that such encumbrances and restrictions are not applicable to the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary or the assets of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary other than such Subsidiary which is becoming a Restricted Subsidiary;

(5) any agreement or instrument governing any Permitted Acquisition Indebtedness, so long as such agreement or instrument (A) was not entered into in contemplation of the acquisition, merger or consolidation transaction related thereto, and (B) is not applicable to any Person, or the assets of any Person, other than the Person, or the assets or Subsidiaries of the Person, subject to such acquisition, merger or consolidation, so long as the agreement containing such restriction does not violate any other provision of the indenture;

(6) instruments governing Indebtedness of the Company or any of the Guarantors permitted to be incurred pursuant to an agreement entered into subsequent to the date of the indenture in accordance with the covenant described under the caption “—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock”; provided that the provisions relating to such encumbrance or restriction contained in such instruments are not materially more restrictive, taken as a whole, than the provisions contained in the Credit Agreement and in the indenture as in effect on the date of the indenture, as determined by the Board of Directors of the Company in its reasonable and good faith judgment;

(7) (i) customary non-assignment provisions in Hydrocarbon purchase and sale or exchange agreements, joint operating agreements, or similar operational agreements or in licenses or leases, or (ii) other encumbrances or restrictions in agreements or instruments relating to specific assets or property that restrict generally the transfers of such assets or property, provided, however, that such other

 

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encumbrances or restrictions do not materially impair the ability of the Company to make scheduled payments on the notes when due in each case entered into in the ordinary course of business or customary in the Oil and Gas Business;

(8) Capital Lease Obligations, mortgage financings or purchase money obligations, in each case for property acquired in the ordinary course of business or which is customary in the Oil and Gas Business that impose restrictions on that property purchased or leased of the nature described in clause (3) of the preceding paragraph;

(9) any agreement for the sale or other disposition of a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company that restricts distributions by that Restricted Subsidiary pending its sale or other disposition;

(10) Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness, provided that the restrictions contained in the agreements governing such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness are not materially more restrictive, taken as a whole, than those contained in the agreements governing the Indebtedness being refinanced, as determined by the Board of Directors of the Company in its reasonable and good faith judgment;

(11) Liens securing Indebtedness otherwise permitted to be incurred under the provisions of the covenant described above under the caption “—Liens” that limit the right of the debtor to dispose of the assets subject to such Liens;

(12) provisions limiting the disposition or distribution of assets or property in joint venture agreements, asset sale agreements, stock sale agreements and other similar agreements entered into (a) in the ordinary course of business or which are customary in the Oil and Gas Business or (b) with the approval of the Company’s Board of Directors, which limitations are applicable only to the assets or property that are the subject of such agreements;

(13) any agreement or instrument relating to any property or assets acquired after the date of the supplemental indenture, so long as such encumbrance or restriction relates only to the property or assets so acquired and is not and was not created in anticipation of such acquisition;

(14) restrictions on cash, Cash Equivalents or other deposits or net worth imposed by customers or lessors under contracts or leases entered into in the ordinary course of business or which are customary in the Oil and Gas Business;

(15) customary encumbrances and restrictions contained in agreements of the types described in the definition of “Permitted Business Investments”;

(16) Hedging Contracts permitted from time to time under the indenture;

(17) the issuance of preferred securities by a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company or the payment of dividends thereon in accordance with the terms thereof; provided that issuance of such preferred securities is permitted pursuant to the covenant described under “—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock” and the terms of such preferred securities do not expressly restrict the ability of a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company to pay dividends or make any other distributions on its Equity Interests (other than requirements to pay dividends or liquidation preferences on such preferred securities prior to paying any dividends or making any other distributions on such other Equity Interests); and

(18) any Permitted Investment.

Merger, Consolidation or Sale of Assets

The Company may not: (x) consolidate or merge with or into another Person (whether or not the Company is the survivor); or (y) directly or indirectly sell, assign, transfer, lease, convey or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets, in one or more related transactions, to another Person; unless:

(1) either: (a) the Company is the survivor; or (b) the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or merger (if other than such Issuer) or to which such sale, assignment, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition has been made is a Person organized or existing under the laws of the United States, any state of the United States or the District of Columbia;

 

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(2) the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or merger (if other than the Company) or the Person to which such sale, assignment, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition has been made assumes all the obligations of the Company under the notes, the indenture and the registration rights agreement pursuant to agreements reasonably satisfactory to the trustee;

(3) immediately after such transaction, no Default (other than a Reporting Default) or Event of Default exists;

(4) and either

(a) the Company or the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or merger (if other than the Company), or to which such sale, assignment, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition has been made will, on the date of such transaction immediately after giving pro forma effect thereto and any related financing transactions as if the same had occurred at the beginning of the applicable four-quarter period, be permitted to incur at least $1.00 of additional Indebtedness pursuant to the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio test set forth in the first paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption “—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock;” or

(b) immediately after giving effect to such transaction and any related financing transactions on a pro forma basis as if the same had occurred at the beginning of the applicable four-quarter period, the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio of the Company or the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or merger (if other than the Company), or to which such sale, assignment, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition has been made, will be equal to or greater than the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio of the Company immediately prior to such transaction; or

(c) immediately after giving effect to such transaction and any related financing transactions on a pro forma basis, the Consolidated Net Worth of the Company will be greater than the Consolidated Net Worth of the Company immediately prior to such transaction; and

(5) the Company has delivered to the trustee an officers’ certificate and an opinion of counsel, each stating that such consolidation, merger or disposition and such supplemental indenture (if any) comply with the indenture.

Notwithstanding the restrictions described in the foregoing clauses (3) and (4), (x) any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company may consolidate with, merge into or dispose of all or part of its assets to the Company or another Restricted Subsidiary, and (y) the Company may merge with or into an Affiliate formed solely for the purpose of reincorporating the Company in another jurisdiction, and the Company will not be required to comply with the preceding clause (5) in connection with any such consolidation, merger or disposition.

For purposes of the foregoing, the transfer (by lease, assignment, sale or otherwise, in a single transaction or series of transactions) of all or substantially all of the assets of one or more Restricted Subsidiaries of the Company, the Capital Stock of which constitutes all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, shall be deemed to be the transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company.

Upon any consolidation or merger or any sale, assignment, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company in accordance with the foregoing in which the Company is not the surviving entity, the surviving entity formed by such consolidation or into or with which the Company is merged or to which such sale, assignment, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition is made shall succeed to, and be substituted for, and may exercise every right and power of, the Company under the indenture with the same effect as if such surviving entity had been named as the Company in the indenture, and thereafter (except in the case of a lease of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets), the Company will be relieved of all obligations and covenants under the indenture and the notes.

 

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Although there is a limited body of case law interpreting the phrase “substantially all,” there is no precise established definition of the phrase under applicable law. Accordingly, in certain circumstances there may be a degree of uncertainty as to whether a particular transaction would involve “all or substantially all” of the assets of a Person.

Transactions with Affiliates

The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, make any payment to, or sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of its assets to, or purchase any assets from, or enter into or make or amend any transaction, contract, agreement, understanding, loan, advance or guarantee with, or for the benefit of, any Affiliate of the Company (each, an “Affiliate Transaction”), unless:

(1) the Affiliate Transaction is on terms that are not materially less favorable to the Company or the relevant Restricted Subsidiary than those that would have been obtained in a comparable transaction by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary with an unrelated Person or, if in the good faith judgment of the Company’s Board of Directors, no comparable transaction is available with which to compare such Affiliate Transaction, such Affiliate Transaction is otherwise fair to the Company or the relevant Restricted Subsidiary from a financial point of view; and

(2) the Company delivers to the trustee:

(a) with respect to any Affiliate Transaction or series of related Affiliate Transactions involving aggregate consideration to or from an Affiliate in excess of $15.0 million, an officers’ certificate certifying that such Affiliate Transaction complies with this covenant; and

(b) with respect to any Affiliate Transaction or series of related Affiliate Transactions involving aggregate consideration to or from an Affiliate in excess of $25.0 million, a resolution of the Board of Directors of the Company set forth in an officers’ certificate certifying that such Affiliate Transaction complies with this covenant and that such Affiliate Transaction has been approved by a majority of the disinterested members of the Board of Directors of the Company.

The following items will not be deemed to be Affiliate Transactions and, therefore, will not be subject to the provisions of the prior paragraph:

(1) any employment agreement or arrangement, equity award, equity option or cash and/or equity settled equity appreciation agreement or plan, employee benefit plan, officer or director indemnification agreement, severance agreement, consulting agreement or other compensation plan or arrangement entered into by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business or which is customary in the Oil and Gas Business, and payments, awards, grants or issuances of securities pursuant thereto;

(2) transactions between or among any of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries (or any entity that becomes a Restricted Subsidiary as a result of such transaction);

(3) transactions with a Person (other than an Unrestricted Subsidiary of the Company) that is an Affiliate of the Company solely because the Company owns, directly or indirectly, an Equity Interest in, or otherwise controls, such Person and/or has nominated or appointed a person to the Board of Directors of that Person;

(4) customary compensation, indemnification and other benefits made available to officers, directors, employees or consultants of the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary or Affiliate of the Company, including reimbursement or advancement of out-of-pocket expenses and provisions of officers’ and directors’ liability insurance;

(5) sales of Equity Interests (other than Disqualified Stock) to, or receipt of capital contributions from, Affiliates of the Company and any dividend or distribution payable in Equity Interests (other than Disqualified Stock);

 

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(6) any Permitted Investments or Restricted Payments that are permitted by the provisions of the indenture described above under the caption “—Restricted Payments”;

(7) transactions between the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries and any Person that would not otherwise constitute an Affiliate Transaction except for the fact that one director of such other Person is also a director of the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary, as applicable; provided that such director abstains from voting as a director of the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary, as applicable, on any matter involving such other Person;

(8) the existence of, and the performance of obligations of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries under the terms of, any written agreement to which the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries is a party on the date of the supplemental indenture, as these agreements may be amended, modified, supplemented or replaced from time to time; provided, however, that any amendment, modification, supplement or replacement entered into after the date of the supplemental indenture will be permitted to the extent that its terms are not materially more disadvantageous, taken as a whole, to the Holders of the notes than the terms of the agreements in effect on the date of the supplemental indenture (as conclusively evidenced by a Board Resolution);

(9) any transaction in which the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, as the case may be, delivers to the trustee an opinion from an accounting, appraisal or investment banking firm of national standing stating that such transaction is fair to the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary from a financial point of view or that such transaction meets the requirements of clause (1) of the preceding paragraph;

(10) (a) guarantees by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of performance of obligations of the Company’s Unrestricted Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business or which is customary in the Oil and Gas Business and (b) pledges by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company of Equity Interests in Unrestricted Subsidiaries for the benefit of lenders or other creditors of the Company’s Unrestricted Subsidiaries;

(11) any Affiliate Transaction with a Person in its capacity as a holder of Indebtedness or Capital Stock of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company if such Person is treated no more favorably than the other holders of Indebtedness or Capital Stock of the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary;

(12) transactions with joint venture partners, customers, clients, suppliers or purchasers or sellers of goods or services, or lessors or lessees of property, in each case in the ordinary course of business or which is customary in the Oil and Gas Business and otherwise in compliance with the terms of the indenture similar to those contained in similar contracts entered into by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary and third parties, or if neither the Company nor any Restricted Subsidiary has entered into a similar contract with a third party, which are, in the aggregate (taking into account all the costs and benefits associated with such transactions), not materially less favorable to the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries than those that would have been obtained in a comparable transaction by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary with an unrelated person, in the good faith determination of the Company’s Board of Directors or any executive officer of the Company involved in or otherwise familiar with such transaction;

(13) transactions entered into by a Person prior to the time such Person becomes a Subsidiary or is merged or consolidated into the Company or a Subsidiary (provided such transaction is not entered into in contemplation of such event);

(14) dividends and distributions to the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries by any Unrestricted Subsidiary or Joint Venture;

(15) transactions with Avista or any of its Subsidiaries entered into in connection with the Avista Marcellus Joint Venture; provided such transactions are on terms that are not materially less favorable, taken as a whole, to the Company or the relevant Restricted Subsidiary than those that would have been obtained in a comparable transaction by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary with an unrelated Person; and

 

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(16) arrangements relating to sale of the Company’s interests in Pinnacle Gas Resources, Inc. or other management of the Company’s investment in that company; provided that such arrangements are on terms that are not materially less favorable, taken as a whole, to the Company or the relevant Restricted Subsidiary than those that would have been obtained in a comparable transaction by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary with an unrelated Person.

Designation of Restricted and Unrestricted Subsidiaries

Currently, all of the Subsidiaries of the Company other than Carrizo UK Huntington Ltd. and Monument Exploration LLC are Restricted Subsidiaries. The Board of Directors of the Company may designate any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company to be an Unrestricted Subsidiary if that designation would not cause a Default. If a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company is designated as an Unrestricted Subsidiary, the aggregate Fair Market Value of all outstanding Investments owned by the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries in the Subsidiary properly designated as an Unrestricted Subsidiary will be deemed to be an Investment made as of the time of the designation and will reduce the amount available for Restricted Payments under the first paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption “—Restricted Payments” or represent Permitted Investments, as determined by the Company. That designation will only be permitted if the Investment would be permitted at that time and if the Subsidiary so designated otherwise meets the definition of an Unrestricted Subsidiary.

The Board of Directors of the Company may at any time designate any Unrestricted Subsidiary of the Company to be a Restricted Subsidiary, provided that such designation will be deemed to be an incurrence of Indebtedness by a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company of any outstanding Indebtedness of such Unrestricted Subsidiary and such designation will only be permitted if (1) such Indebtedness is permitted under the covenant described above under the caption “—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock,” calculated on a pro forma basis as if such designation had occurred at the beginning of the four-quarter reference period, and (2) no Default (other than a Reporting Default) or Event of Default would be in existence following such designation.

Additional Subsidiary Guarantees

If, after the date of the supplemental indenture, any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company that is not already a Guarantor guarantees any other Indebtedness of the Company or any Indebtedness of any Restricted Subsidiary in excess of the De Minimis Guaranteed Amount, or any Restricted Subsidiary, if not then a Guarantor, incurs any Indebtedness under any of the Credit Facilities, then in either case that Subsidiary will become a Guarantor by executing a supplemental indenture and delivering it to the trustee within 90 days of the date on which it guaranteed or incurred such Indebtedness, as the case may be. Notwithstanding the preceding, any Subsidiary Guarantee of a Restricted Subsidiary that was incurred pursuant to this paragraph shall provide by its terms that it shall be automatically and unconditionally released at such time as such Guarantor ceases both (x) to guarantee any other Indebtedness of the Issuer and any Indebtedness of any other Restricted Subsidiary and (y) to be an obligor with respect to any Indebtedness under any Credit Facility.

Each Subsidiary Guarantee shall also be released in accordance with the provisions of the indenture described under “Subsidiary Guarantees.”

Reports

Whether or not required by the SEC, so long as any notes are outstanding, the Company will file with the SEC for public availability within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and regulations taking into account any extension of time, deemed filing date or safe harbor contemplated or provided for by Rule 12b-25, Rule 13a-11(c), and Rule 15d-11(c) under the Exchange Act or General Instruction I.A.3(b) of Form S-3 under the Securities Act and successor provisions (unless the SEC will not accept such a filing, in which case the Company will furnish to the trustee and, upon its prior request, to any Holder of notes, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and regulations):

(1) all quarterly and annual financial information with respect to the Company and its Subsidiaries that would be required to be contained in a filing with the SEC on Forms 10-Q and 10-K if the Company were

 

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required to file such Forms, including a “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and, with respect to the annual information only, a report on the annual financial statements by the Company’s certified independent accountants; and

(2) all current reports that would be required to be filed with the SEC on Form 8-K if the Company were required to file such reports.

In addition, the Company and the Guarantors have agreed that, for so long as any notes remain outstanding and are “restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144(a)(3), if at any time they are not required to file the reports required by the preceding paragraphs with the SEC, they will furnish to the Holders of the notes and to securities analysts and prospective investors in the notes, upon their request, the information required to be delivered pursuant to Rule 144A(d)(4) under the Securities Act. The Company will be deemed to have provided such information to the Holders, securities analysts and prospective Holders if it has filed reports containing such information with the SEC via the EDGAR filing system and such reports are publicly available.

In the event that:

(a) the rules and regulations of the SEC permit the Company and any direct or indirect parent company of the Company to report at such parent entity’s level on a consolidated basis and such parent entity of the Company is not engaged in any business in any material respect other than incidental to its ownership, directly or indirectly, of the Capital Stock of the Company, or

(b) any direct or indirect parent of the Company becomes a Guarantor of the notes,

such consolidated reporting at such parent entity’s level in a manner consistent with that described in this covenant for the Company will satisfy this covenant; provided that, such financial information is accompanied by consolidating information that explains in reasonable detail the differences between the information relating to such direct or indirect parent and any of its Subsidiaries other than the Company and its Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and the information relating to the Company and its Subsidiaries on a stand alone basis, on the other hand.

Events of Default and Remedies

Each of the following is an Event of Default:

(1) default for 30 days in the payment when due of interest on the notes;

(2) default in payment when due (at maturity, upon redemption or otherwise) of the principal of, or premium, if any, on, the notes;

(3) failure by the Company to comply with the provisions described under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Merger, Consolidation or Sale of Assets” or to consummate a purchase of notes when required pursuant to the provisions described under the captions “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Asset Sales” and “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Change of Control;”

(4) failure by the Company for 120 days after notice from the trustee or the Holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the notes then outstanding to comply with the provisions described under “—Certain Covenants—Reports;”

(5) failure by the Company for 60 days after notice from the trustee or the Holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the notes then outstanding to comply with any of the other agreements in the indenture (including the provisions described under the captions “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Asset Sales” and “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Change of Control” to the extent not described in clause (3) above);

(6) default under any mortgage, indenture or instrument under which there may be issued or by which there may be secured or evidenced any Indebtedness for money borrowed by the Company or any of its

 

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Restricted Subsidiaries (or the payment of which is guaranteed by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries), whether such Indebtedness or guarantee now exists, or is created after the date of the indenture, if that default:

(a) is caused by a failure to pay principal of, or interest or premium, if any, on such Indebtedness prior to the expiration of the grace period provided in such Indebtedness (a “Payment Default”); or

(b) results in the acceleration of such Indebtedness prior to its Stated Maturity,

and, in each case, the principal amount of any such Indebtedness, together with the principal amount of any other such Indebtedness under which there has been a Payment Default or the maturity of which has been so accelerated, aggregates $30.0 million or more; provided, however, that if any such default is cured or waived or any such acceleration rescinded, or such Indebtedness is repaid and the notes have not been accelerated, such Event of Default shall be automatically rescinded, so long as such rescission does not conflict with any judgment or decree;

(7) failure by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to pay final judgments aggregating in excess of $30.0 million (to the extent not covered by insurance by a reputable and creditworthy insurer as to which the insurer has not disclaimed coverage), which judgments are not paid, discharged or stayed for a period of 60 consecutive days;

(8) (a) any Subsidiary Guarantee shall be held in any judicial proceeding to be unenforceable or invalid or shall cease for any reason to be in full force and effect or (b) any Guarantor, or any Person acting on behalf of any Guarantor, shall deny or disaffirm its obligations under its Subsidiary Guarantee, except, in each case, by reason of the release of such Subsidiary Guarantee in accordance with the indenture; and

(9) certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization described in the indenture with respect to the Company or any of the Company’s Restricted Subsidiaries that is a Significant Subsidiary or any group of its Restricted Subsidiaries that, taken as a whole, would constitute a Significant Subsidiary of the Company.

In the case of an Event of Default arising from certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization described in the indenture with respect to the Company, any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company that is a Significant Subsidiary or any group of its Restricted Subsidiaries that, taken as a whole, would constitute a Significant Subsidiary of the Company, all notes then outstanding will become due and payable immediately without further action or notice. If any other Event of Default occurs and is continuing, the trustee or the Holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the notes then outstanding may declare all the notes to be due and payable immediately.

Holders of the notes may not enforce the indenture or the notes except as provided in the indenture. Subject to certain limitations, Holders of a majority in principal amount of the notes then outstanding may direct the trustee in its exercise of any trust or power. The trustee may withhold notice of any continuing Default or Event of Default from Holders of the notes if it determines that withholding notice is in their interest, except a Default or Event of Default relating to the payment of principal of, or interest or premium, if any, on, the notes.

The Holders of a majority in principal amount of the notes then outstanding by notice to the trustee may on behalf of the Holders of all of the notes rescind an acceleration and its consequences if the rescission would not conflict with any judgment or decree and if all existing Events of Default (except with respect to nonpayment of principal, interest or premium, if any, that have become due solely because of the acceleration) have been cured or waived.

The Holders of a majority in principal amount of the notes then outstanding by notice to the trustee may on behalf of the Holders of all of the notes waive (including, without limitation, in connection with a purchase of, or tender offer or exchange offer for, notes) any existing Default or Event of Default and its consequences under the indenture except a continuing Default or Event of Default in the payment of principal of, or interest or premium, if any, on, the notes.

 

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The Company is required to deliver to the trustee annually a statement regarding compliance with the indenture. Upon any officer of the Company becoming aware of any Default or Event of Default, the Company is required to deliver to the trustee a statement specifying such Default or Event of Default.

No Personal Liability of Directors, Officers, Employees and Shareholders

No director, officer, partner, employee, incorporator, manager or shareholder or other owner of Capital Stock of the Issuer or any Guarantor, as such, will have any liability for any obligations of the Issuer or any Guarantor under the notes, the indenture or the Subsidiary Guarantees, or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, such obligations or their creation. Each Holder of notes by accepting a note waives and releases all such liability. The waiver and release are part of the consideration for issuance of the notes. The waiver may not be effective to waive liabilities under the federal securities laws.

Modification and Waiver

The indenture may be amended or supplemented if the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of each series issued under the indenture that are affected by the amendment or supplement consent to it. Without the consent of the holder of each debt security issued under the indenture and affected, however, no modification to that indenture may:

 

•

reduce the amount of debt securities whose holders must consent to an amendment, supplement or waiver;

 

•

reduce the rate of or change the time for payment of interest on the debt security;

 

•

reduce the principal of, any premium on, or change the stated maturity of, the debt security, or reduce the amount of the principal of an original issue discount security that would be due and payable upon a declaration of acceleration of the maturity of such debt security;

 

•

reduce any premium payable on the redemption of the debt security or change the time at which the debt security may or must be redeemed;

 

•

change any obligation to pay additional amounts on the debt security;

 

•

make payments on the debt security payable in currency other than as originally stated in the debt security;

 

•

impair the holder’s right to institute suit for the enforcement of any payment on the debt security;

 

•

make any change in the percentage of principal amount of debt securities necessary to waive compliance with certain provisions of the indenture or to make any change in the provision related to modification;

 

•

waive a continuing default or event of default regarding any payment on the debt securities; or

 

•

release any Guarantor of its obligations under a Subsidiary Guarantee, except in accordance with the terms of the indenture.

The indenture may be amended or supplemented or any provision of the indenture may be waived without the consent of any holders of notes in certain circumstances, including:

 

•

to cure any ambiguity, omission, defect or inconsistency;

 

•

to provide for the assumption of our obligations under the indenture by a successor upon any merger or consolidation or asset sale, lease, conveyance, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of our assets, in each case as permitted under the indenture;

 

•

to provide for uncertificated notes in addition to or in place of certificated notes or to provide for bearer notes;

 

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•

to provide any security for, any guarantees of or any additional obligors on the notes;

 

•

to comply with any requirement to effect or maintain the qualification of the indenture under the Trust Indenture Act;

 

•

to add covenants that would benefit the holders of the notes or to surrender any rights we have under the indenture;

 

•

to add events of default with respect to the notes;

 

•

to make any change that does not adversely affect any notes then outstanding in any material respect; provided, that any change made solely to conform the provisions of the indenture to this “Description of the Exchange Notes” will not be deemed to adversely affect any notes then outstanding in any material respect; and

 

•

to supplement the provisions of the indenture to permit or facilitate defeasance or discharge of notes that does not adversely affect any notes then outstanding in any material respect.

The holders of a majority in principal amount of the notes may waive any existing or past default or event of default with respect to the notes. Those holders may not, however, waive any default or event of default in any payment on the notes or compliance with a provision that cannot be amended or supplemented without the consent of each holder affected.

Defeasance

When we use the term defeasance, we mean discharge from some or all of our obligations under the indenture. If any combination of funds or government securities are deposited with the trustee sufficient to make payments on the notes on the dates those payments are due and payable, then, at our option, either of the following will occur:

 

•

we and the Guarantors will be discharged from our obligations with respect to the notes (“legal defeasance”); or

 

•

we and the Guarantors will no longer have any obligation to comply with the restrictive covenants relating to the notes, and the related events of default will no longer apply (“covenant defeasance”).

If the notes are defeased, the holders of the notes will not be entitled to the benefits of the indenture, except for obligations to register the transfer or exchange of notes, replace stolen, lost or mutilated notes or maintain paying agencies and hold moneys for payment in trust. In the case of covenant defeasance, our obligation to pay principal, premium and interest on the notes and a Guarantor’s guarantee of the payments will also survive.

We will be required to deliver to the trustee an opinion of counsel that the deposit and related defeasance would not cause the holders of the notes to recognize income, gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If we elect legal defeasance, that opinion of counsel must be based upon a ruling from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or a change in law to that effect.

Governing Law

New York law governs the indenture, the notes, the Subsidiary Guarantees and the registration rights agreement.

Trustee

Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, acts as trustee under the indenture.

If an event of default occurs under the indenture and is continuing, the trustee will be required to use the degree of care and skill of a prudent person in the conduct of that person’s own affairs. The trustee will become obligated to exercise any of its powers under the indenture at the request of any of the holders of the notes only after those holders have offered the trustee indemnity satisfactory to it.

 

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The indenture contains limitations on the right of the trustee, if it becomes our creditor or a creditor of any Guarantor, to obtain payment of claims or to realize on certain property received for any such claim, as security or otherwise. The trustee is permitted to engage in other transactions with us or any Guarantor. If, however, it acquires any conflicting interest, it must eliminate that conflict or resign within 90 days after ascertaining that it has a conflicting interest and after the occurrence of a default under the indenture, unless the default has been cured, waived or otherwise eliminated within the 90-day period.

Additional Information

Anyone who receives this prospectus may obtain a copy of the indenture and the registration rights agreement without charge by writing to Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc., 500 Dallas Street, Suite 2300, Houston, Texas 77002, Attention: Investor Relations.

Book-Entry, Delivery and Form

The exchange notes will be issued initially only in the form of one or more global notes (collectively, the “Global Notes”). The Global Notes will be deposited upon issuance with the trustee as custodian for The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), in New York, New York, and registered in the name of DTC’s nominee, Cede & Co., in each case for credit to an account of a direct or indirect participant in DTC as described below. Beneficial interests in the Global Notes may be held through the Euroclear System (“Euroclear”) and Clearstream Banking, S.A. (“Clearstream”) (as indirect participants in DTC).

The Global Notes may be transferred, in whole but not in part, only to another nominee of DTC or to a successor of DTC or its nominee. Beneficial interests in the Global Notes may not be exchanged for notes in registered, certificated form (“Certificated Notes”) except in the limited circumstances described below. See “—Exchange of Global Notes for Certificated Notes.” Transfers of beneficial interests in the Global Notes will be subject to the applicable rules and procedures of DTC and its direct or indirect participants (including, if applicable, those of Euroclear and Clearstream), which may change from time to time.

Depository Procedures

The following description of the operations and procedures of DTC, Euroclear and Clearstream are provided solely as a matter of convenience. These operations and procedures are solely within the control of the respective settlement systems and are subject to changes by them. We take no responsibility for these operations and procedures and urge investors to contact the system or their participants directly to discuss these matters.

DTC has advised us that DTC is a limited-purpose trust company created to hold securities for its participating organizations (collectively, the “Participants”) and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of transactions in those securities between Participants through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of its Participants. The Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations. Access to DTC’s system is also available to other entities such as banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a Participant, either directly or indirectly (collectively, the “Indirect Participants”). Persons who are not Participants may beneficially own securities held by or on behalf of DTC only through the Participants or the Indirect Participants. The ownership interests in, and transfers of ownership interests in, each security held by or on behalf of DTC are recorded on the records of the Participants and Indirect Participants.

DTC has also advised us that, pursuant to procedures established by it:

(1) upon deposit of the Global Notes, DTC will credit the accounts of Participants designated by the exchange agent with portions of the principal amount of the Global Notes; and

(2) ownership of these interests in the Global Notes will be shown on, and the transfer of ownership of these interests will be effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to the Participants) or by the Participants and the Indirect Participants (with respect to other owners of beneficial interests in the Global Notes).

 

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Investors in the Global Notes who are Participants may hold their interests therein directly through DTC. Investors in the Global Notes who are not Participants may hold their interests therein indirectly through organizations (including Euroclear and Clearstream) which are Participants. Euroclear and Clearstream may hold interests in the Global Notes on behalf of their participants through customers’ securities accounts in their respective names on the books of their respective depositories, which are Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V., as operator of Euroclear, and Citibank, N.A., as operator of Clearstream. All interests in a Global Note, including those held through Euroclear or Clearstream, may be subject to the procedures and requirements of DTC. Those interests held through Euroclear or Clearstream may also be subject to the procedures and requirements of such systems.

The laws of some states require that certain Persons take physical delivery in definitive form of securities that they own. Consequently, the ability to transfer beneficial interests in a Global Note to such Persons will be limited to that extent. Because DTC can act only on behalf of Participants, which in turn act on behalf of Indirect Participants, the ability of a Person having beneficial interests in a Global Note to pledge such interests to Persons that do not participate in the DTC system, or otherwise take actions in respect of such interests, may be affected by the lack of a physical certificate evidencing such interests.

Except as described below, owners of an interest in the Global Notes will not have notes registered in their names, will not receive physical delivery of Certificated Notes and will not be considered the registered owners or “Holders” thereof under the indenture for any purpose.

Payments in respect of the principal of, and interest and premium, if any, on a Global Note registered in the name of DTC or its nominee will be payable to DTC in its capacity as the registered Holder under the indenture. Under the terms of the indenture, the Issuer, the Guarantors and the trustee will treat the Persons in whose names the notes, including the Global Notes, are registered as the owners of the notes for the purpose of receiving payments and for all other purposes. Consequently, neither the Issuer, the Guarantors, the trustee nor any agent of an Issuer or the trustee has or will have any responsibility or liability for:

(1) any aspect of DTC’s records or any Participant’s or Indirect Participant’s records relating to or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in the Global Notes or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any of DTC’s records or any Participant’s or Indirect Participant’s records relating to the beneficial ownership interests in the Global Notes; or

(2) any other matter relating to the actions and practices of DTC or any of its Participants or Indirect Participants.

DTC has advised us that its current practice, at the due date of any payment in respect of securities such as the notes, is to credit the accounts of the relevant Participants with the payment on the payment date unless DTC has reason to believe it will not receive payment on such payment date. Each relevant Participant is credited with an amount proportionate to its beneficial ownership of an interest in the principal amount of the notes as shown on the records of DTC. Payments by the Participants and the Indirect Participants to the beneficial owners of notes will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices and will be the responsibility of the Participants or the Indirect Participants and will not be the responsibility of DTC, the trustee or the Issuer. Neither the Issuer nor the trustee will be liable for any delay by DTC or any of its Participants in identifying the beneficial owners of the notes, and the Issuer and the trustee may conclusively rely on and will be protected in relying on instructions from DTC or its nominee for all purposes.

Transfers of exchange notes between Participants will be effected in accordance with DTC’s procedures and will be settled in same-day funds, and such transfers between participants in Euroclear and Clearstream will be effected in accordance with their respective rules and operating procedures.

Cross-market transfers of exchange notes between the Participants in DTC, on the one hand, and Euroclear or Clearstream participants, on the other hand, will be effected through DTC in accordance with DTC’s rules on behalf of Euroclear or Clearstream, as the case may be, by its depositary; however, such cross-market transactions will require delivery of instructions to Euroclear or Clearstream, as the case may be, by the counterparty in such system in accordance with the rules and procedures and within the established deadlines

 

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(Brussels time) of such system. Euroclear or Clearstream, as the case may be, will, if the transaction meets its settlement requirements, deliver instructions to its depositary to take action to effect final settlement on its behalf by delivering or receiving interests in the relevant Global Note in DTC, and making or receiving payment in accordance with normal procedures for same-day funds settlement applicable to DTC. Euroclear participants and Clearstream participants may not deliver instructions directly to the depositories for Euroclear or Clearstream.

DTC has advised us that it will take any action permitted to be taken by a Holder of notes only at the direction of one or more Participants to whose account DTC has credited the interests in the Global Notes and only in respect of such portion of the aggregate principal amount of the notes as to which such Participant or Participants has or have given such direction. However, if there is an Event of Default under the notes, DTC reserves the right to exchange the Global Notes for Certificated Notes, and to distribute such notes to its Participants.

Although DTC, Euroclear and Clearstream have agreed to the foregoing procedures to facilitate transfers of interests in the Global Notes among participants in DTC, Euroclear and Clearstream, they are under no obligation to perform or to continue to perform such procedures, and may discontinue such procedures at any time. None of the Issuer, the trustee or any of their respective agents will have any responsibility for the performance by DTC, Euroclear or Clearstream or their respective participants or indirect participants of their respective obligations under the rules and procedures governing their operations.

Exchange of Global Notes for Certificated Notes

A Global Note is exchangeable for Certificated Notes in minimum denominations of $2,000 and in integral multiples of $1,000 in excess of $2,000, if:

(1) DTC (a) notifies the Company that it is unwilling or unable to continue as depositary for the Global Notes or (b) has ceased to be a clearing agency registered under the Exchange Act and, in either case, the Company fails to appoint a successor depositary within 90 days;

(2) the Company, at its option, notifies the trustee in writing that it elects to cause the issuance of the Certificated Notes; or

(3) there has occurred and is continuing a Default or Event of Default with respect to the notes.

In all cases, Certificated Notes delivered in exchange for any Global Note or beneficial interests in Global Notes will be registered in the names, and issued in any approved denominations, requested by or on behalf of the depositary (in accordance with its customary procedures).

Exchange of Certificated Notes for Global Notes

Certificated Notes may not be exchanged for beneficial interests in any Global Note, except in the limited circumstances provided in the indenture

Same Day Settlement and Payment

If a Holder has given wire instructions to the Issuer, the Issuer will make payments in respect of the notes represented by the Global Notes (including principal, premium, if any, and interest) by wire transfer of immediately available funds to the accounts specified by DTC or its nominee. If a Holder has given wire instructions to the Issuer, the Issuer will make all payments of principal, interest and premium, if any, with respect to Certificated Notes by wire transfer of immediately available funds to the accounts specified by the Holders of the Certificated Notes. All other payments on the notes will be made at the office or agency of the paying agent and registrar within Dallas, Texas unless the Issuer elects to make interest payments by check mailed to the Holders at their addresses set forth in the register of Holders. The notes represented by the Global

 

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Notes are expected to be eligible to trade in DTC’s Same-Day Funds Settlement System, and any permitted secondary market trading activity in such notes will, therefore, be required by DTC to be settled in immediately available funds. The Issuer expects that secondary trading in any Certificated Notes will also be settled in immediately available funds.

Because of time zone differences, the securities account of a Euroclear or Clearstream participant purchasing an interest in a Global Note from a Participant will be credited, and any such crediting will be reported to the relevant Euroclear or Clearstream participant, during the securities settlement processing day (which must be a business day for Euroclear and Clearstream) immediately following the settlement date of DTC. DTC has advised us that cash received in Euroclear or Clearstream as a result of sales of interests in a Global Note by or through a Euroclear or Clearstream participant to a Participant will be received with value on the settlement date of DTC but will be available in the relevant Euroclear or Clearstream cash account only as of the business day for Euroclear or Clearstream following DTC’s settlement date.

Certain Definitions

Set forth below are certain defined terms used in the indenture. Reference is made to the indenture for a full disclosure of all such terms, as well as any other capitalized terms used herein for which no definition is provided.

“Additional Assets” means:

(1) any assets used or useful in the Oil and Gas Business, other than Indebtedness or Capital Stock;

(2) the Capital Stock of a Person that becomes a Restricted Subsidiary as a result of the acquisition of such Capital Stock by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries; or

(3) Capital Stock constituting a minority interest in any Person that at such time is a Restricted Subsidiary;

provided, however, that any such Restricted Subsidiary described in clause (2) or (3) is primarily engaged in the Oil and Gas Business.

“Adjusted Consolidated Net Tangible Assets” of a specified Person means (without duplication), as of the date of determination:

(1) the sum of:

(a) discounted future net revenue from proved crude oil and natural gas reserves of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries calculated in accordance with SEC guidelines before any state or federal or other income taxes, as estimated by the Company in a reserve report prepared as of the end of the fiscal year of such Person for which audited financial statements are available, as increased by, as of the date of determination, the estimated discounted future net revenue from:

(i) estimated proved crude oil and natural gas reserves of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries attributable to acquisitions consummated since the date of such reserve report, which reserves were not reflected in such reserve report, and

(ii) estimated crude oil and natural gas reserves of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries attributable to extensions, discoveries and other additions and upward revisions of estimates of proved crude oil and natural gas reserves (including previously estimated development costs incurred during the period and the accretion of discount since the prior period end) due to exploration, development or exploitation, production or other activities which would, in accordance with standard industry practice, cause such revisions, in the case of clauses (i) and (ii) calculated in accordance with SEC guidelines,

 

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and decreased by, as of the date of determination, the estimated discounted future net revenue attributable to:

(A) estimated proved crude oil and natural gas reserves of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries reflected in such reserve report produced or disposed of since the date of such reserve report, and

(B) reductions in the estimated crude oil and natural gas reserves of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries reflected in such reserve report since the date of such reserve report due to changes in geological conditions or other factors which would, in accordance with standard industry practice, cause such revisions, in the case of clauses (A) and (B) calculated in accordance with SEC guidelines; provided, however, that, in the case of each of the determinations made pursuant to clauses (i), (ii), (A) and (B) above, such increases and decreases shall be estimated by the Company’s petroleum engineers or any independent petroleum engineers engaged by the Company for that purpose;

(b) the capitalized costs that are attributable to crude oil and natural gas properties of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries to which no proved crude oil and natural gas reserves are attributable, based on such Person’s books and records as of a date no earlier than the date of such Person’s latest available annual or quarterly financial statements;

(c) the Net Working Capital of such Person as of a date no earlier than the date of such Person’s latest available annual or quarterly financial statements; and

(d) the greater of:

(i) the net book value of other tangible assets of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries as of a date no earlier than the date of such Person’s latest available annual or quarterly financial statements, and

(ii) the appraised value, as estimated by independent appraisers, of other tangible assets of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries as of a date no earlier than the date of such Person’s latest available annual or quarterly financial statements (provided that such Person shall not be required to obtain such an appraisal of such assets if no such appraisal has been performed);

minus

(2) the sum of:

(a) Minority Interests;

(b) to the extent not otherwise taken into account in determining Adjusted Consolidated Net Tangible Assets, any net natural gas balancing liabilities of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries reflected in such Person’s latest audited financial statements;

(c) to the extent included in clause (1)(a) above, the discounted future net revenue, calculated in accordance with SEC guidelines (utilizing the prices utilized in such Person’s year end reserve report), attributable to reserves subject to participation interests, overriding royalty interests or other interests of third parties, pursuant to participation, partnership, vendor financing or other agreements then in effect, or which otherwise are required to be delivered to third parties;

(d) to the extent included in clause (1)(a) above, the discounted future net revenue calculated in accordance with SEC guidelines (utilizing the prices utilized in such Person’s year end reserve report), attributable to reserves that are required to be delivered to third parties to fully satisfy the obligations of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries with respect to Volumetric Production Payments on the schedules specified with respect thereto; and

(e) the discounted future net revenue, calculated in accordance with SEC guidelines, attributable to reserves subject to Dollar-Denominated Production Payments that, based on the estimates of production and price assumptions included in determining the discounted future net revenue specified

 

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in clause (1)(a) above, would be necessary to satisfy fully the obligations of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries with respect to Dollar-Denominated Production Payments on the schedules specified with respect thereto.

If the Company changes its method of accounting from the full cost method to the successful efforts method or a similar method of accounting, “Adjusted Consolidated Net Tangible Assets” of the Company will continue to be calculated as if the Company were still using the full cost method of accounting.

“Affiliate” of any specified Person means any other Person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by or under direct or indirect common control with such specified Person. For purposes of this definition, “control,” as used with respect to any Person, means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of such Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by agreement or otherwise. For purposes of this definition, the terms “controlling,” “controlled by” and “under common control with” have correlative meanings.

“Asset Sale” means:

(1) the sale, lease, conveyance or other disposition of any assets (including by way of a Production Payment or a Sale Leaseback Transaction or mergers, consolidations or otherwise); provided, however, that the disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a whole will not be an “Asset Sale,” but will be governed by the provisions of the indenture described above under the caption “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Change of Control” and/or the provisions described above under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Merger, Consolidation or Sale of Assets” and not by the provisions of the Asset Sale covenant; and

(2) the issuance of Equity Interests in any of the Company’s Restricted Subsidiaries or the sale of Equity Interests in any of its Restricted Subsidiaries (other than directors’ qualifying shares or shares required by applicable law to be held by a Person other than the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary).

Notwithstanding the preceding, the following items will not be deemed to be Asset Sales:

(1) any single transaction or series of related transactions that involves properties or assets having a Fair Market Value of less than the greater of (i) $10.0 million and (ii) 1.0% of the Company’s Adjusted Consolidated Net Tangible Assets determined as of the date of such transaction;

(2) a disposition of assets between or among any of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries;

(3) an issuance or sale of Equity Interests by a Restricted Subsidiary to the Company or to another Restricted Subsidiary;

(4) any disposition, abandonment, relinquishment or expiration of equipment, inventory, products, accounts receivable or other properties or assets in the ordinary course of business;

(5) the disposition of cash or Cash Equivalents, Hedging Contracts or other financial instruments in the ordinary course of business;

(6) a Restricted Payment that is permitted by the covenant described above under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Restricted Payments” or a Permitted Investment (or a disposition that would constitute a Restricted Payment but for the exclusion from the definition thereof);

(7) the farm-out, lease or sublease of developed or undeveloped crude oil or natural gas properties owned or held by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business or in exchange for crude oil and natural gas properties or interests owned or held by another Person;

(8) (i) any trade or exchange by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of Hydrocarbon properties or other properties or assets for Hydrocarbon properties or other properties or assets owned or held by one or more other Persons, and (ii) any transfer or sale of assets, or lease, assignment or sublease of

 

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any real or personal property, (A) in exchange for services (including in connection with any outsourcing arrangements), and/or (B) in exchange for such transferee, lessee or assignee (or an Affiliate thereof) agreeing to pay all or a portion of the costs and expenses related to the exploration, development, completion and/or production (and related activities) of properties of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary, and/or (C) in exchange for properties or assets satisfying the requirements of clause (i) above ((A), (B) and (C) being referred to herein as a “carry”); provided that (except in the case of land purchase option arrangements granted by or to the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary) the Fair Market Value of the properties or assets traded, exchanged, transferred, sold, leased, assigned or subleased by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary (together with any cash and Cash Equivalents) is reasonably equivalent or of less market value to the Fair Market Value of the properties, assets, services or carry (together with any cash and Cash Equivalents) expected to be received by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary, as determined in good faith by the Company, and provided further that any cash received must be applied in accordance with the provisions described above under the caption “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Asset Sales”;

(9) the creation or perfection of a Lien (but not, except to the extent contemplated in clause (10) below, the sale or other disposition of the properties or assets subject to such Lien);

(10) the creation or perfection of a Permitted Lien and the exercise by any Person in whose favor a Permitted Lien is granted of any of its rights in respect of that Permitted Lien;

(11) a surrender or waiver of contract rights or the settlement, release or surrender of contract, tort or other claims of any kind;

(12) the licensing or sublicensing of intellectual property or other general intangibles in the ordinary course of business to the extent that such license does not prohibit the licensor from using the intellectual property and licenses, leases or subleases of other property;

(13) the disposition of oil and natural gas properties in connection with tax credit transactions complying with Section 45K of the Internal Revenue Code or any successor or analogous provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, provided that the sale or other disposition is for not less than the Fair Market Value of such oil and natural gas properties, as determined in good faith by the Company;

(14) the transfer of property received in settlement of debts owing to such Person as a result of foreclosure, perfection or enforcement of any Lien or debt, which debts were owing to such Person in the ordinary course of its business;

(15) any Production Payments and Reserve Sales, provided that any such Production Payments and Reserve Sales (other than incentive compensation programs on terms that are reasonably customary in the Oil and Gas Business for geologists, geophysicists and other providers of technical services to the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary), shall have been created, incurred, issued, assumed or guaranteed in connection with the acquisition or financing of, and within 60 days after the acquisition of, the property that is subject thereto;

(16) the sale or other disposition (whether or not in the ordinary course of business) of oil and gas properties, provided at the time of such sale or other disposition such properties do not have associated with them any proved reserves, and provided further that the sale or other disposition is for not less than the Fair Market Value of such oil and gas properties, as determined in good faith by the Company;

(17) any sale or other disposition of Equity Interests in, or other ownership interests in or assets or property, including Indebtedness, or other securities of, an Unrestricted Subsidiary;

(18) any disposition of Equity Interests of a Restricted Subsidiary pursuant to an agreement or other obligation with or to a Person (other than the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary) from whom such Restricted Subsidiary was acquired or from whom such Restricted Subsidiary acquired its business and assets (having been newly formed in connection with such acquisition), made as part of such acquisition and in each case comprising all or a portion of the consideration in respect of such sale or acquisition; and

 

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(19) the sale and leaseback of any asset within 180 days of the acquisition thereof.

“Attributable Debt” in respect of a Sale Leaseback Transaction means, at the time of determination, the present value of the obligation of the lessee for net rental payments during the remaining term of the lease included in such Sale Leaseback Transaction including any period for which such lease has been extended or may, at the option of the lessor, be extended. Such present value shall be calculated using a discount rate equal to the rate of interest implicit in such transaction, determined in accordance with GAAP. As used in the preceding sentence, the “net rental payments” under any lease for any period shall mean the sum of rental and other payments required to be paid with respect to such period by the lessee thereunder, excluding any amounts required to be paid by such lessee on account of maintenance and repairs, insurance, taxes, assessments, water rates or similar charges. In the case of any lease that is terminable by the lessee upon payment of penalty, such net rental payment shall also include the amount of such penalty, but no rent shall be considered as required to be paid under such lease subsequent to the first date upon which it may be so terminated.

“Avista” means Avista Capital Partners II, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, and its successors and permitted assigns.

“Avista Marcellus Joint Venture” means that certain joint venture between Carrizo (Marcellus) LLC (or other wholly owned Subsidiaries of the Company) Avista Capital Partners II, L.P. and ACP II Marcellus LLC pursuant to that certain Participation Agreement dated as of November 3, 2008 and such other documents delivered in connection therewith, as the same may be amended, modified or supplemented from time to time (provided that such amendment, modification or supplement does not materially and adversely affect the rights of any Holder of notes under the indenture).

“Beneficial Owner” has the meaning assigned to such term in Rule 13d-3 and Rule 13d-5 under the Exchange Act, except that in calculating the beneficial ownership of any particular “person” (as that term is used in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), such “person” will be deemed to have beneficial ownership of all securities that such “person” has the right to acquire by conversion or exercise of other securities, whether such right is currently exercisable or is exercisable only upon the occurrence of a subsequent condition. The terms “Beneficially Owns” and “Beneficially Owned” have correlative meanings.

“Board of Directors” means:

(1) with respect to the Company, the board of directors of the Company or any authorized committee thereof; and

(2) with respect to any other Person, the board or committee of such Person serving a similar function.

“Board Resolution” means a copy of a resolution certified by the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the applicable Person to have been duly adopted by the Board of Directors of such Person and to be in full force and effect on the date of such certification, and delivered to the trustee.

“Business Day” means each day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or other day on which banking institutions in Houston, Texas or in New York, New York or another place of payment are authorized or required by law to close.

“Capital Lease Obligation” means, at the time any determination is to be made, the amount of the liability in respect of a capital lease that would at that time be required to be capitalized on a balance sheet in accordance with GAAP, and the Stated Maturity thereof shall be the date of the last payment of rent or any other amount due under such lease prior to the first date upon which such lease may be prepaid by the lessee without payment of a penalty.

“Capital Stock” means:

(1) in the case of a corporation, corporate stock;

 

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(2) in the case of an association or business entity, any and all shares, interests, participations, rights or other equivalents (however designated) of corporate stock;

(3) in the case of a partnership or limited liability company, partnership interests (whether general or limited) or membership interests; and

(4) any other interest or participation that confers on a Person the right to receive a share of the profits and losses of, or distributions of assets of, the issuing Person,

but excluding from all of the foregoing any debt securities convertible into Capital Stock, regardless of whether such debt securities include any right of participation with Capital Stock.

“Cash Equivalents” means:

(1) United States dollars;

(2) securities issued or directly and fully guaranteed or insured by the United States government or any agency or instrumentality of the United States government (provided that the full faith and credit of the United States is pledged in support of those securities) having maturities of not more than one year from the date of acquisition;

(3) marketable general obligations issued by any state of the United States of America or any political subdivision of any such state or any public instrumentality thereof maturing within one year from the date of acquisition thereof and, at the time of acquisition thereof, having a credit rating of “A” or better from either S&P or Moody’s;

(4) certificates of deposit, demand deposits and eurodollar time deposits with maturities of one year or less from the date of acquisition, bankers’ acceptances with maturities not exceeding one year and overnight bank deposits, in each case, with any domestic commercial bank having capital and surplus in excess of $500.0 million;

(5) repurchase obligations with a term of not more than seven days for underlying securities of the types described in clauses (2), (3) and (4) above entered into with any financial institution meeting the qualifications specified in clause (4) above;

(6) commercial paper having one of the two highest rating obtainable from Moody’s or S&P and, in each case, maturing within one year after the date of acquisition; and

(7) money market funds at least 95% of the assets of which constitute Cash Equivalents of the kinds described in clauses (1) through (6) of this definition.

“Change of Control” means the occurrence of any of the following:

(1) the direct or indirect sale, lease, transfer, conveyance or other disposition (other than by way of merger or consolidation), in one or a series of related transactions, of all or substantially all of the assets (including Capital Stock of the Restricted Subsidiaries) of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a whole, or a Successor Parent of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a whole, to any “person” (as that term is used in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act) other than a Permitted Holder;

(2) the adoption by the shareholders of the Company of a plan relating to the liquidation or dissolution of the Company;

(3) the consummation of any transaction (including, without limitation, any merger or consolidation) the result of which is that any “person” (as that term is used in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), other than Permitted Holders, becomes the Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of more than 50% of the Voting Stock of the Company or any Successor Parent of the Company, measured by voting power rather than number of shares, units or the like; provided that no Change of Control shall be deemed to occur by reason of the Company becoming a Subsidiary of any Successor Parent; or

 

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(4) the first day on which a majority of the members of the Board of Directors of the Company or any Successor Parent of the Company are not Continuing Directors.

“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time, and any successor statute.

“Commission” or “SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Consolidated Cash Flow” means, with respect to any specified Person for any period, the Consolidated Net Income of such Person for such period plus, without duplication:

(1) an amount equal to any net loss realized by such Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in connection with an Asset Sale, to the extent such losses were deducted in computing such Consolidated Net Income; plus

(2) provision for taxes based on income or profits of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period, to the extent that such provision for taxes was deducted in computing such Consolidated Net Income; plus

(3) the Fixed Charges of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period, to the extent that such Fixed Charges were deducted in computing such Consolidated Net Income; plus

(4) depreciation, depletion, amortization (including amortization of intangibles but excluding amortization of prepaid cash expenses that were paid in a prior period), impairment and other non-cash expenses (excluding any such non-cash expense to the extent that it represents an accrual of or reserve for cash expenses in any future period or amortization of a prepaid cash expense that was paid in a prior period) of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period to the extent that such depreciation, depletion, amortization, impairment and other non-cash expenses were deducted in computing such Consolidated Net Income; plus

(5) unrealized non-cash losses resulting from foreign currency balance sheet adjustments required by GAAP to the extent such losses were deducted in computing such Consolidated Net Income; plus

(6) all extraordinary, unusual or non-recurring items of gain or loss, or revenue or expense; minus

(7) non-cash items increasing such Consolidated Net Income for such period, other than items that were accrued in the ordinary course of business; and minus

(8) to the extent increasing such Consolidated Net Income for such period, the sum of (a) the amount of deferred revenues that are amortized during such period and are attributable to reserves that are subject to Volumetric Production Payments and (b) amounts recorded in accordance with GAAP as repayments of principal and interest pursuant to Dollar-Denominated Production Payments;

in each case, on a consolidated basis and determined in accordance with GAAP.

“Consolidated Net Income” means, with respect to any specified Person for any period, the aggregate of the Net Income of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period, on a consolidated basis, determined in accordance with GAAP, provided that:

(1) the Net Income (but not loss) of any Person that is not a Restricted Subsidiary or that is accounted for by the equity method of accounting will be included, but only to the extent of the amount of dividends or distributions paid in cash to the specified Person or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Person;

(2) the Net Income of any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company will be excluded to the extent that the declaration or payment of dividends or similar distributions by that Restricted Subsidiary of that Net Income is not at the date of determination permitted without any prior governmental approval (that has not been obtained) or, directly or indirectly, by operation of the terms of its charter or any agreement, instrument, judgment, decree, order, statute, rule or governmental regulation applicable to that Restricted Subsidiary or its stockholders, partners or members;

 

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(3) the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principles will be excluded;

(4) any gain (loss) realized upon the sale or other disposition of any property, plant or equipment of such Person or its consolidated Restricted Subsidiaries (including pursuant to any sale or leaseback transaction) which is not sold or otherwise disposed of in the ordinary course of business and any gain (loss) realized upon the sale or other disposition of any Capital Stock of any Person will be excluded;

(5) any asset impairment writedowns on oil and gas properties under GAAP or SEC guidelines will be excluded;

(6) unrealized losses and gains under Hedging Contracts included in the determination of Consolidated Net Income, including, without limitation, those resulting from the application of FASB ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging,” will be excluded;

(7) to the extent deducted in the calculation of Net Income, any non-cash or nonrecurring charges relating to any premium or penalty paid, write off of deferred financing costs or other financial recapitalization charges in connection with redeeming or retiring any Indebtedness prior to its Stated Maturity will be excluded;

(8) items classified as extraordinary or nonrecurring gains and losses (less all fees and expenses related thereto) and the related tax effects, in each case according to GAAP, will be excluded; and

(9) income resulting from transfers of assets (other than cash) between such Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and an Unrestricted Subsidiary of such Person, on the other hand, will be excluded.

“Consolidated Net Worth” means, with respect to any specified Person as of any date, the sum of:

(1) the consolidated equity of the common shareholders of, or the consolidated capital of the unitholders of, such Person and its consolidated Subsidiaries as of such date; plus

(2) the respective amounts reported on such Person’s balance sheet as of such date with respect to any series of preferred stock (other than Disqualified Stock) that by its terms is not entitled to the payment of dividends unless such dividends may be declared and paid only out of net earnings in respect of the year of such declaration and payment, but only to the extent of any cash received by such Person upon issuance of such preferred stock.

“Continuing Directors” means, as of any date of determination, any member of the Board of Directors of the Company who:

(1) was a member of such Board of Directors on the date of the supplemental indenture; or

(2) was nominated for election or elected or appointed to such Board of Directors with the approval of a majority of the Continuing Directors who were members of such Board at the time of such nomination, election or appointment.

“Convertible Notes” means the Issuer’s 4.375% Senior Convertible Notes due 2028.

“Credit Agreement” means that certain Credit Agreement, dated as of May 25, 2006, among the Company, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as Administrative Agent, and the other lenders party thereto, including any related notes, guarantees, collateral documents, instruments and agreements executed in connection therewith, in each case as amended, restated, modified, renewed, refunded, replaced or refinanced from time to time (including that certain Credit Agreement, dated January 27, 2011, among the Company, BNP Paribas, as Administrative Agent, and the other lenders party thereto).

“Credit Facilities” means one or more debt facilities (including, without limitation, the Credit Agreement), commercial paper facilities or Debt Issuances, in each case with banks or other institutional lenders or institutional investors providing for revolving credit loans, term loans, receivables financing (including through

 

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the sale of receivables to such lenders or to special purpose entities formed to borrow from such lenders against such receivables), letters of credit or other borrowings or Debt Issuances, in each case, as amended, restated, modified, renewed, refunded, replaced or refinanced (including refinancing with any capital markets transaction) in whole or in part from time to time.

“Customary Recourse Exceptions” means, with respect to any Non-Recourse Debt of an Unrestricted Subsidiary, exclusions from the exculpation provisions with respect to such Non-Recourse Debt for the voluntary bankruptcy of such Unrestricted Subsidiary, fraud, misapplication of cash, environmental claims, waste, willful destruction, and other circumstances customarily excluded by lenders from exculpation provisions and/or included in separate indemnification agreements in non-recourse financings.

“Debt Issuance” means, with respect to the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, one or more issuances after the date of the supplemental indenture of Indebtedness evidenced by notes, debentures, bonds or other similar securities or instruments.

“Default” means any event that is, or with the passage of time or the giving of notice or both would be, an Event of Default.

“De Minimis Guaranteed Amount” means a principal amount of Indebtedness that does not exceed $5.0 million.

“Disqualified Stock” means any Capital Stock that, by its terms (or by the terms of any security into which it is convertible, or for which it is exchangeable, in each case at the option of the holder of the Capital Stock), or upon the happening of any event, matures or is mandatorily redeemable, pursuant to a sinking fund obligation or otherwise, or redeemable at the option of the holder of the Capital Stock, in whole or in part, on or prior to the date that is 91 days after the earlier of the final stated maturity date of the notes or the date the notes are no longer outstanding; provided that only the portion of Capital Stock which so matures or is mandatorily redeemable, is so convertible or exchangeable or is so redeemable at the option of the holder thereof prior to such date shall be deemed to be Disqualified Stock; provided, further, that if such Capital Stock is issued to any employee or to any plan for the benefit of employees of the Company or its Subsidiaries or by any such plan to such employees, such Capital Stock shall not constitute Disqualified Stock solely because it may be required to be repurchased by the Company in order to satisfy applicable statutory or regulatory obligations or as a result of such employee’s termination, death or disability; provided, further, that any class of Capital Stock of such Person that by its terms authorizes such Person to satisfy its obligations thereunder by delivery of Capital Stock that is not Disqualified Stock shall not be deemed to be Disqualified Stock. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, any Capital Stock that would constitute Disqualified Stock solely because the holders of the Capital Stock have the right to require the Company to repurchase or redeem such Capital Stock upon the occurrence of a change of control or an asset sale will not constitute Disqualified Stock if (x) the terms of such Capital Stock provide that the Company may not repurchase or redeem any such Capital Stock pursuant to such provisions unless such repurchase or redemption complies with the covenant described above under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Restricted Payments” or (y) the terms of such Capital Stock provide that the Company may not repurchase or redeem any such Capital Stock pursuant to such provisions prior to the Company’s purchase of the notes as is required to be purchased pursuant to the provisions of the supplemental indenture. The amount (or principal amount) of Disqualified Stock deemed to be outstanding at any time for purposes of the indenture will be the maximum amount that the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries may become obligated to pay upon the maturity of, or pursuant to any mandatory redemption provisions of, such Disqualified Stock, exclusive of accrued dividends.

“Dollar-Denominated Production Payments” means production payment obligations recorded as liabilities in accordance with GAAP, together with all undertakings and obligations in connection therewith.

“Domestic Subsidiary” means any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company that was formed under the laws of the United States or any state of the United States or the District of Columbia.

 

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“Equity Interests” means Capital Stock and all warrants, options or other rights to acquire Capital Stock (but excluding any debt security that is convertible into, or exchangeable for, Capital Stock).

“Equity Offering” means any public or private sale of Capital Stock (other than Disqualified Stock) made for cash on a primary basis by the Company after the date of the indenture.

“Equity Repurchase” means the repurchase or other acquisition or retirement for value of any Equity Interests of the Company pursuant to any stock repurchase plan of the Company approved by the Board of Directors of the Company and effected in accordance with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act or otherwise in accordance with applicable law.

“Exchange Notes” means the notes issued in an Exchange Offer pursuant to the indenture.

“Exchange Offer” has the meaning set forth for such term in the applicable registration rights agreement.

“Existing Indebtedness” means the aggregate principal amount of Indebtedness of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries (other than Indebtedness under the Credit Agreement and intercompany Indebtedness) in existence on the date of the supplemental indenture, until such amounts are repaid.

“Fair Market Value” means, with respect to any asset, the sale value that would be obtained in an arm’s-length free market transaction between an informed and willing seller under no compulsion to sell and an informed and willing buyer under no compulsion to buy, determined on the date of contractually agreeing to such sale, or in circumstances in which the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary grants a third party the right to purchase an asset, the date of such grant.

“Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio” means with respect to any specified Person for any four-quarter reference period, the ratio of the Consolidated Cash Flow of such Person for such period to the Fixed Charges of such Person for such period. In the event that the specified Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries incurs, assumes, guarantees, repays, repurchases, redeems, defeases or otherwise discharges any Indebtedness (other than ordinary working capital borrowings) or issues, repurchases or redeems preferred stock subsequent to the commencement of the applicable four-quarter reference period and on or prior to the date on which the event for which the calculation of the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio is made (the “Calculation Date”), then the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio will be calculated giving pro forma effect to such incurrence, assumption, guarantee, repayment, repurchase, redemption, defeasance or other discharge of Indebtedness, or such issuance, repurchase or redemption of preferred stock, and the use of the proceeds therefrom, as if the same had occurred at the beginning of the applicable four-quarter reference period.

In addition, for purposes of calculating the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio:

(1) acquisitions that have been made by the specified Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, including through mergers, consolidations or otherwise (including acquisitions of assets used or useful in the Oil and Gas Business), or any Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries acquired by the specified Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, and including in each case any related financing transactions and increases in ownership of Restricted Subsidiaries, during the applicable four-quarter reference period or subsequent to such reference period and on or prior to the Calculation Date, will be given pro forma effect as if they had occurred on the first day of the four-quarter reference period, and the Consolidated Cash Flow for such reference period will be calculated giving pro forma effect to any expense and cost reductions or synergies that have occurred or are reasonably expected to occur, in the reasonable judgment of the chief financial or accounting officer of the Company (provided those cost savings or operating improvements could then be reflected in pro forma financial statements in accordance with Regulation S-X promulgated under the Securities Act or any other regulation or policy of the SEC related thereto);

(2) the Consolidated Cash Flow attributable to discontinued operations, as determined in accordance with GAAP, and operations or businesses (and ownership interests therein) disposed of prior to the Calculation Date, will be excluded;

 

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(3) the Fixed Charges attributable to discontinued operations, as determined in accordance with GAAP, and operations or businesses (and ownership interests therein) disposed of prior to the Calculation Date, will be excluded, but only to the extent that the obligations giving rise to such Fixed Charges will not be obligations of the specified Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries following the Calculation Date;

(4) any Person that is a Restricted Subsidiary of the specified Person on the Calculation Date will be deemed to have been a Restricted Subsidiary of the specified Person at all times during such four-quarter period;

(5) any Person that is not a Restricted Subsidiary of the specified Person on the Calculation Date will be deemed not to have been a Restricted Subsidiary of the specified Person at any time during such four-quarter period; and

(6) if any Indebtedness bears a floating rate of interest, the interest expense on such Indebtedness will be calculated as if the rate in effect on the Calculation Date had been the applicable rate for the entire period (taking into account any obligations arising under any Hedging Contract applicable to such Indebtedness if such Hedging Contract has a remaining term as at the Calculation Date in excess of 12 months).

“Fixed Charges” means, with respect to any specified Person for any period, the sum, without duplication, of:

(1) the consolidated interest expense of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period, whether paid or accrued (excluding any interest attributable to Dollar-Denominated Production Payments but including, without limitation, amortization of debt issuance costs and original issue discount, non-cash interest payments, the interest component of any deferred payment obligations, the interest component of all payments associated with Capital Lease Obligations, imputed interest with respect to Attributable Debt, commissions, discounts and other fees and charges incurred in respect of letter of credit or bankers’ acceptance financings), and net of the effect of all payments made or received pursuant to interest rate Hedging Contracts; plus

(2) the consolidated interest expense of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries that was capitalized during such period; plus

(3) any interest expense on Indebtedness of another Person that is guaranteed by such Person or one of its Restricted Subsidiaries or secured by a Lien on assets of such Person or one of its Restricted Subsidiaries, whether or not such guarantee or Lien is called upon (other than a Lien of the type described in clause (9) of the definition of “Permitted Liens”); plus

(4) all dividends on any Disqualified Stock or series of preferred securities of such Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, whether paid or accrued and whether or not in cash, other than dividends on Equity Interests payable solely in Equity Interests of the Company (other than Disqualified Stock) or to the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company,

in each case, on a consolidated basis and in accordance with GAAP.

“GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, which are in effect on the date of the supplemental indenture.

The term “guarantee” means a guarantee other than by endorsement of negotiable instruments for collection in the ordinary course of business, direct or indirect, in any manner including, without limitation, by way of a pledge of assets or through letters of credit or reimbursement agreements in respect thereof, of all or any part of any Indebtedness or entered into for purposes of assuring in any other manner the obligee of such Indebtedness of the payment thereof or to protect such obligee against loss in respect thereof (in whole or in part). When used as a verb, “guarantee” has a correlative meaning.

“Guarantors” means each of:

(1) the Restricted Subsidiaries of the Company executing the supplemental indenture as initial Guarantors; and

 

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(2) any other Restricted Subsidiary of the Company that becomes a Guarantor in accordance with the provisions of the indenture;

and their respective successors and assigns, in each case, until the Subsidiary Guarantee of such Person is released in accordance with the provisions of the indenture.

“Hedging Contracts” means, with respect to any specified Person:

(1) interest rate swap agreements, interest rate cap agreements and interest rate collar agreements entered into with one of more financial institutions and designed to protect the Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries entering into the agreement against fluctuations in interest rates, or to otherwise reduce the cost of borrowing of such Person or any of such Restricted Subsidiaries, with respect to Indebtedness incurred;

(2) foreign exchange contracts and currency protection agreements entered into with one of more financial institutions and designed to protect the Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries entering into the agreement against fluctuations in currency exchanges rates;

(3) any commodity futures contract, commodity swap, commodity option, commodity forward sale or other similar agreement or arrangement designed to protect against fluctuations in the price of Hydrocarbons used, produced, processed or sold by that Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries at the time; and

(4) other agreements or arrangements designed to protect such Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries against fluctuations in interest rates, commodity prices or currency exchange rates, and in each case are entered into only in the normal course of business and not for speculative purposes.

“Holder” means a Person in whose name a Note is registered.

“Hydrocarbons” means crude oil, natural gas, casinghead gas, drip gasoline, natural gasoline, condensate, distillate, liquid hydrocarbons, gaseous hydrocarbons and all constituents, elements or compounds thereof and products refined or processed therefrom.

“Indebtedness” means, with respect to any specified Person:

(1) any indebtedness of such Person, whether or not contingent in respect of borrowed money;

(2) all obligations evidenced by bonds, notes, debentures or similar instruments or letters of credit (or reimbursement agreements in respect thereof) (other than performance, surety and appeal bonds arising in the ordinary course of business);

(3) all obligations in respect of bankers’ acceptances;

(4) all Capital Lease Obligations or Attributable Debt in respect of Sale Leaseback Transactions;

(5) all obligations representing the balance deferred and unpaid of the purchase price of any property (other than (i) property purchased, and expense accruals and deferred compensation items arising, in the ordinary course of business, (ii) obligations payable solely in Capital Stock that is not Disqualified Stock and (iii) purchase price holdbacks in respect of a portion of the purchase price of an asset to satisfy warranty or other unperformed obligations of the respective seller);

(6) all obligations under Hedging Contracts; and

(7) with respect to Production Payments, any warranties or guarantees of production or payment by such Person with respect to such Production Payment, but excluding other contractual obligations of such Person with respect to such Production Payment,

if and to the extent any of the preceding items (other than letters of credit and obligations under Hedging Contracts) would appear as a liability upon a balance sheet of the specified Person prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, the term “Indebtedness” includes all Indebtedness of other Persons secured by a Lien on any

 

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asset of the specified Person, whether or not such Indebtedness is assumed by the specified Person (provided that the amount of such Indebtedness will be the lesser of (a) the Fair Market Value of such asset at such date of determination and (b) the amount of such Indebtedness of such other Person), and, to the extent not otherwise included, the guarantee by the specified Person of any Indebtedness of any other Person (including, with respect to any Production Payment, any warranties or guarantees of production or payment by such Person with respect to such Production Payment, but excluding other contractual obligations of such Person with respect to such Production Payment).

Furthermore, notwithstanding the foregoing, the following shall not constitute or be deemed “Indebtedness”:

(i) any indebtedness which has been defeased in accordance with GAAP or defeased pursuant to the deposit of cash or Cash Equivalents (in an amount sufficient to satisfy all such indebtedness obligations at maturity or redemption, as applicable, and all payments of interest and premium, if any) in a trust or account created or pledged for the sole benefit of the holders of such indebtedness, and subject to no other Liens, and the other applicable terms of the instrument governing such indebtedness;

(ii) any obligation of a Person in respect of the balance deferred and unpaid of the purchase price of any property, a farm-in agreement, joint venture, participation or similar arrangement whereby such Person agrees to pay all or a share of the exploration, development, completion or production or other expenses of an exploratory or development well or program (which agreement may be subject to a maximum payment obligation, after which expenses are shared in accordance with the working or participation interest therein or in accordance with the agreement of the parties) or perform the drilling, completion or other operation on such well or program, or transfer of overriding royalty interests or other interests in Hydrocarbon properties in exchange for an ownership interest in an oil or gas property;

(iii) any obligations arising from agreements of a Person providing for indemnification, guarantees, adjustment of purchase price, holdbacks, contingent payment obligations based on a final financial statement or performance of acquired or disposed of assets or similar obligations (other than guarantees of Indebtedness), in each case, incurred or assumed by such Person in connection with the acquisition or disposition of assets (including through mergers, consolidations or otherwise);

(iv) subject to clause (7) above, any Dollar-Denominated Production Payments or Volumetric Production Payments;

(v) any Lien of the type described in clause (9) of the definition of “Permitted Liens;”

(vi) obligations with respect to letters of credit in support of trade obligations or incurred in connection with public liability insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, old-age pensions and other social security benefits other than in respect of employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended;

(vii) the obligations described in clause (13) of the covenant described above under “—Restricted Payments;”

(viii) the repayment or reimbursement obligations of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary with respect to Customary Recourse Exceptions shall not be considered Indebtedness unless and until an event or circumstance occurs that triggers the Company’s or such Restricted Subsidiary’s direct payment liability or reimbursement obligation (as opposed to contingent or performance obligations) to the lender or other party to whom such obligation is actually owed, in which case the amount of such direct payment liability to such lender or other party shall, to the extent otherwise applicable, constitute Indebtedness; and

(ix) in connection with the purchase by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of any property, the term “Indebtedness” will exclude post-closing payment adjustments to which the seller may become entitled to the extent such payment is determined by a closing purchase price adjustment or such payment depends on the performance of such property after the closing; provided, however, that, at the time of closing, the amount of any such payment is not determinable and, to the extent such payment at a later date becomes finally fixed and determined by the parties to the purchase, the amount is paid within 30 days after such date.

 

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The amount (or principal amount) of any Indebtedness outstanding as of any date will be:

(1) the accreted value of the Indebtedness, in the case of any Indebtedness issued with original issue discount;

(2) in the case of obligations under any Hedging Contracts, the termination value of the agreement or arrangement giving rise to such obligations that would be payable by such Person at such date; and

(3) the principal amount of the Indebtedness, together with any interest on the Indebtedness that is more than 30 days past due, in the case of any other Indebtedness.

The amount of Indebtedness of any Person at any date will be the outstanding balance at such date of all unconditional obligations as described above and the maximum liability, upon the occurrence of the contingency giving rise to the obligation, of any contingent obligations at such date.

“Investment Grade Rating” means a rating equal to or higher than Baa3 (or the equivalent) by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. and BBB- (or the equivalent) by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (or an equivalent rating by another nationally recognized rating agency if both of the two named rating agencies cease publishing ratings of investments), in each case, with a stable or better outlook.

“Investments” means, with respect to any Person, all direct or indirect investments by such Person in other Persons (including Affiliates) in the forms of loans, advances or extensions of credit (including guarantees or similar arrangements, but excluding (1) commission, travel and similar advances to officers, directors, employees and consultants made in the ordinary course of business and (2) advances to Persons in the ordinary course of business that are recorded as accounts receivable on the balance sheet of the lender), or capital contributions or purchases or other acquisitions for consideration of Indebtedness, Equity Interests or other securities (excluding any interest in a crude oil or natural gas leasehold to the extent constituting a security under applicable law), together with all items that are or would be classified as investments on a balance sheet of such Person prepared in accordance with GAAP. If the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company sells or otherwise disposes of any Equity Interests of any direct or indirect Restricted Subsidiary of the Company such that, after giving effect to any such sale or disposition, such Person is no longer a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, the Company will be deemed to have made an Investment on the date of any such sale or disposition in an amount equal to the Fair Market Value of the Equity Interests of such Restricted Subsidiary not sold or disposed of in an amount determined as provided in the final paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Restricted Payments.” The acquisition by the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company of a Person that holds an Investment in a third Person will be deemed to be an Investment made by the Company or such Subsidiary in such third Person in an amount equal to the Fair Market Value of the Investment held by the acquired Person in such third Person on the date of any such acquisition in an amount determined as provided in the final paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Restricted Payments.” Except as otherwise provided in the supplemental indenture, the amount of an Investment will be determined at the time the Investment is made and without giving effect to subsequent changes in value or write-ups, write-downs or write-offs with respect to such Investment.

“Joint Venture” means any Person that is not a direct or indirect Subsidiary of the Company in which the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries makes any Investment.

“Lien” means, with respect to any asset, any mortgage, lien, pledge, charge, security interest or encumbrance of any kind in respect of such asset, whether or not filed, recorded or otherwise perfected under applicable law, including any conditional sale or other title retention agreement, or any lease in the nature thereof, other than a precautionary financing statement respecting a lease not intended as a security agreement.

“Make Whole Premium” means, with respect to a note at any time, the excess, if any, of (a) the present value at such time of (i) the redemption price of such note at October 15, 2014 (such redemption price being set forth in the table appearing under the caption “—Optional Redemption”), plus (ii) any required interest payments due on

 

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such note through October 15, 2014 (except for currently accrued and unpaid interest), computed using a discount rate equal to the Treasury Rate at such time plus 50 basis points, discounted to the redemption date on a semi-annual basis (assuming a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months), over (b) the principal amount of such note.

“Measurement Date” means June 30, 2010.

“Minority Interest” means the percentage interest represented by any shares of stock of any class of Capital Stock of a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company that are not owned by the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company.

“Moody’s” means Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or any successor to the rating agency business thereof.

“Net Income” means, with respect to any specified Person, the net income (loss) of such Person, determined in accordance with GAAP and before any reduction in respect of preferred stock dividends, excluding, however:

(1) any gain (but not loss), together with any related provision for taxes on such gain (but not loss), realized in connection with: (a) any Asset Sale; or (b) the disposition of any securities by such Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries or the extinguishment of any Indebtedness of such Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries; and

(2) any extraordinary gain (but not loss), together with any related provision for taxes on such extraordinary gain (but not loss).

“Net Proceeds” means the aggregate cash proceeds received by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in respect of any Asset Sale (including, without limitation, any cash received upon the sale or other disposition of any non-cash consideration received in any Asset Sale), net of:

(1) the direct costs relating to such Asset Sale, including, without limitation, legal, accounting and investment banking fees, title and recording tax expenses and sales commissions, and any relocation and severance expenses and charges of personnel incurred as a result of the Asset Sale,

(2) taxes paid or payable or required to be accrued as a liability under GAAP as a result of the Asset Sale, in each case, after taking into account any available tax credits or deductions and any tax sharing arrangements,

(3) amounts required to be applied to the repayment of Indebtedness secured by a Lien on the assets that were the subject of such Asset Sale, or which must by its terms, or in order to obtain a necessary consent to such Asset Sale or by applicable law, be repaid out of the proceeds from such Asset Sale,

(4) all distributions and other payments required to be made to minority interest holders in Restricted Subsidiaries or Joint Ventures as a result of such Asset Sale, and

(5) any amounts to be set aside in any reserve established in accordance with GAAP or any amount placed in escrow, in either case for adjustment in respect of the sale price of such assets or for liabilities associated with such Asset Sale and retained by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries until such time as such reserve is reversed or such escrow arrangement is terminated, in which case Net Proceeds shall include only the amount of the reserve so reversed or the amount returned to the Company or its Restricted Subsidiaries from such escrow arrangement, as the case may be.

“Net Working Capital” means (a) all current assets of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries except current assets from commodity price risk management activities arising in the ordinary course of business, less (b) all current liabilities of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries, except current liabilities included in Indebtedness and any current liabilities from commodity price risk management activities arising in the ordinary course of business, in each case as set forth in the consolidated financial statements of the Company prepared in accordance with GAAP (excluding any adjustments made pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”).

 

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“Non-Recourse Debt” means Indebtedness:

(1) as to which neither the Company nor any of its Restricted Subsidiaries (a) provides credit support of any kind (including any undertaking, agreement or instrument that would constitute Indebtedness), (b) is directly or indirectly liable as a guarantor or otherwise, or (c) is the lender, except (i) pursuant to a Lien of the type permitted by item (9) in the definition of “Permitted Lien,” (ii) as described in clause (13) of the covenant described above under “—Restricted Payments,” (iii) Customary Recourse Exceptions, and (iv) a guarantee by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of Indebtedness of any Affiliate of the Company, in which case (unless the incurrence of such guarantee resulted in a Restricted Payment at the time of incurrence) the Company shall be deemed to have made a Restricted Payment equal to the principal amount of any such Indebtedness to the extent guaranteed at the time such Affiliate is designated an Unrestricted Subsidiary; and

(2) no default with respect to which (including any rights that the holders of the Indebtedness may have to take enforcement action against an Unrestricted Subsidiary) would permit upon notice, lapse of time or both any holder of any other Indebtedness (other than the notes and any guarantee permitted by clause (ii) or (iv) in the preceding paragraph) of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to declare a default on such other Indebtedness or cause the payment of the Indebtedness to be accelerated or payable prior to its Stated Maturity.

For purposes of determining compliance with the covenant described under “—Certain Covenants—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock” above, in the event that any Non-Recourse Debt of any of the Company’s Unrestricted Subsidiaries ceases to be Non-Recourse Debt of such Unrestricted Subsidiary, such event will be deemed to constitute an incurrence of Indebtedness by a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company.

“North Sea Properties” means the UK Petroleum Production Licence No. P1114 governing Blocks 22/14b and 22/19b, together with any other licences unitized therewith and all associated property, plant and equipment located on, or related to such licenses.

“Obligations” means any principal, premium, if any, interest (including interest accruing on or after the filing of any petition in bankruptcy or for reorganization, whether or not a claim for post-filing interest is allowed in such proceeding), penalties, fees, charges, expenses, indemnifications, reimbursement obligations, damages, guarantees, and other liabilities or amounts payable under the documentation governing any Indebtedness or in respect thereto.

“Oil and Gas Business” means:

(1) the acquisition, exploration, development, production, operation and disposition of interests in oil, gas, liquid natural gas, carbon dioxide and other Hydrocarbon properties;

(2) the gathering, marketing, treating, processing, refining, storage, distribution, selling and transporting of any production from such interests or properties;

(3) any business relating to exploration for or development, production, treatment, processing, refining, storage, transportation or marketing of, oil, gas and other minerals and products produced in association therewith;

(4) any activity that is ancillary, complementary or incidental to or necessary or appropriate for the activities described in clauses (1) through (3) of this definition.

“Permitted Acquisition Indebtedness” means Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to the extent such Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock was Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock of any other Person existing at the time (a) such Person became a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, (b) such Person was merged or consolidated with or into the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, or

 

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(c) assets of such Person were acquired by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries and such Indebtedness was assumed in connection therewith (excluding any such Indebtedness that is repaid contemporaneously with such event), provided that on the date such Person became a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company or the date such Person was merged or consolidated with or into the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, or on the date of such asset acquisition, as applicable, either

(1) immediately after giving effect to such transaction on a pro forma basis as if the same had occurred at the beginning of the applicable four-quarter period, the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary, as applicable, would be permitted to incur at least $1.00 of additional Indebtedness pursuant to the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio test set forth in the first paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock,”

(2) immediately after giving effect to such transaction on a pro forma basis as if the same had occurred at the beginning of the applicable four-quarter period, the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio of the Company would be equal to or greater than the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio of the Company immediately prior to such transaction, or

(3) immediately after giving effect to such transaction on a pro forma basis, the Consolidated Net Worth of the Company would be greater than the Consolidated Net Worth of the Company immediately prior to such transaction.

“Permitted Business Investments” means Investments made in the ordinary course of, and of a nature that is or shall have become customary in, the Oil and Gas Business, including investments or expenditures for actively exploring for, acquiring, developing, producing, processing, gathering, marketing or transporting Hydrocarbons through agreements, transactions, interests or arrangements that permit one to share risk or costs, comply with regulatory requirements regarding local ownership or satisfy other objectives customarily achieved through the conduct of the Oil and Gas Business jointly with third parties, including without limitation:

(1) direct or indirect ownership of crude oil, natural gas, other restricted Hydrocarbon properties or any interest therein, gathering, transportation, processing, storage or related systems, or ancillary real property interests and interests therein; and

(2) the entry into operating agreements, joint ventures, processing agreements, working interests, royalty interests, mineral leases, farm-in agreements, farm-out agreements, development agreements, production sharing agreements, area of mutual interest agreements, contracts for the sale, transportation or exchange of crude oil and natural gas and related Hydrocarbons and minerals, unitization agreements, pooling arrangements, joint bidding agreements, service contracts, partnership agreements (whether general or limited), or other similar or customary agreements, transactions, properties, interests or arrangements, and Investments and expenditures in connection therewith or pursuant thereto, in each case made or entered into in the ordinary course of the Oil and Gas Business, excluding, however, Investments in corporations and publicly traded limited partnerships.

“Permitted Holders” means (1) the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company, as long as such Subsidiary of the Company remains a Subsidiary following completion of the transaction that would have constituted a Change of Control, had the transaction not been effected with a Permitted Holder and (2) the directors, officers and other management employees of the Company that are shareholders of the Company on the date of the supplemental indenture and their respective Affiliates.

“Permitted Investments” means:

(1) any Investment in the Company or in a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company;

(2) any Investment in cash and Cash Equivalents;

(3) any Investment by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company in a Person, if as a result of such Investment:

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(b) such Person is merged, consolidated or amalgamated with or into, or transfers or conveys substantially all of its assets to, or is liquidated into, the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company;

(4) any Investment made as a result of the receipt of non-cash consideration from, or consisting of any deferred portion of the sales price received by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary in connection with:

(a) an Asset Sale that was made pursuant to and in compliance with the covenant described above under the caption “—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Asset Sales”; or

(b) pursuant to clause (8) of the items deemed not to be Asset Sales under the definition of “Asset Sale”;

(5) any Investment in any Person solely in exchange for, or with the net cash proceeds from a substantially concurrent (i) contribution (other than from a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company) to the equity capital of the Company or (ii) issuance of, Equity Interests (other than Disqualified Stock) of the Company, with an issuance being deemed substantially concurrent of such Investment occurring not more than 120 days after such issuance; provided that the amount of any such net cash proceeds will be excluded from clause (II) of the covenant described above under the caption “—Restricted Payments”;

(6) any Investments received in compromise or resolution of, or upon satisfaction of judgments with respect to, (a) obligations of trade creditors or customers that were incurred in the ordinary course of business, including pursuant to any plan of reorganization or similar arrangement upon the bankruptcy or insolvency of any trade creditor or customer, or (b) litigation, arbitration or other disputes (including pursuant to any bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings) with Persons who are not Affiliates;

(7) Hedging Contracts;

(8) guarantees by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of operating leases (other than Capital Lease Obligations) or of other obligations that do not constitute Indebtedness, in each case entered into by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company in the ordinary course of business or otherwise customary in the Oil and Gas Business;

(9) Investments in property, plant and equipment used in the ordinary course of business and Permitted Business Investments;

(10) Investments that are in existence on the date of the supplemental indenture;

(11) Investments in any Person to the extent such Investments consist of prepaid expenses, negotiable instruments held for collection and lease, utility and workers’ compensation, performance and other similar deposits made in the ordinary course of business by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries;

(12) guarantees of performance or other obligations (other than Indebtedness) arising in the ordinary course in the Oil and Gas Business, including obligations under oil and natural gas exploration, development, joint operating and related agreements and licenses or concessions related to the Oil and Gas Business;

(13) loans or advances to officers, directors, employees or consultants made in the ordinary course of business or otherwise customary in the Oil and Gas Business and otherwise in compliance with the covenant “—Certain Covenants—Transactions with Affiliates;”

(14) Investments of a Restricted Subsidiary acquired after the date of the indenture or of any entity merged into or consolidated with the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary in accordance with the covenant described under “—Certain Covenants—Merger, Consolidation or Sale of Assets” to the extent that such Investments were not made in contemplation of or in connection with such acquisition, merger or consolidation and were in existence on the date of such acquisition, merger or consolidation;

(15) Investments received as a result of a foreclosure by, or other transfer of title to, the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries with respect to any secured Investment in default;

 

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(16) Liens of the type described in clause (9) of the definition of “Permitted Liens;” and

(17) other Investments having an aggregate Fair Market Value (measured on the date each such Investment was made and without giving effect to subsequent changes in value), when taken together with all other Investments made pursuant to this clause (17) that are at the time outstanding, not to exceed the greater of $30.0 million and 3.0% of the Company’s Adjusted Consolidated Net Tangible Assets determined at the time of such Investment (after giving effect to any dividends, interest payments, return of capital and subsequent reduction in the amount of any Investment made pursuant to this clause as a result of the repayment or other disposition thereof, in an amount not to exceed the amount of such Investments previously made pursuant to this clause); provided, however, that if any Investment pursuant to this clause (17) is made in any Person that is not a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company at the date of the making of such Investment and such Person becomes a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company after such date, such Investment shall thereafter be deemed to have been made pursuant to clause (1) above and shall cease to have been made pursuant to this clause (17) for so long as such Person continues to be a Restricted Subsidiary;

provided, however, that with respect to any Investment, the Company may, in its sole discretion, allocate all or any portion of any Investment and later re-allocate all or any portion of any Investment to one or more of the above clauses (1) through (17) so that the entire Investment would be a Permitted Investment.

“Permitted Liens” means:

(1) Liens securing any Indebtedness and other Obligations under any of the Credit Facilities incurred under clause (1) of the second paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption “—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock”;

(2) Liens in favor of the Company or the Guarantors;

(3) Liens on property (including Capital Stock) of a Person existing at the time such Person is merged with or into or consolidated with the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, provided that such Liens were in existence prior to the contemplation of such merger or consolidation and do not extend to any assets other than those of the Person merged into or consolidated with the Company or the Restricted Subsidiary;

(4) Liens on property existing at the time of acquisition of the property by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, provided that such Liens were in existence prior to the contemplation of such acquisition;

(5) any interest or title of a lessor to the property subject to a Capital Lease Obligation;

(6) Liens on any asset or property acquired, constructed or improved by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries; provided that (a) such Liens are in favor of the seller of such asset or property, in favor of the Person or Persons developing, constructing, repairing or improving such asset or property, or in favor of the Person or Persons that provided the funding for the acquisition, development, construction, repair or improvement cost, as the case may be, of such asset or property, (b) such Liens are created within 360 days after the acquisition, development, construction, repair or improvement, (c) the aggregate principal amount of the Indebtedness secured by such Liens is otherwise permitted to be incurred under the indenture and does not exceed the greater of (i) the cost of the asset or property so acquired, constructed or improved plus related financing costs and (ii) the Fair Market Value (as determined by the executive officer involved in or otherwise familiar with such acquisition, construction or improvement of such asset or property, or, if such Fair Market Value is $40.0 million or more, the Board of Directors of the Company) of the asset or property so acquired, constructed or improved, measured at the date of such acquisition, or the date of completion of such construction or improvement, and (d) such Liens are limited to the asset or property so acquired, constructed or improved (including the proceeds thereof, accessions thereto, upgrades thereof and improvements thereto);

(7) Liens existing on the date of the supplemental indenture other than Liens securing the Credit Facilities;

 

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(8) Liens to secure the performance of tenders, bids, statutory obligations, surety or appeal bonds, government contracts, performance bonds or other obligations of a like nature incurred in the ordinary course of business;

(9) Liens on and pledges of the Equity Interests of any Unrestricted Subsidiary or any Joint Venture owned by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company to the extent securing Non-Recourse Debt or other Indebtedness of such Unrestricted Subsidiary or Joint Venture;

(10) Liens in respect of Production Payments and Reserve Sales;

(11) Liens on pipelines or pipeline facilities that arise by operation of law;

(12) Liens arising under oil and gas leases, overriding royalty interest agreements, operating agreements, joint venture agreements, partnership agreements, oil and gas leases, farm-out agreements, farm-in agreements, division orders, contracts for the sale, transportation or exchange of crude oil and natural gas and related Hydrocarbons and minerals, unitization and pooling declarations and agreements, area of mutual interest agreements, land purchase option arrangements, participation and development agreements, joint operating agreements, and other agreements (including, without limitation, options, put and call arrangements, rights of first offer, rights of first refusal, preferential rights, restrictions on dispositions and the like and those of the type described in the definition of “Permitted Business Investments”) arising in the ordinary course of business of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries or that are customary in the Oil and Gas Business;

(13) Liens reserved in oil and gas mineral leases for bonus or rental payments and for compliance with the terms of such leases;

(14) Liens upon specific items of inventory, receivables or other goods or proceeds of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries securing such Person’s obligations in respect of bankers’ acceptances or receivables securitizations issued or created for the account of such Person to facilitate the purchase, shipment or storage of such inventory, receivables or other goods or proceeds and permitted by the covenant “—Certain Covenants—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock”;

(15) Liens securing Obligations of the Company or the Guarantors under the notes or the Subsidiary Guarantees, as the case may be, and Liens securing other obligations of the Issuer or the Guarantors under the indenture;

(16) Liens to secure payment and performance of Hedging Contracts of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries;

(17) Liens for taxes, assessments or governmental charges or claims that are not yet delinquent by more than sixty (60) days or that are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings promptly instituted and diligently concluded; provided that any reserve or other appropriate provision as is required in conformity with GAAP has been made therefor;

(18) landlords’, carriers’, warehousemen’s, mechanics’, materialmen’s, repairmen’s or like Liens arising by contract or statute in the ordinary course of business and with respect to amounts which are not yet delinquent by more than sixty (60) days or are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings;

(19) pledges or deposits made in the ordinary course of business (A) in connection with leases, tenders, bids, statutory obligations, surety or appeal bonds, government contracts, performance bonds and similar obligations, or (B) in connection with workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and other social security or similar legislation;

(20) any attachment or judgment Lien that does not constitute an Event of Default;

(21) survey exceptions, easements or reservations of, or rights of others for, licenses, rights-of-way, sewers, electric lines, telegraph and telephone lines and other similar purposes, or zoning or other restrictions as to the use of real property that were not incurred in connection with Indebtedness and that do not in the aggregate materially adversely affect the value of said properties or materially impair their use in the operation of the business of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries;

 

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(22) Liens arising solely by virtue of any statutory or common law provisions relating to banker’s Liens, rights of set-off or similar rights and remedies as to deposit accounts or other funds maintained or deposited with a depositary institution; provided that (A) such deposit account is not a dedicated cash collateral account and is not subject to restrictions against access by the Company in excess of those set forth by regulations promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board and (B) such deposit account is not intended by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to provide collateral to the depositary institution;

(23) Liens arising from Uniform Commercial Code financing statement filings regarding operating leases entered into by the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business;

(24) leases or subleases granted to others that do not materially interfere with the ordinary course of business of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries, taken as a whole;

(25) Liens arising under the indenture in favor of the trustee for its own benefit and similar Liens in favor of other trustees, agents and representatives arising under instruments governing Indebtedness permitted to be incurred under the indenture, provided, however, that such Liens are solely for the benefit of the trustees, agents or representatives in their capacities as such and not for the benefit of the holders of such Indebtedness;

(26) Liens arising from the deposit of funds or securities in trust for the purpose of decreasing or defeasing Indebtedness so long as such deposit of funds or securities and such decreasing or defeasing of Indebtedness are permitted under the covenant described under “—Certain Covenants—Limitation on Restricted Payments”;

(27) Liens (other than Liens securing Indebtedness) on, or related to, assets to secure all or part of the costs incurred in the ordinary course of the Oil and Gas Business for the exploration, drilling, development, production, processing, transportation, marketing, storage or operation thereof;

(28) Liens arising from royalties, overriding royalties, revenue interests, net revenue interests, net profit interests, reversionary interests, production payments, preferential rights of purchase, working interests and other similar interests, all as ordinarily exist with respect to properties and assets of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries or otherwise as are customary in the Oil and Gas Business;

(29) Liens incurred in the ordinary course of business of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, provided that, after giving effect to any such incurrence, the aggregate principal amount of all Indebtedness then outstanding and secured by any Liens incurred pursuant to this clause (29) does not exceed the amount set forth in clause (18) of the second paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock”; and

(30) Liens to secure any Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness permitted to be incurred under the indenture and incurred to refinance Indebtedness that was previously so secured other than Indebtedness referred to in clause (1) above, provided that any such Lien is limited to all or part of the same assets (plus improvements, accessions, proceeds or dividends or distributions in respect thereof) that secured (or, under the written arrangements under which the original Lien arose, could secure) the Indebtedness being refinanced or is in respect of assets that is the security for a Permitted Lien hereunder.

“Permitted MLP Securities” means equity securities (including incentive distribution rights) of a master limited partnership (or limited liability company or similar business entity with pass-through treatment for U.S. Federal income tax purposes) that has a class of equity securities traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the NYSE Amex, the Nasdaq Stock Market or any successor to any such exchange or market, provided that such master limited partnership (or other entity) is an Affiliate of the Company.

“Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness” means any Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries or any Disqualified Stock of the Company incurred or issued in exchange for, or the net proceeds of which shall be used to extend, refinance, renew, replace, defease, discharge, refund or otherwise retire for value, in whole or in part, any other Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries (other than intercompany Indebtedness) or any Disqualified Stock of the Company (the “Refinanced Indebtedness”), provided that:

(1) the principal amount, or in the case of Disqualified Stock, the amount thereof as determined in accordance with the definition of Disqualified Stock, of such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness does not

 

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exceed the principal amount of the Refinanced Indebtedness (plus all accrued (including, for the purposes of defeasance, future accrued) and unpaid interest on, or accrued and unpaid dividends on, the Refinanced Indebtedness, as the case may be, and the amount of all fees, expenses and premiums incurred in connection therewith) and by an amount equal to any existing commitments and incremental facilities unutilized thereunder to the extent incurrence of indebtedness under such unutilized commitment and incremental facilities would then have been permitted;

(2) such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness has a final maturity date or redemption date, as applicable, later than or equal to the shorter of (A) 91 days following the Stated Maturity of the notes or (B) the final maturity date or redemption date, as applicable, of, the Refinanced Indebtedness;

(3) such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness has a Weighted Average Life to Maturity at the time such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness is incurred equal to or greater than the shorter of (A) the Weighted Average Life to Maturity of, the Refinanced Indebtedness and (B) the Weighted Average Life to Maturity that would result if all payments of principal on the Refinanced Indebtedness that were due on or after the date that is 91 days following the last maturity date of any notes then outstanding were instead due on such date;

(4) if the Refinanced Indebtedness is contractually subordinated or otherwise junior in right of payment to the notes or the Subsidiary Guarantees, such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness is contractually subordinated or otherwise junior in right of payment to the notes or the Subsidiary Guarantees on terms at least as favorable to the Holders of notes as those contained in the documentation governing the Refinanced Indebtedness; and

(5) such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness is not incurred (other than by way of a guarantee) by a Non-Guarantor Restricted Subsidiary of the Company if the Company or a Guarantor is the issuer or other obligor on the Refinanced Indebtedness; and

(6) except as otherwise provided in clause (3) of the second paragraph under the caption “Certain Covenants—Restricted Payments”, the proceeds of the Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness shall be used substantially concurrently with the incurrence thereof to extend, refinance, renew, replace, defease, discharge, refund or otherwise retire the Refinanced Indebtedness, unless the Refinanced Indebtedness is not then due and is not redeemable or prepayable, defeasable or dischargeable, as the case may be, at the option of the obligor thereof or is redeemable or prepayable or may be defeased or discharged only with notice, in which case, such proceeds shall be held in a segregated account of the obligor of the Refinanced Indebtedness until the Refinanced Indebtedness becomes due or redeemable, prepayable or subject to defeasance or discharge, as the case may be, or such notice period lapses and then shall be used to extend, refinance, renew, replace, defease, discharge, refund or otherwise retire the Refinanced Indebtedness; provided that in any event the Refinanced Indebtedness shall be extended, refinanced, renewed, replaced, defeased, discharged, refunded or otherwise retired within 60 days of the incurrence of the Refinancing Indebtedness.

“Person” means any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, joint-stock company, trust, unincorporated organization, limited liability company or government or other entity.

“Production Facility or Pipeline Assets” means (i) assets used primarily for production gathering, transmission, transportation, storage, processing or treatment of natural gas, natural gas liquids or other hydrocarbons or carbon dioxide and (ii) equity interests of any Person that has no substantial assets other than assets referred to in clause (i).

“Production Payments” means, collectively, Dollar-Denominated Production Payments and Volumetric Production Payments.

“Production Payments and Reserve Sales” means the grant or transfer by the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company to any Person of a royalty, overriding royalty, net profits interest, production payment (whether volumetric or dollar denominated), partnership or other interest in oil and gas properties,

 

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reserves or the right to receive all or a portion of the production or the proceeds from the sale of production attributable to such properties, including any such grants or transfers pursuant to incentive compensation programs on terms that are reasonably customary in the oil and gas business for geologists, geophysicists and other providers of technical services to the Company or a Subsidiary of the Company.

“Rating Agency” means Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or if Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or both shall not make a rating on the notes publicly available, a nationally recognized statistical rating agency or agencies, as the case may be, selected by the Company (as certified by a resolution of the Board of Directors or a committee thereof) which shall be substituted for Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group, Inc. or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or both, as the case may be.

“Reporting Default” means a Default described in clause (4) under “—Events of Default and Remedies.”

“Restricted Investment” means an Investment other than a Permitted Investment.

“Restricted Subsidiary” of a Person means any Subsidiary of the referent Person that is not an Unrestricted Subsidiary.

“S&P” refers to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., or any successor to the rating agency business thereof.

“Sale Leaseback Transaction” means, with respect to the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, any arrangement with any Person providing for the leasing by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of any principal property, acquired or placed into service more than 180 days prior to such arrangement, whereby such property has been or is to be sold or transferred by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to such Person.

“Senior Debt” means

(1) all Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries outstanding under Credit Facilities and all obligations under Hedging Contracts with respect thereto;

(2) any other Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries permitted to be incurred under the terms of the indenture, unless the instrument under which such Indebtedness is incurred expressly provides that it is subordinated in right of payment to the notes or any Subsidiary Guarantee; and

(3) all Obligations with respect to the items listed in the preceding clauses (1) and (2).

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the preceding sentence, Senior Debt will not include:

(a) any intercompany Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to the Company or any of its Affiliates; or

(b) any Indebtedness that is incurred in violation of the indenture.

For the avoidance of doubt, “Senior Debt” will not include any trade payables or taxes owed or owing by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries.

“Significant Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary that would be a “significant subsidiary” as defined in Article 1, Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X, promulgated pursuant to the Securities Act, as such Regulation is in effect on the date of the indenture.

“Stated Maturity” means, with respect to any installment of interest or principal on any series of Indebtedness, the date on which the payment of interest or principal was scheduled to be paid in the original documentation governing such Indebtedness, and will not include any contingent obligations to repay, redeem or repurchase any such interest or principal prior to the date originally scheduled for the payment thereof.

 

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“Subsidiary” means, with respect to any specified Person:

(1) any corporation, association or other business entity (other than a partnership or limited liability company) of which more than 50% of the total voting power of Voting Stock is at the time owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by that Person or one or more of the other Subsidiaries of that Person (or a combination thereof); and

(2) any partnership (whether general or limited) or limited liability company (a) the sole general partner or member of which is such Person or a Subsidiary of such Person, or (b) if there is more than a single general partner or member, either (x) the only managing general partners or managing members of which are such Person or one or more Subsidiaries of such Person (or any combination thereof) or (y) such Person owns or controls, directly or indirectly, a majority of the outstanding general partner interests, member interests or other Voting Stock of such partnership or limited liability company, respectively.

“Subsidiary Guarantee” means the joint and several guarantee pursuant to the indenture by a Guarantor of the Company’s Obligations under the indenture and on the notes.

“Successor Parent” with respect to any Person means any other Person more than 50% of the total outstanding Voting Stock of which (measured by voting power rather than the number of shares, units or the like) is, at the time the first Person becomes a Subsidiary of such other Person, “Beneficially Owned” either by the first Person or by one or more Persons that Beneficially Owned more than 50% of the total outstanding Voting Stock of the first Person (measured by voting power rather than the number of shares, units or the like) immediately prior to the first Person becoming a Subsidiary of such other Person.

“Treasury Rate” means, as of any redemption date, the yield to maturity as of such redemption date of United States Treasury securities with a constant maturity (as compiled and published in the most recent Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.15(519) which has become publicly available at least two Business Days prior to the redemption date (or, if such Statistical Release is no longer published, any publicly available source of similar market data)) most nearly equal to the period from the redemption date to October 15, 2014; provided, however, that if such period is not equal to the constant maturity of a United States Treasury security for which a weekly average yield is given, the Company shall obtain the Treasury Rate by linear interpolation (calculated to the nearest one-twelfth of a year) from the weekly average yields of United States Treasury securities for which such yields are given, except that if the period from the redemption date to October 15, 2014 is less than one year, the weekly average yield on actually traded United States Treasury securities adjusted to a constant maturity of one year shall be used. The Company will (a) calculate the Treasury Rate on the second Business Day preceding the applicable redemption date and (b) prior to such redemption date file with the trustee an officers’ certificate setting forth the Make Whole Premium and the Treasury Rate and showing the calculation of each in reasonable detail.

“Unrestricted Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary of the Company that is designated by the Board of Directors of the Company as an Unrestricted Subsidiary pursuant to a Board Resolution, but only to the extent that such Subsidiary:

(1) has no Indebtedness other than Non-Recourse Debt owing to any Person other than the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries;

(2) is not party to any agreement, contract, arrangement or understanding with the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company unless (a) the terms of any such agreement, contract, arrangement or understanding are no less favorable to the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary than those that might be obtained at the time from Persons who are not Affiliates of the Company or (b) is otherwise permitted under the provisions of the covenant described above under the caption “—Transactions with Affiliates” or (c) to the extent that clause (a) or (b) is not satisfied, the excess value of such agreement, contract, arrangement or understanding shall be deemed a Restricted Payment;

 

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(3) is a Person with respect to which neither the Company nor any of its Restricted Subsidiaries has any direct or indirect obligation (a) to subscribe for additional Equity Interests or (b) to maintain or preserve such Person’s financial condition or to cause such Person to achieve any specified levels of operating results; and

(4) has not, from and after such designation, guaranteed or otherwise directly or indirectly provided credit support for any Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries (other than as otherwise provided in the definition of “Non-Recourse Debt”);

provided, however, that items (1) through (4) shall not be deemed to prevent Permitted Investments in Unrestricted Subsidiaries that are otherwise allowed under the indenture.

Any designation of a Subsidiary of the Company as an Unrestricted Subsidiary will be evidenced to the trustee by filing with the trustee a Board Resolution giving effect to such designation and an officers’ certificate certifying that such designation complied with the preceding conditions and was permitted by the covenant described above under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Restricted Payments.” In the case of any designation by the Company of a Person as an Unrestricted Subsidiary on the first day that such Person is a Subsidiary of the Company in accordance with the provisions of the indenture, such designation shall be deemed to have occurred for all purposes of the indenture simultaneously with, and automatically upon, such Person becoming a Subsidiary. If, at any time, any Unrestricted Subsidiary would fail to meet the preceding requirements as an Unrestricted Subsidiary, it will thereafter cease to be an Unrestricted Subsidiary for purposes of the indenture and any Indebtedness of such Subsidiary will be deemed to be incurred by a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company as of such date and, if such Indebtedness is not permitted to be incurred as of such date under the covenant described under the caption “—Certain Covenants—Incurrence of Indebtedness and Issuance of Preferred Stock,” the Company will be in default of such covenant.

“Volumetric Production Payments” means production payment obligations recorded as deferred revenue in accordance with GAAP, together with all related undertakings and obligations.

“Voting Stock” of any Person as of any date means the Capital Stock of such Person that is at the time entitled (without regard to the occurrence of any contingency) to vote in the election of the Board of Directors of such Person.

“Weighted Average Life to Maturity” means, when applied to any Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock at any date, the number of years obtained by dividing:

(1) the sum of the products obtained by multiplying (a) the amount of each then remaining installment, sinking fund, serial maturity or other required payments of principal, including payment at final maturity or redemption, in respect of the Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock, by (b) the number of years (calculated to the nearest one-twelfth) that will elapse between such date and the making of such payment; by

(2) the then outstanding aggregate principal amount of such Indebtedness or Disqualified Stock.

 

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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME AND ESTATE TAX CONSIDERATIONS

Scope of Discussion

The following discussion summarizes the material U.S. federal income and estate tax considerations relating to the exchange of outstanding notes for exchange notes and the ownership and disposition of the exchange notes. This discussion does not address U.S. federal taxes other than income and estate tax or the tax considerations arising under the laws of any foreign, state or local jurisdiction. This discussion is limited to holders of the outstanding notes who acquired their outstanding notes in the initial offering at their “issue price” (i.e., the first price at which a substantial amount of the outstanding notes is sold for cash to persons other than bond houses, brokers or similar persons or organizations acting in the capacity of underwriters, placement agents or wholesalers), exchange their outstanding notes for exchange notes, and hold the outstanding notes and exchange notes as “capital assets” within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). For purposes of this discussion, “holder” means either a U.S. Holder or a Non-U.S. Holder (each as defined below) or both, as the context may require.

This discussion does not address all of the U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to holders in light of their particular circumstances or to holders who may be subject to special treatment under U.S. federal income tax laws, such as:

 

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financial institutions (including banks);

 

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tax-exempt organizations;

 

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S corporations, entities or arrangements treated as partnerships or any other pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes;

 

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insurance companies;

 

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mutual funds;

 

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dealers in stocks and securities, or foreign currencies;

 

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traders in securities that elect the mark-to-market method of tax accounting for their securities;

 

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holders that are subject to the alternative minimum tax provisions of the Code;

 

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certain expatriates or former long-term residents of the United States;

 

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U.S. Holders that have a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar;

 

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personal holding companies;

 

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regulated investment companies;

 

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real estate investment trusts; and

 

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holders that hold outstanding notes or exchange notes as part of a hedge, conversion or constructive sale transaction, straddle, wash sale or other risk reduction transaction.

If a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) is a beneficial owner of outstanding notes or exchange notes, the tax treatment of a partner will generally depend upon the status of the partner, the activities of the partnership and certain determinations made at the partner level. Partners of partnerships that are beneficial owners of outstanding notes or exchange notes should consult their tax advisors.

 

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THIS SUMMARY IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS OF THE TAX CONSEQUENCES RELATING TO THE EXCHANGE OF OUTSTANDING NOTES FOR EXCHANGE NOTES OR THE OWNERSHIP OR DISPOSITION OF THE EXCHANGE NOTES. WE URGE YOU TO CONSULT A TAX ADVISOR REGARDING THE PARTICULAR FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND FOREIGN TAX CONSEQUENCES RELATING TO THE EXCHANGE OF OUTSTANDING NOTES FOR EXCHANGE NOTES OR THE OWNERSHIP OR DISPOSITION OF THE EXCHANGE NOTES IN LIGHT OF YOUR OWN SITUATION.

Opinion of Counsel

Subject to the assumptions, qualifications and limitations set forth herein, this discussion constitutes the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. (“Counsel”) insofar as it describes legal conclusions with respect to matters of U.S. federal income or estate tax law. In providing this opinion, Counsel has examined and is relying upon the truth and accuracy at all relevant times of this prospectus, the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, representations made by us (assuming that any representations that are made “to the best knowledge of” or with any similar qualification are correct without such qualification) and certain other records and documents relating to the transactions described in this prospectus. Counsel has not, however, undertaken any independent investigation of any factual matter set forth in any of the foregoing.

This opinion is based upon Counsel’s interpretation of the Code, Treasury Regulations promulgated under the Code, court decisions, published positions of the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) and other applicable authorities, all as in effect on the date of this prospectus and all of which are subject to change or differing interpretations, possibly with retroactive effect. This opinion is rendered as of the date of this prospectus, and Counsel assumes no obligation to advise us or you of any change in fact, circumstances or law which may alter, affect or modify this opinion. This opinion is not binding on the IRS or a court, and no ruling has been or will be obtained from the IRS regarding any of the U.S. federal income or estate tax consequences described below. As a result, no assurance can be given that the IRS will not assert, or that a court will not sustain, a position contrary to the conclusions set forth below.

Exchange of Notes Pursuant to the Exchange Offer

The exchange of outstanding notes for exchange notes pursuant to the exchange offer will not constitute a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, (1) a holder will not recognize a taxable gain or loss as a result of exchanging such holder’s outstanding notes for exchange notes; (2) the holding period of the exchange notes will include the holding period of the outstanding notes exchanged therefor; and (3) the adjusted tax basis of the exchange notes will be the same as the adjusted tax basis of the outstanding notes exchanged therefor immediately before such exchange.

U.S. Holders

The following discussion applies only to U.S. Holders of the exchange notes. As used in this discussion, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of an exchange note that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, is:

 

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an individual U.S. citizen or resident alien;

 

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a corporation or other entity created or organized under U.S. law (federal or state, including the District of Columbia) and treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes;

 

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an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or

 

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a trust if (1) a U.S. court can exercise primary supervision over the trust’s administration and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (2) the trust has a valid election in effect under applicable Treasury Regulations to be treated as a U.S. person.

 

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Payments of Interest

A U.S. Holder will be required to include the interest paid on the exchange notes as ordinary income at the time it accrues or is received in accordance with the holder’s regular method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Certain Contingent Payments

In certain circumstances (see “Description of the Exchange Notes—Optional Redemption” and “Description of the Exchange Notes—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Change of Control”), we may be obligated to pay amounts on the exchange notes that are in excess of stated interest and principal. We intend to take the position, and this disclosure assumes, that the possibility that holders of the exchange notes will be paid such amounts is a remote and incidental contingency as of the issue date of the exchange notes within the meaning of the applicable Treasury Regulations. However, this position is inherently factual, and no assurance can be given that this position would be sustained if challenged by the IRS. Assuming this position is respected, it is the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. that any such additional amount will be taxable to U.S. Holders as capital gain only at the time it accrues or is received in accordance with such holder’s regular method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Our determination that the payment of additional amounts is a remote and incidental contingency is binding upon all holders of the exchange notes, unless a holder properly discloses to the IRS that it is taking a contrary position. If the IRS successfully challenged this position, U.S. Holders could be required to accrue interest income at a rate higher than their yield to maturity and to treat as ordinary income, rather than capital gain, any gain recognized on a sale, exchange, redemption or other taxable disposition of an exchange note.

Sale, Exchange, Redemption, Retirement or Other Taxable Disposition of the Exchange Notes

Generally, the sale, exchange, redemption, retirement or other taxable disposition of an exchange note will result in taxable gain or loss to a U.S. Holder equal to the difference between (1) the amount of cash plus the fair market value of any other property received by the holder in the sale, exchange, redemption, retirement or other taxable disposition (excluding amounts attributable to accrued and unpaid interest, which will be taxed as described under “—Payments of Interest” above) and (2) the holder’s adjusted tax basis in the exchange note. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in an exchange note will generally equal the holder’s original purchase price for the outstanding note that is exchanged therefor (minus pre-issuance accrued interest, if any).

Gain or loss recognized on the sale, exchange, redemption, retirement or other taxable disposition of an exchange note will generally be capital gain or loss and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the exchange note is held for more than one year. A reduced tax rate on capital gain generally will apply to long term capital gain of a non-corporate U.S. Holder. There are limitations on the deductibility of capital losses.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Generally, interest on the exchange notes paid to a U.S. Holder is subject to information reporting with the IRS and may be subject to backup withholding (currently at a 28% rate) unless such holder (1) is a corporation or other exempt recipient and, when required, demonstrates this fact or (2) provides a taxpayer identification number and satisfies certain certification requirements. Information reporting requirements and backup withholding may also apply to the cash proceeds of a sale or other disposition of the exchange notes.

In addition to being subject to backup withholding, if a U.S. Holder does not provide us (or our paying agent) with the holder’s correct taxpayer identification number or other required information, such holder may be subject to penalties imposed by the IRS. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against the holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, provided that the holder furnishes certain required information to the IRS.

 

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New Legislation Regarding Medicare Tax

For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012, certain U.S. Holders that are individuals, estates or trusts will be subject to a 3.8% tax, or the Medicare tax, on all or a portion of their “net investment income,” which may include all or a portion of their interest and net gains from the disposition of exchange notes. If you are a U.S. Holder that is an individual, estate or trust, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the applicability of the Medicare tax to your income and gains in respect of your investment in the exchange notes.

Non-U.S. Holders

The following discussion applies only to Non-U.S. Holders of the exchange notes. As used in this discussion, a “Non-U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of an exchange note that is not a U.S. Holder.

Payments of Interest

Subject to the discussion under “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding,” below, if the portfolio interest exemption applies to a Non-U.S. Holder, payments of interest on the exchange notes will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax. The portfolio interest exemption will apply to a Non-U.S. Holder if (1) the interest is not effectively connected with such holder’s conduct of a trade or business in the United States and (2) such holder satisfies each of the following requirements:

 

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such holder does not own, actually or constructively, 10% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of our stock entitled to vote;

 

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such holder is not a “controlled foreign corporation” with respect to which we are a “related person,” each within the meaning of the Code; and

 

•

such holder certifies that it is not a U.S. person by providing a properly completed IRS Form W-8BEN or appropriate substitute form to (1) us (or our paying agent) or (2) a securities clearing organization, bank or other financial institution that (i) holds customers’ securities in the ordinary course of its trade or business, (ii) holds the Non-U.S. Holder’s exchange notes on such holder’s behalf, (iii) certifies to us (or our paying agent) under penalties of perjury that it has received from such holder a signed, written statement and (iv) provides us (or our paying agent) with a copy of this statement.

If the portfolio interest exemption does not apply to a Non-U.S. Holder, then the gross amount of interest that such holder receives on an exchange note will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a rate of 30% unless (1) the Non-U.S. Holder is eligible for a reduced withholding rate or exemption under an applicable income tax treaty, in which case such holder must provide a properly completed IRS Form W-8BEN or appropriate substitute form, or (2) the interest is effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business in the United States (and, if a treaty applies, is attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by such holder in the United States), in which case such holder must provide a properly completed IRS Form W-8ECI or appropriate substitute form.

Any interest that is effectively connected with a Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business in the United States generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at rates generally applicable to U.S. persons. In the case of a Non-U.S. Holder that is a foreign corporation, such interest may also be subject to the branch profits tax at a rate of 30% (or a lower rate under an applicable income tax treaty).

Sale, Exchange, Redemption, Retirement or Other Taxable Disposition of Exchange Notes

A Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax on gain realized on the sale, exchange, redemption, retirement or other taxable disposition of an exchange note unless:

 

•

the gain is effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business in the United States (and, if a treaty applies, is attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by such holder in the United States);

 

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•

the Non-U.S. Holder is an individual present in the United States for 183 days or more in the year of such sale, exchange, redemption or other taxable disposition and certain other conditions are met; or

 

•

the Non-U.S. Holder does not qualify for an exemption from backup withholding, as discussed under “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding,” below.

However, in certain instances a Non-U.S. Holder may be required to establish an exemption from U.S. federal income and withholding tax with respect to amounts attributable to accrued and unpaid interest on the exchange notes. See “—Payments of Interest,” above.

Certain U.S. Federal Estate Tax Considerations

Exchange notes beneficially owned by an individual who is a nonresident not a citizen of the United States (as specifically defined for U.S. federal estate tax purposes) at the time of such individual’s death will generally not be included in the decedent’s gross estate for U.S. federal estate tax purposes if any payment of interest on the exchange notes to the holder would be eligible for the portfolio interest exemption from the U.S. federal withholding tax described in the first paragraph of “— Payments of Interest” above (without regard to the certification requirement).

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Generally, we must report to the IRS and to the Non-U.S. Holder the amount of interest paid to such holder and the amount of tax, if any, withheld with respect to those payments. Copies of the information returns reporting such interest payments and any withholding may also be made available to the tax authorities in the country in which the Non-U.S. Holder resides under the provisions of an applicable income tax treaty.

In general, a Non-U.S. Holder will not be subject to backup withholding with respect to payments of interest that we make to the holder provided that we do not have actual knowledge or reason to know that the holder is a U.S. person, as defined under the Code, and we have received from the Non-U.S. Holder the statement described above in the last bullet point under “—Payments of Interest.”

In addition, no information reporting or backup withholding will be required regarding the proceeds of the sale of an exchange note made within the United States or conducted through certain U.S.-related financial intermediaries, if the payor receives the statement described above in the last bullet point under “—Payments of Interest” and does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that the holder is a U.S. person, as defined under the Code, or the holder otherwise establishes an exemption.

Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against the Non-U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

 

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PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

Based on interpretations by the staff of the SEC in no-action letters issued to third parties, we believe that you may transfer exchange notes issued under the exchange offer in exchange for the outstanding notes if:

 

•

you acquire the exchange notes in the ordinary course of your business; and

 

•

you are not engaged in, and do not intend to engage in, and have no arrangement or understanding with any person to participate in, a distribution of such exchange notes.

You may not participate in the exchange offer if you are:

 

•

an “affiliate” of us or any of our subsidiary guarantors within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act, unless you comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act to the extent applicable; or

 

•

a broker-dealer that acquired outstanding notes directly from us.

Each broker-dealer that receives exchange notes for its own account pursuant to the exchange offer must acknowledge that it will deliver this prospectus in connection with any resale of such exchange notes. To date, the staff of the SEC has taken the position that broker-dealers may fulfill their prospectus delivery requirements with respect to transactions involving an exchange of securities such as this exchange offer, other than a resale of an unsold allotment from the original sale of the outstanding notes, with this prospectus. This prospectus, as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, may be used by a broker-dealer in connection with resales of exchange notes received in exchange for outstanding notes where such outstanding notes were acquired as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities. We have agreed that, generally for a period of 180 days after the completion of the exchange offer, we will make this prospectus, as amended or supplemented, available to any broker-dealer for use in connection with any such resale. In addition, until March 3, 2012, all dealers effecting transactions in exchange notes may be required to deliver this prospectus.

Any broker-dealer or holder using the exchange offer to participate in a distribution of the securities to be acquired in the exchange offer (1) could not, under SEC staff policy, rely on the position of the SEC staff enunciated in Morgan Stanley and Co., Inc. (available June 5, 1991) and Exxon Capital Holdings Corporation (available May 13, 1988), as interpreted in the SEC staff’s letter to Shearman & Sterling dated July 2, 1993, and similar no-action letters, and (2) must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with a secondary resale transaction and that such a secondary resale transaction should be covered by an effective registration statement containing the selling security holder information required by Item 507 or 508, as applicable, of Regulation S-K.

If you wish to receive exchange notes in exchange for your outstanding notes in the exchange offer, you will be required to make representations to us as described in “Exchange Offer—Procedures for Tendering—Your Representations to Us” in this prospectus. As indicated in the letter of transmittal, you will be deemed to have made these representations by tendering your outstanding notes in the exchange offer. In addition, if you are a broker-dealer who receives exchange notes for your own account in exchange for outstanding notes that were acquired by you as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities, you will be required to acknowledge, in the same manner, that you will deliver this prospectus in connection with any resale by you of such exchange notes.

We will not receive any proceeds from any sale of exchange notes by broker-dealers. Exchange notes received by broker-dealers for their own account pursuant to the exchange offer may be sold from time to time in one or more transactions:

 

•

in the over-the-counter market;

 

•

in negotiated transactions;

 

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•

through the writing of options on the exchange notes; or

 

•

a combination of such methods of resale;

at market prices prevailing at the time of resale, at prices related to such prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices.

Any such resale may be made directly to purchasers or to or through brokers or dealers who may receive compensation in the form of commissions or concessions from any such broker-dealer or the purchasers of any such exchange notes. Any broker-dealer that resells exchange notes that were received by it for its own account pursuant to the exchange offer and any broker or dealer that participates in a distribution of such exchange notes may be deemed to be an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act and any profit on such resale of exchange notes and any commissions or concessions received by any such persons may be deemed to be underwriting compensation under the Securities Act. Each letter of transmittal states that by acknowledging that it will deliver and by delivering this prospectus, a broker-dealer will not be deemed to admit that it is an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act.

For a period of 180 days after the completion of the exchange offer, we will promptly send additional copies of this prospectus and any amendment or supplement to this prospectus to any broker-dealer that requests such documents. We have agreed to pay all reasonable expenses incident to the exchange offer (including the expenses of one counsel for the holders of the outstanding notes) other than commissions or concessions of any broker-dealers and will indemnify the holders of the outstanding notes (including any broker-dealers) against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

Baker Botts L.L.P., Houston, Texas, has issued an opinion about the legality of the exchange notes.

EXPERTS

The consolidated financial statements of the Company as of December 31, 2010 and 2009 and for the years then ended and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010 have been incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon the reports of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, incorporated herein by reference, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

Our consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2008 and for the year then ended, included and incorporated by reference in this prospectus from our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 as updated by the Form 8-K filed on April 29, 2011, have been audited by Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C., independent registered public accounting firm, to the extent indicated in their report thereon also included and incorporated by reference herein.

The letter reports of LaRoche Petroleum Consultants, Ltd., Ryder Scott Company and Fairchild & Wells, Inc. (doing business as Fairchild & Stan), each independent consulting petroleum engineers, and information with respect to our oil and gas reserves derived from such reports, have been incorporated by reference into this prospectus upon the authority of each such firm as experts with respect to such matters covered in such reports and in giving such reports.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any documents we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the Public Reference Room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov and our website at http://www.crzo.net. In addition, copies of these reports, proxy statements and other information concerning us can also be inspected at the offices of the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, which are located at 1735 K Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. Information on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference in this prospectus and does not constitute part of this prospectus.

This prospectus is part of a registration statement and, as permitted by SEC rules, does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. Whenever a reference is made in this prospectus to any of our contracts or other documents, the reference may not be complete and, for a copy of the contract or document, you should refer to the exhibits that are part of or incorporated by reference into the registration statement.

The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” into this prospectus the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to the documents containing such information. Information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus. Any statement contained in this prospectus or a document incorporated by reference in this prospectus will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus or any other document subsequently filed with the SEC that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus modifies or supersedes the statement. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and future filings we make with the SEC under Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of this prospectus and until the exchange offer described in this prospectus is completed or is otherwise

 

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terminated, in each case excluding any information “furnished” but not “filed,” unless we specifically provide that such “furnished” information is to be incorporated by reference:

 

•

our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, portions of which have been updated by our current report on Form 8-K filed on April 29, 2011;

 

•

our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2011, June 30, 2011 and September 30, 2011 and our amended quarterly report on Form 10-Q/A for the quarter ended June 30, 2011; and

 

•

our current reports on Form 8-K filed on February 2, 2011, March 31, 2011, April 29, 2011, June 6, 2011, October 3, 2011 and November 17, 2011.

We will provide a copy of any and all of the information that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus to any person, including a beneficial owner, to whom a prospectus is delivered, without charge, upon written or oral request. You may obtain a copy of these filings by writing or telephoning:

Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.

Attention: Investor Relations

500 Dallas Street, Suite 2300

Houston, Texas 77002

(713) 328-1000

 

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Annex A

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

To Tender

Outstanding 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018

of

CARRIZO OIL & GAS, INC.

Pursuant to the Exchange Offer and Prospectus dated January 23, 2012

The Exchange Agent for the Exchange Offer is:

By Registered or Certified Mail

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Corporate Trust Operations

MAC N9303-121

P.O. Box 1517

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55480

By Regular Mail or Overnight Delivery

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Corporate Trust Operations

MAC N9303-121

6th & Marquette Avenue

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55479

By Hand Delivery

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Corporate Trust Operations

608 2nd Avenue South

Northstar East Building—12th Floor

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Facsimile Transmission

612-667-6282

Attn: Corporate Trust Operations

Confirm by Telephone:

800-344-5128

IF YOU WISH TO EXCHANGE CURRENTLY OUTSTANDING 8.625% SENIOR NOTES DUE 2018 THAT WERE ISSUED ON NOVEMBER 17, 2011 (THE “OUTSTANDING NOTES”) FOR AN EQUAL AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF 8.625% SENIOR NOTES DUE 2018 PURSUANT TO THE EXCHANGE OFFER, YOU MUST VALIDLY TENDER (AND NOT WITHDRAW) OUTSTANDING NOTES TO THE EXCHANGE AGENT PRIOR TO 5:00 P.M. NEW YORK CITY TIME ON THE EXPIRATION DATE BY CAUSING AN AGENT’S MESSAGE TO BE RECEIVED BY THE EXCHANGE AGENT PRIOR TO SUCH TIME.

The undersigned hereby acknowledges receipt of the prospectus, dated January 23, 2012 (the “Prospectus”), of Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc., a Texas corporation (the “Company”), and this Letter of Transmittal (the “Letter of Transmittal”), which together describe the Company’s offer (the “Exchange Offer”) to exchange its 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018 (the “Exchange Notes”) that have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as

 

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amended (the “Securities Act”), for a like principal amount of its issued and outstanding 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018 that were issued on November 17, 2011 (the “Outstanding Notes”). Capitalized terms used but not defined herein have the respective meaning given to them in the Prospectus.

The Outstanding Notes issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act bear the CUSIP number 144577AD5 and the ISIN number US144577AD53, and the Outstanding Notes issued pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act bear the CUSIP number U14535AB1 and the ISIN number USU14535AB13.

The Company reserves the right, at any time or from time to time, to extend the Exchange Offer at its discretion, in which event the term “Expiration Date” shall mean the latest date to which the Exchange Offer is extended. To extend the Exchange Offer, the Company will notify the Exchange Agent orally or in writing of any extension. The Company will notify the holders of Outstanding Notes of the extension via a press release issued no later than 9:00 a.m. New York City time on the business day after the previously scheduled Expiration Date.

This Letter of Transmittal is to be used by holders of the Outstanding Notes. Tender of Outstanding Notes is to be made according to the Automated Tender Offer Program (“ATOP”) of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Prospectus under the caption “The Exchange Offer—Procedures for Tendering.” DTC participants that are accepting the Exchange Offer must transmit their acceptance to DTC, which will verify the acceptance and execute a book-entry delivery to the Exchange Agent’s DTC account. DTC will then send a computer-generated message known as an “agent’s message” to the exchange agent for its acceptance. For you to validly tender your Outstanding Notes in the Exchange Offer, the Exchange Agent must receive, prior to the Expiration Date, an agent’s message under the ATOP procedures that confirms that:

 

•

DTC has received your instructions to tender your Outstanding Notes; and

 

•

You agree to be bound by the terms of this Letter of Transmittal.

By using the ATOP procedures to tender Outstanding Notes, you will not be required to deliver this Letter of Transmittal to the Exchange Agent. However, you will be bound by its terms, and you will be deemed to have made the acknowledgments and the representations and warranties it contains, just as if you had signed it.

 

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PLEASE READ THE ACCOMPANYING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

1. By tendering Outstanding Notes in the Exchange Offer, you acknowledge receipt of the Prospectus and this Letter of Transmittal.

2. By tendering Outstanding Notes in the Exchange Offer, you represent and warrant that you have full authority to tender the Outstanding Notes described above and will, upon request, execute and deliver any additional documents deemed by the Company to be necessary or desirable to complete the tender of Outstanding Notes.

3. The tender of the Outstanding Notes pursuant to all of the procedures set forth in the Prospectus will constitute an agreement between you and the Company as to the terms and conditions set forth in the Prospectus.

4. The Exchange Offer is being made in reliance upon interpretations contained in no-action letters issued to third parties by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), including Exxon Capital Holdings Corp., Commission No-Action Letter (available May 13, 1988), Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., Commission No-Action Letter (available June 5, 1991) and Shearman & Sterling, Commission No-Action Letter (available July 2, 1993), that the Exchange Notes issued in exchange for the Outstanding Notes pursuant to the Exchange Offer may be offered for resale, resold and otherwise transferred by holders thereof (other than a broker-dealer who purchased Outstanding Notes exchanged for such Exchange Notes directly from the Company to resell pursuant to Rule 144A or any other available exemption under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and any such holder that is an “affiliate” of the Company or of any of the subsidiary guarantors named in the Prospectus within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act), without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery provisions of the Securities Act, provided that such Exchange Notes are acquired in the ordinary course of such holders’ business and such holders are not participating in, and have no arrangement with any person to participate in, the distribution of such Exchange Notes.

5. By tendering Outstanding Notes in the Exchange Offer, you represent and warrant that:

a. the Exchange Notes acquired pursuant to the Exchange Offer are being obtained in the ordinary course of your business, whether or not you are the holder;

b. neither you nor any such other person is engaging in or intends to engage in a distribution of such Exchange Notes;

c. neither you nor any such other person has an arrangement or understanding with any person or entity to participate in the distribution of such Exchange Notes;

d. neither you nor any such other person is an “affiliate,” as such term is defined under Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act, of the Company, or of the subsidiary guarantors named in the Prospectus or, if you are an affiliate, that you will comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act to the extent applicable; and

e. if you are a broker-dealer that will receive Exchange Notes for your own account in exchange for Outstanding Notes, you acquired those Outstanding Notes as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities and you will deliver the Prospectus, as required by law, in connection with any resale of the Exchange Notes.

6. If you are a broker-dealer that will receive Exchange Notes for your own account in exchange for Outstanding Notes that were acquired as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities, you acknowledge, by tendering Outstanding Notes in the Exchange Offer, that you will deliver a prospectus in connection with any resale of such Exchange Notes; however, by so acknowledging and by delivering a prospectus, you will not be deemed to admit that you are an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities

 

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Act. If you are a broker-dealer and Outstanding Notes held for your own account were not acquired as a result of market-making or other trading activities, such Outstanding Notes cannot be exchanged pursuant to the Exchange Offer.

7. Any of your obligations hereunder shall be binding upon your successors, assigns, executors, administrators, trustees in bankruptcy and legal and personal representatives.

 

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INSTRUCTIONS

FORMING PART OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE EXCHANGE OFFER

 

1.	Book-Entry Confirmations.

Any confirmation of a book-entry transfer to the Exchange Agent’s account at DTC of Outstanding Notes tendered by book-entry transfer (a “Book-Entry Confirmation”), as well as an agent’s message, and any other documents required by this Letter of Transmittal, must be received by the Exchange Agent at its address set forth herein prior to 5:00 P.M. New York City time on the Expiration Date.

 

2.	Partial Tenders.

Tenders of Outstanding Notes will be accepted only in denominations of $2,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof. The entire principal amount of Outstanding Notes delivered to the Exchange Agent will be deemed to have been tendered unless otherwise communicated to the Exchange Agent. If the entire principal amount of all Outstanding Notes is not tendered, then Outstanding Notes for the principal amount of Outstanding Notes not tendered and Exchange Notes issued in exchange for any Outstanding Notes accepted will be delivered to the holder via the facilities of DTC promptly after the Outstanding Notes are accepted for exchange.

 

3.	Validity of Tenders.

All questions as to the validity, form, eligibility (including time of receipt), acceptance, and withdrawal of tendered Outstanding Notes will be determined by the Company, in its sole discretion, which determination will be final and binding. The Company reserves the absolute right to reject any or all tenders not in proper form or the acceptance for exchange of which may, in the opinion of counsel for the Company, be unlawful. The Company also reserves the absolute right to waive any of the conditions of the Exchange Offer or any defect or irregularity in the tender of any Outstanding Notes. The Company’s interpretation of the terms and conditions of the Exchange Offer (including the instructions on this Letter of Transmittal) will be final and binding on all parties. Unless waived, any defects or irregularities in connection with tenders of Outstanding Notes must be cured within such time as the Company shall determine. Although the Company intends to notify holders of defects or irregularities with respect to tenders of Outstanding Notes, neither the Company, the Exchange Agent, nor any other person shall be under any duty to give notification of any defects or irregularities in tenders or incur any liability for failure to give such notification. Tenders of Outstanding Notes will not be deemed to have been made until such defects or irregularities have been cured or waived. Any Outstanding Notes received by the Exchange Agent that are not properly tendered and as to which the defects or irregularities have not been cured or waived will be returned by the Exchange Agent to the tendering holders via the facilities of DTC, promptly following the Expiration Date.

 

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Until March 3, 2012 all dealers that effect transactions in the exchange notes, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.

Offer to Exchange

$200,000,000 of 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018

that have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933

for any and all outstanding

$200,000,000 of 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018

that have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933