OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings said today that it raised its issue-level rating on Midland, Texas-based oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company Endeavor Energy Resources L. P.'s senior unsecured debt to 'B-' from 'CCC+', and revised the recovery rating to '3' from '5'. The '3' recovery rating indicates our expectation of meaningful (50% to 70%, lower end of the range) recovery in the event of default.

The issue-level rating on the senior secured debt remains 'B+' with a recovery rating of '1', indicating our expectation for very high (90% to 100% range) recovery in the event of a default. The corporate credit rating remains 'B-'. The outlook is stable.

We revised the recovery rating following the May 2016, reduction of the company's borrowing base on its reserve-based revolving credit facility to $400 million from $675 million, and our updated estimate of enterprise value given recently announced asset sales. We based our enterprise value on Endeavor's company-provided PV-10 report, based on year-end 2015 proved reserves (less 10% for recent asset sales), using our recovery price assumptions of $50 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude oil and $3.00 per million British thermal units for Henry hub natural gas.