As part of its business, Titan sponsors and manages certain investment partnerships, including Atlas 28-2010. As an oil and gas partnership, Atlas 28-2010 has drilled and currently operates wells located in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Colorado. Atlas 28-2010 seeks to earn revenue through operation of its wells, which produce natural gas. The Partnership raised investor capital through a private placement offering governed by Regulation D (“Reg D”) of the federal securities laws, allowing for the sale of unregistered (or exempt) securities.
Investing in a private placement carries significant risk, and for this reason, is typically only available to accredited investors (in general, to be accredited an investor must have an annual income of $200,000 or joint annual income of $300,000, for the last two years, or alternatively, have a net worth in excess of $1 million, either jointly or with a spouse). One risk with private placements involves their high cost; many oil and gas limited partnerships have high expense ratios, making the investment a risky proposition from the outset. Up-front expenses may be as high as 7-10%, in addition to due diligence fees that may range from 1-3%. Furthermore, oil and gas private placements are risky because of the extreme volatility associated with the underlying commodity: oil. Due to recent sharp declines in the oil and gas market (crude oil has significantly declined in price from recent highs in 2014), many oil and gas limited partnerships are now teetering at the brink of default.
On July 25, 2016, Atlas Resources entered into a restructuring agreement with certain lenders in anticipation of bankruptcy. On July 27, 2016, Atlas Resources filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of its restructuring. As an investor in an oil and gas private placement, such as Atlas 28-2010, you may have legal recourse to recover investment losses. Specifically, applicable rules and regulations mandate that broker-dealers and their financial advisors must perform adequate due diligence on a financial product before recommending such product to an investor. Further, a financial advisor must perform a suitability analysis in connection with the sale of a private placement offering in order to ensure that the investment is suitable based on factors such as the investor’s stated investment objectives, net worth, income, age, investment experience and risk tolerance.
The attorneys at Law Office of Christopher J. Gray, P.C. have significant experience in representing investors in oil and gas-related investments, including investors who have lost money in private placements governed by Reg D. Depending on the facts and circumstances, investors may be able to recover their losses in FINRA arbitration, and in some instances, litigation. Investors who wish to discuss a potential claim may contact a securities arbitration lawyer at (866) 966-9598 or via email at newcases@investorlawyers.net for a no-cost, confidential consultation.