OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings today lowered its corporate credit rating on U. S.-based oil and gas exploration and production company Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. to 'D' from 'CCC'.

At the same time, we lowered our issue-level ratings on the company's senior unsecured notes to 'D' from 'CC'. The recovery rating on the senior unsecured notes remains '6', indicating our expectation of negligible (0% to 10%) recovery in the event of a payment default.

The downgrade follows Bonanza Creek's announcement that it elected not to make the Aug. 1, 2016 interest payment on the 5.75% senior unsecured notes due 2023. We do not expect the company to make this interest payment before the end of the 30-day grace period and we do not envision additional interest payments on the remaining debt.