(Adds details on reserves, loss of market capitalization)
By Amrutha Gayathri
Feb 29 (Reuters) - Natural gas producer Ultra Petroleum Corp
UPL.N said its auditors have raised doubts about its ability
to stay in business and that it may have to seek bankruptcy
protection in the United States or Canada.
Ultra Petroleum said in a regulatory filing on Monday that
it expects to default on a credit agreement on March 15, and
would file for bankruptcy protection if it failed to make debt
payments, restructure debt or secure additional capital.
The company, reeling from a prolonged slump in commodity
prices, said on Feb. 18 it was considering strategic
alternatives and that it had engaged Kirkland & Ellis LLP as
legal adviser and Rothschild and Petrie Partners as financial
advisers.
At the time, Ultra said it was booking a chunk of its proved
undeveloped reserves as probable reserves "due to uncertainty
around financing (their) development."
The company's fortunes have declined sharply since 2008,
when its market capitalization was $15 billion. Now it is worth
about $53 million.
Ultra Petroleum had $3.76 billion in total outstanding debt
as of Feb. 29.
The company had $1.46 billion due between March 2016 and
October 2025 and $630 million due in October 2016.
The company's shares ended 1.7 percent higher at 35.6 cents.
(Editing by Terry Wade and Richard Chang)