Hercules Offshore Inc (fka HEROQ)

[seven-up]

Embattled shallow-water rig contractor Hercules Offshore no longer has shares of its stock traded on the Nasdaq exchange, according to company filings published on Thursday.

Nasdaq staff months ago determined Hercules no longer met the requirements to continue being listed on the exchange and the Houston-based company did not appeal the decision. Filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Aug. 13 automatically triggered a de-listing. Its last trading day was last week.

Shares of Hercules stock were trading for 7 cents Thursday afternoon on the over-the-counter market. Two years ago, shares were trading for $7 on the Nasdaq exchange.

The announcement comes weeks after Hercules filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid weakening demand for its jackup rigs that have limited use outside of the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Falling oil prices have slashed the rates contractors can fetch for their rigs, and Hercules has said that its older-style fleet will continue to struggle to compete — the company’s chief financial officer said in a statement to the court earlier this year that new rigs coming online as the oil industry rebounds will be more likely to attract contracts than older Hercules rigs.

Hercules has been trying for months to clean up its balance sheet, including slashing 30 percent of its 1,800 employees and cold-stacking nine rigs.

But with $1.3 billion in debt, more than double its $546 million in assets, the company was also forced to restructure. For months, Hercules has been working with its creditors to hammer out an agreement to convert most of its corporate debt into shares.