NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 19, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on oil and gas exploration and production company Hilcorp Energy I L.P. (B+/Stable/--) are unaffected by the company's announcement that it intends to increase the amount of its senior unsecured notes due 2015 by $125 million, to $600 million. The current rating reflects our expectation that the company will manage its high financial leverage, currently at more than $7 per barrel on a total adjusted debt basis. A meaningful and persistent increase in leverage above current measures, or deterioration in operating performance at current debt levels could result in a revision of the outlook to negative or a downgrade.
