Focused operational strategy, executed by a management team with extensive engineering expertise; High percentage of company-operated properties gives the company considerable control over property development decisions; and Disciplined hedging program protects cash flow. Volatile, fiercely competitive, cyclical, and capital-intensive industry; Highly leveraged capital structure; and Execution risk related to operating in geologically complex areas. The ratings on oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company Hilcorp Energy I L.P. reflect a weak business risk profile and aggressive financial leverage. Hilcorp is a small, privately held limited partnership that acquires, develops, and produces crude oil and natural gas, mainly from onshore Texas and South Louisiana properties. The company's business risk profile incorporates the highly competitive, cyclical, and capital-intensive nature of the
