Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
- Amplify Energy plummeted as much as 51% on Monday after an oil rig that the firm operates was linked to a spill in Southern California.
- The oil spill is estimated to be 126,000 gallons across a six-mile range between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
- Amplify said it shut down its oil pipeline and production operations as a precaution.
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Amplify Energy stock plummeted as much as 51% on Monday after an oil rig it operates was linked to a spill in Southern California.
The spill is estimated to have released as much as 126,000 gallons of oil, impacting a six-mile range between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. The US Coast Guard has led a cleanup of the area since Amplify notified them of the spill on Saturday morning and is still surveying the damage and investigating its origin.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said in a news conference that the oil rig linked to the spill was operated by Beta Offshore, a subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy, Reuters reported. The CEO of Amplify said at a press conference that it shut down its pipeline and suctioned out remaining oil.
In response to the oil spill, Roth Capital suspended its price target on the stock in a Monday note, according to Reuters.
"Until we are able to have a discussion with management to confirm this is from an AMPY property, the extent of the spill, the estimated cost of clean-up and any insurance coverage that may apply, we are temporarily suspending our target price, our estimates and moving our rating to Neutral," the note, seen by Reuters, said.
Amplify Energy is a small oil and gas producer that had a market capitalization of about $125 million on Monday. The stock saw a year-to-date gain of 341% prior to Monday's decline.
