Sanchez Energy to Exit Bankruptcy Not Knowing Who Owns Driller

Nothing about Sanchez Energy Corp.’s bankruptcy has been easy.

Even after the oil driller’s bankruptcy-exit plan was approved on Thursday, creditors owed $2.4 billion must keep fighting in court to divvy up the equity of a company worth just $85 million.

“This plan should not be a model for any future Chapter 11 case,” Evan Fleck, the lead lawyer for unsecured creditors, told the judge overseeing the case.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur approved a plan that strips the Sanchez family of its control and leaves them vulnerable to lawsuits by disgruntled creditors who blame them for their ...