SYDNEY • Singapore-listed oil and gas company Linc Energy owes creditors A$289.4 million (S$289 million) and should be wound up, according to its administrators. The company entered into voluntary administration a month ago, suffering from debt woes amid a slump in energy prices.

Administrators PPB Advisory released a report on Friday recommending the company be liquidated. "We recommend that it is in the creditors' interests that the company be wound up," the report said.

Linc Energy's businesses included oil and gas operations in the United States, as well as exploration for shale oil and gas in south Australia.

In March, Linc was charged in Queensland with causing serious environmental harm following an investigation into a gas leak at one of its plants, after four employees fell ill with suspected gas poisoning. The company's administrators cited falling commodity prices and an inability to raise capital after the Queensland legal action as reasons for Linc's troubles.

A string of Australian resource and materials companies have recently entered into voluntary administration, stung by a ramp-up in output just as China's economy started to slow and commodity prices plunged.

Shares in Linc have been suspended since the end of March. The shares, which have a market value of US$11.6 million (S$15.9 million), had fallen about 85 per cent so far this year.

The company shifted its listing to Singapore from Australia in end-2013.

REUTERS