Global Geophysical Files for Bankruptcy

Global Geophysical Services Inc , a provider of seismic data to oil and gas companies, filed for bankruptcy due to heavy debt and said it was seeking court approval for $60 million in debtor-in-possession financing.

The company and some of its units made a Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Global Geophysical said on Tuesday that its foreign subsidiaries were not included in the bankruptcy filing.

"The company continued to be burdened by significant debt incurred over the past several years," Chief Executive Richard White said in a statement.

He, however, said Global Geophysical had a strong order backlog and was seeing increasing demand for its services.

Demand for seismic data, which creates images of the earth's subsurface and helps companies to identify oil-and-gas-bearing structures, has risen as energy companies spend more on exploration in remote and difficult areas.

Global Geophysical had warned of a liquidity crunch earlier this month.

The company's shares closed 1 percent lower at $0.47 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The stock has fallen about 85 percent in the six months to Tuesday's close.