Long Beach-based Pacific Energy Resources, whose drilling explorations extend from Wyoming to offshore California to Alaska, filed for bankruptcy today. The Chapter 11 move comes amid continued economic chaos and plunging demand for oil. Only last June PE's president, Darren Katic, told an interviewer, “I feel oil is going to $200 a barrel in

the next 24 months.” Today it is trading at just above $47 per barrel. Toward the end of his interview, when Katic was asked to name one company he'd recommend buying stock from, he replied, “Check out Dune Energy . . . if they can fix a few issues they have with their balance sheet they could be a $3

to $4 stock.”

Monday, Dune Energy began trading at 15 cents a share and is showing a profit margin of -74.17 percent. Not even oil, once considered the lifeblood of the economy, can be counted on a sure bet in this spiralling recession.

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