Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)

Registration No. 333-162357

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED OCTOBER 6, 2009

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

(To Prospectus Dated October 6, 2009)

 

6,000,000 Units

Linn Energy, LLC

 

Representing Limited Liability Company Interests

 

$      per unit

 

 

We are selling 6,000,000 units representing limited liability company interests of Linn Energy, LLC.

 

We have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 900,000 additional units to cover over-allotments.

 

Our units are listed on The NASDAQ Global Select Market, or NASDAQ, under the symbol “LINE.” The last reported sale price of our units on NASDAQ on October 5, 2009 was $22.75 per unit.

 

Investing in the units involves risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-8 of this prospectus supplement, on page 1 of the accompanying prospectus and in the documents incorporated by reference carefully before you make your investment decision. Limited liability companies are inherently different from corporations.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

The underwriters expect to deliver the units to purchasers on or about          , 2009 through the book-entry facilities of The Depository Trust Company.

 

Joint Book-Running Managers

 

Senior Co-Managers

 

Co-Managers

 

October   , 2009

 

 

Note: Excluding Permian, reserve data as of December 31, 2008.

 

You should rely only on the information contained in or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Our principal executive offices are located at 600 Travis, Suite 5100, Houston, Texas 77002, and our main telephone number is (281) 840-4000. Our internet address is www.linnenergy.com. The information on our website is not a part of this prospectus supplement.

 

This document is in two parts. The first part is the prospectus supplement, which describes the specific terms of this offering and also adds to and updates information contained in the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference. The second part is the accompanying prospectus, which provides more general information. To the extent there is a conflict between the information contained in this prospectus supplement, on the one hand, and the information contained in the accompanying prospectus or any document incorporated by reference, on the other hand, you should rely on the information in this prospectus supplement. Before you invest in our units, you should carefully read this prospectus supplement, along with the accompanying prospectus, in addition to the information contained in the documents we refer to under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information” in the accompanying prospectus.

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, the documents we incorporate by reference and any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or any document incorporated by reference is accurate as of any date other than the date on its front cover. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since the date indicated on the front cover of such documents. Neither this prospectus supplement nor the accompanying prospectus constitutes an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities other than the units offered hereunder, nor does this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus constitute an offer to sell to any person, or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities from any person, in any jurisdiction where it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction.

 

SUMMARY

	•	Mid-Continent Deep, which includes the Texas Panhandle Deep Granite Wash formation and deep formations in Oklahoma;
	•	Mid-Continent Shallow, which includes the Texas Panhandle Brown Dolomite formation, the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, and shallow formations in Oklahoma; and
	•	Western, which includes the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin in California.

														Average Daily
		Estimated												Production								Number of
		Net Proved												for the Six								Identified
		Reserves at												Months Ended				Proved				Drilling
		December 31,												June 30,				Reserves/				Locations at
		2008								% Proved				2009				Production				June 30,
Region		(Bcfe)				% Gas				Developed				(MMcfe/d)				(Years)(1)				2009
Mid-Continent Deep			888				76	%			69	%			140				17				1,912
Mid-Continent Shallow			553				29	%			60	%			64				24				2,008
Western			219				7	%			87	%			14				43				88
Total			1,660				51	%			68	%			218				21				4,008

(1)		Our ratio of proved reserves to production is the quotient derived by dividing (i) our estimated net proved reserves at December 31, 2008 by (ii) our annualized average daily production for the six months ended June 30, 2009.

		Year				Year				Year				Year				Year
		2009				2010				2011				2012				2013
Gas Positions:
Fixed Price Swaps:
Hedged Volume (MMMBtu)			16,494				39,566				31,901				—				—
Average Price ($/MMBtu)		$	8.53			$	8.90			$	9.50			$	—			$	—
Puts:
Hedged Volume (MMMBtu)			2,900				6,960				6,960				—				—
Average Price ($/MMBtu)		$	7.50			$	8.50			$	9.50			$	—			$	—
PEPL Puts:(1)
Hedged Volume (MMMBtu)			2,223				10,634				13,259				—				—
Average Price ($/MMBtu)		$	7.85			$	7.85			$	8.50			$	—			$	—
Total:
Hedged Volume (MMMBtu)			21,617				57,160				52,120				—				—
Average Price ($/MMBtu)		$	8.32			$	8.66			$	9.25			$	—			$	—
Oil Positions:
Fixed Price Swaps:
Hedged Volume (MBbls)			1,015				2,150				2,073				—				—
Average Price ($/Bbl)		$	90.00			$	90.00			$	90.00			$	—			$	—
Puts:(2)
Hedged Volume (MBbls)			768				2,250				2,352				—				—
Average Price ($/Bbl)		$	120.00			$	110.00			$	75.00			$	—			$	—
Collars:
Hedged Volume (MBbls)			104				250				276				—				—
Average Floor Price ($/Bbl)		$	90.00			$	90.00			$	90.00				—			$	—
Average Ceiling Price ($/Bbl)		$	114.25			$	112.00			$	112.25			$	—			$	—
Total:
Hedged Volume (MBbls)			1,887				4,650				4,701				—				—
Average Price ($/Bbl)		$	102.21			$	99.68			$	82.50			$	—			$	—
Gas Basis Differential Positions:
PEPL Basis Swaps:
Hedged Volume (MMMBtu)			19,548				43,166				35,541				34,066				31,700
Hedged Differential ($/MMBtu)		$	(0.97	)		$	(0.97	)		$	(0.96	)		$	(0.95	)		$	(1.01	)

(1)		Settle on the Panhandle Eastern Pipeline (“PEPL”) spot price of gas to hedge basis differential associated with gas production in the Mid-Continent Deep and Mid-Continent Shallow regions.
(2)		We utilize oil puts to hedge revenues associated with our NGL production.

Units Offered by Linn Energy, LLC		6,000,000 units or 6,900,000 units if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase an additional 900,000 units.
Units Outstanding after the Offering(1)		127,297,006 units or 128,197,006 units if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase an additional 900,000 units.
Use of Proceeds		We estimate that we will receive, based on an assumed offering price of $22.75, net proceeds of approximately $130.3 million from this offering, or $150.0 million if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, in each case, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses. We intend to use all of the net proceeds we receive from this offering to repay indebtedness outstanding under our revolving credit facility. Affiliates of certain of the underwriters are lenders under our credit facility, and accordingly will receive a majority of the net proceeds from this offering. Please read “Underwriting.”
Timing of Distributions		We pay distributions on our units within 45 days after March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 to unitholders of record on the applicable record date.
Risk Factors		An investment in our units involves risk. Please read “Risk Factors” in this prospectus supplement and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. Realization of any of those risks or adverse results from the listed matters could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
NASDAQ Trading Symbol		LINE

(1)		Based on the number of units outstanding on September 30, 2009 and excluding 1,972,843 units potentially issuable as of September 30, 2009 under outstanding options at a weighted average exercise price of $22.47 per unit.

 

An investment in our units involves risks. You should carefully consider all of the information contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference and provided under “Where You Can Find More Information” in the accompanying prospectus, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference also contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Please read “Information About Forward-Looking Statements” in the accompanying prospectus. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including the risks described below, elsewhere in this prospectus supplement, in the accompanying prospectus and in the documents incorporated by reference.

 

If any of the following risks actually were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow could be affected materially and adversely. In that case, the trading price of our units could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

 

Risks Related to our Business

 

We may not have sufficient cash flow from operations to pay the quarterly distribution at the current distribution level and future distributions to our unitholders may fluctuate from quarter to quarter.

 

We may not have sufficient cash flow from operations each quarter to pay the quarterly distribution at the current distribution level. Under the terms of our limited liability company agreement, the amount of cash otherwise available for distribution will be reduced by our operating expenses and any cash reserve amounts that our Board of Directors establishes to provide for future operations, future capital expenditures, future debt service requirements and future cash distributions to our unitholders. The amount of cash we can distribute on our units principally depends upon the amount of cash we generate from our operations, which will fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on, among other things:

 

 

In addition, the actual amount of cash we will have available for distribution will depend on other factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

 

 

As a result of these factors, the amount of cash we distribute to our unitholders in any quarter may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and may be significantly less than the current distribution level.

If we do not make future acquisitions on economically acceptable terms, then our growth and ability to increase distributions will be limited.

 

Our ability to grow and to increase distributions to our unitholders is partially dependent on our ability to make acquisitions that result in an increase in available cash flow per unit. We may be unable to make such acquisitions because we are:

 

 

In any such case, our future growth and ability to increase distributions will be limited. Furthermore, even if we do make acquisitions that we believe will increase available cash flow per unit, these acquisitions may nevertheless result in a decrease in available cash flow per unit.

 

Commodity prices are volatile, and a significant decline in commodity prices for a prolonged period would reduce our revenues, cash flow from operations and profitability, and we may have to lower our distribution or may not be able to pay distributions at all.

 

Our revenue, profitability and cash flow depend upon the prices of and demand for oil, gas and NGL. The oil, gas and NGL market is very volatile and a drop in prices can significantly affect our financial results and impede our growth. Changes in oil, gas and NGL prices have a significant impact on the value of our reserves and on our cash flow. Prices for these commodities may fluctuate widely in response to relatively minor changes in the supply of and demand for them, market uncertainty and a variety of additional factors that are beyond our control, such as:

 

 

In the past, the prices of oil, gas and NGL have been extremely volatile, and we expect this volatility to continue. If commodity prices decline significantly for a prolonged period, our cash flow from operations will decline, and we may have to lower our distribution or may not be able to pay distributions at all.

Unless we replace our reserves, our reserves and production will decline, which would adversely affect our cash flow from operations and our ability to make distributions to our unitholders.

 

Producing oil, gas and NGL reservoirs are characterized by declining production rates that vary depending upon reservoir characteristics and other factors. The overall rate of decline for our production will change if production from our existing wells declines in a different manner than we have estimated and can change when we drill additional wells, make acquisitions and under other circumstances. Thus, our future oil, gas and NGL reserves and production and, therefore, our cash flow and income, are highly dependent on our success in efficiently developing and exploiting our current reserves and economically finding or acquiring additional recoverable reserves. We may not be able to develop, find or acquire additional reserves to replace our current and future production at acceptable costs, which would adversely affect our cash flow from operations and our ability to make distributions to our unitholders.

 

Risks Related to the Units

 

We may issue additional units without unitholder approval, which would dilute existing ownership interests.

 

We may issue an unlimited number of limited liability company interests of any type, including units, without the approval of our unitholders.

 

The issuance of additional units or other equity securities may have the following effects:

 

 

The market price of our units could be volatile due to a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control.

 

The market price of our units could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a number of factors, most of which we cannot control, including:

 

 

In recent years, the securities market has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. This volatility has had a significant effect on the market price of securities issued by many companies for reasons unrelated to the operating performance of these companies. Future market fluctuations may result in a lower price of our units.

 

Tax Risks to Unitholders

 

In addition to reading the following risk factors, you should read “Material Tax Consequences” in this prospectus supplement and in the accompanying prospectus for a more complete discussion of the expected material federal income tax consequences of owning and disposing of units.

 

Our tax treatment depends on our status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, as well as our not being subject to a material amount of entity-level taxation by individual states. If the IRS were to treat us as a corporation for federal income tax purposes or we were to become subject to entity-level taxation for state tax purposes, taxes paid, if any, would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to you.

 

The anticipated after-tax economic benefit of an investment in our units depends largely on our being treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. We have not requested, and do not plan to request, a ruling from the IRS on this or any other tax matter that affects us.

 

If we were treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, we would pay federal income tax on our taxable income at the corporate tax rates, currently at a maximum rate of 35%, and would likely pay state income tax at varying rates. Distributions to you would generally be taxed again as corporate distributions, and no income, gain, loss, deduction or credit would flow through to you. Because a tax may be imposed on us as a corporation, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders could be reduced. Therefore, treatment of us as a corporation would result in a material reduction in the anticipated cash flow and after-tax return to our unitholders, likely causing a substantial reduction in the value of our units.

 

Current law or our business may change so as to cause us to be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes or otherwise subject us to entity-level taxation. In addition, because of widespread state budget deficits and other reasons, several states are evaluating ways to subject partnerships and limited liability companies to entity-level taxation through the imposition of state income, franchise or other forms of taxation. For example, since 2008 we have been required to pay Texas franchise tax at a maximum effective rate of 0.7% of our gross income apportioned to Texas in the prior year. Imposition of this tax on us by Texas and, if applicable, a similar tax by any other state will reduce the cash available for distribution to our unitholders.

 

Our unitholders may have more complex tax reporting and may be required to pay taxes on income even if they do not receive any cash distributions from us.

 

Our unitholders are required to pay federal income taxes and, in some cases, state and local income taxes on their share of our taxable income, whether or not they receive cash distributions from us. Our unitholders may not receive cash distributions from us equal to their share of our taxable income or even equal to the actual tax liability that results from their share of our taxable income. Please read “Material Tax Consequences — Ratio of Taxable Income to Distributions” in this prospectus supplement for a more detailed discussion.

 

In addition to federal income taxes, our unitholders will likely be subject to other taxes, including state and local taxes, unincorporated business taxes and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that are imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property now or in the future, even if they do not reside in any of those jurisdictions. Our unitholders likely will be required to file state and local income tax returns and pay state and local income taxes in some or all of these jurisdictions. Further, our unitholders may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. We currently conduct business and/or own assets in West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas. As we make acquisitions or expand our business, we may do business or own assets in other states in the future. It is the responsibility of each unitholder to file all United States federal, state and local tax returns that may be required of such unitholder. Our counsel has not rendered an opinion on the state or local tax consequences of an investment in our units.

Unitholders may be subject to taxable gains upon dispositions of properties.

 

We may dispose of properties in transactions that result in gains that will be allocated to you, and such gains may be either ordinary gains or capital gains to you. Even where we dispose of properties that are capital assets, what otherwise would be capital gains to you may be recharacterized as ordinary gains in order to “recapture” ordinary deductions that were previously allocated to you related to the same properties. In addition, such an allocation of ordinary or capital gains may increase your taxable income, and you may be required to pay federal income taxes and state and local income taxes, even if we have not made a cash distribution to you subsequent to our disposal of the properties. Your allocable share of the taxable gains also may be greater than your interest in our profits. If you contributed property in exchange for our units, your capital account would have been credited with the fair market value of the property at the time (your “book” basis), which may have exceeded your “tax” basis of property. This also could be the case if you held our units at a time when we issued additional units to other unitholders (resulting in a revaluation of our assets). Gains are required to be allocated to you in order to eliminate this “book-tax disparity.”

 

If the IRS contests the federal income tax positions we take, the market for our units may be adversely impacted and the costs of any IRS contest will reduce our cash available for distribution.

 

We have not requested a ruling from the IRS with respect to our treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes or any other matter that affects us. The IRS may adopt positions that differ from the conclusions of our counsel expressed in this prospectus or from the positions we take. It may be necessary to resort to administrative or court proceedings to sustain some or all of our counsel’s conclusions or the positions we take and a court may disagree with some or all of those positions. Any contest with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for our units and the price at which they trade. In addition, our costs of any contest with the IRS will result in a reduction in cash available for distribution to our unitholders and thus will be borne indirectly by our unitholders.

 

Tax gain or loss on disposition of our units could be more or less than expected.

 

When you sell your units, you will recognize gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the tax basis in those units. Because distributions in excess of your allocable share of our net taxable income decrease your tax basis in your units, the amount, if any, of such prior excess distributions with respect to the units you sell will, in effect, become taxable income to you if you sell such units at a price greater than your tax basis in those units, even if the price you receive is less than your original cost. Furthermore, a substantial portion of the amount realized, whether or not representing gain, may be taxed as ordinary income due to potential recapture items, including depreciation recapture. In addition, because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, if you sell your units, you may incur a tax liability in excess of the amount of cash you receive from the sale. Please read “Material Tax Consequences — Disposition of Units — Recognition of Gain or Loss” in the accompanying prospectus for a further discussion of the foregoing.

 

Tax-exempt entities and foreign persons face unique tax issues from owning units that may result in adverse tax consequences to them.

 

Investment in units by tax-exempt entities, including employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts (known as IRAs), and non-U.S. persons raises issues unique to them. For example, virtually all of our income allocated to organizations exempt from federal income tax, including individual retirement accounts and other retirement plans, will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to such a unitholder. Distributions to non-U.S. persons will be reduced by withholding taxes imposed at the highest effective applicable tax rate, and non-U.S. persons will be required to file United States federal income tax returns and pay tax on their share of our taxable income. If you are a tax exempt entity or a foreign person, you should consult your tax advisor before investing in our units.

We will treat each purchaser of our units as having the same tax benefits without regard to the actual units purchased. The IRS may challenge this treatment, which could adversely affect the value of the units.

 

Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of units and because of other reasons, we will adopt depreciation and amortization positions that may not conform with all aspects of existing Treasury Regulations. A successful IRS challenge to those positions could adversely affect the amount of tax benefits available to our unitholders. It also could affect the timing of these tax benefits or the amount of gain on the sale of units and could have a negative impact on the value of our units or result in audits of and adjustments to our unitholders’ tax returns. Please read “Material Tax Consequences — Uniformity of Units” in the accompanying prospectus for a further discussion of the effect of the depreciation and amortization positions we will adopt.

 

The sale or exchange of 50% or more of our capital and profit interests within a twelve-month period will result in the termination of our partnership status for federal income tax purposes.

 

We will be considered to have been terminated for federal income tax purposes if, within a twelve-month period, there is a sale or exchange of 50% or more of the total interests in our capital and profits. Our termination would, among other things, result in the closing of our taxable year for all unitholders. In the case of a unitholder reporting on a taxable year other than a fiscal year ending December 31, the closing of our taxable year may result in more than twelve months of our taxable income or loss being includable in his taxable income for the year of termination. Our termination currently would not affect our classification as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, but instead, we would be treated as a new partnership for tax purposes. If treated as a new partnership, we must make new tax elections and could be subject to penalties if we are unable to determine that a termination occurred.

 

Changes to current laws may affect the ability to take certain deductions.

 

Substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws have been proposed that, if adopted, would affect, among other things, the ability to take certain operations related deductions, including depletion deductions, deductions for intangible drilling and development costs and deductions for United States production activities. Other proposed changes may affect our ability to remain taxable as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. We are unable to predict whether any changes, or other proposals to such laws, ultimately will be enacted. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our units. Please read “Material Tax Consequences — Partnership Status” and “— Tax Treatment of Operations” in the accompanying prospectus for more information on depletion deductions, deductions for intangible drilling and development costs and deductions for United States production activity.

 

We estimate that we will receive net proceeds of approximately $130.3 million from this offering, based on an assumed offering price of $22.75 per unit, and after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses of this offering payable by us. If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full, the net proceeds will be approximately $150.0 million. We intend to use all of the net proceeds from this offering to repay indebtedness outstanding under our revolving credit facility.

 

In April 2009 we entered into an amended and restated revolving credit facility with an initial borrowing base of $1.75 billion and a maturity of August 2012. Upon the issuance of our senior notes due 2017 in May 2009 and cancelation of certain commodity derivatives in July 2009, the borrowing base was decreased to $1.64 billion at September 30, 2009. At September 30, 2009, we had $1.25 billion of indebtedness outstanding under our revolving credit facility. Borrowings under the revolving credit facility bear interest at variable rates plus the applicable margins specified in the credit facility. The applicable interest rate at September 30, 2009 was 3.0% per annum. The borrowings under our revolving credit facility were used to fund or partially fund our acquisitions of oil and gas properties and payment of our quarterly cash distributions and for general corporate purposes.

 

An increase or decrease in the assumed public offering price of $0.50 per unit would cause the net proceeds from the offering, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by us, to increase or decrease by approximately $2.9 million (or $3.3 million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full).

 

Affiliates of certain of the underwriters are lenders under our credit facility, and accordingly will receive a majority of the net proceeds from this offering. Please read “Underwriting.”

 

The following table sets forth our historical consolidated capitalization as of June 30, 2009 and our consolidated capitalization as adjusted to give effect to the sale of 6,000,000 units in this offering at an assumed price of $22.75 per unit, and the application of the net proceeds as described in “Use of Proceeds.”

 

The following table is unaudited and should be read together with our historical financial statements and the related notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2009.

 

 

The following presents the range of high and low last reported sales prices per unit, as reported by NASDAQ, for the quarters indicated. In addition, distributions declared during each quarter are presented.

 

 

 

 

Distributions

 

Our limited liability company agreement requires us to make quarterly distributions to unitholders of all “available cash.”

 

Available cash means, for each fiscal quarter, all cash on hand at the end of the quarter less the amount of cash reserves established by the Board of Directors to:

 

 

plus all cash on hand on the date of determination of available cash for the quarter resulting from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter for which the determination is being made.

 

Working capital borrowings are borrowings that will be made under our revolving credit facility and in all cases are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to unitholders.

 

The tax consequences to a purchaser of our units will depend in part on that purchaser’s tax circumstances. Although this section updates and adds information related to certain tax considerations, it should be read in conjunction with the risk factors included under the caption “Risk Factors — Tax Risks to Unitholders” in this prospectus supplement and with “Material Tax Consequences” in the accompanying prospectus, which provides a discussion of the principal federal income tax considerations associated with our operations and the purchase, ownership and disposition of units.

 

All prospective unitholders are encouraged to consult with their own tax advisor about the federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to their own circumstances. In particular, ownership of units by tax-exempt entities, including employee benefit plans and IRAs, and foreign investors raises issues unique to such persons. Such investors should read “Material Tax Consequences” in the accompanying prospectus.

 

Partnership Status

 

The anticipated after-tax economic benefit of an investment in our units depends largely on our being treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If we were treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would pay federal income tax on our taxable income at the corporate tax rate, which is currently a maximum of 35%, and would likely pay additional state income tax at varying rates. Distributions to you would generally be taxed again as corporate distributions, and no income, gains, losses or deductions would flow through to you. Because a tax would be imposed upon us as a corporation, our cash available for distribution to you would be substantially reduced. Therefore, treatment of us as a corporation would result in a material reduction in the anticipated cash flow and after-tax return to the unitholders, likely causing a substantial reduction in the value of our units.

 

Section 7704 of the Code provides that publicly traded partnerships will, as a general rule, be taxed as corporations. However, an exception, referred to as the “Qualifying Income Exception,” exists with respect to publicly traded partnerships of which 90% or more of the gross income for every taxable year consists of “qualifying income.” Qualifying income includes income and gains derived from the exploration, development, mining or production, processing, refining, transportation (including pipelines transporting gas, oil, or products thereof), or the marketing of any mineral or natural resource (including fertilizer, geothermal energy, and timber), industrial source carbon dioxide, or the transportation or storage of certain fuels or biodiesel fuels. Other types of qualifying income include interest other than from a financial business, dividends, real property rents, gains from the sale of real property and gains from the sale or other disposition of assets held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. We estimate that, as of the date of this prospectus, less than 1% of our gross income is not qualifying income; however, this estimate could change from time to time. In reliance upon this estimate and facts provided by us concerning the sources and amounts of gross income attributable to our businesses, together with the representation that the composition of such gross income remained materially unchanged through the date of this prospectus, and based on applicable legal authority, Baker & Hostetler LLP is of the opinion that at least 90% of our gross income as of the date of this prospectus constitutes qualifying income. For a discussion related to the opinion of Baker & Hostetler LLP and the implications of our status as a partnership, please read “Material Tax Consequences” in the accompanying prospectus.

 

Current law may change to cause us to be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes or otherwise subject us to entity-level taxation. For example, members of Congress are considering substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws that affect certain publicly traded partnerships. We are unable to predict whether any changes, or other proposals, will ultimately be enacted. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our units.

 

Ratio of Taxable Income to Distributions

 

We are unable to provide you with an estimate of the ratio of our taxable income to cash distributions for purchasers of units in this offering who own those units from the date of closing of this offering through the record date for distributions for the period ending December 31, 2009. While we generally have made cash

distributions in excess of taxable income historically, the amount by which cash distributions exceed taxable income has been inconsistent and varied widely. Because of the uncertainties with respect to capital expenditures, production, cash flow, and anticipated distributions along with business, economic, regulatory, competitive, and political uncertainties beyond our control, we cannot assure you that the actual ratio of allocable taxable income to tax distributions on the units could increase such that unitholders are allocated taxable income in excess of cash distributions. For example, the ratio of allocable taxable income to cash distributions could be greater, and perhaps substantially greater if:

 

 

If the ratio of allocable taxable income to cash distributions increases, the value of the units could be materially adversely affected.

 

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Barclays Capital Inc. and RBC Capital Markets Corporation are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering and as representatives of the underwriters named below. Subject to the terms and conditions stated in the underwriting agreement dated the date of this prospectus supplement, each underwriter named below has severally agreed to purchase, and we have agreed to sell to that underwriter, the number of units set forth opposite the underwriter’s name.

 

 

The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the units included in this offering are subject to approval of legal matters by counsel and to other conditions. The underwriters are obligated to purchase all the units (other than those covered by the over-allotment option described below) if they purchase any of the units.

 

Units sold by the underwriters to the public will initially be offered at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus supplement. Any units sold by the underwriters to securities dealers may be sold at a discount from the initial public offering price not to exceed $      per unit. If all the units are not sold at the initial offering price, the underwriters may change the offering price and the other selling terms.

 

If the underwriters sell more units than the total number set forth in the table above, we have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 30 days from the date of this prospectus supplement, to purchase up to 900,000 additional units at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. The underwriters may exercise the option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, in connection with this offering. To the extent the option is exercised, each underwriter must purchase a number of additional units approximately proportionate to that underwriter’s initial purchase commitment. Any units issued or sold under the option will be issued and sold on the same terms and conditions as the other units that are the subject of this offering.

 

We and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 60 days after the date of the underwriting agreement, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Barclays Capital Inc. and RBC Capital Markets Corporation, as the representatives of the underwriters, directly or indirectly, (1) offer for sale, sell, pledge, or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction or device that is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the disposition by any person at any time in the future of) any units (including, without limitation, units that may be deemed to be beneficially owned by us or them in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and units that may be issued upon exercise of any options or warrants) or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for units, (2) enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of units, (3) make any demand for or exercise any right or file or cause to be filed a registration statement, including any amendments thereto, with respect to the registration of any units or securities, convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into units or any

of our other securities, or (4) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing. The restrictions described in this paragraph do not apply to:

 

 

The units are listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “LINE.”

 

The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

 

We estimate that total remaining expenses of the offering payable by us, other than underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $700,000.

 

In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell units in the open market. Purchases and sales in the open market may include short sales, purchases to cover short positions, which may include purchases pursuant to the over-allotment option, and stabilizing purchases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purchases to cover short positions and stabilizing purchases, as well as other purchases by the underwriters for their own accounts, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. They may also cause the price of the units to be higher than the price that would otherwise exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. The underwriters may conduct these transactions on The Nasdaq Global Select Market or otherwise. If the underwriters commence any of these transactions, they may discontinue them at any time.

In addition, in connection with this offering, some of the underwriters (and selling group members) may engage in passive market making transactions in the units on The Nasdaq Global Select Market, prior to the pricing and completion of the offering. Passive market making consists of displaying bids on The Nasdaq Select Global Market no higher than the bid prices of independent market makers and making purchases at prices no higher than those independent bids and effected in response to order flow. Net purchases by a passive market maker on each day are limited to a specified percentage of the passive market maker’s average daily trading volume in the units during a specified period and must be discontinued when that limit is reached. Passive market making may cause the price of the units to be higher than the price that otherwise would exist in the open market in the absence of those transactions. If the underwriters commence passive market making transactions, they may discontinue them at any time.

 

Certain of the underwriters have performed commercial banking, investment banking and advisory services for us from time to time for which they have received customary fees and reimbursement of expenses. The underwriters may, from time to time, engage in transactions with and perform services for us in the ordinary course of their business for which they may receive customary fees and reimbursement of expenses. Affiliates of certain of the underwriters are lenders under our revolving credit facility. We intend to use all of the net proceeds from this offering to repay revolving loans outstanding under our revolving credit facility. Accordingly, these affiliates will receive a majority of the net proceeds from this offering in connection with such repayment. Certain affiliates of Barclays Capital Inc. beneficially own a portion of our senior unsecured notes due 2018. Additionally, certain affiliates of Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Barclays Capital Inc., RBC Capital Markets Corporation and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC are counterparties to certain of our commodities hedging contracts. Because of these relationships, this offering is being conducted in compliance with Rule 2720 of the NASD Conduct Rules (which are part of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Rules). Pursuant to that rule, the appointment of a “qualified independent underwriter” is not necessary in connection with this offering, as the units have a “bona fide independent market” (as such terms are defined in Rule 2720).

 

Because FINRA views the units offered hereby as interests in a direct participation program, the offering is being made in compliance with FINRA Rule 2310. Investor suitability with respect to the units should be judged similarly to the suitability with respect to other securities that are listed for trading on a national securities exchange.

 

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make because of any of those liabilities.

 

The validity of the units will be passed upon for us by our counsel, Baker & Hostetler LLP, Houston, Texas. Certain legal matters related to the offering of the units will be passed upon for the underwriters by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP has, in the past, represented us in other matters.

 

The consolidated financial statements of Linn Energy, LLC as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2008, management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, and the Statement of Revenues and Direct Operating Expenses — Assets acquired from Lamamco Drilling Company for the year ended December 31, 2007, have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the reports incorporated by reference herein of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

Certain estimates of our proved oil and gas reserves incorporated by reference herein were based in part upon an engineering report prepared by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, independent petroleum engineers. These estimates are included herein in reliance on the authority of such firm as an expert in such matters.

PROSPECTUS

 

 

Linn Energy, LLC

 

Units

Representing Limited Liability Company Interests

 

Linn Energy, LLC may offer and sell from time to time units, representing limited liability company interests, under this prospectus. You should carefully read this prospectus and any prospectus supplement before you invest.

 

Our units are traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market, or NASDAQ, under the symbol “LINE.”

 

This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities that we may offer. This prospectus may not be used to sell securities unless accompanied by a prospectus supplement that describes those securities. We will provide specific terms of the offering and sale of these securities in supplements to this prospectus. These terms will include the initial offering price, aggregate amount of the offering, listing on any securities exchange or quotation system, risk factors and the agents, dealers or underwriters, if any, to be used in connection with the sale of these securities. The supplements may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus.

 

Investing in our securities involves risk. Limited liability companies are inherently different from corporations. You should carefully consider the risk factors on page 1 of this prospectus before you make any investment in our securities.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

The date of this prospectus is October 6, 2009

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

We file annual, quarterly and other reports and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You may read and copy any reports, statements or other information filed by us at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such materials can be obtained at prescribed rates from the Public Reference Room of the SEC. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the Public Reference Room. Our filings with the SEC are also available to the public from commercial document retrieval services and at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

 

We incorporate by reference information into this prospectus, which means that we disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus. Any statement in this prospectus or incorporated by reference into this prospectus shall be automatically modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained herein or in a subsequently filed document that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus modifies or supersedes such prior statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is current as of any date other than the date on the front page of this prospectus.

 

We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any future filings made with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (excluding any information furnished under Items 2.02 or 7.01 on any Current Report on Form 8-K) after the date of this prospectus and until the termination of this offering. These reports contain important information about us, our financial condition and our results of operations.

 

 

You may request a copy of any document incorporated by reference in this prospectus and any exhibit specifically incorporated by reference in those documents, at no cost, by writing or telephoning us at the following address or phone number:

 

Linn Energy, LLC
Investor Relations
600 Travis, Suite 5100
Houston, Texas 77002
(281) 840-4000

 

We also make available free of charge on our internet website at http://www.linnenergy.com our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and you should not consider information contained on our website as part of this prospectus.

 

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about our:

 

 

All of these types of statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “project,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “pursue,” “target,” “continue,” the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology.

 

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are largely based on our expectations, which reflect estimates and assumptions made by our management. These estimates and assumptions reflect our best judgment based on currently known market conditions and other factors. Although we believe such estimates to be reasonable, they are inherently uncertain and involve a number of risks and uncertainties beyond our control. In addition, management’s assumptions may prove to be inaccurate. We caution that the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement are not guarantees of future performance and that such statements may not be realized or the forward-looking statements or events may not occur. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated or implied in forward-looking statements due to factors described in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement and in the reports and other information we file with the SEC, including those set forth under Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and other than as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

We are a publicly traded, independent oil and gas company focused on the development and acquisition of long life oil and gas properties, which complement our asset profile in producing basins within the United States. Our properties are located in three regions in the United States:

 

 

Our total proved reserves at December 31, 2008 were 1,660 Bcfe, of which approximately 51% were gas, 31% were oil and 18% were NGL. Approximately 68% were classified as proved developed, with a total standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows of $1.42 billion. At December 31, 2008, we operated 4,453, or 66%, of our 6,716 gross productive wells. Based on proved reserves as of December 31, 2008 and annualized average daily production for the six months ended June 30, 2009, our average proved reserves-to-production ratio, or average reserve life, is approximately 21 years.

 

Our principal executive offices are located at 600 Travis, Suite 5100, Houston, Texas 77002, and our phone number is (281) 840-4000.

 

Throughout this prospectus, when we use the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” or like terms, we are referring to Linn Energy, LLC and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires.

 

Membership interests in a limited liability company are inherently different from the capital stock of a corporation, although many of the business risks to which we are subject are similar to those that would be faced by a corporation engaged in a similar business. Before you invest in our securities, you should carefully consider the risk factors included in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q that are incorporated herein by reference and those that may be included in the applicable prospectus supplement, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the documents we incorporate by reference in evaluating an investment in our securities.

 

If any of the risks discussed in the foregoing documents were actually to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flow could be materially adversely affected. In that case, our ability to make distributions to our unitholders may be reduced, the trading price of our securities could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

 

Unless we specify otherwise in an accompanying prospectus supplement, we intend to use the net proceeds we receive from the sale of securities offered by this prospectus and the accompanying prospectus supplement for the repayment of debt and for general corporate purposes. General corporate purposes may include additions to working capital, development and exploration expenditures or the financing of acquisitions of oil and gas properties and related assets.

 

The net proceeds may be invested temporarily until they are used for their stated purpose.

 

The units represent limited liability company interests in us. The holders of units are entitled to participate in distributions and exercise the rights or privileges available to unitholders under our limited liability company agreement. As of September 30, 2009, we had 121,276,006 units outstanding. No other member interests are outstanding.

 

Our Cash Distribution Policy

 

We must distribute on a quarterly basis all of our available cash to holders of our units. Available cash means, for each fiscal quarter, all cash on hand at the end of the quarter less the amount of cash reserves established by the Board of Directors to:

 

 

plus all cash on hand on the date of determination of available cash for the quarter resulting from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter for which the determination is being made.

 

Working capital borrowings are borrowings that will be made under our revolving credit facility and in all cases are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to unitholders. We would be prohibited from making any distributions to unitholders if it would cause an event of default, or if an event of default is existing, under our credit facility.

 

Timing of Distributions

 

We pay distributions on our units within 45 days after March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 to unitholders of record on the applicable record date.

 

Issuance of Additional Units

 

Our limited liability company agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional securities and rights to buy securities for the consideration and on the terms and conditions determined by our board of directors without the approval of the unitholders. It is possible that we will fund acquisitions through the issuance of additional units or other equity securities. Holders of any additional units we issue will be entitled to share equally with the then-existing holders of units in our distributions of available cash. In addition, the issuance of additional units or other equity securities may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing holders of units in our net assets. In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our limited liability company agreement, we may also issue additional securities that, as determined by our board of directors, may have special voting rights to which the units are not entitled. The holders of units will not have preemptive rights to acquire additional units or other securities.

 

Voting Rights

 

Unitholders have the right to vote with respect to the election of our board of directors, certain amendments to our limited liability company agreement, the merger of our company or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, and the dissolution of our company.

 

Limited Call Right

 

If at any time any person owns more than 90% of the then-issued and outstanding membership interests of any class, such person will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the remaining membership interests of the class held by unaffiliated persons as of a record date to be selected by our management, on at least 10 but not more than 60 days’ notice. The unitholders are not entitled to dissenters’ rights of appraisal under the limited liability

company agreement or applicable Delaware law if this limited call right is exercised. The purchase price in the event of this purchase is the greater of:

 

 

As a result of this limited call right, a holder of membership interests in our company may have his membership interests purchased at an undesirable time or price. The tax consequences to a unitholder of the exercise of this call right are the same as a sale by that unitholder of his common units in the market. Please read “Material Tax Consequences — Disposition of Units.”

 

Exchange Listing

 

Our units are traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “LINE.”

 

Transfer Agent and Registrar

 

American Stock Transfer & Trust Company is our transfer agent and will serve as registrar and transfer agent for the units. We pay all fees charged by the transfer agent for transfers of units, except the following fees that will be paid by unitholders:

 

 

There will be no charge to holders for disbursements of our cash distributions. We will indemnify the transfer agent, its agents and each of their shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.

 

The transfer agent may at any time resign, by notice to us, or be removed by us. The resignation or removal of the transfer agent will become effective upon our appointment of a successor transfer agent and registrar and its acceptance of the appointment. If no successor has been appointed and has accepted the appointment within 30 days after notice of the resignation or removal, we are authorized to act as the transfer agent and registrar until a successor is appointed.

 

Transfer of Units

 

By transfer of units in accordance with our limited liability company agreement, each transferee of units shall be admitted as a unitholder with respect to the units transferred when such transfer and admission is reflected on our books and records. Additionally, each transferee of units:

 

 

An assignee will become a unitholder of our company for the transferred units upon the recording of the name of the assignee on our books and records.

 

Until a unit has been transferred on our books, we and the transfer agent, notwithstanding any notice to the contrary, may treat the record holder of the unit as the absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.

 

Our Limited Liability Company Agreement

 

The following is a summary of the material provisions of our limited liability company agreement.

 

We summarize the following provisions of our limited liability company agreement elsewhere in this prospectus:

 

 

Organization

 

Linn Energy, LLC was organized in April 2005 and will remain in existence until dissolved in accordance with our limited liability company agreement.

 

Purpose

 

Under our limited liability company agreement, we are permitted to engage, directly or indirectly, in any activity that our board of directors approves and that a limited liability company organized under Delaware law lawfully may conduct; provided, that our board of directors shall not cause us to engage, directly or indirectly, in any business activities that it determines would cause us to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes.

 

Although our board of directors has the ability to cause us and our operating subsidiaries to engage in activities other than the exploration, development and production of natural gas reserves, our board of directors has no current plans to do so. Our board of directors is authorized in general to perform all acts it deems to be necessary or appropriate to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.

 

Fiduciary Duties

 

Our limited liability company agreement provides that our business and affairs shall be managed under the direction of our board of directors, which shall have the power to appoint our officers. Our limited liability company agreement further provides that the authority and function of our board of directors and officers shall be identical to the authority and functions of a board of directors and officers of a corporation organized under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, or DGCL. Finally, our limited liability company agreement provides that except as specifically provided therein, the fiduciary duties and obligations owed to our limited liability company and to our members shall be the same as the respective duties and obligations owed by officers and directors of a corporation organized under the DGCL to their corporation and stockholders, respectively. Our limited liability company agreement permits affiliates of our directors to invest or engage in other businesses or activities that compete with us. In addition, our limited liability company agreement establishes a conflicts committee of our board of directors, consisting solely of independent directors, which will be authorized to review transactions involving potential conflicts of interest. Currently, our audit committee acts as the conflicts committee. If the audit committee approves such a transaction, or if a

transaction is on terms generally available from third parties or an action is taken that is fair and reasonable to us, you will not be able to assert that such approval constituted a breach of fiduciary duties owed to you by our directors and officers.

 

Agreement to be Bound by Limited Liability Company Agreement; Power of Attorney

 

By purchasing a unit in us, you will be admitted as a unitholder of our company and will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by the terms of our limited liability company agreement. Pursuant to this agreement, each unitholder and each person who acquires a unit from a unitholder grants to our board of directors (and, if appointed, a liquidator) a power of attorney to, among other things, execute and file documents required for our qualification, continuance or dissolution. The power of attorney also grants our board of directors the authority to make certain amendments to, and to make consents and waivers under and in accordance with, our limited liability company agreement.

 

Capital Contributions

 

Unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under “— Limited Liability.”

 

Limited Liability

 

Unlawful Distributions.  The Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, or Delaware Act, provides that a unitholder who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Delaware Act shall be liable to the company for the amount of the distribution for three years. Under the Delaware Act, a limited liability company may not make a distribution to a unitholder if, after the distribution, all liabilities of the company, other than liabilities to unitholders on account of their membership interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the company, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the company. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a company, the Delaware Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the company only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds that liability. Under the Delaware Act, an assignee who becomes a substituted unitholder of a company is liable for the obligations of his assignor to make contributions to the company, except the assignee is not obligated for liabilities unknown to him at the time he became a unitholder and that could not be ascertained from the limited liability company agreement.

 

Failure to Comply with the Limited Liability Provisions of Jurisdictions in Which We Do Business.  Our subsidiaries currently conduct business operations or own assets in the states of West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas. Our subsidiaries may conduct business or own assets in other states, and maintenance of limited liability for us, as a member of our operating subsidiaries, may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which the operating subsidiaries conduct business, including qualifying our subsidiaries to do business there. Limitations on the liability of unitholders for the obligations of a limited liability company have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. We operate in a manner that our board of directors considers reasonable and necessary or appropriate to preserve the limited liability of our unitholders.

Voting Rights

 

The following matters require the unitholder vote specified below:

 

 

Matters requiring the approval of a “unit majority” require the approval of a majority of the outstanding units.

 

Election of Members of Our Board of Directors

 

Members of our board of directors are elected by our unitholders and are subject to re-election on an annual basis at our annual meeting of unitholders.

 

Removal of Members of Our Board of Directors

 

Any director may be removed, with or without cause, by the holders of a majority of the outstanding units then entitled to vote at an election of directors.

 

Amendment of Our Limited Liability Company Agreement

 

General.  Amendments to our limited liability company agreement may be proposed only by or with the consent of our board of directors. To adopt a proposed amendment, other than the amendments discussed below, our board of directors is required to seek written approval of the holders of the number of units required to approve the amendment or call a meeting of our unitholders to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. Except as described below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority.

 

Prohibited Amendments.  No amendment may be made that would:

 

 

The provision of our limited liability company agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in any of the clauses above can be amended upon the approval of the holders of at least 75% of the outstanding units, voting together as a single class.

No Unitholder Approval.  Our board of directors may generally make amendments to our limited liability company agreement without the approval of any unitholder or assignee to reflect:

 

 

In addition, our board of directors may make amendments to our limited liability company agreement without the approval of any unitholder or assignee if our board of directors determines that those amendments:

 

 

 

Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval.  Our board of directors will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel that an amendment will not result in a loss of limited liability to our unitholders or result in our being treated as an entity for federal income tax purposes if one of the amendments described above under “— No Unitholder Approval” should occur. No other amendments to our limited liability company agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of the units unless we obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that the amendment will not affect the limited liability under applicable law of any unitholder of our company.

 

Any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any type or class of outstanding units in relation to other classes of units will require the approval of at least a majority of the type or class of units so affected. Any amendment that reduces the voting percentage required to take any action is required to be approved by the affirmative vote of unitholders whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the voting requirement sought to be reduced.

 

Merger, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets

 

Our board of directors is generally prohibited, without the prior approval of the holders of a unit majority from causing us to, among other things, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets in a single transaction or a series of related transactions, including by way of merger, consolidation or other combination, or approving on our behalf the sale, exchange or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of our subsidiaries, provided that our board of directors may mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without that approval. Our board of directors may also sell all or substantially all of our assets under a foreclosure or other realization upon the encumbrances above without that approval.

 

If the conditions specified in the limited liability company agreement are satisfied, our board of directors may merge us or any of its subsidiaries into, or convey all of our assets to, a newly-formed entity if the sole purpose of that merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in our legal form into another limited liability entity. The unitholders are not entitled to dissenters’ rights of appraisal under the limited liability company agreement or applicable Delaware law in the event of a merger or consolidation, a sale of all or substantially all of our assets or any other transaction or event.

 

Termination and Dissolution

 

We will continue as a company until terminated under our limited liability company agreement. We will dissolve upon: (1) the election of our board of directors to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of a unit majority; (2) the sale, exchange or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets and properties of our company and our subsidiaries; or (3) the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of our company.

 

Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds

 

Upon our dissolution, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our board of directors that the liquidator deems necessary or desirable in its judgment, sell or otherwise dispose of our assets. The liquidator will first apply the proceeds of liquidation to the payment of our creditors. The liquidator will distribute any remaining proceeds to the unitholders, in accordance with their capital account balances, as adjusted to reflect any gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of our assets in liquidation. The liquidator may defer liquidation or distribution of our assets for a reasonable period of time or distribute assets to unitholders in kind if it determines that a sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to our unitholders.

Anti-Takeover Provisions

 

Our limited liability company agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to take control of our company without the approval of our board of directors. Specifically, our limited liability company agreement provides that we will elect to have Section 203 of the DGCL apply to transactions in which an interested unitholder (as described below) seeks to enter into a merger or business combination with us. Under this provision, such a holder will not be permitted to enter into a merger or business combination with us unless:

 

 

 

 

Section 203 defines “business combination” to include:

 

 

In general, by reference to Section 203, an “interested unitholder” is any entity or person who or which beneficially owns (or within three years did own) 15% or more of the outstanding voting units of the company and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by such entity or person.

 

The existence of this provision would be expected to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by our board of directors, including discouraging attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for units held by unitholders.

 

Meetings; Voting

 

All notices of meetings of unitholders shall be sent or otherwise given in accordance with Section 11.4 of our limited liability company agreement not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting. The notice shall specify the place, date and hour of the meeting and (i) in the case of a special meeting, the general nature of the business to be transacted (no business other than that specified in the notice may be transacted) or (ii) in the case of the annual meeting, those matters which the board of directors, at the time of giving the notice, intends to present for action by the unitholders (but any proper matter may be

presented at the meeting for such action). The notice of any meeting at which directors are to be elected shall include the name of any nominee or nominees who, at the time of the notice, the board of directors intends to present for election. Any previously scheduled meeting of the unitholders may be postponed, and any special meeting of the unitholders may be cancelled, by resolution of the board of directors upon public notice given prior to the date previously scheduled for such meeting of unitholders.

 

Units that are owned by an assignee who is a record holder, but who has not yet been admitted as a unitholder, shall be voted at the written direction of the record holder by a proxy designated by our board of directors. Absent direction of this kind, the units will not be voted, except that units held by us on behalf of non-citizen assignees shall be voted in the same ratios as the votes of unitholders on other units are cast.

 

Any action required or permitted to be taken by our unitholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of unitholders and may not be effected by any consent in writing by such unitholders.

 

Meetings of the unitholders may only be called by a majority of our board of directors. Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called represented in person or by proxy shall constitute a quorum unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum shall be the greater percentage.

 

Each record holder of a unit has a vote according to his percentage interest in us, although additional units having special voting rights could be issued. Please read “— Issuance of Additional Securities.” Units held in nominee or street name accounts will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and its nominee provides otherwise.

 

Any notice, demand, request, report or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record holders of units under our limited liability company agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent.

 

Non-Citizen Assignees; Redemption

 

If we or any of our subsidiaries are or become subject to federal, state or local laws or regulations that, in the reasonable determination of our board of directors, create a substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property that we have an interest in because of the nationality, citizenship or other related status of any unitholder or assignee, we may redeem, upon 30 days’ advance notice, the units held by the unitholder or assignee at their current market price. To avoid any cancellation or forfeiture, our board of directors may require each unitholder or assignee to furnish information about his nationality, citizenship or related status. If a unitholder or assignee fails to furnish information about his nationality, citizenship or other related status within 30 days after a request for the information or our board of directors determines after receipt of the information that the unitholder or assignee is not an eligible citizen, the unitholder or assignee may be treated as a non-citizen assignee. In addition to other limitations on the rights of an assignee who is not a substituted unitholder, a non-citizen assignee does not have the right to direct the voting of his units and may not receive distributions in kind upon our liquidation, but is entitled to a cash equivalent thereof.

 

Indemnification

 

Under our limited liability company agreement and subject to specified limitations, we will indemnify to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events any director or officer, or while serving as a director or officer, any person who is or was serving as a tax matters member or as a director, officer, tax matters member, employee, partner, manager, fiduciary or trustee of any or our affiliates. Additionally, we shall indemnify to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events any person who is or was an employee (other than an officer) or agent of our company.

 

Any indemnification under our limited liability company agreement will only be out of our assets. We are authorized to purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our

activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against liabilities under our limited liability company agreement.

 

Books and Reports

 

We are required to keep appropriate books of our business at our principal offices. The books will be maintained for both tax and financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. For tax and fiscal reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.

 

We furnish or make available to record holders of units, within 120 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited financial statements and a report on those financial statements by our independent public accountants. Except for our fourth quarter, we also furnish or make available summary financial information within 90 days after the close of each quarter.

 

We furnish each record holder of a unit with information reasonably required for tax reporting purposes within 90 days after the close of each calendar year. This information is expected to be furnished in summary form so that some complex calculations normally required of unitholders can be avoided. Our ability to furnish this summary information to unitholders depends on the cooperation of unitholders in supplying us with specific information. Every unitholder receives information to assist him in determining his federal and state tax liability and filing his federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether he supplies us with information.

 

Right To Inspect Our Books and Records

 

Our limited liability company agreement provides that a unitholder can, for a purpose reasonably related to his interest as a unitholder, upon reasonable demand and at his own expense, have furnished to him:

 

 

Our board of directors may, and intends to, keep confidential from our unitholders information that it believes to be in the nature of trade secrets or other information, the disclosure of which our board of directors believes in good faith is not in our best interests, information that could damage our company or our business, or information that we are required by law or by agreements with a third party to keep confidential.

 

This section addresses the material tax consequences that may be relevant to prospective unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and, except as otherwise indicated, is the opinion of Baker & Hostetler LLP, counsel to us, insofar as it relates to legal conclusions with respect to matters of United States federal income tax law that are addressed in this section. This section is based upon current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), existing regulations, proposed regulations to the extent noted, and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Changes in these authorities may cause the tax consequences to vary substantially from the consequences described below. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to “us” or “we” are references to Linn Energy, LLC and our limited liability company operating subsidiaries.

This section does not address all federal income tax matters affecting us or the unitholders. Furthermore, this section focuses on unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and has only limited application to corporations, estates, trusts, non-resident aliens or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as tax-exempt institutions, foreign persons, individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), employee benefit plans, real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) or mutual funds. Accordingly, we urge each prospective unitholder to consult, and depend on, his own tax advisor in analyzing the federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to him of the ownership or disposition of our units.

 

No ruling has been or will be requested from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regarding any matter affecting us or prospective unitholders. All statements of law and legal conclusions, but not statements of facts, contained in this section, except as otherwise indicated, are the opinions of Baker & Hostetler LLP. Such opinions are based on the accuracy and completeness of facts described in this prospectus and representations made by us to Baker & Hostetler LLP. Baker & Hostetler LLP has not undertaken any obligation to update its opinions discussed in this section after the date of this prospectus.

 

An opinion of counsel represents only that counsel’s best legal judgment and does not bind the IRS or the courts. Accordingly, the opinions expressed in this section may not be sustained by a court if challenged by the IRS. Any such challenge by the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for the units and the prices at which units trade. In addition, the costs of any dispute with the IRS, principally legal, accounting and related fees, will result in a reduction in cash available for distribution to our unitholders and thus will be borne directly or indirectly by the unitholders. Furthermore, the tax treatment of us, or of an investment in us, may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions. Any modifications may or may not be retroactively applied.

 

For the reasons described below, Baker & Hostetler LLP has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following specific federal income tax issues:

 

(1) the treatment of a unitholder whose units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of units (please read “— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Treatment of Short Sales”);

 

(2) whether our monthly convention for allocating taxable income and losses is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “— Disposition of Units — Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees”);

 

(3) whether percentage depletion will be available to a unitholder or the extent of the percentage depletion deduction available to any unitholder (please read “— Tax Treatment of Operations — Depletion Deductions”);

 

(4) whether the deduction related to United States production activities will be available to a unitholder or the extent of such deduction to any unitholder (please read “— Tax Treatment of Operations — Deduction for United States Production Activities”);

 

(5) whether our method for depreciating Section 743 adjustments is sustainable (please read “— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Section 754 Election” and “— Uniformity of Units”); and

 

(6) whether assignees of units who fail to execute and deliver transfer applications will be treated as partners for federal income tax purposes (please read “— Unitholder Status”).

 

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH UNITHOLDER TO INVESTIGATE THE LEGAL AND TAX CONSEQUENCES, UNDER THE LAWS OF PERTINENT JURISDICTIONS, OF HIS INVESTMENT IN US. ACCORDINGLY, EACH PROSPECTIVE UNITHOLDER IS URGED TO CONSULT, AND DEPEND UPON, HIS TAX COUNSEL OR OTHER ADVISOR WITH REGARD TO THOSE MATTERS. FURTHER, IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH UNITHOLDER TO FILE ALL STATE, LOCAL AND FOREIGN, AS WELL AS UNITED STATES FEDERAL TAX RETURNS THAT MAY BE REQUIRED OF HIM. BAKER & HOSTETLER LLP HAS NOT RENDERED AN OPINION ON THE STATE, LOCAL OR FOREIGN TAX CONSEQUENCES OF AN INVESTMENT IN US.

Partnership Status

 

Except as discussed in the following paragraph, a limited liability company that has more than one member and that has not elected to be treated as a corporation is treated as a partnership and each member a partner for federal income tax purposes and, therefore, is not a taxable entity and incurs no federal income tax liability. Instead, each member is required to take into account his share of items of income, gain, loss and deduction of the company in computing his federal income tax liability, regardless of whether cash distributions are made to the member. Distributions by a partnership to a partner are not generally taxable to the partner unless the amount of cash distributed is in excess of the partner’s adjusted basis in his partnership interest.

 

Section 7704 of the Code provides that publicly traded partnerships will, as a general rule, be taxed as corporations. However, an exception, referred to as the “Qualifying Income Exception,” exists with respect to publicly traded partnerships of which 90% or more of the gross income for every taxable year consists of “qualifying income.” Qualifying income includes income and gains derived from the exploration, development, mining or production, processing, refining, transportation (including pipelines transporting gas, oil, or products thereof), or the marketing of any mineral or natural resource (including fertilizer, geothermal energy, and timber), industrial source carbon dioxide, or the transportation or storage of certain fuels or biodiesel fuels. Other types of qualifying income include interest other than from a financial business, dividends, real property rents, gains from the sale of real property and gains from the sale or other disposition of assets held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. We estimate that, as of the date of this prospectus, less than 1% of our gross income is not qualifying income; however, this estimate could change from time to time. In reliance upon this estimate and facts provided by us concerning the sources and amounts of gross income attributable to our businesses, together with the representation that the composition of such gross income remained materially unchanged through the date of this prospectus, and based on applicable legal authority, Baker & Hostetler LLP is of the opinion that at least 90% of our gross income as of the date of this prospectus constitutes qualifying income.

 

No ruling has been or will be sought from the IRS and the IRS has made no determination as to our status or the status of our operating subsidiaries for federal income tax purposes or whether our operations generate “qualifying income” under Section 7704 of the Code. Instead, we will rely on the opinion of Baker & Hostetler LLP on such matters. It is the opinion of Baker & Hostetler LLP that, based upon the Code, treasury regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and the representations and assumptions described below, that as of the date of this prospectus we will be classified as a partnership, and each of our operating subsidiaries (other than Linn Operating, Inc., Linn Western Operating, Inc., and Mid Atlantic Well Service, Inc.) will be disregarded as an entity separate from us for federal income tax purposes.

 

In rendering its opinion, Baker & Hostetler LLP has relied on certain assumptions and on factual representations made by us in a letter to Baker & Hostetler LLP. Such assumptions and representations include:

 

 

We intend to monitor our income on a continuing basis and to manage our operations in subsequent taxable years with the objective to assure, although we cannot completely assure, that the ratio of our qualifying income to our total gross income will remain at 90% or above for each such taxable year.

 

If we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery, we will be treated as if we had transferred all of our assets, subject to liabilities, to a newly formed corporation, on the first day of the year in which we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, in return for stock in that corporation, and then distributed that stock to the unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should be tax-free to unitholders and us so long as we, at that time, do not have liabilities in excess of the tax basis of our assets. Thereafter, we would be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes.

 

If we were taxable as a corporation in any taxable year, either as a result of a failure to meet the Qualifying Income Exception or otherwise, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be reflected only on our tax return rather than being passed through to the unitholders, and our net income would be taxed to us at corporate rates. In addition, any distribution made to a unitholder would be treated as either taxable dividend income, to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, or, in the absence of earnings and profits, a nontaxable return of capital, to the extent of the unitholder’s tax basis in his units, or taxable capital gain, after the unitholder’s tax basis in his units is reduced to zero. Accordingly, taxation as a corporation would result in a material reduction in a unitholder’s cash flow and after-tax return and thus likely would result in a substantial reduction of the value of the units.

 

The remainder of this section is based on Baker & Hostetler LLP’s opinion that we will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.

 

Unitholder Status

 

Unitholders who become members of Linn Energy, LLC will be treated as partners of Linn Energy, LLC for federal income tax purposes. Also:

 

 

will be treated as partners in Linn Energy, LLC for federal income tax purposes. Because there is no direct or indirect authority addressing the federal tax treatment of assignees of units who are entitled to execute and deliver transfer applications and thereby become entitled to direct the exercise of attendant rights, but who fail to execute and deliver transfer applications, counsel is unable to opine that such persons are partners for federal income tax purposes. If not partners, such persons will not be eligible for the federal income tax treatment described in this discussion. Furthermore, a purchaser or other transferee of units who does not execute and deliver a transfer application may not receive some federal income tax information or reports furnished to record holders of units unless the units are held in a nominee or street name account and the nominee or broker has executed and delivered a transfer application for those units.

 

A beneficial owner of units whose units have been transferred to a short seller to complete a short sale would appear to lose his status as a partner with respect to those units for federal income tax purposes. Please read “— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Treatment of Short Sales.”

 

Items of our income, gain, deduction, or loss would not appear to be reportable by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes, and any cash distributions received by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes would therefore be fully taxable as ordinary income. These unitholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to their status as partners in Linn Energy, LLC for federal income tax purposes. The references to “unitholders” in the discussion that follows are to persons who are treated as partners of Linn Energy, LLC for federal income tax purposes.

Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership

 

Flow-Through of Taxable Income

 

We will not pay any federal income tax. Instead, each unitholder will be required to report on his income tax return his share of our income, gains, losses and deductions without regard to whether corresponding cash distributions are received by him. Consequently, we may allocate income to a unitholder even if he has not received a cash distribution from us. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his allocable share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year or years ending with or within his taxable year. Our taxable year ends on December 31.

 

Treatment of Distributions

 

Distributions made by us to a unitholder generally will not be taxable to the unitholder for federal income tax purposes except to the extent the amount of any cash (or property treated as cash) distributed exceeds the unitholder’s tax basis in his units immediately before the distribution. Cash distributions made by us to a unitholder in an amount in excess of a unitholder’s tax basis in the units generally will be considered to be gain from the sale or exchange of the units, taxable in accordance with the rules described under “— Disposition of Units.” To the extent that cash distributions made by us cause a unitholder’s “at risk” amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year, he must recapture any losses deducted in previous years. Please read “— Limitations on Deductibility of Losses.”

 

Any reduction in a unitholder’s share of our liabilities for which no unitholder bears the economic risk of loss, known as “non-recourse liabilities,” will be treated as a distribution of cash to that unitholder. A decrease in a unitholder’s percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional units will decrease his share of our non-recourse liabilities, and thus will result in a corresponding deemed distribution of cash, which may constitute a non-pro rata distribution. A non-pro rata distribution of money or property may result in ordinary income to a unitholder, regardless of his tax basis in the units, if the distribution reduces the unitholder’s share of our “unrealized receivables,” including recapture of intangible drilling costs, depletion, depreciation recapture, and/or substantially appreciated “inventory items,” all as defined in section 751 of the Code, and collectively, “Section 751 Assets.” To that extent, the unitholder will be treated as having been distributed his proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and having exchanged those assets with us in return for the non-pro rata portion of the actual distribution made. This latter deemed exchange generally will result in the unitholder’s realization of ordinary income, which will equal the excess of (1) the non-pro rata portion of that distribution over (2) the unitholder’s tax basis for the share of Section 751 Assets deemed relinquished in the exchange.

 

Basis of Units

 

A unitholder’s initial tax basis for his units will be the amount he paid for the units plus his share of our non-recourse liabilities. That basis will be increased by his share of our income and by any increases in his share of our non-recourse liabilities. That basis generally will be decreased, but not below zero, by distributions from us, by the unitholder’s share of our losses, by depletion deductions taken by him to the extent such deductions do not exceed his proportionate share of the adjusted tax basis of the underlying producing properties, by any decreases in his share of our non-recourse liabilities and by his share of our expenditures that are not deductible in computing taxable income and are not required to be capitalized. A unitholder’s share of our non-recourse liabilities will generally be based on the unitholder’s share of profits. Please read ‘‘— Disposition of Units — Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

 

Limitations on Deductibility of Losses

 

The deduction by a unitholder of his share of our losses will be limited to the unitholder’s tax basis in the units and, in the case of an individual unitholder or a corporate unitholder, if more than 50% of the value of its stock is owned directly or indirectly by or for five or fewer individuals or some tax-exempt organizations, to the amount for which the unitholder is considered to be “at risk” with respect to our activities, if that amount is less than his tax basis. A unitholder must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions cause his at risk amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year. Losses

disallowed to a unitholder or recaptured as a result of these limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction in a later year to the extent that his tax basis or at risk amount, whichever is the limiting factor, is subsequently increased. Upon the taxable disposition of a unit, any gain recognized by a unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at risk limitation but may not be offset by losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any excess loss above that gain previously suspended by the at risk or basis limitations is no longer utilizable.

 

In general, a unitholder will be at risk to the extent of the tax basis of his units, excluding any portion of that basis attributable to his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, reduced by any amount of money he borrows to acquire or hold his units, if the lender of those borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to the unitholder or can look only to the units for repayment. A unitholder’s at risk amount will increase or decrease as the tax basis of the unitholder’s units increases or decreases, other than tax basis increases or decreases attributable to increases or decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. Furthermore, a unitholder’s at risk amount will decrease by the amount of the unitholder’s depletion deductions and will increase to the extent of the amount by which the unitholder’s percentage depletion deductions with respect to our property exceed the unitholder’s share of the basis of that property.

 

The at risk limitation applies on an activity-by-activity basis, and in the case of oil and gas properties, each property is treated as a separate activity. Thus, a taxpayer’s interest in each oil or gas property is generally required to be treated separately so that a loss from any one property would be limited to the at risk amount for that property and not the at risk amount for all the taxpayer’s oil and gas properties. It is uncertain how this rule is implemented in the case of multiple oil and gas properties owned by a single entity treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. However, for taxable years ending on or before the date on which further guidance is published, the IRS will permit aggregation of oil or gas properties we own in computing a unitholder’s at risk limitation with respect to us. If a unitholder must compute his at risk amount separately with respect to each oil or gas property we own, he may not be allowed to utilize his share of losses or deductions attributable to a particular property even though he has a positive at risk amount with respect to his units as a whole.

 

The passive loss limitations generally provide that individuals, estates, trusts and some closely-held corporations and personal service corporations are permitted to deduct losses from passive activities, which are generally defined as trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate, only to the extent of the taxpayer’s income from those passive activities. The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly traded partnership. Consequently, any losses we generate will only be available to offset our passive income generated in the future and will not be available to offset income from other passive activities or investments, including our investments or investments in other publicly traded partnerships, or salary or active business income. If we dispose of all or only a part of our interest in an oil or gas property, unitholders will be able to offset their suspended passive activity losses from our activities against the gain, if any, on the disposition. Any previously suspended losses in excess of the amount of gain recognized will remain suspended.

 

The passive activity loss rules are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at risk rules and the basis limitation. Notwithstanding whether an oil or gas property is a separate activity, passive losses that are not deductible because they exceed a unitholder’s share of income we generate may be deducted in full when he disposes of his entire investment in us in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party.

 

Limitations on Interest Deductions

 

The deductibility of a non-corporate taxpayer’s “investment interest expense” is generally limited to the amount of that taxpayer’s “net investment income.” Investment interest expense includes:

 

 

The computation of a unitholder’s investment interest expense will take into account interest on any margin account borrowing or other loan incurred to purchase or carry a unit.

 

Net investment income includes gross income from property held for investment and amounts treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules, less deductible expenses, other than interest, directly connected with the production of investment income, but generally does not include gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment. The IRS has indicated that net passive income earned by a publicly traded partnership will be treated as investment income for purposes of the limitations on the deductibility of investment interest to its unitholders. In addition, the unitholder’s share of our portfolio income will be treated as investment income.

 

Entity-Level Collections

 

If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any federal, state, local, or foreign income tax on behalf of any unitholder or any former unitholder, we are authorized to pay those taxes from our funds. That payment, if made, will be treated as a distribution of cash to the unitholder on whose behalf the payment was made. If the payment is made on behalf of a unitholder whose identity cannot be determined, we are authorized to treat the payment as a distribution to all current unitholders. We are authorized to amend our limited liability company agreement in the manner necessary to maintain uniformity of intrinsic tax characteristics of units and to adjust later distributions, so that after giving effect to these distributions, the priority and characterization of distributions otherwise applicable under our limited liability company agreement is maintained as nearly as is practicable. Payments by us as described above could give rise to an overpayment of tax on behalf of an individual unitholder in which event the unitholder would be required to file a claim in order to obtain a credit or refund.

 

Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction

 

In general, if we have a net profit, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated among the unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. If we have a net loss for the entire year, that loss will be allocated to the unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us to the extent of their positive capital account balances.

 

Specified items of our income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated under Section 704(c) of the Code to account for the difference between the tax basis and fair market value of our assets at the time of an offering of new units, which assets are referred to in this discussion as “Contributed Property.” These “Section 704(c) allocations” are required to eliminate the difference between a partner’s “book” capital account, credited with the fair market value of Contributed Property, and the “tax” capital account, credited with the tax basis of Contributed Property, referred to in this discussion as the “book-tax disparity.” The effect of these allocations to a unitholder purchasing units in this offering essentially will be the same as if the tax basis of our assets were equal to their fair market value at the time of this offering. In the event we issue additional units or engage in certain other transactions in the future, “reverse Section 704(c) allocations” similar to the allocations described above, will be made to all holders of units, including purchasers of units in this offering, to account for the difference between the “book” basis for purposes of maintaining capital accounts and the fair market value of all property held by us at the time of the transaction. In addition, items of recapture income will be allocated to the extent possible to the unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to the treatment of that gain as recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by other unitholders. Finally, although we do not expect that our operations will result in the creation of negative capital accounts, if negative capital accounts nevertheless result, items of our income and gain will be allocated in an amount and manner to eliminate the negative balance as quickly as possible.

 

An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required by Section 704(c), will generally be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a unitholder’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has substantial economic effect. In

any other case, a unitholder’s share of an item will be determined on the basis of his interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including:

 

 

Baker & Hostetler LLP is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issues described in ‘‘— Section 754 Election,” “— Disposition of Units — Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees,” and “— Uniformity of Units,” allocations under our limited liability company agreement will be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a unitholder’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction.

 

Treatment of Short Sales

 

A unitholder whose units are loaned to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those units. If so, he would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition. As a result, during this period:

 

 

Baker & Hostetler LLP has not rendered an opinion regarding the treatment of a unitholder whose units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of units. Therefore, unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from loaning their units. The IRS has announced that it is studying issues relating to the tax treatment of short sales of partnership interests. Please also read “— Disposition of Units — Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

 

Alternative Minimum Tax

 

Each unitholder will be required to take into account his distributive share of any items of our income, gain, loss or deduction for purposes of the alternative minimum tax. The current minimum tax rate for non-corporate taxpayers is 26% on the first $175,000 ($87,500 in the case of married individuals filing separately) of alternative minimum taxable income in excess of the exemption amount and 28% on any additional alternative minimum taxable income. Prospective unitholders are urged to consult with their tax advisors with respect to the impact of an investment in units on their liability for the alternative minimum tax.

 

Tax Rates

 

In general, the highest effective United States federal income tax rate for individuals for 2009 currently is 35% and the maximum United States federal income tax rate for net capital gains of an individual for 2009 currently is 15% if the asset disposed of was held and beneficially owned for more than 12 months at the time of disposition. These rates are scheduled to increase after 2010.

 

Section 754 Election

 

We have made the election permitted by Section 754 of the Code. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS. The election generally permits us to adjust a unit purchaser’s tax basis in our assets (“inside basis”) under Section 743(b) of the Code to reflect his purchase price (“Section 743(b) adjustment”). The Section 743(b) adjustment does not apply to a person who purchases units directly from us. The

Section 743(b) adjustment belongs to the purchaser and not to other unitholders. For purposes of this discussion, a unitholder’s inside basis in our assets is considered to have two components: (1) his share of our tax basis in our assets (“common basis”) and (2) his Section 743(b) adjustment to that basis. Please also read “— Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss, and Deduction” above.

 

A Section 754 election is advantageous if the transferee’s tax basis in his units is higher than the units’ share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. In that case, as a result of the election, the transferee would have a higher tax basis in his share of our assets for purposes of computing, among other items, a greater amount of depletion and depreciation deductions and his share of any gain or loss on a sale of our assets would be less. Conversely, a Section 754 election is disadvantageous if the transferee’s tax basis in his units is lower than those units’ share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. Thus, the fair market value of the units may be affected either favorably or unfavorably by the election.

 

The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and will be made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. For example, the allocation of the Section 743(b) adjustment among our assets must be made in accordance with the Code. The IRS could seek to reallocate some or all of any Section 743(b) adjustment allocated by us to our tangible assets to goodwill instead. Goodwill, as an intangible asset, is generally either non-amortizable or amortizable over a longer period of time or under a less accelerated method than our tangible assets. We cannot assure you that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS or the resulting deductions will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different basis adjustment to be made, and should, in our opinion, the expense of compliance exceed the benefit of the election, we may seek permission from the IRS to revoke our Section 754 election. If permission is granted, a subsequent purchaser of units may be allocated more income than he would have been allocated had the election not been revoked.

 

Treasury regulations under Section 743 of the Code require, if the remedial allocation method is adopted (which we adopt as to each of our properties), a portion of the Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to recovery property under Section 168 of the Code to be depreciated over the remaining cost recovery period for the Section 704(c) built-in gain. Under Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-l(a)(6), a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to property subject to depreciation under Section 167 of the Code rather than cost recovery deductions under Section 168 generally is required to be depreciated using either the straight-line method or the 150% declining balance method. In addition, the holder of a unit may be entitled by reason of a Section 743(b) adjustment to amortization deductions in respect of property to which the traditional method of eliminating differences in “book” and tax basis applies. It would not be possible to maintain uniformity of units if this requirement were literally followed; therefore under our limited liability company agreement, we are authorized to take a position to preserve the uniformity of units even if that position is not consistent with these Treasury Regulations. Please read “— Tax Treatment of Operations” and “— Uniformity of Units.”

 

Although Baker & Hostetler LLP is unable to opine as to the validity of this approach because there is no clear authority on this issue, we intend to depreciate the portion of a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to unrealized appreciation in the value of Contributed Property, to the extent of any unamortized book-tax disparity, using a rate of depreciation or amortization derived from the depreciation or amortization method and useful life applied to the common basis of the property, or treat that portion as non-amortizable to the extent attributable to property the common basis of which is not amortizable. This method is consistent with the regulations under Section 743 of the Code, but is arguably inconsistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-l(a)(6), which is not expected to directly apply to a material portion of our assets. To the extent this Section 743(b) adjustment is attributable to appreciation in value in excess of the unamortized book-tax disparity, we will apply the rules described in the Treasury Regulations and the legislative history. If we determine that our position cannot reasonably be taken, we may take a depreciation or amortization position under which all purchasers acquiring units in the same month would receive depreciation or amortization, whether attributable to common basis or a Section 743(b) adjustment, based upon the same applicable rate as if they had purchased a direct interest in our assets. This kind of aggregate approach may result in lower annual depreciation or amortization deductions than would otherwise be allowable to some unitholders. This position will not be adopted if we determine that the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions will

have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. If we choose not to utilize this aggregate method, we may use any other reasonable depreciation and amortization method to preserve the uniformity of the intrinsic tax characteristics of the units. The IRS may challenge any method of depreciating the Section 743(b) adjustment described in this paragraph. If this challenge were sustained, the uniformity of units might be affected, and the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions. Please read “— Tax Treatment of Operations,” “— Disposition of Units — Recognition of Gain or Loss,” and “— Uniformity of Units.”

 

Tax Treatment of Operations

 

Accounting Method and Taxable Year

 

We use the year ending December 31 as our taxable year and the accrual method of accounting for federal income tax purposes. Certain compensation accruals reported in our financial statements are deducted when paid or vested for federal income tax reporting. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our taxable year ending within or with his taxable year. In addition, a unitholder who has a taxable year ending on a date other than December 31 and who disposes of all of his units following the close of our taxable year but before the close of his taxable year must include his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction in income for his taxable year, with the result that he will be required to include in income for his taxable year his share of more than one year of our income, gain, loss and deduction. Please read “— Disposition of Units — Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees.”

 

Depletion Deductions

 

Subject to the limitations on deductibility of losses discussed above, unitholders will be entitled to deductions for the greater of either cost depletion or (if otherwise allowable) percentage depletion with respect to our oil and gas interests. Although the Code requires each unitholder to compute his own depletion allowance and maintain records of his share of the adjusted tax basis of the underlying property for depletion and other purposes, we intend to furnish each of our unitholders with information relating to this computation for federal income tax purposes.

 

Percentage depletion is generally available with respect to unitholders who qualify under the independent producer exemption contained in Section 613A(c) of the Code. For this purpose, an independent producer is a person not directly or indirectly involved in the retail sale of oil, gas, or derivative products or the operation of a major refinery. Percentage depletion is calculated as an amount generally equal to 15% (and, in the case of marginal production, potentially a higher percentage) of the unitholder’s gross income from the depletable property for the taxable year. The percentage depletion deduction with respect to any property is limited to 100% of the taxable income of the unitholder from the property for each taxable year, computed without the depletion allowance. A unitholder that qualifies as an independent producer may deduct percentage depletion only to the extent the unitholder’s daily production of domestic crude oil, or the gas equivalent, does not exceed 1,000 barrels. This depletable amount may be allocated between oil and gas production, with 6,000 cubic feet of domestic gas production regarded as equivalent to one barrel of crude oil. The 1,000 barrel limitation must be allocated among the independent producer and controlled or related persons and family members in proportion to the respective production by such persons during the period in question.

 

In addition to the foregoing limitations, the percentage depletion deduction otherwise available is limited to 65% of a unitholder’s total taxable income from all sources for the year, computed without the depletion allowance, net operating loss carrybacks, or capital loss carrybacks. Any percentage depletion deduction disallowed because of the 65% limitation may be deducted in the following taxable year if the percentage depletion deduction for such year plus the deduction carryover does not exceed 65% of the unitholder’s total taxable income for that year. The carryover period resulting from the 65% net income limitation is indefinite.

 

Unitholders that do not qualify under the independent producer exemption generally are restricted to depletion deductions based on cost depletion. Cost depletion deductions are calculated by (i) dividing the unitholder’s share of the adjusted tax basis in the underlying mineral property by the number of mineral units (barrels of oil and thousand cubic feet, or Mcf, of gas) remaining as of the beginning of the taxable year and

(ii) multiplying the result by the number of mineral units sold within the taxable year. The total amount of deductions based on cost depletion cannot exceed the unitholder’s share of the total adjusted tax basis in the property.

 

All or a portion of any gain recognized by a unitholder as a result of either the disposition by us of some or all of our oil and gas interests or the disposition by the unitholder of some or all of his units may be taxed as ordinary income to the extent of recapture of depletion deductions, except for percentage depletion deductions in excess of the basis of the property. The amount of the recapture is generally limited to the amount of gain recognized on the disposition.

 

The foregoing discussion of depletion deductions does not purport to be a complete analysis of the complex legislation and Treasury Regulations relating to the availability and calculation of depletion deductions by the unitholders. Further, because depletion is required to be computed separately by each unitholder and not by our company, no assurance can be given, and Baker & Hostetler LLP is unable to express any opinion, with respect to the availability or extent of percentage depletion deductions to the unitholders for any taxable year. We encourage each prospective unitholder to consult his tax advisor to determine whether percentage depletion would be available to him.

 

Current law may change and limit or eliminate the ability to take depletion deductions. For example, substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws have been proposed that would affect depletion deductions. We are unable to predict whether any changes, or other proposals, ultimately will be enacted. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our units.

 

Deductions for Intangible Drilling and Development Costs

 

We may elect to currently deduct intangible drilling and development costs (“IDCs”). IDCs generally include our expenses for wages, fuel, repairs, hauling, supplies and other items that are incidental to, and necessary for, the drilling and preparation of wells for the production of oil, gas, or geothermal energy. The option to currently deduct IDCs applies only to those items that do not have a salvage value.

 

Although we may elect to currently deduct IDCs, each unitholder will have the option of either currently deducting IDCs or capitalizing all or part of the IDCs and amortizing them on a straight-line basis over a 60-month period, beginning with the taxable month in which the expenditure is made. If a unitholder makes the election to amortize the IDCs over a 60-month period, no IDC preference amount will result for alternative minimum tax purposes.

 

Integrated oil companies must capitalize 30% of all their IDCs (other than IDCs paid or incurred with respect to oil and gas wells located outside of the United States) and amortize these IDCs over 60 months beginning in the month in which those costs are paid or incurred. If the taxpayer ceases to be an integrated oil company, it must continue to amortize those costs as long as it continues to own the property to which the IDCs relate. An “integrated oil company” is a taxpayer that has economic interests in crude oil deposits and also carries on substantial retailing or refining operations. An oil or gas producer is deemed to be a substantial retailer or refiner if it is subject to the rules disqualifying retailers and refiners from taking percentage depletion. In order to qualify as an “independent producer” that is not subject to these IDC deduction limits, a unitholder, either directly or indirectly through certain related parties, may not be involved in the refining of more than 75,000 barrels of oil (or the equivalent amount of gas) on average for any day during the taxable year or in the retail marketing of oil and gas products exceeding $5 million per year in the aggregate.

 

IDCs previously deducted that are allocable to property (directly or through ownership of an interest in a partnership) and that would have been included in the adjusted basis of the property had the IDC deduction not been taken are recaptured to the extent of any gain realized upon the disposition of the property or upon the disposition by a unitholder of interests in us. Recapture is generally determined at the unitholder level. Where only a portion of the recapture property is sold, any IDCs related to the entire property are recaptured to the extent of the gain realized on the portion of the property sold. In the case of a disposition of an undivided interest in a property, a proportionate amount of the IDCs with respect to the property is treated as

allocable to the transferred undivided interest to the extent of any gain recognized. See “— Disposition of Units — Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

 

Current law may change and limit or eliminate the ability to take deductions for intangible drilling costs. For example, substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws have been proposed that would eliminate our ability to deduct intangible drilling costs. We are unable to predict whether any changes, or other proposals, ultimately will be enacted. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our units.

 

Deduction for United States Production Activities

 

Subject to the limitations on the deductibility of losses discussed above and the limitation discussed below, unitholders will be entitled to a deduction, the “Section 199 deduction,” equal to a specified percentage of our qualified production activities income that is allocated to such unitholder. The percentages are 6% for qualified production activities income generated in the years 2007, 2008, and 2009; and 9% thereafter.

 

Qualified production activities income generally is equal to gross receipts from domestic production activities reduced by cost of goods sold allocable to those receipts, other expenses directly associated with those receipts, and a share of other deductions, expenses and losses that are not directly allocable to those receipts or another class of income. The products produced must be manufactured, produced, grown or extracted in whole or in significant part by the taxpayer in the United States.

 

For a partnership, the Section 199 deduction is determined at the partner level. To determine his Section 199 deduction, each unitholder will aggregate his share of the qualified production activities income allocated to him from us with the unitholder’s qualified production activities income from other sources. Each unitholder must take into account his distributive share of the expenses allocated to him from our qualified production activities regardless of whether we otherwise have taxable income. However, our expenses that otherwise would be taken into account for purposes of computing the Section 199 deduction are taken into account only if and to the extent the unitholder’s share of losses and deductions from all of our activities is not disallowed by the basis rules, the at-risk rules or the passive activity loss rules. Please read “— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Limitations on Deductibility of Losses.”

 

The amount of a unitholder’s Section 199 deduction for each year is limited to 50% of the IRS Form W-2 wages actually or deemed paid by the unitholder during the calendar year that are deducted in arriving at qualified production activities income. Each unitholder is treated as having been allocated IRS Form W-2 wages from us equal to the unitholder’s allocable share of our wages that are deducted in arriving at our qualified production activities income for that taxable year. It is not anticipated that we or our subsidiaries will pay material wages that will be allocated to our unitholders.

 

This discussion of the Section 199 deduction does not purport to be a complete analysis of the complex legislation and Treasury authority relating to the calculation of domestic production gross receipts, qualified production activities income, or IRS Form W-2 wages, or how such items are allocated by us to unitholders. Further, because the Section 199 deduction is required to be computed separately by each unitholder, no assurance can be given, and Baker & Hostetler LLP is unable to express any opinion, as to the availability or extent of the Section 199 deduction to the unitholders. Each prospective unitholder is encouraged to consult his tax advisor to determine whether the Section 199 deduction would be available to him.

 

Current law may change and limit or eliminate the ability to take the Section 199 deduction. For example, substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws have been proposed that would eliminate the Section 199 deduction for oil and gas producers, which would effectively eliminate the ability to take the Section 199 deduction with respect to our qualified production activities. We are unable to predict whether any changes, or other proposals, ultimately will be enacted. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our units.

Lease Acquisition Costs

 

The cost of acquiring oil and gas leaseholds or similar property interests is a capital expenditure that must be recovered through depletion deductions if the lease is productive. If a lease is proved worthless and abandoned, the cost of acquisition less any depletion claimed may be deducted as an ordinary loss in the year the lease becomes worthless. Please read “Tax Treatment of Operations — Depletion Deductions.”

 

Geophysical Costs

 

The cost of geophysical exploration incurred in connection with the exploration and development of oil and gas properties in the United States are deducted ratably over a 24-month period beginning on the date that such expense is paid or incurred.

 

Operating and Administrative Costs

 

Amounts paid for operating a producing well are deductible as ordinary business expenses, as are administrative costs to the extent they constitute ordinary and necessary business expenses which are reasonable in amount.

 

Tax Basis, Depreciation and Amortization

 

The tax basis of our assets is used for purposes of computing depletion, depreciation, and cost recovery deductions and, ultimately, gain or loss on the disposition of these assets. The federal income tax burden associated with the difference between the fair market value of our assets and their tax basis immediately prior to this offering will be borne by our existing unitholders and any other offering will be borne by our unitholders as of that time. Please read ‘‘— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction.”

 

To the extent allowable, we may elect to use the depreciation and cost recovery methods that will result in the largest deductions being taken in the early years after assets are placed in service. Please read “— Uniformity of Units.” Property we subsequently acquire or construct may be depreciated using accelerated methods permitted by the Code.

 

If we dispose of depreciable property by sale, foreclosure, or otherwise, all or a portion of any gain, determined by reference to the amount of depreciation previously allowable and the nature of the property, may be subject to the recapture rules and taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gain. Similarly, a unitholder who has taken cost recovery or depreciation deductions with respect to property we own will likely be required to recapture some or all, of those deductions as ordinary income upon a sale of his interest in us. Please read “— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction” and “— Disposition of Units — Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

 

The costs incurred in selling our units (called “syndication expenses”) must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably, or upon our termination. There are uncertainties regarding the classification of costs as organization expenses, which we may be able to amortize, and as syndication expenses, which we may not be able to amortize. Any underwriting discounts and commissions we incur will be treated as syndication expenses.

 

Valuation and Tax Basis of Our Properties

 

The federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values, and the tax bases, of our assets. Although we may from time to time consult with professional appraisers regarding valuation matters, we will make many of the relative fair market value estimates ourselves. These estimates and determinations of basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deduction previously reported by unitholders might change, and unitholders might be required to adjust their tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.

Disposition of Units

 

Recognition of Gain or Loss

 

Gain or loss will be recognized on a sale of units equal to the difference between the unitholder’s amount realized and the unitholder’s tax basis for the units sold. A unitholder’s amount realized will equal the sum of the cash or the fair market value of other property received by him plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. Because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale of units could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from the sale.

 

Prior distributions from us in excess of cumulative net taxable income for a unit that decreased a unitholder’s tax basis in that unit will, in effect, become taxable income if the unit is sold at a price greater than the unitholder’s tax basis in that unit, even if the price received is less than his original cost.

 

Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder, other than a “dealer” in units, on the sale or exchange of a unit held for more than one year generally will be taxable as capital gain or loss. Capital gain recognized by an individual on the sale of units held more than 12 months generally will be taxed, under current law, at a maximum rate of 15%. However, a portion of this gain or loss, which may be substantial, will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Code to the extent attributable to “unrealized receivables,” or “inventory items” we own. The term “unrealized receivables” includes potential recapture items, including depreciation, depletion and IDC recapture. Ordinary income attributable to unrealized receivables and inventory items may exceed net taxable gain realized upon the sale of a unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale of a unit. Thus, a unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and a capital loss upon a sale of units. Net capital loss may offset capital gains and no more than $3,000 of ordinary income, in the case of individuals, and may only be used to offset capital gains in the case of corporations.

 

The IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all those interests. Upon a sale or other disposition of less than all of those interests, a portion of that tax basis must be allocated to the interests sold using an “equitable apportionment” method, which generally means that the tax basis allocated to the interest sold equals an amount that bears the same relation to the partner’s tax basis in his entire interest in the partnership as the value of the interest sold bears to the value of the partner’s entire interest in the partnership. Treasury Regulations under Section 1223 of the Code allow a selling unitholder who can identify units transferred with an ascertainable holding period to elect to use the actual holding period of the units transferred. Thus, according to the IRS’ ruling, a unitholder will be unable to select high or low basis units to sell as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the regulations, may designate specific units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of units transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional units or a sale of units purchased in separate transactions is urged to consult his tax advisor as to the possible consequences of the IRS’ ruling position and application of the Treasury Regulations.

 

Specific provisions of the Code affect the taxation of some financial products and securities, including partnership interests, by treating a taxpayer as having sold an “appreciated” partnership interest (one in which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value) if the taxpayer or related persons enter(s) into:

 

 

Moreover, if a taxpayer has previously entered into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest, the taxpayer will be treated as having sold that position if the taxpayer or a related person then acquires the partnership interest or substantially identical property. The Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized to issue regulations that treat a taxpayer

that enters into transactions or positions that have substantially the same effect as the preceding transactions as having constructively sold the financial position.

 

Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees

 

In general, our taxable income and loss will be determined annually, will be prorated on a monthly basis and will be subsequently apportioned among the unitholders in proportion to the number of units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month “the Allocation Date.” However, gain or loss realized on a sale or other disposition of our assets other than in the ordinary course of business will be allocated among the unitholders on the Allocation Date in the month in which that gain or loss is recognized. As a result, a unitholder transferring units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.

 

It is uncertain whether this method is permitted under existing Treasury Regulations. Proposed Regulations raise questions as to this approach; however, the preamble to the Proposed Regulations provides that the IRS will not apply the Proposed Regulations to publicly traded partnerships, and rather the IRS and Treasury Department have solicited comments in this regard. Accordingly, Baker & Hostetler LLP is unable to opine on the validity of this method of allocating income and deductions between transferor and transferee unitholders. If this method is disallowed or only applies to transfers of less than all of the unitholder’s interest, our taxable income or losses might be reallocated among the unitholders. We are authorized to revise our method of allocation between unitholders, as well as among transferor and transferee unitholders whose interests vary during a taxable year, to conform to a method permitted under future Treasury Regulations.

 

A unitholder who owns units at any time during a quarter and who disposes of them prior to the record date set for a cash distribution for that quarter will be allocated items of our income, gain, loss and deductions attributable to that quarter but will not be entitled to receive that cash distribution.

 

Notification Requirements

 

A unitholder who sells any of his units, other than through a broker, generally is required to notify us in writing of that sale within 30 days after the sale (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the sale). A person who purchases units from a unitholder is required to notify us in writing of that purchase within 30 days after purchase, unless a broker or nominee will satisfy such requirement. We are required to notify the IRS of such transactions and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. However, these reporting requirements do not apply to a sale by an individual who is a citizen of the United States and who affects the sale or exchange through a broker. Failure to notify us of a transfer of units may lead to the imposition of penalties.

 

Constructive Termination

 

We will be considered to have terminated for tax purposes if there is a sale or exchange of 50% or more of the total interests in our capital and profits within a 12-month period. A constructive termination results in the closing of our taxable year for all unitholders. In the case of a unitholder reporting on a taxable year other than a fiscal year ending December 31, the closing of our taxable year may result in more than 12 months of our taxable income or loss being includable in his taxable income for the year of termination. Constructive termination occurring on a date other than December 31 will result in us filing multiple tax returns (and unitholders receiving multiple Schedule K-1s) for one fiscal year and the cost of the preparation of these returns will be borne by all unitholders. We would be required to make new tax elections after a termination, including a new election under Section 754 of the Code, and a termination would result in a deferral of our deductions for depreciation. A termination could also result in penalties if we were unable to determine that the termination had occurred. Moreover, a termination might either accelerate the application of, or subject us to, any tax legislation enacted before the termination.

Uniformity of Units

 

Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of units, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the units to a purchaser of these units. In the absence of uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of federal income tax requirements, both statutory and regulatory. A lack of uniformity can result from a literal application of Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6). Any non-uniformity could have a negative impact on the value of the units. Please read “— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Section 754 Election.”

 

We intend to depreciate the portion of a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to unrealized appreciation in the value of Contributed Property, to the extent of any unamortized book-tax disparity, using a rate of depreciation or amortization derived from the depreciation or amortization method and useful life applied to the common basis of that property, or treat that portion as non-amortizable, to the extent attributable to property the common basis of which is not amortizable, consistent with the regulations under Section 743 of the Code, even though that position may be inconsistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), which is not expected to directly apply to a material portion of our assets. Please read “— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Section 754 Election.” To the extent that the Section 743(b) adjustment is attributable to appreciation in value in excess of the unamortized book-tax disparity, we will apply the rules described in the Treasury Regulations and legislative history. If we determine that this position cannot reasonably be taken, we may adopt a depreciation and amortization position under which all purchasers acquiring units in the same month would receive depreciation and amortization deductions, whether attributable to a common basis or Section 743(b) adjustment, based upon the same applicable rate as if they had purchased a direct interest in our property. If this position is adopted, it may result in lower annual depreciation and amortization deductions than would otherwise be allowable to some unitholders and risk the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions not taken in the year that these deductions are otherwise allowable. This position will not be adopted if we determine that the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions will have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. If we choose not to utilize this aggregate method, we may use any other reasonable depreciation and amortization method to preserve the uniformity of the intrinsic tax characteristics of any units that would not have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. The IRS may challenge any method of depreciating the Section 743(b) adjustment described in this paragraph. If this challenge were sustained, the uniformity of units might be affected, and the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions. Please read “— Disposition of Units — Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

 

Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors

 

Ownership of units by employee benefit plans, other tax-exempt organizations, non-resident aliens, foreign corporations, other foreign persons, and regulated investment companies raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below, may have substantially adverse tax consequences to them.

 

Employee benefit plans and most other organizations exempt from federal income tax, including individual retirement accounts and other retirement plans, are subject to federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Virtually all of our income allocated to a unitholder that is a tax-exempt organization will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to them.

 

A regulated investment company or “mutual fund” is required to derive 90% or more of its gross income from interest, dividends and gains from the sale of stocks or securities or foreign currency or other permitted sources. Income from the ownership of units in a “qualified publicly traded partnership” is generally treated as income from a permitted source. We anticipate that we will meet the definition of a “qualified publicly traded partnership.”

 

Non-resident aliens and foreign corporations, trusts or estates that own units will be considered to be engaged in business in the United States because of the ownership of units. As a consequence, they will be required to file federal tax returns to report their share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay federal income tax at regular rates on their share of our net income or gain. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly traded partnerships, we will withhold at the highest applicable tax rate from cash distributions made quarterly to foreign unitholders. Each foreign unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the

IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on an applicable Form W-8 series or applicable substitute form in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes. A change in applicable law may require us to change these procedures.

 

In addition, because a foreign corporation that owns units will be treated as engaged in a United States trade or business, that corporation may be subject to the United States branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, in addition to regular federal income tax, on its share of our income and gain, as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation’s “U.S. net equity,” that is effectively connected with the conduct of a United States trade or business. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the United States and the country in which the foreign corporate unitholder is a “qualified resident.” In addition, this type of unitholder is subject to special information reporting requirements under Section 6038C of the Code.

 

Under a ruling issued by the IRS, a foreign unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a unit will be subject to federal income tax on gain realized on the sale or disposition of that unit to the extent that this gain attributable to assets that are effectively connected with a United States trade or business (or, if a treaty applies, attributable to a permanent establishment) of the foreign unitholder that is deemed to exist through ownership in us. Apart from the ruling, a foreign unitholder generally will not be taxed or subject to withholding upon the sale or disposition of a unit if he has owned 5% or less in value of the units during the five-year period ending on the date of the disposition and if the units are regularly traded on an established securities market at the time of the sale or disposition.

 

Administrative Matters

 

Information Returns and Audit Procedures

 

We intend to furnish to each unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each calendar year, specific tax information, including a Schedule K-1, which describes his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our preceding taxable year. In preparing this information, which will not be reviewed by Baker & Hostetler LLP, we will take various accounting and reporting positions, some of which have been mentioned earlier, to determine each unitholder’s share of income, gain, loss and deduction. We cannot assure you that those positions will yield a result that conforms to the requirements of the Code, regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS. Neither we nor Baker & Hostetler LLP can assure prospective unitholders that the IRS will not successfully contend in court that those positions are impermissible. Any challenge by the IRS could negatively affect the value of the units.

 

The IRS may audit our federal income tax information returns. Adjustments resulting from an IRS audit may require each unitholder to adjust a prior year’s tax liability, and possibly may result in an audit of his return. Any audit of a unitholder’s return could result in adjustments not related to our returns as well as those related to our returns.

 

Partnerships generally are treated as separate entities for purposes of federal tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS and tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss and deduction are determined in a partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings with the partners. The Code requires that one partner be designated as the “Tax Matters Partner” for these purposes. Our limited liability company agreement names Kolja Rockov, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer as our Tax Matters Partner, subject to redetermination by our board of directors from time to time.

 

The Tax Matters Partner has made and will make some elections on our behalf and on behalf of unitholders. In addition, the Tax Matters Partner can extend the statute of limitations for assessment of tax deficiencies against unitholders for items in our returns. The Tax Matters Partner may bind a unitholder with less than a 1% interest in profits in us to a settlement with the IRS unless that unitholder elects, by filing a statement with the IRS, not to give that authority to the Tax Matters Partner. The Tax Matters Partner may seek judicial review, by which all the unitholders are bound, of a final partnership administrative adjustment and, if the Tax Matters Partner fails to seek judicial review, judicial review may be sought by any unitholder having at least a 1% interest in profits or by any group of unitholders having in the aggregate at least a 5%

interest in profits. However, only one action for judicial review will go forward, and each unitholder with an interest in the outcome may participate.

 

A unitholder must file a statement with the IRS identifying the treatment of any item on his federal income tax return that is not consistent with the treatment of the item on our return. Intentional or negligent disregard of this consistency requirement may subject a unitholder to substantial penalties.

 

Nominee Reporting

 

Persons who hold an interest in us as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us:

 

1) the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee;

 

2) whether the beneficial owner is:

 

a) a person that is not a United States person;

 

b) a foreign government, an international organization or any wholly-owned agency or instrumentality of either of the foregoing; or

 

c) a tax-exempt entity;

 

3) the amount and description of units held, acquired or transferred for the beneficial owner; and

 

4) specific information including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers, and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from sales.

 

Brokers and financial institutions are required to furnish additional information, including whether they are United States persons and specific information on units they acquire, hold or transfer for their own account. A penalty of $50 per failure, up to a maximum of $100,000 per calendar year, is imposed by the Code for failure to report that information to us. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of the units with the information furnished to us.

 

Accuracy-Related Penalties

 

An additional tax equal to 20% of the amount of any portion of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to one or more specified causes, including negligence or disregard of rules or regulations, substantial understatements of income tax and substantial valuation misstatements, is imposed by the Code. No penalty will be imposed, however, for any portion of an underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding that portion.

 

A substantial understatement of income tax in any taxable year exists if the amount of the understatement exceeds the greater of 10% of the tax required to be shown on the return for the taxable year or $5,000 ($10,000 for most corporations). The amount of any understatement subject to penalty generally is reduced if any portion is attributable to a position adopted on the return:

 

(1) for which there is, or was, “substantial authority;” or

 

(2) as to which there is a reasonable basis and the pertinent facts of that position are disclosed on the return.

 

If any item of income, gain, loss or deduction included in the distributive shares of unitholders might result in that kind of an “understatement” of income for which no “substantial authority” exists, we must disclose the pertinent facts on our return. In addition, we will make a reasonable effort to furnish sufficient information for unitholders to make adequate disclosure on their returns to avoid liability for this penalty. More stringent rules apply to “tax shelters,” a term that in this context does not appear to include us.

 

A substantial valuation misstatement exists if the value of any property, or the adjusted basis of any property, claimed on a tax return is 150% or more of the amount determined to be the correct amount of the valuation or adjusted basis. No penalty is imposed unless the portion of the underpayment attributable to a

substantial valuation misstatement exceeds $5,000 ($10,000 for most corporations). If the valuation claimed on a return is 200% or more than the correct valuation, the penalty imposed increases to 40%.

 

Reportable Transactions

 

If we were to engage in a “reportable transaction,” we (and possibly you and others) would be required to make a detailed disclosure of the transaction to the IRS. A transaction may be a reportable transaction based upon any of several factors, including the fact that it is a type of tax avoidance transaction publicly identified by the IRS as a “listed transaction” or that it produces certain kinds of losses for partnerships, individuals, S corporations, and trusts in excess of $2 million in any single year, or $4 million in any combination of tax years. Our participation in a reportable transaction could increase the likelihood that our federal income tax information return (and possibly your tax return) is audited by the IRS. Please read “— Information Returns and Audit Procedures” above.

 

Moreover, if we were to participate in a reportable transaction with a significant purpose to avoid or evade tax, or in any listed transaction, you could be subject to the following:

 

 

We do not expect to engage in any reportable transactions.

 

State, Local, Foreign and Other Tax Considerations

 

In addition to federal income taxes, you may be subject to other taxes, including state, local and foreign income taxes, unincorporated business taxes, and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property or in which you are a resident. We currently conduct business and/or own assets in West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not presented here, each prospective unitholder is urged to consider their potential impact on his investment in us. We may also own property or do business in other states or foreign jurisdictions in the future. Although you may not be required to file a return and pay taxes in some jurisdictions because your income from that jurisdiction falls below the filing and payment requirements, you will be required to file income tax returns and to pay income taxes in many of these jurisdictions in which we do business or own property and may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements.

 

In some jurisdictions, tax losses may not produce a tax benefit in the year incurred and may not be available to offset income in subsequent taxable years. Some of the jurisdictions may require us, or we may elect, to withhold a percentage of income from amounts to be distributed to a unitholder who is not a resident of the jurisdiction. Withholding, the amount of which may be greater or less than a particular unitholder’s income tax liability to the jurisdiction, generally does not relieve a nonresident unitholder from the obligation to file an income tax return. Amounts withheld may be treated as if distributed to unitholders for purposes of determining the amounts distributed by us. Please read “— Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership — Entity-Level Collections.” Based on current law and our estimate of our future operations, we anticipate that any amounts required to be withheld will not be material.

 

We may sell the units being offered hereby in one or more of the following ways from time to time:

 

 

The prospectus supplement with respect to each series of securities will state the terms of the offering of the securities, including:

 

 

If we use underwriters or dealers in the sale, the securities will be acquired by the underwriters or dealers for their own account and may be resold from time to time in one or more transactions, including:

 

 

Any initial public offering price and any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers may be changed from time to time.

 

If underwriters are used in the sale of any securities, the securities may be offered either to the public through underwriting syndicates represented by managing underwriters, or directly by underwriters. Generally, the underwriters’ obligations to purchase the securities will be subject to certain conditions precedent. The underwriters will be obligated to purchase all of the securities if they purchase any of the securities.

 

We may enter into derivative transactions with third parties, or sell securities not covered by this prospectus to third parties in privately negotiated transactions. If the applicable prospectus supplement indicates, in connection with those derivatives, the third parties may sell securities covered by this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, including short sale transactions. If so, the third party may use securities pledged by us or borrowed from us or others to settle those sales or to close out any related open borrowings of units, and may use securities received from us in settlement of those derivatives to close out any related open borrowings of units. The third party in such sale transactions will be an underwriter and, if not identified in this prospectus, will be identified in the applicable prospectus supplement or a post-effective amendment to this registration statement.

 

If indicated in an applicable prospectus supplement, we may sell the securities through agents from time to time. The applicable prospectus supplement will name any agent involved in the offer or sale of the securities and any commissions we pay to them. Generally, any agent will be acting on a best efforts basis for

the period of its appointment. We may authorize underwriters, dealers or agents to solicit offers by certain purchasers to purchase the securities from us at the public offering price set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement pursuant to delayed delivery contracts providing for payment and delivery on a specified date in the future. The delayed delivery contracts will be subject only to those conditions set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement, and the applicable prospectus supplement will set forth any commissions we pay for solicitation of these delayed delivery contracts.

 

Offered securities may also be offered and sold, if so indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, in connection with a remarketing upon their purchase or otherwise, by one or more remarketing firms, acting as principals for their own accounts or as agents for us. Any remarketing firm will be identified and the terms of its agreements, if any, with us and its compensation will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

Agents, underwriters and other third parties described above may be entitled to indemnification by us against certain civil liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribution with respect to payments which the agents or underwriters may be required to make in respect thereof. Agents, underwriters and such other third parties may be customers of, engage in transactions with, or perform services for us in the ordinary course of business.

 

Any units sold will be listed on The NASDAQ Global Select Market, upon official notice of issuance. Any underwriters to whom securities are sold by us for public offering and sale may make a market in the securities, but such underwriters will not be obligated to do so and may discontinue any market making at any time without notice.

 

Baker & Hostetler LLP, Houston, Texas, will issue an opinion for us regarding the legality of the securities offered by this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement. Baker & Hostetler LLP will also render an opinion on the material tax considerations regarding the securities. If the securities are being distributed in an underwritten offering, certain legal matters will be passed upon for the underwriters by counsel identified in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

The consolidated financial statements of Linn Energy, LLC as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2008, management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, and the Statement of Revenues and Direct Operating Expenses — Assets acquired from Lamamco Drilling Company for the year ended December 31, 2007, have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the reports incorporated by reference herein of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

Certain estimates of our proved oil and gas reserves incorporated by reference herein were based in part upon an engineering report prepared by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, independent petroleum engineers. These estimates are included herein in reliance on the authority of such firm as an expert in such matters.

 

 

6,000,000 Units

 

 

Representing Limited Liability Company Interests

 

 

 

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

 

October 6, 2009

 

 

 

 

Joint Book-Running Managers

 

Senior Co-Managers

 

Co-Managers