Dec. 25--Five SemGroup Energy Partners executives will share more than $1.1 million in year-end cash bonuses, even as the publicly traded firm deals with its parent SemGroup LP's bankruptcy, struggles over its own credit default and works to file its first quarterly earnings report in seven months.

CEO Kevin Foxx leads those receiving the extra compensation with a $365,000 bonus, according to a federal Securities and Exchange Commission filing earlier this week. A compensation committee approved the additional pay Dec. 18.

The SEC report says Chief Financial Officer Michael Brochetti will receive a $245,000 bonus, Alex Stallings will collect $225,000, Jerry Parsons will get $215,000 and Pete Schwiering will receive $120,000.

"In awarding these cash bonuses, the compensation committee considered, among other factors, the role and responsibility of each officer," the federal filing reads. The committee apparently took into account the executives' new roles after SemGroup LP's bankruptcy and past compensation partially to justify the bonuses, the report says.

The bonus discussions also centered around "the difficult operational and working environment caused by the bankruptcy filings," projected earnings for the second half of the year and "each officer's efforts in building the partnership's third-party business," the SEC filing says.

SemGroup

Energy Partners, which is traded on the Nasdaq market under the symbol SGLP, is run separately from SemGroup LP and is not a debtor in the bankruptcy case.

However, the publicly traded SGLP previously derived more than 80 percent of its revenues -- estimated at more than $100 million a year -- from fee-based oil and asphalt storage and transportation services for the parent firm, reports show.

Two hedge funds, Manchester Securities and Alerian Capital Management, took over control of SGLP's board after SemGroup defaulted on a loan in the days before the bankruptcy.

The public company's biggest challenge has been finding new customers for its storage, terminaling and transport services, executives have noted.

"While the private company's bankruptcy is a frustration that makes our job much more difficult, you can see we are making progress," Foxx said during an August conference call, the executives' last public discussion about the company's finances. "SGLP is not SemGroup LP."

SemGroup Energy Partners, however, has not released a quarterly earnings report since May. Creditors signed an extended forbearance agreement with SGLP this month, but the company had its credit facility reduced. It still cannot borrow additional funds.