Shale Failures Mounting: ‘Game Clock Has Run Out’ With Creditors

Shale bankruptcies are surging and on track to eclipse last year’s casualties, according to law firm Haynes and Boone LLP.

Dozens of North American oil explorers and their hired hands have sought protection from creditors this year as stagnant crude prices and a glut of natural gas soured investors on the sector and shut off access to capital markets. So far this year, 36 drillers, frackers and other oilfield-service providers have filed for bankruptcy, compared with 30 at this point in 2018, Haynes and Boone data showed.

The failure rate is still a long way from the darkest days ...