​Deloitte: One-third of oil companies could go bankrupt this year

Baku. 17 February. REPORT.AZ/ About a third of the world’s publicly-traded oil companies are at high risk of going bankrupt this year, Report informs citing Fortune, this was stated in a new report of Deloitte released Tuesday.

Consulting and audit firm Deloitte put out its findings after closely examining 500 publicly-traded oil and natural gas exploration and production companies worldwide. The 175 or so companies most at risk have more than $150 billion in debt, and they’re having trouble generating cash given the decreased value of secondary stock offerings and asset sales.

Rumors of impending bankruptcies in the U.S. shale patch have become commonplace in recent weeks. Last week, Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK 16.98%, one of the U.S.’s biggest shale gas producers, was forced to issue a statement denying it was planning to file for Chapter 11 protection, after its stock fell 50% in a day.

Despite its doom and gloom, the report offered a silver lining to one segment of the industry: oilfield service providers that supply the workers and equipment needed to drill wells. Because servicers have lower capital costs than producers, there have been fewer bankruptcy filings in their ranks. Only 14 of the 53 energy companies in the United States that filed for bankruptcy last quarter were service providers. Deloitte said that trend is expected to continue, at least in the short term.