Number of defaults in US energy sector reach a record

Baku. 3 May. REPORT.AZ/ 13% of US companies in the energy sector with speculative-grade debt are in default.

Report informs referring to RBK, according to Fitch it is a record high.Two more companies have gone bankrupt over the past three days.

Fitch expects that this figure will reach the level of 20% at the end of the year. Analyst of Fitch Sharon Bonelli stressed that the defaults are "highly concentrated" in the primary industries, as companies try to adapt to low prices.

In mid-April, a senior credit analyst at JP Morgan Chase & Co Tarek Hamid predicted that if the price of oil remains at 35 USD per barrel 36% of 150 American energy companies with speculative-grade debt will go bankrupt.

Two more companies have gone bankrupt over the past three days says FT, On 30 April and 1 May Ultra Petroleum and Midstates Petroleum have signed declaration of insolvency, and that brought industry-level default at record level. The total debt of the company amounted to 5.8 bln usd, writes The Wall Street Journal.

The publication cites consulting firm Gavin / Solmonese, according to which last year 67 US oil and gas companies declared bankruptcy, which is 380% compared to 2014 year.

According to the analyst of company 'Invesco Scott Roberts', the end of the defaults not seen, because there are a number of companies with the structure of capital, which can not be operated at an oil price of 45 USD, FT writes.