/ world today news/ The drop in oil prices below 30 dollars per barrel increased fears of possible bankruptcy of American oil companies, writes the “Wall Street Journal”.
According to Wolf Research, the long-term financial collapse in oil prices threatens about one-third of US oil corporations with bankruptcy and restructuring by mid-2017.
Some of these companies will be able to survive if oil prices recover to at least $50 a barrel, analysts say.
Three of the largest investment banks in the USA – Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup expect oil prices to soon fall below 30 dollars per barrel. At the moment, the price of raw materials fell to a 12-year low – deliveries of the “Brent” variety in February decreased by 2.7% to 30.71 dollars per barrel.
According to the Haynes & Boone law firm, more than 30 small companies in the United States have declared bankruptcy due to another drop in oil prices, the total indebtedness of which exceeds 13 billion dollars.
At current prices, North American oil and gas producers lost almost $2 billion in a week, experts from “AlixPartners” announced.
Another consulting firm, Cowen & Co. expects that American companies will have to reduce their budgets by 51% compared to 2004 to 89.6 billion dollars.
The industry is facing its biggest cost-cutting since the 1980s.
Despite unfavorable prices, highly indebted oil and gas companies should maintain previous production volumes. According to S&P Capital IQ, oil companies Sandridge Energy, Energy XXI and Halcon Resources spent more than 40% of their third-quarter earnings on debt interest payments.
Washington / USA
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