Oil Bankruptcies Are Reaching Worrying Levels

Law firm Haynes and Boone recently released its updated Energy Bankruptcy Reports. These reports cover North American oil and gas producers, oilfield services and midstream bankruptcies from the beginning of 2015 through 2019. Over the entire five-year period, 208 oil and gas producers have filed for bankruptcy since Haynes and Boone’s Oil Patch Bankruptcy Monitor began tabulating E&P filings, involving approximately $121.7 billion in aggregate debt. There was an initial wave of more than 100 bankruptcy filings in 2015 and 2016…