More pain for oil & gas companies

According to a new report from Deloitte, 35 oil & gas companies with a total of $18 billion of debt went bankrupt in 2015. While this is only about half of what was seen in 08/09, the report suggests there could be a lot more to come. “Nearly 35 percent of oil & gas companies listed worldwide, or about 175 companies, are in the high-risk quadrant, as defined by the combination of high leverage and low debt service coverage ratios. These companies have amassed a total debt of over $150 billion on their balance sheets.” While this is concerning, this is not the worst of it. “The situation is precarious for 50 out of these 175 companies due to negative equity or leverage ratio of above 100… The probability of these companies slipping into bankruptcy is high in 2016 unless oil prices recover sharply, a large part of their debt is converted into equity or big investors infuse liquidity into these companies.” See the full report from Deloitte: (VIEW LINK)