Oil And Gas Bankruptcies

As we discussed in the textbook, financial leverage is a double-edged sword, increasing shareholder returns in good times, but causing financial distress in downturns. Since companies in an industry tend to have similar leverage ratios, a wave of bankruptcies can occur in that industry. The high leverage in the oil and gas industry appears to be reaching a tipping point as 26 oil and gas producers have filed for bankruptcy this year, almost matching the 28 for all of 2018. There is still a way to go to match the 70 bankruptcy filings in 2016, which was caused by low oil and gas prices.