Oil Price Collapse and Debt Defaults

A growing concern –

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/business/dealbook/as-oil-prices-plummet-mounting-debt-catches-up-with-us-producers.html

“There are now virtually no wells in the United States profitable to drill. That has forced some companies into a fatal spiral, producing oil simply to satiate their lenders. …

Investors are on edge. A report that Chesapeake Energy, a major natural gas and oil company, hired lawyers to help restructure its more than $10 billion in debt sent its shares plunging on Monday, prompting the company to deny publicly that it was preparing for bankruptcy.
The oil industry regularly undergoes booms and busts. But the downside of this cycle may prove more extreme, and the shakeout messier, thanks to the easy money that flooded the industry from hedge funds, private equity firms and tax-advantaged investment structures called business development companies.”