US: How Did Shale Oil, Gas Markets React to COVID-19?

US: How Did Shale Oil, Gas Markets React to COVID-19?

Published June 30th, 2020 - 01:30 GMT











Highlights





As for the US, Chesapeake was one of the leaders in the shale breakthrough more than a decade ago. Its fate highlights the woes of that space.







On Sunday, Chesapeake Energy, the pioneer shale gas producer based in Oklahoma City, filed for Chapter 11 US (financial reorganization) bankruptcy protection.

It would be wrong to draw too many conclusions from Chesapeake and the US shale space to gas markets in the rest of the world. Other than LNG (liquefied natural gas), gas markets are inherently local which is why one has to look at gas through a different prism in North America, Asia, Europe, or the rest of the world.

As for the US, Chesapeake was one of the leaders in the shale breakthrough more than a decade ago. Its fate highlights the woes of that space.

Companies such as Chesapeake turned the fortunes on the US hydrocarbon sector around, propelling the country into a dominant global energy player. Chesapeake was for a time the second-largest gas producer in America. The ready availability of relatively inexpensive gas ushered in a new era for US industry and its productivity.

Fortunes started