U.S. Oil Companies, Heavily in Debt, Are Further Strained as Prices Collapse

U.S. Oil Companies, Heavily in Debt, Are Further Strained as Prices Collapse

Oil Companies, Heavily in Debt, Are Further Strained as Prices Collapse. Energy companies were major issuers of junk bonds to finance expansion.. The energy sector has buckled in recent weeks as the global demand for oil suddenly shriveled and oil prices plunged, setting off a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.. A week after Occidental Petroleum slashed its dividend, Moody's Investors Service downgraded its rating of the company.. Since 2016, when oil prices began to drop, 208 North American producers have filed for bankruptcy involving $121.7 billion in aggregate debt, according to the Haynes and Boone's Oil Patch Bankruptcy Monitor report released in late January.. The oil field services sector in North America faces high financing risk with $32 billion of debt maturing between 2020 and 2024 - roughly two-thirds of which was issued by smaller, more speculative companies - according to Moody's Investor Service.. Parsley Energy, a leading West Texas oil and gas producer, has devised its 2020 capital budget assuming that oil prices will be in the range of $30 to $35 for the remainder of the year..