據油價網2020年7月9日休斯頓報道，路透社日前援引國際律師事務所海恩斯和布恩律師事務所（Haynes和Boone）的一份報告報道說，北美油氣企業的破產潮在今年剩余的時間里將持續。

報告稱，在今年第一季度末疫情大流行和油價戰爆發以后，北美油氣企業在第二季度開始時出現了一波破產潮。

根據海恩斯和布恩律師事務所公布的統計數據，僅在今年第二季度北美就有超過18家油氣生產企業破產，這是自2016年油價暴跌以來最高季度破產數。今年到目前為止，北美已有41家石油生產企業和油田服務企業尋求破產保護。

能源投資銀行Tudor,Pickering,Holt的能源戰略家邁克爾·布拉德利在去年年底曾表示，即使沒有爆發疫情大流行或者石油價格戰，北美油氣企業的一系列破產是意料之中的，即使在2019年，北美油氣企業持有垃圾債券的違約利息已處于創紀錄的水平，能源行業陷入困境的企業比其他任何行業都要多。

當然，這些陷入困境的油氣企業都對2020年油價回升抱有希望。

沒有什么比今年的情況更糟了。

今年迄今已看到了切薩皮克能源公司，鉆石海上鉆井公司和懷廷石油公司先后宣布破產。

海恩斯和布恩律師事務所表示，盡管油價已經反彈，但目前每桶40美元的油價仍不足以讓負債累累的頁巖生產企業擺脫厄運。40美元的油價也不足以讓頁巖企業償還沉重的債務。

挪威著名能源研究和商業情報公司雷斯塔能源公司（Rystad Energy ）今年4月曾警告稱，若油價維持在每桶20美元，美國可能有多達530家石油企業申請破產保護。

李峻 編譯自 油價網

原文如下：

North American Oil And Gas Companies Continue To Go Bankrupt At $40 Oil

The rash of oil and gas bankruptcies in North America is set to continue for the remainder of 2020, a report by Haynesand Boone cited by Reuters shows.

After the coronavirus pandemic and oil price war set in at the end of the first quarter, the second quarter began with awave of bankruptcies in the oil and gas sector in North America, according to the report.

There have been more than 18 producer bankruptcies in Q2 alone, according to Haynes and Boone—it is the highestquarterly figure since 2016 during the previous oil price crash. So far this year, 41 oil producers and oilfield servicefirms have sought bankruptcy protection.

Even without the coronavirus pandemic or the oil price war, the flurry of bankruptcies were to be expected, withcompanies holding junk-rated bonds defaulting on interest payments at record levels even in 2019, with more distressedcompanies in the energy sector than in any other, Michael Bradley, energy strategist with Tudor, Pickering, Holt said atthe end of last year.

Of course, these distressed companies were all holding out hope that oil prices would recover in 2020.

Nothing could have been further from how this year is playing out.

This year has seen Chesapeake Energy, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Whiting Petroleum,And even while prices have rebounded, the $40 per barrel oil price right now will not be sufficient to stave off doom forthe debt-laden shale producer, Haynes and Boone said. $40 oil will not be enough for shale companies to make good ontheir hefty debt obligations.

Rystad Energy in April warned that as many as 530 U.S. oil companies could file for bankruptcy protection if oil hadstayed at $20 per barrel.