More than 40 oil and gas companies in the United States filed for bankruptcy protection in the first eleven months of this year, according to Haynes & Boone’s latest report. Their cumulative debt load is $24.732 billion. And yet, things in the U.S. oil patch may not be as bad as the number of bankruptcies might suggest.

Bloomberg Intelligence recently reported the value of oil and gas bonds trading at a distressed level in mid-March totaled $144 billion. By the end of November, this was down to $37 billion. And analysts expect a lot fewer bankruptcies next year.

“The weakest have been culled from the herd,” says Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Spencer Cutter. “Most of the remaining companies may not be making much or any money with oil at $45 and natural gas below $2.75, but they have the liquidity to ride things out for awhile.”

Not all agree on the liquidity issue. Becky Roof, an adviser with AlixPartners, told Bloomberg that “There’s so much liquidity that used to be available to this market, and it’s gone.”

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Source: Oil Price