Some drilling companies have already fallen prey to the oil price war. The first casualty is a US shale company. Following a downturn in oil prices, the Russian economy and its national currency, the stocks of shale oil producers rushed down. One of them was even forced to file for bankruptcy. Whiting Petroleum, a shale driller, became the first sizable fracking company in the United States which did not survive the crash in oil prices. The debt of Whiting Petroleum is currently $2.2 billion. At the same time, according to the official data, the company has $585 million of cash on its balance sheet. Therefore, it will "continue to operate its business in the normal course without material disruption to its vendors, partners or employees," the shale producer said on its website. On the flip side, Whiting Petroleum seems to have hedged its bets in the hope of receiving financial assistance from the state amid the oil price turmoil. Nevertheless, the fact remains. This is the first major US-based company that has taken such a desperate step in an effort to tackle its increasingly unsustainable debt burdens. After Whiting Petroleum declared bankruptcy, its shares fell by 45 per cent to 0.39 per share.
