Undaunted by oil bust, financiers pour billions into US shale

The quickening pace of investments from private equity, along with hedge funds and investment banks, comes even as the recovery in oil prices from an eight-year low has stalled at just over US$50 per barrel amid a stubborn global supply glut.

HOUSTON: Investors who took a hit last year when dozens of US shale producers filed for bankruptcy are already making big new bets on the industry’s resurgence.

In the first quarter, private equity funds raised US$19.8bil for energy ventures – nearly three times the total in the same period last year, according to financial data provider Preqin.