2016 brings more pain to US shale companies as crude sinks

BENGALURU: Pain is quickly growing more acute in the new year at beleaguered US shale companies as a global supply glut sinks crude further to 11-year lows, putting added financial stress on the most heavily indebted.

Debt and equity investors have all but given up on the exploration and production sector as oil prices tumble lower. In the last year, the SIG index of oil companies fell 42%, compared with a 0.6% decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.