US shale companies could be forced to write down $300bn of their assets this year, starting in the second quarter, as operators begin to account for the oil-price collapse on their balance sheets, according to a new study.
The huge impairments — about half the net value of the companies’ property, plant and equipment — would increase the sector’s leverage from 40 per cent to 54 per cent, triggering insolvencies and restructuring, says the study by Deloitte, an accountancy.
“As Covid-19 impacts amplify pressures on shale companies through 2020, a wave of impairments may prompt the deepest consolidation the industry has ever seen over the next six to 12 months,” said Duane Dickson, vice-chairman of Deloitte’s US oil and gas business.
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