Are Bankruptcies Healthy For The Tight Oil Sector?

  • Program -
  • Type Discussion paper
  • Date 14 February 2021
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Abstract

Between January 2015 and mid-2020, about 69 of the approximately 2,160 small-to-medium independent oil companies operating in the tight oil sector filed for Chapter 11 protection. These filings mostly occurred in 2016 and 2019. A lack of financial discipline and poor financial risk assessment meant that these companies were negatively impacted by the low oil prices in these years. Hence, they declared bankruptcy.

Authors

Majed A. Al Suwailem

Majed A. Al Suwailem

Senior Fellow- Oil & Gas Majed is a senior fellow at KAPSARC with a focus on energy security, geopolitics, and hydrocarbon laws and regulations. He…

Majed is a senior fellow at KAPSARC with a focus on energy security, geopolitics, and hydrocarbon laws and regulations. He has more than 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in the fields of simulation and modeling, asset management, reserves estimation, oil field development, disruptive technologies, and business planning, gained at Chevron and Saudi Aramco.

Majed holds a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in the United States, along with two M.S. degrees in petroleum engineering, and reservoir geosciences and engineering, respectively, from Texas A&M University and the Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP School). In 2021, Majed earned his Master of Science degree in public economics and policy from Purdue University.

Expertise

  • Energy Security
  • Geopolitics
  • Hydrocarbon Laws and Regulations

Publications See all Majed A. Al Suwailem’s publications

Malik Selemankhel

Malik Selemankhel

Former Senior Research Associate Malik was a senior research associate in the Markets and Industrial Development team focused on downstream refining and petrochemicals value…

Malik was a senior research associate in the Markets and Industrial Development team focused on downstream refining and petrochemicals value chains. He is a licensed professional engineer in Canada (APEGA) and Saudi Arabia (SCE) with over 10 years of engineering and oil business experience, both office and field based. Malik has experience in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of North America’s oil and gas industry. He has a keen interest in integrated hydrocarbon value chain optimization to help oil and gas companies maximize profits. Malik’s research interests include the optimization of integrated value chains driven by regional and international regulations on fuels and emissions, and economic growth, among other factors. In Canada, Malik developed the concept of using data analytics tools, such as machine learning, to improve plant availability during shutdowns.

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