Oil Rig Industry Revisits Lehman Crisis as Credit Squeezed

The biggest market rout in two years is squeezing credit for oil rig owners in a replay of the crunch that followed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse, said the operator of the second-largest fleet of deepwater platforms.

“It’s exactly the same as what happened during the financial crisis after Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy,” Seadrill Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Alf Thorkildsen said. “The financial uncertainty has resulted in fewer new build orders. The eye of the needle has narrowed” for acquisitions, he said.