Liam Denning, Columnist

Saudi Arabia and Russia Just Killed Optimism in Shale

We're about to see a swath of the industry go bankrupt, rationalize or consolidate.

March 9, 2020 at 9:24 AM EDT

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

The sun’s going down on a bunch of frackers.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America

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Something died in the oil market this weekend: hope. Or a certain kind of hope exemplified in the U.S. exploration and production business. This will be one of the enduring outcomes of the latest crash, even if — as some, you know, hope — Saudi Arabia’s declaration of a price war spurs a quick truce with Russia1.

Unlike the crash of 2014 (or 2008), falling oil prices aren’t likely to spur an immediate rebound in demand. People aren’t holding off traveling today because jet fuel is too expensive.

Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal

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