The oil industry has begun a slow recovery from a bust that sent more than 300 North American energy companies into bankruptcy court. This year, the number of oil-related bankruptcy cases has plunged.
Twenty North American oil producers have gone bankrupt so far this year, less than a third of the number that went under last year, as have 43 energy service companies, down from 71 last year, according to Haynes and Boone, a Dallas law firm that has tracked the oil industry's flurry of bankruptcies since early 2015.
All told, 134 oil exploration and production companies have filed bankruptcy papers across North America since crude prices began to plunge in summer 2014. In the first half of 2016, bankruptcies surged as oil prices hit a dozen-year low of around $26 a barrel.
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But the downturn has relented this year. Crude prices have climbed above $50 a barrel, settling in New York on Friday at $56.55 a barrel, up $1.41, and making many companies profitable again. Companies across the industry, including producers, refiners and oil field services, reported solid earnings in the third quarter.
This year, the amount of debt involved in oil-producer bankruptcies reached $5.6 billion, compared to $56.8 billion in 2016, the worst year of the downturn. This year's crop of bankrupt oil field service companies had $24.7 billion in debt, up from $13.5 billion last year.
Four oil companies, including Houston-based Castex Energy Partners, filed for bankruptcy last month.
All told, 310 oil producers, service companies and midstream firms across North America have filed for bankruptcy since the beginning of 2015, Haynes and Boone said.
