Shale operators struggle to balance books

These are tough times for all but the biggest US unconventional energy producers. For small firms, suddenly deprived of income following the fall in oil prices, expansion plans are evaporating and financing to tide them over the slump has been hard to find, forcing some to seek buyers

For an illustration of the rapid pace of change, which has rocked the industry’s finances, look no further than the current plight of Whiting Petroleum. A major producer in the Bakken, Whiting was seeking a buyer in mid-March, having only just completed a $3.8 billion deal to buy rival producer Kodiak Oil & Gas. When the Kodiak acquisition was agreed, the $2 billion it added to Whiting’s debt looked chunky, but investors clearly regarded it as potentially sustainable. Now the company’s estimated $11 billion of total debt is a millstone round its neck. Whiting’s share price has fallen by almost two-thirds since last September, as income has declined. Revenues fell by 3% in the fourth quar