Crude Collapse Has Investors Braced for ’80s-Like Oil Casualties
U.S. shale production.
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When a glut of crude flooded the market in the 1980s, scores of energy companies disappeared through almost five years of depressed prices. Investors are worried history is repeating itself.
The supply overhang led to a 66 percent slide in prices over four months, starting in November 1985. Bankruptcies and mergers reduced the number of U.S. producers by 54 percent before a price rebound took hold in 1990.