After a decade of unprecedented growth and seemingly endless investments, the writing is now on the wall: the Great American Shale Boom is slowing down and this could have some grave consequences both the industry and the financial markets. A total of 32 oil and gas drillers have filed for bankruptcy through the third quarter, with the total number of bankruptcy filings since 2015 now clocking in at more than 200. Unlike Phase 1 of the oil bust that featured shale production declining due to an epic global price collapse, the current slowdown is being driven partly by industry-wide core operational issues , including declining production due to wells being drilled too close to one another as well as production sweet spots running out too soon. Yet, the most important underlying theme precipitating the collapse is a growing financial squeeze as banks and investors pull in the reins and […]