Under heavy debt loads, US shale producers and refiners scrambling for cash

Fuel demand has tumbled roughly 30% worldwide as the coronavirus pandemic destroyed demand for transport

US shale producers, refiners and pipeline companies are scrambling for cash and face likely restructuring as they struggle under heavy debt loads while engulfed in the worst crisis the oil industry has faced.

Fuel demand has tumbled roughly 30 per cent worldwide as the coronavirus pandemic destroyed demand for transport, provoking a massive glut of oil that has hammered global prices and left energy companies with no choice but to pump hundreds of millions of barrels into storage.

Just as demand plummeted, Saudi Arabia and Russia started an oil price war, and Riyadh flooded the market with even more crude. That left