Leveraging to the hilt and operating at a loss is par for the course in the oil industry. It's very common, especially when new plays open up, either from tech

Leveraging to the hilt and operating at a loss is par for the course in the oil industry. It's very common, especially when new plays open up, either from technological or political advances. In the case of fracking, everyone was scrambling to get extraction rights on any piece of land that looked promising. Often that involved massive speculation and debt. Inevitably the downturn comes and shakes out the players who don't have the capital or discipline to survive. The industry consolidates and production continues. The cost of fracking has continued to decline as frackers learn how to be more efficient in order to be profitable with crude prices at their current low levels. Even if the current players went bankrupt, others will pop up once prices rise again. American frackers have effectively replaced Saudi Arabia as the world's swing producer. Unfortunately for them that means learning how to withstand wild boom-and-bust cycles.