These Are The Energy Bonds Most Likely To Default In The Next Six Months

Over the past several weeks, courtesy of the jump in oil prices from 13 years lows, the narrowly reopened window granting some companies the chance to sell equity and in some cases debt (and promptly use the proceeds to repay their secured lenders), and the various last-ditch extensions afforded to near-default oil and gas companies, the dire reality of the default wave about to be unleashed in the shale patch has been swept under the rug, if only briefly.
That is about to change.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Fitch’s Eric Rosenthal paints a very disturbing picture: the rating agency senior director predicts that about $40 billion worth of energy debt will likely default in 2016.
Here are some of the highlights behind his forecast of a 6% default rate, the highest non-recessionary rate since 2000.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on 03/15/2016.