Back in March, we wondered if the U.S. government wasn't throwing good money after bad by offering loans, credit, tax breaks, and royalty cuts to beleaguered shale gas companies, many of which were in dire financial straits long before COVID-19 came to town. Now, three months later, the pioneer of the industry, Chesapeake Energy, has filed for bankruptcy.
In this episode of the Drilled podcast, we talk to energy analyst Clark Williams-Derry and energy accounting expert Greg Rogers about Chesapeake, the non-financial reasons for shale bailouts, who's actually getting paid here, and how it is that an industry that's never turned a profit can still snag investors.