The US federal government is looking at “a whole bunch of alternatives” to support oil and other energy companies, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday as the industry struggles with plummeting prices and demand as the coronavirus crushes economic activity.
Taking equity stakes as part of a lending facility for the industry is among the alternatives, Mnuchin said at a White House event.
President Donald Trump said: “The energy business is very important to me, and we’re going to build it up.”
About half of the top 60 independent companies in the US oil and energy sector could be forced into bankruptcy, after oil prices plunged 75% this year, sending prices to levels well below what companies and advisers had modeled in worst-case scenarios.
