LOW OIL PRICES COULD SPUR BANKRUPTCY FILINGS

Low oil prices could spur bankruptcy filings. The price of oil has been dropping sharply. This is good news for most people. Spending less at the pump gives consumers more money to spend on other things. Travel also becomes less expensive. This boosts the bottom line of the travel industry. There are many companies that spend a lot of money on fuel costs. When costs come down, their profits rise. It sounds like everyone comes out a winner. Not exactly. As often is the case in life, someone ends up losing. In this case, the oil industry. Now there are predictions that some of these companies will need to go see a bankruptcy lawyer. The result could be a batch of bankruptcy filings. Dennis Gartman is the founder and editor of Bulletin Hartmann. He recently was on CNBC and predicted oil prices will keep going down. He also predicted there will be multiple bankruptcy filings by companies. This could also stop the expansion of oil drilling in our country. The boom in our oil industry has been one of the big reasons prices have been dropping. The continued drop in oil could hurt expansion as well. Not to mention the many employees in the oil industry who would lose their jobs. This could cause more personal bankruptcy filings. Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies could increase. This a difficult situation. Lower oil prices can be great. If our oil industry slows down though, that could drive oil prices back up. Especially if we have to depend upon foreign countries for our oil supply. If the predictions are correct, small oil companies will suffer the most. They cannot take the losses like the huge companies. Many will be left with very few choices. Consulting with an experienced bankruptcy attorney could be the only answer.