Trump administration set to offer oil companies emergency loans involving government stakes – By Josh Siegel (Washington Examiner) / April 29 2020
The Trump administration is planning soon to introduce a program to provide emergency loans to oil companies reeling from a historic price crash, likely on the condition that the government takes financial stake in the companies.
Three sources familiar with the plan confirmed that at least some form of the lending program, designed by Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, would involve the government receiving equity, similar to the bailouts of automobile companies.
Brouillette recently hinted at imminent action, designed to help small- and medium-sized shale oil producers that are less diversified and vulnerable to a sustained period of low prices.
The U.S. benchmark oil price briefly traded below zero recently before recovering to the mid-teens, as demand has been crushed by the coronavirus causing people not to travel. Low prices have forced companies to shut down production, and more than 50,000 jobs have been lost, according to the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a group representing small-to-midsize oil producers.
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