Worst week for oil since '08; shale hedges in focus

Despite a 3% rise this morning to $32/64.bbl, crude oil is set to record a nearly 21% drop this week, marking the worst week since the financial crisis (its down almost 50% YTD).

Just as travel bans, canceled events and other coronavirus disruptions eat into demand, Russia and the Saudis are also digging in deeper in their oil price war.

U.S. shale producers who have paid for the industry's version of income insurance - like Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) and Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) - must further deal still with big holes in their budgets as their "three-way collar" hedges appear inadequate for the oil price crash.

According to Reuters, some firms are not hedged at all, such as Apache (NYSE:APA) and Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR), while others like Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) and Parsley Energy (NYSE:PE) are not evenly hedged.

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