Fracked Out

It has been suggested that the Covid-19 -related fall in oil usage (and price) will result in bankruptcies of fracking (shale gas extraction) companies in the USA (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/25/fracking-america-boom-founders-prices-demand-collapse-covid-19). The activity had been in a boom phase, briefly making that country a producer of more oil than either Russia or Saudi Arabia. Although things may well turn around relatively quickly, fracking may not return to its former levels in the US and the whole rationale of building a pipeline from Canada's tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico is thrown into doubt. As a side issue, the development of a fracking industry in the UK (already highly contentious) seems even less viable.