A majority of large publicly held US shale operators are between a proverbial rock and a hard place. How to service debt and pay out dividends? That is a question vexing more than one-half of large U.S. publicly held shale exploration and production (E&P) firms, according to Rystad Energy. In a recent study analyzing the 33 largest shale operators in the United States, Rystad found that many of the E&Ps spent the second half of 2018 reducing their leverage ratios. Moreover, the Norway-based independent energy research and consulting firm predicts that many of the companies will barely have enough free cash flow to cover this year’s debt service payments. Then there’s the matter of paying investors. “Shale E&Ps struggle to please equity investors and reduce leverage ratios simultaneously,” Alisa Lukash, Rystad senior analyst, said in a written statement emailed to Rigzone. “Despite a significant deleverage last year, estimated 2019 […]