Another energy company in the US has gone bankrupt due to the pandemic.

U.S. natural gas producer Gulfport Energy has filed for bankruptcy, writes Bloomberg . The pandemic is the latest blow to dozens of U.S. energy companies hurt by low energy prices.

The application was filed in the Federal Court of Houston, Texas on November 13 under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. As of the end of September, Gulfport Energy's total debt stood at $2.5 billion. At the time of filing, Gulfport shares were trading at $0.24 per share, up from $3.38 in December 2019.

The corporation faced financial difficulties even before the start of the epidemic, but after the fall in oil and gas prices, it was unable to pay its debts. The main disappointment for investors and lenders was the acquired shale blocks in Oklahoma by Gulfport, whose geology turned out to be too complex to develop them profitably.

In total, since 2015, more than 230 companies have gone bankrupt in the United States, developing new oil and gas reserves, primarily shale, writes Bloomberg. Now investors are trying to avoid producers operating outside the main oil-producing regions in the United States - the Permian Basin in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, the newspaper notes - in the current conditions, their profitability is in great doubt.