UK Juniors Aim to Keep Afloat as Bank Lending Sinks

摘要

Executives from some of the smaller oil players listed on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) will have had a far-from-festive holiday break as testing economic times promise to make 2009 one of the toughest years for them yet.The first victim of 2009 is the UK North Sea subsidiary of Canadian group Oilexco, which filed for bankruptcy protection last Wednesday after a long battle with its creditors (IOD Jan.8,p7). The company is now in the hands of administrators from financial services group Ernst & Young, who have instructed Morgan Stanley to try to sell its assets.