One oil executive thinks half of all fracking companies will be out of business or sold by the end of this year, according to Bloomberg.

Rob Fulks, the pressure pumping marketing director at Weatherford International, told Bloomberg that a reduction in spending has put much of the US fracking industry at risk.

Fulks told Bloomberg that of the 41 fracking companies in the US, half will be dead or sold by the end of the year.

Weatherford operates the 5th-largest fracking operation in the US, Bloomberg notes.

In February, Weatherford announced that it would cut about 8,000 jobs, or 14% of its workforce, this year in response to the decline in oil prices.

To cope with the plunge in oil prices, some companies, including Halliburton and Baker Hughes, are entering M&A deals. Others are selling off a bunch of assets.

Last year, M&A in the oil and gas industry hit ten-year highs in terms of deal value and volume, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Additionally, companies have been forced to cut down on drilling or abandon projects altogether because they're no longer affordable.

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