Oil-field-services company CARBO Ceramics Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection after reaching a deal with its senior lenders on a debt-for-equity swap, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Houston-based company, which provides ceramic technology used by shale drillers that rely on hydraulic fracturing, filed for chapter 11 protection with a deal that hands control of the company to senior lenders owed $65 million, Wilks Brothers LLC and Equify Financial LLC. CARBO is the latest victim of the continuing drama unfolding in the oil patch where benchmark U.S. crude, which briefly dipped below $20 a barrel on Monday, has fallen to its lowest level in years. From 2014 to 2019, the company’s total revenue for base ceramic media — its main product — fell from about $530 million to about $34 million, the company’s chief financial officer said in a filing on Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston.
