Oil was back on the slide, dragging US equity prices with it.
The price of West Texas intermediate for March delivery was hovering around the $30 a mark in early trading ,down almost 3% on the session.
Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) lost around two-fifths of its value as reported circulated on Friday that the plummeting oil price had prompted the company to look at restructuring its debt, as it might struggle to keep up the payments if the price of cruise remains in the slough of despond.
Debtwire reported that Chesapeake had hired restructuring lawyers, Kirkland & Ellis.
Sector peer Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) shed around a quarter of its value, as unease increases over its planned merger with Energy Transfer Equity.
With energy giants in the doghouse, the S&P 500 fell 1.6% in the first 45 minutes of trading to 1,849, while the more narrowly-based Dow Jones average also declined 1.6%, to 15,943.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was even harder hit, giving back 2.3% at 4,262.
Apollo Education (NASDAQ:APOL), the company behind the University of Arizona, provided some cheer as it agreed to be taken private in a $1.1bn deal.
The shares climbed almost 26% to $8.75, 50 cents shy of the $9.50 a share cash offer.