Peabody’s margin call is one of the flashiest examples of how the volatility sweeping commodity markets will slam companies that are holding wrong-way bets.
Shares in the company lost a fifth of their value on Friday as investors were sceptical of its foreign subsidiary Cairn India Holdings’ $200 million investment in the diversified miner.
In past years, most oil sands projects were either cancelled or put on hold as majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips sold their operations to local producers.