RE:A good thing to let CDN oil/gas companies die?
If one could have built a public oil or gas company with current conditions in mind, it would (obviously) not have any debt. Under "normal conditions" it also would not have been able to move as quickly as those with debt, and would long ago have been left in the dust.
Or it would have been part of a conglomerate etc., one with a very different shareholder risk-profile and priorities.
I haven't found many debt-free companies besides Berkshire Hathaway, and it is a one-off. The tax system rewards debt (interest deductability) over equity (no equivalent deduction).
It is difficult to plan for a one in a 100 year event.