With oil around $60, some U.S. shale producers will likely have to restructure because of their outstanding debt, Deutsche Bank analyst Oleg Melentyev told CNBC on Wednesday.
"We already are at a point where some of these issuers will not be able to come back to the debt markets to refinance and some of them will have no other choice but to restructure. So, at this point it is only a question of whether it is a small portion of the market ... or it really grows into a much bigger problem," he said in an interview with "Street Signs."
A recent report by Deutsche Bank shows that if oil prices hit $55 to $60 per barrel, the weakest U.S. shale producers could enter a "zone of deep distress."
If prices were to stay at those levels for a few months, the chance of a broad sector restructuring increases significantly, it said.
On Wednesday, U.S. crude futures for January settled at $60.94, a new five-year low, after U.S. data showed a surprise jump in oil inventories and OPEC cut its demand outlook for global oil consumption.
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Jim Iuorio of TJM Institutional Services said when prices are slipping away like this, actions become amplified.
"I think moves are being exacerbated in crude because people got to press the button to save enough money for Christmas presents for the kids," he said.
Plus, Iuorio added, the market isn't used to oil finding its own price because it's been cartel-controlled for 40 years.
"This is one of the first moments we've said 'OK, let's see where it goes,'" Iuorio said.
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—CNBC's Stefanie Kratter and Reuters contributed to his report.