April 13 (Reuters) - Peabody Energy Corp BTU.N , the world's largest privately owned coal producer, filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on Wednesday in the wake of a sharp fall in coal prices that left it unable to service a recent debt-fueled expansion into Australia.
The company listed both assets and liabilities in the range of $10 billion to $50 billion. (http://1.usa.gov/1YsVlD0)
Falling global coal demand, stricter environmental controls and a glut of natural gas have pushed big miners, including the second largest U.S. coal producer, Arch Coal Inc ACIIQ.PK , into bankruptcy protection over the past year.