DENVER (Reuters) - Chris Wright stands out as an oilman who might be more at home in Silicon Valley than the shale fields of North Dakota.A mountain climber and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate who stationed his oilfield firm in Denver, he saw opportunity in the high employee turnover at hydraulic fracturing providers. Nine years later, Wright is running the second-biggest fracking company in North America and preparing for a battle to keep the unconventional culture he has built at Liberty Oilfield Services Inc LBRT.N. The challenge will be to maintain its free-wheeling style while grappling with a major acquisition and the oil industry"s worst bust. In September, Wright bought Schlumberger"s SLB.N North American frack business by swapping a 37% stake in Liberty. The deal puts Liberty second in the U.S. behind Halliburton Co HAL.N in what was a $20 billion-a-year market before the coronavirus crushed global fuel demand, according to estimates from consultancy Spears & Associates. Liberty and rival fracking firms have been hit hard. U.S. shale oil companies have cut budgets up to 30%, halting most new drilling and pushing several oilfield firms out of the business. Just a third of the multimillion dollar frack fleets working in the top U.S. shale field before March are still active, estimates consultancy Primary Vision. Liberty reported a $49 million third-quarter loss as revenue fell 71% from a year-earlier to $147.5 million.