Recent debt issuance by International Oil Companies (IOCs) could be seen as a muscle-flexing exercise as much as a move to bolster balance sheets, writes Paul Gordon for the Petroleum Economist.
In its analysis of debt levels for IOCs, the article cites Credit Benchmark oil and gas data to illustrate the comparative credit positions of US, UK and EU firms:
“According to financial data analytics company Credit Benchmark’s monthly oil and gas aggregate for April, credit quality for large US and UK oil and gas firms is now in its worst position in more than two years, with the average probability of default for US firms up by 8.6pc from the same period in 2019 and up by 4.3pc for UK firms…By contrast, EU-based oil companies saw their credit quality improve by 4.4pc year-on-year, with their average probability of default less than half that of their US counterparts.“
Petroleum Economist, May 5, 2020.
