In this episode of Moody’s corporate credit podcast, Steve Wood, Managing Director for global oil and gas in the Corporate Finance Group, and Sajjad Alam, a Moody’s oil analyst based in New York, discuss the reasons why the moderate recovery in oil prices following the swift price slump of 2015-16 will not be enough to bring a sudden improvement in the credit quality and ratings of the biggest independent oil producers that Moody's rates.
As a group, E&P companies have proved adept at cutting costs, but as they begin to invest in new production again, their debt loads remain high, and breakeven costs are still more onerous today than in 2013-14, before the crash.
Steve and Sajjad discuss the fundamental improvement in production and oil prices, as well as the continued stress of leverage, profits and revenue, which are not improving as quickly as they deteriorated during the downturn.
