Moody’s is considering a downgrade of Statoil

statoil logoOslo 20141128. Statoil declines on the Oslo Stock Exchange on Friday morning . The entire 8.8 percentage shares fell the first hour. Illustrative photos from Statoil's offices at Fornebu . Foto: Berit Roald / NTB scanpix

Due to the low oil price  the credit rating agency Moody is considering downgrading the group’s creditworthiness, the company said in a statement Friday morning.

Moody’s is also considering downgrading  the oil companies Shell and Total, as well as subsidiaries and Motiva Enterprises and Deer Park Refining, two refinery joint ventures closely linked to Shell, according to the message, writes the newspaper  Dagens Næringsliv.

The credit rating agency pointed out that oil prices have weakened considerably in recent weeks and reached nominal levels not seen in more than a decade.

“We see a significant risk that prices will pick up again far slower in the medium term than  what several companies expect, additionally there is a risk that prices will fall further.” writes Moody’s.

The price of Brent Blend rose entire 6.7 percent during Thursday. Friday morning is the price for a barrel of North Sea oil $ 30.77.

The increase is attributable to both an attack on an oil facilities in Libya and statements from ECB chief Mario Draghi pointing in the direction of new measures to stimulate the economy in the euro zone.

 

Source: NTB scanpix/ Norway Today