The global spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) had a significant negative impact on crude oil markets and refined product margins. In late March 2020, DBRS Morningstar placed all its rated oil and gas issuers Under Review with Negative Implications in response to the extreme decline in prices and the heightened volatility in crude oil markets largely caused by the rapid spread of coronavirus and the concurrent crude oil price war between OPEC (led by Saudi Arabia) and Russia.
In mid-May, with volatility subsiding and market visibility improving, DBRS Morningstar revised its commodity price assumptions to factor in (1) the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on crude oil demand as lockdowns ease, (2) the significant buildup in global oil inventories, and (3) the impact of production cuts implemented by OPEC+. Because of these revised commodity price assumptions, combined with measures taken by companies to navigate through the very weak price environment, DBRS Morningstar has now resolved all the oil and gas rated issuers that were Under Review with Negative Implications and has taken a number of negative rating actions.
Hear about the process and the reasons behind the rating actions taken by DBRS Morningstar during our 25-minute webinar, which will be followed by an interactive Q&A session with the viewers.