As Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Spencer Cutter writes, following Monday’s plunge in oil prices, more than $140 billion of bonds issued by North American energy companies are at risk of losing their investment grade status, noting that a number of bonds from high grade rated oil producers already trade with credit spreads approaching distressed levels. Worse, according to Cutter, “a prolonged downturn could affect an additional $320 billion of triple-B rated midstream debt.”
