Moody'S

The Mexican government said Wednesday it would provide a liquidity boost to national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) with a 73.5 billion peso (US$4.2 billion) infusion, according to news reports.

Liquidity stress continues to rise in the oil and gas sector, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Petroleos Mexicanos’ (Pemex) credit metrics will worsen as oil prices remain low, production continues to drop, taxes remain high, and the company cuts capital spending to meet its budgetary targets, a Moody’s Investors Service analyst said in a ratings downgrade announcement for the national oil company.

For the recent string of large U.S. electric utility holding companies buying up natural gas infrastructure assets, the planned acquisitions bring added debt that could offset the benefits from diversifying revenue, according to a report published Tuesday by Moody’s Investors Service.

Liquidity stress in the oil and gas industry reached its highest-ever level in February, continuing a trend that began in late 2014, Moody’s Investors Service said in a note published Tuesday.

Moody’s Investors Service Thursday placed the ratings of 69 U.S. exploration and production (E&P) and oilfield services companies on review for downgrade because oil prices have deteriorated substantially in the past few weeks “and have reached nominal price lows not seen in more than a decade.”

The global oil and natural gas industry’s plight isn’t expected to improve in the new year as the strain of low commodity prices is expected to continue dragging down budgets and limiting financial flexibility in 2016, according to a report released Monday by Moody’s Investors Services.

Three days after Moody’s Investors Service changed its outlook on Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) debt to “negative” from “stable,” the company said it “…will construct its 2016 plan to maintain an investment grade rating with all three [credit rating] agencies.”

BP plc’s agreement to settle all the major federal, state and municipal claims related to the Macondo tragedy five years ago in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico led Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday to upgrade the ratings to positive from negative.