Poor

Gas-buying plays by public-sector utilities gained some traction in their credit ratings Wednesday as Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) raised ratings on four deals while holding the line on a fifth. S&P Tuesday raised the credit rating on Merrill Lynch & Co., which has a role in each of the deals.

Aware that the company’s share price was treading near single-digit territory and on the hook for some admittedly poor business decisions, Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon came out swinging last week, telling energy analysts and investors that the company has “plenty of liquidity” and will weather the economic storm by neutralizing capital expenditures (capex) over the next two years. Even with flat spending, the Oklahoma City-based natural gas driller still expects to achieve 5-10% production growth in 2009 and 10-15% gains in 2010.

Citing the risk of a “prolonged” global economic downturn and the drop in Henry Hub natural gas prices from their summer highs, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Friday slashed its natural gas prices by $2 to $7/MMBtu for 2009 and 2010, and said that in 2011 and beyond, gas prices would average $6.

Citing the risk of a “prolonged” global economic downturn and the drop in Henry Hub natural gas prices from their summer highs, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Friday slashed its natural gas prices by $2 to $7/MMBtu for 2009 and 2010, and said that in 2011 and beyond, gas prices would average $6.

With global insurance provider American International Group (AIG) continuing to cast a dark shadow over Wall Street, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) Thursday said it was changing the outlook on two major Southern California-based municipal utility natural gas 20-year prepay deals in which AIG has a key role in underpinning more than $1 billion worth of bonds.

The number of Americans who give current political leaders poor marks on energy and climate leadership has risen dramatically in recent years, according to an opinion survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for the Newton, MA-based Civil Society Institute (CSI). A majority of those responding to the survey said they support a five-year moratorium on new coal-fired plants.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) is casting a wary eye on gas-weighted North American producers with low-speculative-grade ratings. Such firms could face downgrades if gas prices fall below $6.50/Mcf, S&P warned in a note last week, but it conceded that gas prices should see support from fundamentals.

With roiling financial markets spilling over to public-sector bond market players, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) again Wednesday issued negative outlooks for some of the counterparties while affirming the ratings on $1.4 billion in bonds by two California municipal utility pre-paid natural gas deals. The ratings firm first commented last week (see Daily GPI, Feb. 6).

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) is casting a wary eye on gas-weighted North American producers with low-speculative-grade ratings. Such firms could face downgrades if gas prices fall below $6.50/Mcf, S&P warned in a note Monday, but it conceded that gas prices should see support in the near term.