Standard

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.

A couple of Pacific Northwest utilities were sent in opposite directions by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services Thursday as the credit rating agency boosted Spokane, WA-based Avista Corp. one notch to “BBB-” and Cascade Natural Gas Corp. was granted its request to withdraw its “BBB+” corporate and senior unsecured debt rating.

The disparity between the energy sector’s market cap weighting and its earnings contribution to the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index has increased steadily over the past five years, and the “enormous” shift in wealth that is flowing into the sector is a sign that could mean a long-term rotation into energy stocks over the next five to 10 years, analysts said.

The disparity between the energy sector’s market cap weighting and its earnings contribution to the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index has increased steadily over the past five years, and the “enormous” shift in wealth that is flowing into the sector is a sign that could mean a long-term rotation into energy stocks over the next five to 10 years, analysts said.

As it did in other deals in other parts of the country, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) lowered the ratings from double-A (“AA-“) to single-A (“A+”) Thursday on two major natural gas deals Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. has put together for two California public sector utilities in Long Beach and Roseville, CA, respectively. The outlook remains negative, according to S&P.

The financing arm of the municipal electric utility in Roseville, CA, received a negative outlook from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) on a $209.35 million tax-exempt bond to finance a 20-year, 46 Bcf natural gas pre-pay deal with Merrill Lynch & Co. because of recent financial disclosures by Merrill. S&P also gave an “AA-” rating to Roseville Natural Gas Financing Authority, the fuel financing unit of the muni in Roseville, a suburb east of Sacramento. S&P said the rating reflects a recent outlook revision for Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., which provides guarantees to the financing authority’s gas supplier and interest rate swap counterparty. The outlook downgrade followed Merrill’s announcement that it expects to record a material loss in the third quarter caused by a more significant exposure to leveraged loan commitments, subprime mortgages, etc. S&P’s previous outlook assumed less exposure for Merrill. The Roseville gas financing arm is a state-chartered joint powers authority and a nonprofit public financing entity in California. The public financing arm used the proceeds from the $209.35 million to fund prepayment for a long-term gas supply deal from Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. The gas is set for Roseville’s electric power generation system, priced at a first-of-the-month index from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. citygate delivery point, minus a specific discount, according to S&P.

The financing arm of the municipal electric utility in Roseville, CA, received a negative outlook from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) on a $209.35 million tax-exempt bond to finance a 20-year, 46 Bcf natural gas pre-pay deal with Merrill Lynch & Co. because of recent financial disclosures by Merrill. S&P also gave an “AA-” rating to Roseville Natural Gas Financing Authority, the fuel financing unit of the muni in Roseville, a suburb east of Sacramento. S&P said the rating reflects a recent outlook revision for Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., which provides guarantees to the financing authority’s gas supplier and interest rate swap counterparty. The outlook downgrade followed Merrill’s announcement that it expects to record a material loss in the third quarter caused by a more significant exposure to leveraged loan commitments, subprime mortgages, etc. S&P’s previous outlook assumed less exposure for Merrill. The Roseville gas financing arm is a state-chartered joint powers authority and a nonprofit public financing entity in California. The public financing arm used the proceeds from the $209.35 million to fund prepayment for a long-term gas supply deal from Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. The gas is set for Roseville’s electric power generation system, priced at a first-of-the-month index from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. citygate delivery point, minus a specific discount, according to S&P.