By Muhammad Ali Khawar on Feb 2, 2016 at 6:49 am EST
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) recently downgraded Royal Dutch Shell’s (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) credit rating from “AA-” to “A+,” as a result of the depressed crude environment. Since June 2014, crude oil prices have fallen more than 70%.
The downgrade came just weeks after the S&P lowered Brent crude expectations for the year. Initially, it expected the global crude oil benchmark to trade at around $55 per barrel. However, only last month the firm cut its price forecast to $40 per barrel, when the market conditions failed to recover.