Bloomberg News: Jacqueline Poh: May 29, 2020: 10:51 AM EDT
Bloomberg) — Oil and gas companies worldwide have raised $171 billion of debt from the loan and bond markets since March after the coronavirus pandemic hit demand for fuel.
The $171 billion tally is equivalent to the volume of bonds sold for the industry in the whole year of 2019. The debt pile is set to grow further with almost $120 billion of borrowings due by the end of the year that will need to be either repaid or refinanced. Of that amount, $43 billion is in bonds and $76 billion in loans.
Refinancing the $120 billion of debt due this year could be tricky as analysts predict a dim outlook for the sector even as oil prices bounce back from last month’s lows.
The energy sector remains in a precarious situation as the underlying economy remains weak and people travel far less than they used to, according to a report by financial analytics firm Credit Benchmark.
Default risk for U.S. energy firms is deteriorating fast after credit quality worsened by 10% in last month, the report said. The credit quality score for U.K. oil and gas firms dropped by 1.9% in the month, while European companies suffered a 1.8% decline, according to Credit Benchmark.
Issuers from the Americas have tapped the most funds from the bank market since March with $83 billion, followed closely by firms from Europe, Middle East and Africa region with $77 billion.
Companies such as BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc initially obtained funds from the loan market through drawdowns from existing credit lines or new short-term financings. Total loans borrowed reached $67 billion within a three-month period.
The industry giants then began tapping the capital markets to raise funds amid a resurgence in the appetite of bond investors. The $104 billion of debt sold in the bond market from March to May was more than twice the amount for the same period a year earlier.
The table below shows breakdown of debt for the sector since March.
Click here for Americas worksheet with list of drawdowns, new loans and covenant revisions; click here for EMEA, and here for Asia.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
