TWN Info Service
on Climate Change (Oct20/02)
1 October 2020
Third World Network
Dear friends,
We are pleased to share
with you a new report “Big Oil’s $100 Billion Bender: How The U.S.
Government Provided a Safety Net for the Flagging Fossil Fuel Industry”
from Friends of the Earth US, Public Citizen, and BailoutWatch.
This critical report
exposes how the Trump administration’s corporate bailouts has aided
failing fossil fuel companies; in stark contrast to lack of COVID-19
assistance for ailing American families. As the co-author Lukas Ross,
Program Manager with Friends of the Earth said, “Big Oil is exploiting
COVID-19 to go on an unprecedented borrowing binge, and the Trump
administration is to blame. Polluters are getting a $100 billion lifeline
while most Americans are being left behind.”
Among the key findings
of the report are as follows:
- A
total of 56 oil and gas companies have issued $99.3 billion in debt
in U.S. markets since the Federal Reserve began its bailout of corporate
debt markets in late March. Some said they might fail without the
fresh financing.
- The
Fed has purchased debt from a total of 19 oil and gas companies.
Those companies have sold debt investors more than $60 billion in
new bonds since the Fed’s intervention began, representing about
60 percent of energy debt issuance in that period. Of those 19 companies,
12 have received downgrades of their short-term debt, long-term
debt, credit, or default ratings from major credit rating agencies
since March.
- Oil
and gas companies incorporated in the U.S. have issued $129 billion
in new bonds this year, according to Bloomberg data. This tally
is a record for the year to date going back at least a decade. The
first three quarters of 2020 represent the highest level of energy
debt issuance for that period since at least 2010. This surge in
borrowing was made possible by the Fed’s promise to purchase large
quantities of corporate debt.
- Of
the 122 new bond issuances reviewed, 93 will be used at least in
part to pay down or refinance a specifically named existing debt
such as commercial paper, revolving credit lines, or other bonds.
At least 15 companies are issuing new bonds to replace existing
bonds that had higher coupon rates.
The report is available
here: https://prismic-io.s3.amazonaws.com/bailout/1b1e1458-bbff-49bc-a636-f6cbd47a88af_Big+Oils+Billion+Dollar+Bender.pdf
With best wishes,
Third World Network
