Standard and Poor’s downgraded its outlook on US-based independent Anadarko due to the likelihood of a court settlement that could exceed $9 billion. The case dates back to subsidiary Kerr-McGee’s 2002 corporate restructuring and the company’s 2005 spin-off of its titanium dioxide business. “Our negative outlook reflects our view that a Tronox settlement in excess of $9 billion would weaken leverage measures and liquidity, absent asset sales or other cash inflow,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Carin Dehne-Kiley. “A negative outlook implies a one in three chance of a downgrade.” [S&P]
The prospect of exporting crude oil from the US is gaining traction with politicians from both major parties discussing the issue. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is planning a hearing early next year and ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is giving a major energy exports speech on January 7th. [National Journal]
Siemens won a contract to build a 414 MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant in the Philippines with efficiency of more than 60 percent, which will make it the country’s most efficient. “It is expected that the demand for electricity in the Philippines will almost double from 22 GW of installed capacity to 42 GW by 2030. Due to the high price of natural gas, there is considerable demand for high-efficiency power plants,” the company said in a release. [Siemens]
