Chevron Corp.: 'AA' Long-Term Corporate Credit And 'A-1+' Short-Term
Commercial Paper Ratings Affirmed, Outlook Revised To Negative From Stable
The outlook revision to negative reflects our expectation that in the context
of lower oil and gas prices and refining margins, the company's credit
measures will be weak for the ratings next year. We anticipate Chevron will
outspend internally generated cash flow to fund major project capital spending
and dividends. We note that the company has significantly more debt than in
the last cyclical downturn while oil and gas production is at similar levels.
We forecast that credit measures will improve to acceptable levels in 2017,
assuming lower capital spending and higher commodity prices.