Oil companies raised a combined $63 billion of debt worldwide in January and February, said a report by Morgan Stanley last Friday. The U.S. multinational investment banking firm highlighted that this was higher than the $52 billion that they raised in the third quarter of 2014, and almost as high as the $64 billion of the fourth quarter of last year. The increasing level of debt is a result of the oil price slump and companies cutting their capital expenditures for 2015.
What should we expect from oil markets in the short to medium future? Will OPEC ultimately cut supplies? Anadolu News Agency from Turkey spoke with Ed Hirs (energy economist at the University of Houston) and Sijbren de Jong (HCSS). The full interview can be read here.