Oil companies may keep up output to repay debt, says BIS

Houston

ENERGY companies may be slow to cut oil production after a 50 per cent price drop because they need to service debt that has risen fourfold since 2003, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

"Debt-service requirements may induce continued physical production of oil to maintain cash flows, delaying the reduction in supply in the market," the Basel, Switzerland-based institution said in a report on Saturday.

Energy companies' outstanding debt rose to more than US$800 billion this year from less than U…