NEW YORK, Aug 1 (IFR) - Oil and gas company defaults are pushing total corporate defaults to levels not seen since 2009, said Moody’s Investors Service on Monday. A total of 16 oil and gas companies defaulted in the second quarter of 2016, helping to push the sector’s default count to 30 for the first half of the year, Moody’s said. “We saw the amount of defaulted debt jump 123% to US$45bn, which matched the highest quarterly dollar amount since the recession,” John Puchalla, Moody’s senior vice president, said. The overall US speculative-grade default rate rose to 5.1% from 4.4% in the second quarter and is projected to jump to 6.4% - its highest level since June 2010, Moody’s reported. The US speculative commodity default rate rose to 23.9% in the second quarter from an already high 19.9% in the prior quarter. “A growing US economy and the ongoing benefits of receptive capital markets over the last few years has constrained much of the stress to the commodities sector,” the rating agency said. Excluding commodities, the US speculative-grade default rate rose to 2.3% from 2.0% in the second quarter. “While sector default risk remains heavily concentrated in commodity companies, the default rate and credit strains outside of commodities are edging up, but remain far less pronounced,” Moody’s said. (Reporting By Jack Doran; Editing by Paul Kilby)
US corporate defaults jumped 123% to $45bn in the second quarter, the highest level since 2009, as oil and gas companies missed more payments, according to Moody’s. The US speculative-grade default rate rose to 5.1% from 4.4% in the first quarter, and is expected to rise to 6.4%, the highest since June 2010. The US speculative commodity default rate rose to 23.9% from 19.9%.