S&P warns Exxon, Chevron and other oil firms it may cut their credit ratings thanks to the push to zero-carbon

• S&P put Chevron, Exxon and others on downgrade watch as green push grows.
• The ratings agency said the whole industry was now higher risk.
• BlackRock yesterday urged firms to plan to reach net-zero by 2050.
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S&P Global Ratings has put some of the biggest oil companies in the world on notice that it could soon downgrade their credit ratings thanks to heightened concerns about climate change and a global push towards greener energy.

The agency – one of the three most influential ratings firms in the world – said it could downgrade the ratings of Chevron, Exxon, Shell and Total among others.

It downgraded the outlook, although not the rating, for both BP and Canadian firm Suncor Energy to “negative”. This means S&P could cut their ratings in the future, although a change is not necessarily imminent.

Credit ratings are very important to big firms, as they heavily influence the costs they face when they borrow in financial markets.

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