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“There are going to be some companies that get hit,” said Matthew Duch, a money manager at Calvert Investments in Bethesda, Md., which oversees more than $13 billion in assets. “We’re not going back to $80 oil anytime soon.”

Trading in Suncor A3 rated bonds implies the company should be graded Baa2. Cenovus bonds are rated Baa2 and trading at Baa3 levels.

Suncor didn’t respond to calls and an email seeking comment.

Cenovus is in “solid financial shape,” company spokesman Brett Harris wrote in an e-mail. “We’ve taken a number of decisive steps in 2015 to help ensure that we are able to remain financially resilient and live within our means through a potentially prolonged downturn in oil prices.”

Of the 40 Canadian exploration and production companies S&P follows, 12 now have lower ratings or outlooks than they did at the start of the year, according to a Sept. 29 report. Ten per cent of the companies it rates have a negative outlook on their rating, the report shows.

Oil Outlook

S&P expects to announce any ratings changes by Oct. 16, after a reduction to its oil price forecasts last month prompted a review of Canadian oil and gas firms. S&P lowered its 2015 forecast for North American benchmark oil prices by US$5, to US$45 per barrel on Sept. 24. It also reduced the annual forecasts for the next two years by US$10 each, to US$50 and US$60 a barrel, respectively, and cut the 2018 forecast to US$65 a barrel from US$70.