The oil and gas sector’s prolonged price slump has pushed the U.S. distress ratio to heights not seen since the peak of the last recession, Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday.

The U.S. distress ratio, a measurement of the amount of risk that has been priced into the high-yield — or “junk bond” — market, started the year at 29.6%, a level last seen in July 2009, according to S&P. The ratio moved from 14.6% that year to a peak of 70%.

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Credit is determined to be distressed when it’s trading at an option-adjusted spread of more than 1,000 points over a comparable Treasury. At that point, the market is pricing in a high level of risk — and demanding extra compensation for it. A rising ratio suggests issuers may need capital and is usually a precursor to defaults, particularly when accompanied by severe market disruption.

The oil and gas sector accounted for 156 of the 524 issues in the distress ratio, said Diane Vazza, head of global fixed income research at S&P.

“Drops in oil prices affected oil and gas companies’ profitability, where spreads widened considerably, and that spread expansion had a spillover effect to the broader speculative-grade spectrum,” she said.

The oil and gas sector accounted for 31% of total distressed debt and had the second highest sector distress ratio, at 72.6%, she said. The highest sector distress ratio went to metals, mining and steel at 81.3%.

Oil is one of a range of commodities that have plunged in value in the past year, battered by oversupply and lower demand from China, a major consumer. Crude futures were trading above $31 a barrel Tuesday, bouncing back from more than 12-year lows hit last week.

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Separately, Moody’s Investors Service said the number of companies rated at B3 and lower with negative outlooks has climbed to a six-year high. The B3 rating is a full six notches into junk territory, and a negative outlook means the issuer could be downgraded in the medium term. Credit in the C category is considered to be at high risk of default.

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Moody’s said 248 of the companies in its coverage are now trading in the B3 negative and lower category, up 26% from a year ago and up 11% from the fourth quarter.

The list remains 43 companies shy of its all-time credit-crisis high but is another signal of a rising default rate.

“Furthermore, liquidity weakness is spreading to certain lower-rated issuers in other sectors, albeit not broadly,” said Moody’s analyst Julia Chursin.

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Most of the companies that fell off the list in 2015 did so through default, and not upgrade, said Moody’s. In fact, 55% of defaults in 2015 were through distressed exchanges and were mostly concentrated in the oil and gas sector.

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“The percentage of speculative-grade companies with corporate family ratings of B1, B2 or B3 warrants attention,” added Chursin. “In a downturn, lower-rated companies are likely to default much faster than their higher-rated speculative-grade counterparts.”

Issuers in the B1, B2 and B3 categories represent 66% of the total speculative-grade group, up from 57% in the first quarter of 2009, she said.

Names in the list include energy and mining companies Arch Coal Inc., rated at Caa3, and AK Steel Corp. US:AKS, rated at B3, as well as retailer 99 Cents Only Store, rated at B3, and Sears Holding Corp. US:SHLD, rated Caa1.