The Federal Reserve said some banks tightened standards or terms to energy-industry borrowers in the fourth quarter, after the price of oil plunged. U.S. banks “reported little change in their standards” for commercial and industrial loans overall, the Fed said today in its Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, conducted Dec. 30 to Jan. 13 with 73 domestic banks and 23 U.S. branches of foreign banks. “Banks which reported having tightened either their standards or terms on C&I loans predominantly pointed to industry-specific problems as the main reason for having tightened their lending policies to non-financial businesses,” the Fed said. “Some survey respondents specifically noted their concerns about the oil and gas sector resulting from the sharp decline in the price of oil as a reason that they had tightened their lending policies.” West Texas Intermediate crude futures for March delivery declined below $45 a barrel last week […]