Fitch Ratings agency said the low price of crude oil and natural gas is damaging the economics for players in the U.S. and European markets. The price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, of around $49 per barrel is roughly 45 percent lower than this date in 2014. Global energy companies as a result are reporting weak profits and, for European companies, the weakness is expected to last at least through the fourth quarter . “Fourth quarter 2015 may be even more painful for integrated companies as refining margins have fallen since the middle of the third quarter, which is likely to drag on profits in their downstream operations,” Fitch Ratings said in a research […]