Energy companies may be slow to cut oil production after a 50 percent price drop because they need to service debt that has risen fourfold since 2003, according to the Bank for International Settlements. “Debt-service requirements may induce continued physical production of oil to maintain cash flows, delaying the reduction in supply in the market,” the Basel, Switzerland-based institution said in a report Saturday. Energy companies’ outstanding debt rose to more than $800 billion this year from less than $200 billion in 2003, said BIS, which is owned by central banks. Sinking oil prices weakened the value of assets used as collateral by producers […]