When it comes to Big Oil’s results, the good is a distant memory, and this year has been bad. There is still potential for things to get uglier. Prices are falling , with Brent crude Monday hitting a near-seven year low. Brent has so far averaged about $47 a barrel in the fourth quarter, down from the previous quarter’s $51. U.S. natural-gas prices are lower. Prices for liquefied natural gas under contract, which tend to be linked to but lag behind oil prices, should also be coming down. This all means a continued squeeze on cash flows. Downstream had been a crucial strut this year. About three-quarters of BP’s underlying replacement cost profit before interest and tax, an adjusted earnings measure the company uses, has come from its downstream operations so far this year, compared with less than a fifth in 2013. At Shell, which breaks down its cash […]