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Oil Insurance Ltd.'s A- rating affirmed by S&P

Posted On: Jul. 12, 2007 12:00 AM CST

HAMILTON, Bermuda--Standard & Poor's Corp. on Thursday removed energy industry mutual Oil Insurance Ltd. from review and affirmed its A- financial strength rating.

The outlook on OIL continues to be negative, though, New York-based S&P said in a statement, due to uncertainty surrounding its long-term strategy and the stability of its membership base, among other things.

In April, S&P placed Hamilton, Bermuda-based OIL under review with negative implications following an announcement by OIL that 13 shareholder members were departing the mutual. Nine shareholder members had exited the structure in January (BI, April 23).

"This rating action reflects our view that despite the recent exit of a significant number of OIL's members, its core membership is still committed to OIL, and a large part of its core members remains with the company," S&P Credit Analyst Taoufik Gharib said in the statement.