Oil Prices

oil price: Indeed, despite concerns that low oil prices could hurt the banks’ lending books, the big Canadian banks have continued to report strong earnings growth each quarter, according to The Toronto Star. However, Sedran cautions that economic troubles could start to weigh on their results — if not directly, through higher loan losses, then indirectly, by hurting loan growth and other sources of revenue. The results reported so far this year have been better than expected, CIBC analyst Robert Sedran said in a note to clients. Both consumers and corporations may become hesitant to take on debt now that the oil price seems likely to languish at low levels for a prolonged period, Sedran said. The benchmark price is hovering just above US$40 a barrel, which is considered to be the price required for many Canadian oil producers to turn a profit. After experiencing a brief rally, crude has taken another plunge recently. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.