The long-term trend of increasing domestic onshore and Canadian crude oil production has weakened U.S. offshore oil port operator LOOP LLC's competitive position, in our opinion. We are lowering our corporate credit rating on LOOP to 'A-' from 'A'. The outlook is negative. We are also lowering our short-term rating on LOOP to 'A-2' from 'A-1'. At the same time, we are lowering our short-term rating on LOOP affiliate LOCAP LLC, a New Orleans-based petroleum pipeline company, to 'A-2' from 'A-1'. The negative outlook on LOOP incorporates our view that its competitive position has worsened, resulting in lower foreign imports—which is LOOP's main source of profitability--and high financial leverage, likely in the 5.0x area. NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Aug.
