VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Exxon Mobil Corp may lose credit rating from Moody's Investors Service. Moody's on Thursday lowered its outlook for Exxon from stable to negative. Exxon is suffering from cash flows in the wake of continuous drop in oil prices.

Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy has posted losses over $14 billion for 2015 and a net loss of $2.23 billion or $3.36 a share for the fourth quarter. The major reason for deep loss was writing down value of oil and gas fields in the wake of prolonged lower oil prices. However, the loss was better than the market forecast.

Led by technology sector, venture capital (VC) investments in Canada reached 10 year high in 2015. Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) said 536 deals in funding for entrepreneurs raised $2.25 billion in 2015.

Japan's exports were badly hit by the steep drop in steel prices and other commodities. The world's third largest economy's exports fell 12.9 percent on the year in January to Yen 5.35 trillion ($47.12 billion), while the imports also fell 18 percent.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has cut rating on Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as it's suffering from lower oil prices. The long -term foreign and local currency sovereign credit has been lowered to 'A minus/ A-2' from 'A plus / A-1.'

UAE Minister of State Sultan Al Jaber has assumed the charge as Director General at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). Al Jaber has to overcome turbulent conditions in the oil industry as the lower oil prices, oversupply and consumption are the major challenges ahead of him.

The adverse conditions in the global economy and weaker stocks on Wall Street may prevent the US Federal Reserve from going for a rate hike again. Some analysts forecast four more rate hikes in 2016, while Reuters' poll indicate three times hike this year. The slump in commodities, weaker global markets, slowdown in China's economy and lower oil prices are causes of concerns for the US Fed as these are upsetting the Wall Street.

American Energy Partners and Argentina state-run energy company YPF have signed a partnership deal on developing the shale resources in the South American country. Argentina government is providing subsidies to attract investments in the energy sector and to enhance business climate in the country.