Small Banks Significantly Boost Loans to Oil And Gas Firms

While major European banks are competing to announce new policies limiting funding to oil and gas projects, smaller regional U.S. banks have boosted significantly their lending to oil and gas firms over the past two years. Regional banks BOK Financial, Citizens Financial, Truist Securities, Fifth Third Securities, and US Bancorp have seen their combined loans to the fossil fuel industry jump by over 70% on an average annualized basis since the beginning of 2022, compared to the previous six years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. These…