Bermuda-based energy industry mutual insurer Oil Casualty Insurance, Ltd . has been assigned a financial strength rating of A- (excellent) and issuer credit rating of "a-" by AM Best.

The ratings agency has a stable outlook for both ratings.

Best said OCIL's ratings reflect its superior capitalisation, balance sheet strength, generally profitable operating performance and the role it plays providing excess general liability insurance programmes to its member companies and participants in the energy industry.

Partially offsetting these positive factors is that the source of OCIL's business is limited to hazards, with the potential for a substantial loss for its insureds and, consequently, for the enterprise. OCIL writes excess general liability insurance throughout the United States and throughout the world. A.M. Best remains the leading rating agency of captive insurers rating a wide variety of more than 200 captives in the United States and throughout the world. For current Best's Credit Ratings and independent data on the captive and alternative insurance market, please visit www.ambest.com/captive. The principal methodology used in determining these ratings is Best's Credit Rating Methodology — Global Life and Non-Life Insurance Edition, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M. Best's rating process and highlights the different rating criteria employed. Additional key criteria utilized include: "Risk Management and the Rating Process for Insurance Companies"; "Understanding Universal BCAR"; "A.M. Best's Rating Methodology for Captive Insurance Companies"; and "A.M. Best's Ratings & the Treatment of Debt." Methodologies can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.