Bloomberg reported U.S. banks are stepping up the frequency of credit reviews for oil producers, as regulators flag an emerging risk from the precipitous decline in the commodity’s price over the past year.

According to Bloomberg, Bill Haas, deputy comptroller for midsize bank supervision at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates 1,620 national banks and thrifts, said lending to oil and natural gas producers poses a bigger threat to U.S. banks than most other industrial sectors.

Bloomberg also noted that, according to Haas, the OCC’s National Risk Committee in April put oil and gas lending near the top of its list of threats that warrant closer scrutiny, given the unpredictable swings in oil prices.

Read the entire Bloomberg article, here