Plunging prices force oil majors to cut billions in spending

Shares in the largest US and European companies ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, BP and ConocoPhillips have dropped between 4 and 24 percent since crude prices fell over 50 percent from $115 a barrel in June 2014.

All of the listed companies, except Shell, are expected to report falls of 19 percent to 57 per cent in their fourth-quarter earnings.

They will have to cut overall expense by $170 billion, or 37 percent, to maintain net debt at the levels of 2014, assuming a price of $60 a barrel for Brent crude, which is now trading well below the 2014 average of $99, said a report by analysts Wood Mackenzie .... http://rt.com/business