Houston: US oil and gas multinational ConocoPhillips announced on Wednesday that it is planning to shed billions of dollars from its budget as it adjusts to plunging prices in commodities, notably oil.
Houston-based Conoco, with considerable interests in offshore drilling, is planning to reduce its annual spending to $11.5bn compared to 2014’s actual spending of $17.1bn.
The firm had already announced in December a 20% reduction to $13.5bn. Now that’s coming down further.
And it is already well into a programme of job cuts to its worldwide operation with 230 being cut in and around Britain and an announcement on Wednesday of a 7% pruning of its manpower in Canada, amounting to about 200 layoffs. It will also look into cutting workers in the US where it has put a pay freeze in place.
“It is prudent to position the company for lower, more volatile prices for the foreseeable future,” president and CEO Ryan Lance said in a statement.
The proposed budget will be reviewed at an investor meeting on April 8.
