The world’s top oil companies are set to report yet another sharp drop in quarterly profits that could force more spending cuts due to a dim outlook for oil prices. Oil companies rarely scale back capital expenditure (capex) in the middle of the fiscal year. But with oil prices failing to recover and even lurching lower in recent weeks after a nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, boards could take more action beyond cuts already announced, analysts say. “Oil companies are hunkering down for a downturn that will take longer than some initially thought,” Martijn Rats, head of European oil and gas equity research at Morgan Stanley, told Reuters. International oil companies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Total all reduced 2015 spending […]