Oil companies slash spending, jobs as prices slide for second time

Chevron will report earnings on April 26. The stark reality of a much-feared second dip in crude prices is prompting global oil majors and nimble U.S. shale companies alike to ax spending once again a year after the first price crash started. Just days into the second-quarter earnings season, Chevron Corp ( CVX.N ) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc ( RDSa.L ) said they would slash a combined 8,000 thousand jobs around the world. In North Dakota, Whiting Petroleum Corp ( WLL.N ), the top producer in the No. 2 U.S. oil patch, cut its capital expenditure budget days after optimistically raising it 15 percent on bets the renewed downturn in prices would be a temporary blip. ConocoPhillips ( COP.N ), the largest U.S. independent, trimmed its 2015 budget for the third time on Thursday, […]

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