After slashing spending by $180 billion to deal with one of the worst industry downturns in decades, oil companies are still bleeding cash and slipping further into debt to maintain dividends to shareholders. Depressed crude prices – at below $50 a barrel Brent crude is half what it was a year ago – mean even more cuts are needed at new projects and existing operations. Companies trying to dispose of oilfields to raise cash could be forced to sell quickly and for less than they hoped. There is little sign that the oil price will come to the rescue as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) continues to pump hard into an oversupplied crude market in response to explosive growth in U.S. shale oil. Brent is expected to average […]