Three major U.S. shale oil companies have slashed their 2016 capital spending plans more than expected in a bid to survive $30 a barrel oil prices, with one of them saying prices would need to rise more than 20 percent just to turn a profit. The cuts on Monday from Hess Corp, Continental Resources and Noble Energy ranged from 40 percent to 66 percent. This marks the second straight year of pullbacks by a trio of companies normally seen as among the most resilient shale oil producers. The cuts were steeper than expected. Analysts at Bernstein Energy had forecast an average 2016 spending cut for the sector of 38 percent. The reductions show budgets may shrink more this year than they did last year, when spending fell between 20 percent and […]