Oil and gas producers in the U.K. North Sea will spend 40 percent less this year than in 2014 as low crude prices force them to tighten budgets, the industry’s lobby group said Tuesday. Capital expenditure will drop to 9 billion pounds ($12.7 billion) this year from 11.6 billion pounds last year and 14.8 billion pounds in 2014, affecting the whole supply chain, Oil & Gas U.K. said in a statement. Operators will approve less than 1 billion pounds of new projects, down from an average of 8 billion pounds a year in the past five years. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, has tumbled by about 70 percent since mid-2014 amid a global supply glut. That’s forced many producers in high-cost regions to shelve growth plans as they reduce spending and staff. The industry has cut more than 90,000 North Sea jobs since the start of […]