ConocoPhillips, the largest U.S. independent oil and gas company, on Thursday reported higher third-quarter profit after the sale of its Nigerian unit and said overall spending would decline next year, partly in response to falling crude oil prices. Crude oil prices have tumbled more than 20 percent in recent weeks as global demand slows and supplies rise. Crude traded in New York fell to a more than two-year low on Monday at $79.44 a barrel but recovered a bit to above $81 on Thursday. Conoco expects to spend less than $16 billion next year, down from the $16.7 billion projected for 2014, Ryan Lance, the chief executive officer, told investors on a conference call to discuss earnings. Over the last several years, Conoco has shed lower-margin assets, directing more capital to projects like shale drilling in Eagle Ford area in south Texas and the Bakken […]