North American oil producers slash budgets by about 30% to cope with oil price rout

North America oil and gas producers have slashed their capital spending by about 30% on average after crude prices crashed early this week, according to data compiled by Reuters.Oil producers have been scaling back spending since the last price crash in 2014, and the latest cuts come as the coronavirus outbreak crimps demand and a price war between top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia threatens to flood the oil market, pushing U.S. crude to about $30 a barrel.

Devon Energy, Apache Corp and Murphy Oil Corp on Thursday became the latest to join a list of producers to slash their spending.

Earlier, Occidental Petroleum Corp announced it would cut its dividend, while oil major Chevron Corp said it was looking at ways to trim spending that could lead to lower near-term oil production.

Here are a list of companies that have cut their spending plans so far:

Chevron Corp said it was looking at ways to reduce spending, but did not provide details; 2020 organic capex guidance was $20 billion

Diamondback Energy said it will reduce capital budget, but did not provide a new estimate; 2020 capex guidance was $2.8 billion to $3 billion

Matador Resources said it was taking actions to reduce spending, but did not provide details; 2020 capex for drilling, completing and equipping wells was $690 million to $750 million

California Resources Corp said it was reducing its investment; 2020 capex guidance was about $260 million to $500 million

Ovintiv Inc cut second-quarter spending by $300 million and said it was prepared to further reduce investments throughout the year; 2020 capex guidance was $2.7 billion