Shell cuts spending by $15bn after oil price decline, but warns on over-reacting
Shell has put off $15 billion of investment in oil exploration over three years and has taken options to cut back more, but insisted it is not over-reacting to the recent oil price fall.
Chief executive Ben van Beurden said: "We are taking a prudent approach here and we must be careful not to over-react to the recent fall in oil prices."
Oil prices have halved since the summer amid a global supply glut. Brent crude was hovering around $48.52 in early trading.
Shell also reported full-year earnings of $3.3 billion, missing City forecasts. Its shares were last down 3.5% at 2,168p.
It maintained its fourth-quarter dividend from the previous quarter at $0.47 per share and in a rare move pledged to pay the same amount in the first quarter of 2015.
Shell's spending cut, which represents a 14% drop in investment from its 2014 total of $35 billion, follows moves by industry rivals to cope with the oil price decline.
Most have already announced cuts in capital expenditures of around 10-15 percent and sold assets worth dozens of billions of dollars.
Though they have warned that cutting too much could derail long-term projects and even lead to an oil shortage in the future.
BP said earlier this month it was axing around 300 jobs from its North Sea operations.
BP and Total have said they won't adjust their dividends - a major attraction for investors - even if oil prices stay low for longer.
Additional reporting by Reuters
