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| BHP Billiton slashes back US shale business as oil prices tumble | BHP Billiton slashes back US shale business as oil prices tumble |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| BHP Billiton is cutting back its shale business in the US in response to tumbling oil prices, the company has said. | BHP Billiton is cutting back its shale business in the US in response to tumbling oil prices, the company has said. |
| The firm is cutting the number of its shale rigs from 26 to 16 to help pare back drilling and development spending in the US, which totalled $1.9 billion (£1.3 billion) in the second half of last year. | The firm is cutting the number of its shale rigs from 26 to 16 to help pare back drilling and development spending in the US, which totalled $1.9 billion (£1.3 billion) in the second half of last year. |
| The move comes in the wake of a plunge in crude oil prices to below $50 a barrel in the past six months, amid rising shale production in the US and a reluctance from oil cartel Opec to cut output. Crude oil has edged 60 cents higher to $48.59. | |
| Chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie said: "We have moved quickly in response to lower prices and will reduce the number of rigs we operate in our onshore US business by approximately 40 per cent by the end of this financial year." | Chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie said: "We have moved quickly in response to lower prices and will reduce the number of rigs we operate in our onshore US business by approximately 40 per cent by the end of this financial year." |
| BHP Billiton is focusing its efforts on its prized Black Hawk shale venture in southern Texas but Mackenzie warned: "We will keep this activity under review and make further changes if we believe deferring development will create more value than near-term production." | BHP Billiton is focusing its efforts on its prized Black Hawk shale venture in southern Texas but Mackenzie warned: "We will keep this activity under review and make further changes if we believe deferring development will create more value than near-term production." |