ConocoPhillips posted a $1.5billion first-quarter loss, compared with a year-earlier profit, and cut its spending budget for the second time this year as the slump in crude prices sapped its profitability.
The 2016 first-quarter net loss compared with a profit of $272 million in the same period last year.
It has cut its 2016 capital expenditure forecast to $5.7billion from $6.4billion, driven by reduced deepwater exploration activity.
It had cut its capital budget forecast in February.
Chief executive Ryan Lance, said: “During the quarter, we took actions to conserve cash, improve liquidity and position the company for strong performance as prices improve.
“As challenging as this price downturn has been, we are a much stronger company for the long term,” he added.
Crude prices continued to fall in the quarter, eating into the income of E&P companies.
Oil prices touched a low of $27.10 per barrel, before recovering to close at $39.60 at end of March.
It cut its quarterly dividend by 25% in February to save cash and reduced its first-quarter operating costs by 21% to $1.69 billion.
Production fell to 1,578 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d) from 1,610 mboe/d.
Total revenue and other income fell 37% to $5.02 billion.
The Houston-based company’s shares closed at $48.11 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
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