by Rebecca Penty and Joe Carroll / Vancouver Sun Chevron Corp. is significantly slowing spending on the Kitimat liquefied natural gas project in Canada amid a crash in crude prices and global competition. The San Ramon, California-based producer’s move follows Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s December delay of a final investment decision on its C$36 billion ($28 billion) Canadian LNG project and BG Group Plc’s pause of development at its Pacific Coast proposal in the country in October. “People are pretty cautious right now in the LNG market,” Chief Executive Officer John Watson said on a conference call on Friday, adding that it’s not clear all the new projects being considered can be profitable at lower prices. The price of LNG is linked to oil, which has dropped more than 50 percent since June highs, prompting major energy companies to cut jobs and capital spending. Chevron slashed its drilling budget by the most in 12 years on Friday. The company doesn’t plan to make final decisions on projects this year, other than for its Tengiz field in Kazakhstan, Watson said. Chevron is cutting spending on LNG worldwide by 20 percent this year to $8 billion, Watson said during the conference call. While […]
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