EDINBURGH, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The spending plans of oilmajors BP and Equinor are unaffected by themore than 25 percent drop in oil prices since early October,their CEOs said on Wednesday.
Oil and gas companies were boosted over the first ninemonths of the year by a recovery in crude prices as years ofcost cuts started to kick in. But the drop in oil pricesfrom more than $85 a barrel in early October to around $60 thisweek has revived concerns over their long-term recovery.
"We have no plans to take down any projects because I don’tsee a change in the mid-to-long-term outlook," Equinor ChiefExecutive Eldar Saetre told Reuters on the sidelines of a carbonconference in Edinburgh.
He added that Equinor's portfolio could generate cash at oilprices below $50 a barrel. In October Equinor cut its spendingfor 2018 to $10 billion from $11 billion through cost cuts.
BP chief Bob Dudley was similarly resolute.
"We’re planning the future of BP and always have through thecycle on $50 to $60 (a barrel), so it (the oil price) is notchanging our capital investment plan. That hasn’t changed atall," he told reporters in Edinburgh.
However, Dudley said the company might reprioritise someprojects as a results of the slump in crude prices. BP said itwould spend between $15 billion and $17 billion next year.(Reporting By Ron Bousso and Shadia NasrallaEditing by David Goodman)