Gloomy Shell to cut spending, jobs

AMSTERDAM: Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, plans to reduce capital spending by about 10 percent next year and make further "substantial" job cuts, saying the economy won't recover any time soon.

The budget to buy and maintain assets will drop to about $28 billion in 2010 from as much as $32 billion this year, The Hague-based Shell said yesterday in a statement after posting a 67 drop in quarterly earnings. The company, which has cut senior management positions by 20 percent, said more staff reductions are "likely".

The recession forced oil producers to delay projects and merge units, protecting dividends in anticipation of higher prices in the years ahead. BP Plc this week also warned of a prolonged economic slowdown, after its second-quarter earnings were dragged down by a 52 percent slump in US crude prices.