>The next catalyst is March (5th or 16th) when Exxon details thier capital spending budget.

Major oil firms cut new investments

Oil companies are slashing investment in the face of a $100 per barrel collapse in crude prices, but keen to avoid past mistakes and to gain from others’ weakness, the very biggest players are holding spending steady, AFX News reported.

Except for ExxonMobil Corp, which Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rex Tillerson, said it was time to expand at the world’s largest company by market value, most others are reducing spending.

Tillerson said in December that he might increase capital spending by 20 per cent this year to $30bn.The increase will mark his biggest push to discover oil fields and boost fuel and chemicals production.

ExxonMobil plans to disclose its 2009 capital-spending plan on March 5. At $30bn, spending would amount to $82m a day to rent drilling rigs, hire roughnecks and install fuel-producing units in refineries.