ConocoPhillips (>> ConocoPhillips) said in early December it would cut its 2015 capital budget by 20 percent, or about $3 billion (2 billion pounds), marking the biggest spending cut by a U.S. oil and gas company in dollar terms.

Global crude prices have more than halved since June due to oversupply and OPEC's refusal to cut its output ceiling.

Global benchmark Brent crude fell below $51 for the first time since May 2009 on Tuesday.

While top U.S. oil producers such as Chevron Corp (>> Chevron Corporation) are yet to announce 2015 capital plans, many companies have already pared their budgets. Some of them have already cut the number of drilling rigs they will deploy next year.

Global oil and gas exploration projects worth more than $150 billion are likely to be put on hold in 2015 as plunging oil prices render them uneconomic, according to data from Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy.

There are two companies that are still bullish, however. Continental Resources Inc (>> Continental Resources, Inc.), while slowing spending, has exited all its hedges and told investors oil prices will soon recover. Hess Corp (>> Hess Corp.) has boldly boosted its five-year production forecast.

(Reporting by Swetha Gopinath, Terry Wade, Kanika Sikka, Sneha Banerjee, Anannya Pramanick and Shubhankar Chakravorty; Editing by Feroze Jamal and Savio D'Souza)