(Bloomberg) -- Oil giants are poised to halve their international spending growth next year in response to lower crude prices, dealing another blow to a global market already facing a slowdown in production from US shale fields. 

Some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies are expected to expand their international budgets by 12% in 2023, down from an increase of 26% this year, according to a survey from Evercore ISI. Spending growth in North America is also expected to be cut in half, rising about 18%. Budgets had soared this year as the industry bounced back after a pandemic-driven slump. 

Budgets for next year are based on companies’ expectations for oil at $78 a barrel in the US, James West, an analyst at Evercore, wrote Dec. 12 in a note to investors. That’s down from a forecast of $83 a barrel in Evercore’s mid-year spending survey released in July. 

“With declining well productivity and increasingly challenging geology limiting growth, production growth from the US shales has likely peaked,” West wrote. The biggest companies “cut their international spend by 68% from the 2013 peak to 2021 trough and had been slower to increase spending as they prioritized capital discipline.”

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