BHP takes US$4.9b writedown on US shale

Sydney

BHP Billiton Ltd said that it expects to take a writedown of US$4.9 billion on the value of its US shale assets due to the tumble in oil prices. Its next safeguard against the commodities collapse may be to abandon its decade-old pledge to maintain or raise its dividend.

The Melbourne-based producer, the biggest overseas investor in US shale, is cutting capital expenditure and seeking other savings as it grapples with the slide in prices of metals and energy, and the costs of November's deadly dam breach at its iron ore venture in Brazil. Iron ore, the company's top earner, has slumped more than three-quarters since its 2011 peak, while oil this month plunged below US$30 a barrel for the first time in 12 years.