Oil producer Crescent Point cuts 2019 budget on oil price plunge

(Reuters) - Canadian oil producer Crescent Point Energy Corp on Tuesday cut its 2019 capital budget by 30 percent compared to last year, blaming the recent decline in oil prices. Brent crude has fallen by more than 30 percent since reaching a four-year high of $86.74 per barrel in October last year, partly due to concerns over slowing global demand for the fossil fuel. The company sees 2019 capital expenditure in the range of C$1.2 billion ($904.70 million) to C$1.3 billion. Its budget forecast for 2018 was C$1.78 billion. But it would be C$35 million below the original forecast, the company said on Tuesday. The Calgary-based company expects 2019 production to fall as it sold some of its assets in 2018. Crescent Point expects its output to be in the range of 170,000 to 174,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2019, well under last year's forecast of 177,000 boe/d. (Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)