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Oil producer Whitecap Resources Inc. reduced its 2015 capital spending for 2015 by 32% to $245 million “in response to the dramatic drop in crude oil prices over the past six weeks” and to maintain its dividend, the company said in a statement.

Bonavista Energy Corp. halved its dividend to 35¢ a share and chopped its capital budget to by 30% to about $400 million.

“In spite of a year of continued operational success, the recent collapse in world oil prices and the muted outlook for North American natural gas and natural gas liquids pricing has resulted in a challenging environment for the Canadian energy sector in the near future,” the oil and gas producer said in a statement.

In a call with industry analysts, Mr. Ghosh said Husky is focusing on what it’s able to control and slowing down spending after bringing to completion major projects, including the first phase of the Sunrise oil sands project in Alberta that started injecting steam last week, and the Liwan natural gas project in the South China Sea that is ramping up and delivering significant cash flow.

With commodity prices uncertain, Husky is taking a pause from new capital intensive projects, including expanding Sunrise and deferring making a final investment decision on an extension to the White Rose project in Newfoundland’s offshore.

“In the third quarter call I told you we were cutting our coat to the cloth provided,” Mr. Ghosh told analysts. “If you look at the fundamentals of our plan today, you can see that we are setting Husky up to need less cloth.”

Markets responded enthusiastically to the latest round of cuts and as Brent prices surged 5% on speculation that the oil free fall may have bottomed out. Husky shares, for one, gained 10.6% to close at $25.84.

But now that it’s in motion, the investment pullback won’t be easily reversed and puts the brakes on years of Western Canadian oil expansion from the oil sands and from tight oil projects, as well as the trend toward North American energy independence.