Norway’s energy giant, Statoil ASA, last week reported more red ink in its third-quarter results, and pledged to reduce capital spending (capex) by another $1 billion, Kallanish Steel’s sister publication Kallanish Energy reports.

Statoil’s wider on-year loss of $432 million, compared with a $307m loss in the same period last year came during a quarter when oil prices began a rebound. This was fuelled by promises of production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the 14-nation cartel that controls over 33% of the world’s oil supplies.

The additional cuts to capital spending come after Statoil and other major oil companies already have announced and implemented cost-savings plans they say allow them to be resilient at lower oil prices. Crude has rebounded to about $50 a barrel (Bbl) recently from lows around $26/Bbl last winter, but remains well below $100/Bbl where it was trading in mid-2014.

“We will continue to improve and address costs and this quarter demonstrates that,” Statoil ceo Eldar Saetre told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s important that we can sustain that beyond this year and into the future,” he added.

The oil producer, 67%-owned by the Norwegian state, said it would cut CAPEX this year to $11 billion from $12 billion it had previously announced and reduce exploration expenditures this year to $1.5 billion from $1.8 billion, though it is keeping its production targets.

Statoil has slashed operating costs by roughly 33% since the first quarter of 2013, in part by focusing on efficiency in its drilling process. Statoil, like other oil companies, aims to sustain those cost reductions into the future, even if prices for oil services and equipment rise as the market picks up, Saetre said.

Statoil’s profits were hurt in part because it produced less oil and gas than normal in the third quarter because it carried out extensive maintenance work on its operations. Statoil’s refineries provided less of a cushion as oil prices rebounded, while the company had to book a charge against profits for some spending on exploration made in previous quarters.