Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard said Monday he expects global exploration and production capital expenditures to drop between 10 to 15 percent in 2015.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Commerce Department said Wednesday a unit of Paris-based Schlumberger Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $232.7 million penalty for conspiracy to violate trade sanctions with Iran and Sudan.

Schlumberger will spend about $1.7 billion for a minority stake in a big Russian energy company at a time when that country's relations with the West are under strain and as energy prices hit multiyear lows.

Any lingering doubt about the depth of the crisis facing the U.S. energy industry is quickly evaporating as even the biggest firms slash spending amid the steepest oil price crash since the recession, sending ripples across the vast sector.

Schlumberger , the world’s largest oil services group, is cutting back its fleet for offshore geological surveys and taking an $800m writedown on the value of its ships, in the first significant cutback in the industry following the recent fall in crude prices.

YPF seeks foreign partners to tap Argentina’s shale

Schlumberger Ltd, the world's largest oilfield services company, said oil and gas spending would increase in 2015 as global oil demand is poised to rise, downplaying fears of an investment slowdown due to weak crude prices.

Oil prices that have plunged to a 27-month low are inflicting damage on a Russian economy already contending with escalating sanctions from the U.S. and European Union over its role in Ukraine.

Rosneft Discovered a New Hydrocarbon Field in the Kara Sea

Some analysts and investors worry that oil companies will not spend enough either to sustain growth in their core businesses, or to open options in alternative energy sources for a world in which oil and gas consumption is constrained by climate policy or high prices.