Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp., the world’s fourth- largest oil company, postponed its 2009 capital-spending announcement by a month, until January, after crude lost two- thirds of its value and recessions in the world’s biggest economies crimped fuel demand.

“We are doing so because the market conditions have changed significantly, and we are now re-examining our business plans in light of changes in the business environment,” Mickey Driver, a spokesman for the San Ramon, California-based company, said today in an e-mailed statement.

Driver said Chevron’s 2009 spending “will remain steady” with this year’s $22.9 billion budget. The company increased spending on wells, refineries, natural-gas plants and pipelines for five straight years as escalating energy prices made previously uneconomical projects profitable.

Chief Executive Officer David O’Reilly is seeking to reverse a two-year decline in production and restore reserves that tumbled to a 10-year low in 2007. Chevron declined 33 percent this year, poised for the worst annual performance since 1980, as falling energy prices pushed oil stocks lower and the global economic crisis prompted investors to shed equities.

Oil futures traded in New York plunged 67 percent from a record $147.27 a barrel in July as the global slowdown stunted the growth in demand for gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and kerosene.

Global Slump

U.S. stocks today slid the most since October on growing concern the slump is deepening. The U.S. economy entered a recession last December, the panel at the National Bureau of Economic Research that dates American business cycles said today.

As recently as Nov. 25, Chevron was planning to announce its 2009 budget in the second or third week of this month. George Kirkland, executive vice president of Chevron’s exploration and production business, said on Oct. 31 that 2009 capital spending would be about the same as this year.

Chevron’s capital spending relative to sales is the highest of the five biggest U.S. and European oil companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Exxon Mobil Corp. of Irving, Texas, is the world’s largest oil company by market value, followed by Beijing-based PetroChina Co. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Carroll in Chicago at jcarroll8@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 1, 2008 17:24 EST