Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) slashed its dividend and capital spending 75% on Feb. 16 and said it will lay off 20% of its staff as low prices roil shale oil companies.

The Oklahoma City-based company, a top U.S. independent oil producer, said it was laying off 1,000 staff and that another 600 employees would leave in divestitures later this year.

The moves by Devon mark the latest in a string of announcements by U.S. oil companies capitulating to crude prices of less than $30 a barrel by cutting spending even more, trimming dividends, or producing less.

Devon reduced its dividend to 6 cents a share for the second quarter of 2016 from the previous distribution of 24 cents a share.

"We believe the decision to adjust the quarterly dividend is prudent given the current commodity price environment and the uncertain duration of this downturn," Chief Executive Dave Hager said in a statement.

E&P spending is estimated to range from $900 million to $1.1 billion this year, a sharp reduction from last year.

Because of less natural gas output, it also said 2016 output would be 6% less than overall net production from core assets of 571,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the fourth quarter.

The company also said that Tony Vaughn, executive vice president of E&P, was promoted to COO under Hager.

Devon reported a net loss of $4.5 billion, for the fourth quarter of 2015, wider than a net loss of $408 million in the same period a year ago.

On an adjusted bases, the company earned 77 cents a share, beating analysts expectations of 70 cents a share consensus view from Thomson Reuters.