London. – Investors are telling the world’s largest oil companies to put their wallets away. France’s Total SA is the best-performing stock among the world’s five biggest non-state oil companies this year and has overtaken BP Plc in market value. It’s the only one that’s promised to cut capital spending. All five report third-quarter earnings this week.

Chief executive officer Christophe de Margerie said last month that Total can reduce investment while increasing oil and gas production. The promise impressed investors and analysts, who are concerned producers are spending too much on expensive projects at a time when crude prices have stagnated. They’d rather see the cash given back to shareholders.

“Total has a message that really resonates,” said Jason Gammel, an oil industry analyst at Macquarie Capital Europe Ltd in London.
“We see 2014 as a period where the sector as a whole doesn’t produce enough cash to fund dividends. That implies the cash structure has gotten somewhat out of control.”

Officials at Total and BP declined to comment on the companies’ relative share price performance. The so-called majors – Total, BP, Exxon Mobil Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp  – have ramped up spending as they’re forced to drill more difficult wells to find and develop new fields, according to Brian Youngberg, an analyst in St Louis.

“The days of the giant, cheap oil finds are gone. Production growth is an ongoing challenge,” he said. – Bloomberg.

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