US oil producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and said it would cut its 2017 capital budget by $300 million because of depressed oil prices, the first major US oil producer to do so.

Anadarko and the rest of the US shale oil industry have been grappling with how to conserve cash and maintain growth opportunities even as crude prices have slumped since January.

Many Wall Street analysts had asked US producers to consider cutting budgets, and it was unclear which company would do so first.

Anadarko, the first major US producer to report quarterly results, ended that guessing game.

"The current market conditions require lower capital intensity given the volatility of margins realised in this operating environment," Anadarko Chief Executive Al Walker said in a statement.

Anadarko in March had forecast 2017 spending of $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion.

Anadarko, which operates in the US Gulf of Mexico as well as Colorado and other US shale regions, South America and Africa, posted a third-quarter loss of $415 million.