Iron ore rivals 'hanging on by their fingernails', says Walsh

Bloomberg reports that the iron ore collapse has pushed producers to the brink of survival, according to Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh.

“There are a lot of producers that we believed would leave the market that are hanging on by their fingernails,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in London. “They are burning up cash reserves of their shareholders.”

BHP weighs US oil cuts, write-downs

BHP Billiton is expected to again take the knife to capital spending for its diminished United States oil and gas business and is weighing shutting down more rigs and further write-downs to the onshore division next month, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The oil and gas price slump has rendered most of the resources giant's onshore shale business unprofitable. West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark price for US crude oil, crashed below $US35 a barrel overnight before recovering to a dismal $37 a barrel, while the US national benchmark gas price is at record low of $1.68 per unit.