Shares in Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. plunged as much as 18 per cent Thursday morning after it chopped its dividend by 43 per cent to preserve capital while entering what is feared to be a prolonged period of lower oil prices.

The stock closed at a more than 10-year low of $10.97, down $2.16 or 16.5 per cent.

“This is a commodity-based business and our fortunes rise and fall with the price of oil,” said Ryan Kubick, nearing the end of his first year as president and chief executive, on a conference call.

“Syncrude has endured over 35 years of oil price cycles and it’s with the long-term view in mind that we are focusing on stewarding initiatives for better operating performance and future investments to optimize the value of our asset, all the while looking forward to higher oil prices and stronger shareholder returns.”

Canadian Oil Sands owns 36.7 per cent of oilsands miner Syncrude Canada.

The company said it has set a capital spending budget of $564 million in 2015, more than 40 per cent less than its 2014 budget of $1.1 billion, as Syncrude has substantially finished an $8-billion menu of capital projects including a new mine and nearly complete tailings pond reduction systems.

The 2015 budget has been allocated $104 million to major projects, $425 million on regular maintenance and $35 million to capitalized interest.

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