Alaska's biggest oil company on Thursday disclosed that it would slash output by around 100,000 barrels in June because of falling prices caused by the ongoing global health crisis.

ConocoPhillips said the number represents approximately 50 percent of the state's oil production. The ramp-down to cut output will start late next month, and is part of wider reductions in the Lower 48 and other areas, ConocoPhillips divulged in a statement.

The world's largest independent oil and gas producer is preparing to accelerate production reductions by 40,000 barrels per day in May and reduce its output to 460,000 bpd in North America by June, the biggest fall by any maker. ConocoPhillips is one of the biggest oil producers in the region, with production reaching 217,000 bpd last year.

Over the past six weeks, crude prices have plummeted as the coronavirus outbreak hit demand amid a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, leading to a global oil surplus and causing higher costs for US producers to dramatically curb production.

The oil and gas company reported sharp production cuts throughout the country and a $1.7-billion loss in the first quarter of 2020. The Alaska cuts will affect units in the Mooses Tooth, Kuparuk River, and Colville River, Conoco Alaska said in a statement.

According to Conoco spokeswoman Natalie Lowman, the company would not shut down the oil fields completely because of the expense and difficulty of doing so. Conoco said the cutbacks would effectively leave oil stored in reservoirs, "available at a later date for restarting production."

The decision to curb output reflects the unprecedented difficulties that the oil and natural gas industry is currently facing in Alaska and elsewhere, company executives stated.

ConocoPhillips Alaska produced 218,000 net equivalent barrels a day within the state for the first quarter of the year. Data from the State Department of Revenue indicates that oil companies in the North Slope extracted an average of 500,000 barrels of oil a day into the April pipeline.

State officials have started to take steps to reopen certain areas of the economy that had been constrained or instructed to shut in a bid to delay coronavirus' spread. Governor Mike Dunleavy has said science and data will guide reopening decisions.

The price of oil in Alaska had dropped from over $70 per barrel in early 2020 to just $10.63 on Wednesday, in the midst of the shocking crash in demand as a result of the pandemic-triggered global turmoil.