Workers on the top deck of the Polar Pioneer oil rig in Seattle in June… The world’s biggest energy companies are treating with caution the rally that briefly lifted crude-oil prices over $50 a barrel this week, wary of boosting spending and production too soon. Oil prices are recovering, topping $50 a barrel for the main global benchmark on Thursday—nearly double the price in January—before retreating to $49.33 a barrel on Friday. But companies are moving more slowly to start new drilling and production this time around. “We’re not going to try and get into a boom and bust,” BP’s chief financial officer, Brian Gilvary, said in a conference call last month. Even at $60 a barrel, he said, “We wouldn’t be looking to significantly ramp [activity] up.” Shell this week announced a fresh round of job cuts across its business, bringing its total planned for the year to […]