The Australian major expects to hit its production guidance of 255MMboe at the end of the financial year.
BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie said the company's five core businesses - iron ore, coal, copper, potash and petroleum - were continuing to exceed expectations and deliver strong operating performance as the company moved to improve productivity and lower costs to mitigate the impact of subdued commodity prices.
"In petroleum, we have responded quickly to current market conditions by reducing the number of rigs operated in our onshore US business by 35% over the March 2015 quarter," he said.
"We continue to review our drilling and development program as we seek to maximise the value of our resource base. With higher oil prices expected over the medium term, we believe deferring development will create more value than producing today.
"Our high-quality acreage and excellent operating performance, with industry-leading drilling costs, gives us a strong platform from which to build."
BHP will spend around $US3.4 billion ($A4.4 billion) in the 2015/16 financial year on US drilling, with $3 billion spent so far.
The expenditure will slow down and the rig count has decreased from 26 to 17 this year.
Crude oil, condensate and natural gas liquids production for the nine months ended March 2015 increased by 21% to 93.4MMboe, of which almost half was liquids from US shales as both the Black Hawk Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin projects realised significant improvements in shale drilling and completions efficiency.
Natural field decline in the North West Shelf and the impact of industrial action at Bass Strait offset strong uptime performance at Atlantis in the Gulf of Mexico and Pyrenees, offshore Western Australia.
Natural gas production declined by 5% to 595 billion cubic feet.
Strong uptime performance at North West Shelf and Macedon partially offset scheduled maintenance at Pakistan, industrial action and weaker seasonal demand at Bass Strait and the divestment of Liverpool Bay in the 2014/15 financial year.
Gas production will be similarly impacted by the sale of its gas business in Pakistan to Hashoo Group, pending regulatory approval.
The firm reported it was happy with the progress of its two development projects - Greater Western Flank-A (16.67%) on the North West Shelf now 89% complete, and the 50% owned Longford gas conditioning plant now 54% complete.
Both on schedule and budget and due for completion next year, the projects will support continued gas production from WA and Victoria.
Total petroleum exploration expenditure for the 2015/16 financial year is expected to be $600 million and remains focused on the Gulf of Mexico, Western Australia and Trinidad and Tobago. A total $393 million has been spent so far, of which $363 million is expensed.
No wells were drilled in the March quarter.
Shares in BHP dropped 2.1% to $A29.94.
