By Erin Ailworth And Lynn Cook

A year ago, Houston oil and gas company Energy XXI Ltd. was getting ready to take on $1 billion in debt to buy a rival as its stock climbed toward $24 a share.

On Monday, the debt-laden company laid out its strategy for survival after that deal contributed to a $377 million loss for its December quarter. On the list: asset sales, expense cuts and cashing in oil-price contracts it signed before prices tumbled. Shares of the energy producer, which operates in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, now change hands for less than $4 apiece.

"The culture of the company has changed, with more focus on cost savings and low risk projects," Chief Executive John Schiller told analysts on Monday.

Though Energy XXI is in a tough spot, it is far from alone in the oil patch these days. As more independent energy producers release results this month, investors' focus will be on their strategies for dealing with U.S. oil prices likely to hover around $50 a barrel this year.

Many of them borrowed heavily to drill wells when prices were over $100 and are now embracing austerity measures, including leaving crude in the ground until prices rise.

"The real focus will be on more survival plans for 2015--how they plan to operate in this environment," said Daniel Katzenberg, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. "It will come down to who has...better break-even costs, and who has the better balance sheet so that you can be confident they will survive."

Though several big shale drillers have yet to outline their plans, more than two dozen U.S. oil producers have already cut their spending estimates for this year by $25 billion compared with 2014 budgets, according to a Wall Street Journal review of company financial reports.

Oil prices have moved up nearly 19% to about $53 a barrel since January lows as the market reacted favorable to U.S. energy companies putting drilling rigs in storage and slowing oil output in Libya, due to strife.

Some of the biggest U.S. independent producers seem to be in good shape to weather the oil-price rout. Analysts say that Pioneer Natural Resources Co., which reports earnings on Tuesday, is well-hedged against the price drop and has a strong balance sheet. Though its share price has fallen by almost a third since last summer, its market capitalization is over $22 billion.

The Irving, Texas, company is expected to post hefty profits, and to announce significant spending cuts. When oil was trading at $90 a barrel, Pioneer was eager to move forward with a $1 billion project to help clean and recycle the huge amounts of water required to hydraulically fracture wells. The company is weighing how much it can spend this year on that project.

A spokesman for Pioneer declined to comment.

At the other extreme, some of the small fry in the energy ecosystem are already seeking a lifeboat. Lucas Energy Inc., a South Texas driller with $7.2 million in debt, recently missed a payment and announced last week that it is pursuing a merger with an Austin-based competitor.

Lucas's CEO, Anthony Schnur, said a combination was always in the company's plans, but the downturn caused financing to dry up, accelerating the process. "We would have like to have drilled these couple of wells with our partners and put the company on better footing before we merged," he said, adding: "we had to read the market and react when we did."

To keep expenses in check, some companies are considering holding off completing wells that have already been drilled but aren't yet pumping crude, essentially storing oil in the ground. By deferring the final work, producers can save roughly 60% of a well's cost, analysts say.

Continental Resources Inc. Chief Executive Harold Hamm pushed this strategy at an energy conference late last month, urging peers to pull back if they can afford to do so. "Certainly, we're not going to be completing wells today," Mr. Hamm said in an interview. "We're going to cut way back on that."

The company, one of the biggest oil producers in North Dakota, has already said it would slash the number of drilling rigs it operates to about 34 from 50 and twice cut its spending plans. But in November it disclosed it had liquidated nearly all its oil-price hedges, leaving it exposed to crude prices that subsequently fell sharply, prompting analysts to expect lower earnings when the company reports results Feb. 24.

Others companies are contemplating whether to close out the financial contracts that can help insulate them when crude prices fall. At a recent meeting with analysts, Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. raised the possibility of revamping its hedging strategy to get some cash in hand, said Tim Rezvan, an analyst at Sterne Agee.

"Nothing is off the table right now in terms of what they can do to raise capital," Mr. Rezvan said.

Carrizo, which grew rapidly by drilling in South Texas, already cut its capital spending by 35% and is has also decided not to complete some wells.

"This should maintain our strong balance sheet and also allow us to quickly resume rapid oil production growth once prices recover," said CEO Chip Johnson in a statement late last month.

Carrizo's quick action appears to have pleased investors; its shares have jumped almost 60% since bottoming out at about $32.50 in December.

Energy XXI hasn't been so fortunate. Its $2.3 billion acquisition helped load the company with nearly $4 billion in debt just as oil prices crashed and investors began focusing on healthy balance sheets. The company took a $329 million write down in the quarter related to the deal. Its bonds due in 2021 recently traded at about 50 cents on the dollar, according to data provider MarketAxess.

Its stock fell nearly 7%, or 22 cents, to $3.77 a share in 4 p.m. Nasdaq trading on Monday.

Write to Erin Ailworth at Erin.Ailworth@wsj.com and Lynn Cook at lynn.cook@wsj.com

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