Thousands of oil industry jobs at stake as companies reduce costs

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Keeping a job in the upstream sector of the global oil and gas industry is seemingly becoming harder by the day as companies streamline operations to reduce costs as they take a beating from the current low oil prices.

Just this week over 10,000 jobs may be at stake at Halliburton and Schlumberger with a rumored 1,000 jobs said to be on thin ice at Halliburton while  Schlumberger has confirmed that it will cut 9,000 jobs.

The move by Schlumberger follows the write-down of seismic vessels owned by its deepwater fleet at WesternGeco in early December.

Speaking at the Cowen Energy conference company last December President of operations and integration Patrick Schorn said Schlumberger will be reducing the head count that will cost the company approximately $200 million but result to a more efficient workforce.

At Halliburton spokesperson Emily Mirsays is quoted by the Houston Business journal saying the adjustments are needed to correlate to current business conditions.

Other cuts are also expected in the Calgary based company Suncor Energy which plans to lay off 1,000 workers in what the CEO Steve Williams termed as ‘efforts to reduce both capital and operating costs which were well underway before the decline in oil prices,’ he said.

Oil giants BP and ConocoPhillips have also said that they will slash 500 jobs in the North Sea. Closer home Tullow Oil has also announced a cut in exploration cost in a measure to reduce expenses and which will see the streamlining of operations in a move likely to lead to job cuts.

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