Halliburton cuts 6,000 jobs, delays earnings call

OREANDA-NEWS. April 25, 2016. The world's second-biggest oilfield services provider Halliburton cut an additional 6,000 employees in the first quarter as producers sharply pullback drilling plans.

Halliburton also delayed the release of its full first-quarter financial results and a call with investors to 3 May because of its upcoming 30 April deadline for acquiring smaller rival Baker Hughes.

The US Justice Department on 6 April said it is suing to block the \\$35bn merger between the oilfield service providers on grounds that it will eliminate competition, raise prices and reduce innovation. Halliburton and Baker Hughes have said that they would contest the lawsuit.

Global drilling and completion spending is slated to fall by more than 30pc for a second straight year, Halliburton said, with a much steeper 50pc decline expected in North America. That's in addition to last year's 40pc cut. There is excess service capacity across all the product lines, with the largest surplus in the North American pressure pumping business.

The company's total revenue fell by 17pc to \\$4.2bn in the first quarter from the previous three months. North American revenue fell by 17pc to \\$1.8bn from the earlier three months, while international revenue fell by 18pc to \\$2.4bn.

A day earlier, the world's biggest oilfield services company Schlumberger said services activity fell to "unprecedented levels" in the first quarter as oil and gas producers faced a "full-scale cash crisis" amid the plunge in crude prices, Schlumberger said.