Halliburton Cuts 6,000 Jobs in First Quarter Amid Oil Price Pangs

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April 26, 2016--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Oilfield services giant Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) (Houston, Texas) said it cut its workforce by more than 6,000 people in the first quarter of this year as customers slashed their operational and capital budgets. Having already reduced its workforce by one-third since 2014, the latest phase of layoffs comes amid a slowdown in drilling, with activity in North America expected to decrease by 50% this year compared to a 40% drop in 2015.

Because of the long stretch of low oil prices, Halliburton's firm's first-quarter revenue fell by 40.4% to $4.2 billion from the same quarter last year.

Halliburton rescheduled its first-quarter earnings conference call from April 25 to May 3 to make room for the April 30 closing deadline for the acquisition of another leading oil field services firm, Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) (Houston). The merger, having been in the works since November 2014, is facing opposition from U.S. Justice Department. In the midst of a lawsuit, filed by the department this month in order to block the acquisition, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said: "The proposed deal between Halliburton and Baker Hughes would eliminate vital competition, skew energy markets and harm American consumers. Our action makes clear that the Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing our antitrust laws." Halliburton risks owing Baker Hughes $3.5 billion in fees in the deal fails to go through.

For more news about the Baker Hughes acquisition, see January 21, 2015, article-- Halliburton Sees Another Year of Record Growth in 2014, Readies for Baker Hughes Acquisition.

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