Oilfield service giant announces job cuts on oil decline

Weatherford International Ltd., one of the world's largest international oil and gas service companies, said Wednesday that it has begun cutting 5,000 jobs, 85 percent of which are in the western hemisphere, to cope with falling oil prices.

The company, which is based in Switzerland but has operational headquarters in the U.S. city of Houston, said in a statement released Wednesday that the job reduction will target support and operating jobs and is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter. The move will save more than 350 million U.S. dollars annually.

"We will focus the entire organization on ensuring we are cash flow positive in 2015," Weatherford CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner said.

"This means that for every dollar of revenue we lose due to reduced activity and pricing, we will make up for it in cost, capital expenditure and working capital reductions," he noted.

The company also announced its quarterly financial performance Wednesday, reporting a net loss of 475 million dollars, or 61 cents a share, compared to a loss of 271 million dollars, or 35 cents a share, in the same period the year before.

It said it will cut capital spending by 550 million dollars to 900 million dollars this year. Most oil producers and service companies in the United States have announced budget cuts to cope with plunging oil prices recently.

Weatherford's reductions bring the number of oil field services layoffs announced by the sector's largest companies to 22,000, after Schlumberger, Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes said in recent weeks they would cut a combined 17,000 jobs. Endi