U.S. energy giant Halliburton reports quarterly loss

Halliburton, an American multinational corporation and one of the world's largest oil field services companies, reported on Wednesday a loss of 3.2 billion U.S. dollars and job cuts of 5,000 in the second quarter of this year.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday, the Houston-based company blamed its failed deal with Baker Hughes in early May for the quarterly loss, saying that it had a 3.5 billion dollars breakup fee it paid Baker Hughes, also one of the largest oilfield services with its headquarters being in Houston, the largest city in the U.S. state of Texas.

In November last year, Halliburton announced that it would buy its rival Baker Hughes for 34.6 billion dollars in a cash and stock transaction, marking one of the biggest mergers in the oilfield services ever, but its acquisition of Baker Hughes fell apart in early May after the U.S. Justice Department rejected the deal because of anti-competitiveness concerns.

Halliburton had a revenue of 3.8 billion dollars in the second quarter, a drop of nearly 35 percent from the same period of last year.

In the first quarter of this year, the Houston-based company reported a revenue of 4.2 billion dollars and a 2.4 billion dollars net loss.

In North America where the the rig count dropped by 23 percent in the second quarter of this year, Halliborton recorded a revenue reduction of 15 percent.

In the second quarter, the company also shredded 5,000 jobs around the world, bringing its total workforce to just more than 50,000 people. The company has cut about 33,000 jobs since late 2014, more than one-third of its global workforce. Endit