BAAR, Switzerland, July 24 (UPI) -- With few prospects for a recovery in the crude oil market, rig services company Weatherford said it was making deeper cuts in its North American portfolio.
"Market conditions will not improve significantly in the balance of the year," Weatherford President and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Duroc-Danner, said in a statement. "There will be modest activity increases in North America and selected international geographies but these will not be material."
Weatherford, which has headquarters in Switzerland, joins peer companies Baker Hughes and Halliburton in announcing downbeat expectations for the trajectory in crude oil markets. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for crude oil, traded Friday at around $48.60 per barrel, down about 18 percent from July 1 and more than 50 percent below June 2014 highs.
Duroc-Danner earlier this year described the North American market as "very challenged." In April, the company said it planned to increase staff reductions by as much as 10,000, or about 18 percent of its entire workforce.
"This target has now been revised upward to 11,000 with the increase principally in the U.S with a focus on support positions," the company said.
At the end of the first quarter, there were roughly 49,000 staff on the payroll, a 12.5 percent decline from the start of the year.
Low crude oil prices means energy companies have less capital to invest in exploration and production, a trend reflected in weak figures reported for rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and natural gas. Weatherford said it revised its full-year capital spending plans down by $100 million to $750 million, which is nearly 50 percent lower than last year.
In North America alone, Weatherford said second quarter revenues of $808 million was down 30 percent from the previous quarter and 51 percent lower year-on-year. The company blamed the decline in low rig counts in the United States.
