BP plans to cut 4,000 jobs as crude-oil slump deepens

  Word oil reports that BP will cut 4,000 jobs in its crude-oil production division this year as prices continue to tumble.

The company will reduce its worldwide upstream workforce to less than 20,000. The cuts include 600 people working at North Sea projects: they’ll lose their positions over the next two years “with the majority in the first year,” London-based spokesman David Nicholas said by phone.

The job losses added[; to the 4,000 positions cut by BP last year as it hunkers down for a prolonged period of lower prices. Crude’s slump has been brutal for oil companies as revenue and profit drop, projects are postponed and thousands of employees are fired.

Photo: Bloomberg

Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped to a 12-year low this week, declining 15% so far this year. It fell 35% in 2015, a third consecutive annual decline.

BP currently employs about 3,000 people at North Sea projects. The company had 84,500 employees worldwide at the end of 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

 Also bloomberg reports that the oil industry has cut more than 250,000 jobs in the past 18 months as companies reduce spending on exploration and defer new projects amid declining profit and revenue.

“It’s a reflection of how oil companies have been forced to react to the downturn. It could have a negative impact on oil production levels in the future but protecting the balance sheet is the primary concern at this time.”Jason Gammel, a London-based analyst with Jefferies International Ltd., said by phone

BP shares climbed 2.4 percent as of 1:54 p.m. in London, paring this year’s decline to 5 percent after a 14 percent drop in 2015.