BP plans to cut a further 4,000 jobs as crude-oil slump deep

[LONDON] BP Plc 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, London-based spokesman David Nicholas said by phone. 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," he said.

The job losses add 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. Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped to a 12- year low this week, declining 15 per cent so far this year. It fell 35 per cent 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.

BLOOMBERG