Oilfield service giants Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford are expected to cut some 300,000 jobs this year in the wake of persistently low oil prices.

Speaking this week at the Oil & Money conference in London, US firm Weatherford’s CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner said he expects his firm to slash some 40,000 positions this year, with the lion’s share coming from its North American operations. This is four times the number the firm said it expected to lay-off back in April of this year, as it continues to be adversely affected by low oil prices. (CONTINUED - 459 WORDS)