Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Oil: "First Schlumberger Fires 9,000; Now Baker Hughes Unleashes 7,000 More Layoffs" (HAL; SLB; WFT)

WTI down 3.77% ($1.85) at $47.28.
We were not impressed with Friday's move:
Behold the Crude Oil Rebound

From ZeroHedge:
Another day, another unambiguously bad announcement from America's bettered energy sector which are bolting down ahead of the crude storm, and firing thousands. Last week it was Schlumberger which announced it would fire 9000, today it is Baker Hughes which just warned it too will hand out about 7000 pink slips in the first quarter. And as a reminder, when it comes to comp: each Baker Hughes job is equivalent to about 10 waiter and bartender jobs, which have been the basis of this "recovery."
  • BAKER HUGHES SEES WORKFORCE REDUCTION OF 7,000 WORKERS
  • BAKER HUGHES EXPECTS TO CUT 7,000 JOBS IN FIRST QUARTER
  • BAKER HUGHES SEES 1Q '15 SEVERANCE COSTS $160 MLN-$185 MLN
  • BAKER HUGHES SEES REDUCING CAPEX BY 20% VS. LAST YEAR
  • BAKER HUGHES CEO SAYS MUST ADAPT TO 'NEW REALITY' LOWER PRICES
  • BAKER HUGHES SEEING GROWING NUMBER WELLS DRILLS, NOT FINISHED
  • BAKER HUGHES SEES 2015 AS `PIVOTAL' FOR COMPANY, INDUSTRY...
...
But see also the (eventual) silver lining:
Oil: It's Cheaper to Refrack (SLB; HAL; WFT)

SLB $79.50 Down $1.83
HAL $38.96 Down $0.17
WFT $9.94 Down $0.40