Statoil to Cut Another 500 Jobs?

Norwegian energy firm Statoil (STO) plans to lay off an additional 500 workers on top of already announced plans to eliminate up to 1,400 positions, financial daily Dagens Naeringsliv said on Friday.

The cuts, which mostly affect offshore workers, are part of Statoils efforts to cut costs and improve efficiency, and the firm has already started negotiations with employee groups over the layoffs, the paper said.

A Statoil spokesman declined to comment.

Statoil earlier this year cut its capital spending plans and output targets, offering a higher return to investors instead after years of negative cash flow after dividend payment.

With Brent crude prices falling over 20 percent since June to a more than two-year-low of $91.55 per barrel on Thursday, analysts see oil companies holding back spending even more than earlier planned.

To reduce capital spending, Statoil in recent months sold some producing assets to Germany's Wintershall, stopped a Canadian oil sands project, delayed future developments in Norway and Britain, released or offered to sublet rigs and laid off workers.

The firm employed over 23,000 people in 2013.

Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg