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“This has probably been the most challenging quarter in past decades,” said CEO Olivier Le Peuch.
Crude prices have dropped 33% this year, and natural gas has fallen 17%, as much of the world took shelter from the coronavirus.
Almost all major users of energy have been crippled because of the lockdown.
On Thursday, American Airlines Inc. posted a loss of more than $2 billion, and Southwest Airlines Co. said it lost $915 million. That pushed the combined second-quarter loss of the nation’s four biggest airlines to more than $10 billion.
Millions of people are working from home, rather than commuting to work daily. The cruise industry is shut down, and factories, big consumers of energy, have been hammered.
But slowing global economic growth had already begun to weigh on the energy sector, and companies carrying a lot of debt had begun to fail.
More than 200 oil producers have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past five years. The global pandemic has intensified the shakeout.
Last month, British oil giant BP PLC said it would reduce its global workforce by 10,000.
On Friday, Schlumberger said that second-quarter revenue plunged 35% and the company lost $3.43 billion. It expects the vast majority of the severance hit for departing employees will take place during the second half of the year.
The company operates out of Houston and has major offices in London, Paris and The Hague. — Associated Press
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