OSLO (Reuters) - Oil services firm Subsea 7 (OL:SUBC) plans to cuts its workforce by close to 20 percent and reduce its fleet of 39 vessels by up to 11 as global oil and gas firms continue to cut spending after a plunge in crude oil prices dampened activity levels.
Subsea 7, which focuses on the North Sea but has a global operation, expects to cuts it workforce by around 2,500 by early 2016 from about 13,000 at the end of end of 2014, it said in a statement, following rivals such as Schlumberger (N:SLB) and Baker Hughes (N:BHI), who have already announced big layoffs.
The firm said it was too early to estimate the cost saving from the layoffs and that it would give an update in its next quarterly report, due July 29.
"We have estimated that fixed costs could fall by 25 percent and that looks achievable," Haakon Amundsen, an analyst with ABG Sundal Collier, said.
"It is necessary as they need to adjust to the much lower activity," he added.
Subsea 7 said its fleet would fall by up to 11 vessels, "based on a mixture of non-renewal of charter vessels and either disposal or stacking of owned vessels."
"It is intended that the reshaping of the fleet will be phased over the coming 12 months, commensurate with the projected global workload as well as continued effective execution of projects," Subsea 7 said.
Shares in the firm were up 1.9 percent at 1320 GMT, outperforming a 0.7 percent fall in Oslo's benchmark index (OBX).