Schlumberger slashes 21,000 jobs amid pandemic oil rout

Schlumberger is cutting more than 21,000 jobs as the global coronavirus pandemic quashes demand for energy and oil prices are routed.

The company will pay more than $1 billion in severance benefits.

The job cuts announced Friday, about a quarter of its entire workforce, puts the number of people employed by the world's largest oilfield services company close to where it was at the start of the oil and gas fracking boom that upended global energy markets and put the U.S. on top.

SEE ALSO: Oil and gas experts believe more layoffs could happen soon due to pandemic

Chesapeake Energy, a pioneer in fracking, sought bankruptcy protection last month.

"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 posted a loss of more than $2 billion, and Southwest Airlines said it lost $915 million. That pushed the combined second-quarter loss of the nation's four biggest airlines to more than $10 billion.

Schlumberger Ltd. said in a regulatory filing Friday that vast majority of the severance charge is expected to be paid out during the second half of the year.

The company said Friday that second quarter revenue plunged 35% and it lost $3.43 billion.

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