Halliburton cuts 5,000 blames 'challenging market'

Oilfield services provider Halliburton announced on Thursday it will cut 5,000 jobs as the company struggles amid falling oil prices.

Halliburton has already slashed its workforce by 25% since 2015 and said further cuts are expected.

The slump in oil prices - down more 70% since the middle of 2014 - has hit demand for Halliburon's services.

In a statement, Halliburton called the cuts "necessary to work through this challenging market environment".

From a peak in 2014, the company's workforce will have almost halved to 27,000 employees when all the planned cuts have been made.

Halliburton is not alone in cutting its work force. Globally, in 2015. more than 258,000 workers in the oil and gas sector globally were laid off, according to data from Graves & Co.

Halliburton has been waiting for regulatory approval from US and European authorities to buy rival Baker Hughes for $26bn (£18.5bn).

Oil prices rose Thursday - Brent crude was up 2% and US crude was up 2.6%.