More Job Cuts Expected for Oil Workers in 2016, Saudi Arabia Won't Back Down on Oil Production

Last year marked the decline of the energy sector.  A comprehensive analysis conducted by industry consultant Graves & Co. stated that the rock-bottom oil prices triggered layoffs of more than 258,000 workers globally.

As a result of these drops in oil prices, analysts have come to believe that the energy industry is bound to endure another round of job cuts and bankruptcies in the early part of this year.

This would further lead to a series of job cutting by global giants such as Royal Dutch Shell, Chevronand Halliburton. These, as reported by USA Today, have announced plans to cut thousands of positions this year.

"The closer you are to the wellhead, the quicker you are to lose your job," Houston-based energy consultant John Graves of Graves & Co. said. "Those are the kind of jobs that get hit first because it's where a company can quickly make cuts."

For instance, exploration and production companies have shed at least 60,000 jobs or one-fifth of the workforce in Texas, said Karr Ingham, petroleum economist for Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. "I expect it to get worse in the near term [since] expenses have to be cut pretty dramatically and that means that employees on payrolls have to go," Ingham added.

The state has already suffered up to 70% of revenue losses for last year.

According to Baker Hughes Rig Counts, the number of active oil and gas rigs in the U.S. fell 61% to 698 as of Dec. 31, compared to a year earlier. Furthermore, according to AAA, at the end of 2015, oil prices has driven gasoline below $2/gallon for 71% of U.S. gas stations. Oil is trading below $40 a barrel for the first time since early 2009.

Dan Heckman, national investment consultant for U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said is expecting the overall current jobless rate would double by February.

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