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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Gault who wrote (42108)	4/12/1999 6:19:00 PM
From: Wowzer	Respond to of 95453

Monday April 12, 4:05 pm Eastern Time Halliburton halfway to 11,000 job cuts - Cheney NEW ORLEANS, April 12 (Reuters) - Oil services giant Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL - news) has completed about half of its announced 11,000 job cuts and expects the remaining reductions to be made shortly, chairman and chief executive officer Dick Cheney said on Monday. Speaking at the Howard Weil annual energy conference, Cheney said that by mid-year the Dallas-based company will have finished the 10,850 layoffs, which were the result of severely low oil prices and last year's $7.7 billion acquisition of Dresser Industries, which doubled the company's size. The job cuts represent about 10 percent of Halliburton's 100,000 worldwide workforce. Cheney, the former U.S. Secretary of Defense, also said that after a recent tour of the Middle East, he was optimistic that OPEC members would carry out a recent agreement with other producers to cut world oil supply by a total of 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd). ''I've been struck by the extent OPEC seems to have gotten its act together,'' said Cheney, who has also held recent meetings with officials from Venezuela, another key OPEC member and one which has in recent years been the cartel's biggest cheater. ''My perception is that the odds for compliance are better than I would ever have previously thought...and a certain amount of near-term optimism is justified,'' Cheney added. However, the impact of the agreement on the oil drilling sector would not be felt until late this year or early 2000, Cheney cautioned. Halliburton is the world's biggest provider of equipment and services to oil companies in the exploration and production sector, and its shares generally have followed its clients' fortunes. After hitting a low just below $27 in February, down from a peak of nearly $63 at the end of 1997, Halliburton rose $41 last month, but has since tumbled sharply. Halliburton shares were down $0.1875 at $36.75 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading just before 1300 EDT on Monday. Oil prices have risen sharply since the OPEC agreement in February, but oil companies have said they won't be quick to reverse severe budget cuts on exploration and production they instituted when prices were near 12-year lows at the turn of the year. ''Recent events have given us hope. Nevertheless, the devasation to the exploration and production business has been enormous,'' Cheney said.