Oil industry cuts 51,000 jobs in March due to coronavirus

Bloomberg

The oil and gas industry shed nearly 51,000 drilling and refining jobs in March, a 9% reduction that is likely to get worse as futures prices fell into negative territory Monday.
March’s job losses rose by 15,000 when ancillary jobs such as construction, manufacturing of drilling equipment and shipping are included, according to BW Research Partnership, a
research consultancy, which analysed Department of Labor data combined with the firm’s own survey data of about 30,000 energy companies.
“We’re looking at anywhere between five and seven years of job growth wiped out in a month,” Philip Jordan, the company’s vice president said in an interview. “What makes it sort of scary is this really is just the beginning. April is not looking good for oil and gas.”
The price on the futures contract for West Texas crude that was due to expire on Tuesday fell into negative territory — minus $37.63 a barrel — with the pandemic bringing the economy to a standstill and American energy companies running out of room to store oil. The price on the futures contract due a month later settled at $20.43 per barrel.
An unprecedented output deal by Opec and allied members a week ago to curb supply is proving too little too late in the face a one-third collapse in global demand. With no end in sight, and producers around the world continuing to pump, that’s causing a fire-sale among traders who don’t have access to storage. BW Research projects oil and gas jobs could decline by as much as 30% in the first quarter of 2020.
The industry has faced the twin shocks of the coronavirus crippling demand with stay-at-home orders coupled with an oil-price war that led to a glut and sent the price of oil spiraling to historic lows, leading US companies to idle drilling rigs.