Baker Hughes Suspends Well Count Report to Cut Costs

By Lisa Beilfuss 

Baker Hughes Inc. has suspended the quarterly publication of the U.S. onshore well count as it seeks to cut costs and continue publishing its closely watched weekly rig count reports.

As oil markets have been increasingly volatile this year, industry watchers have paid extra attention to Baker Hughes' weekly oil rig count, which has fallen sharply since prices headed south last year.

Those declines haven't yet translated into a drop in actual output, which is running at multiyear highs, even though they have squelched production capacity.

The number of U.S. oil drilling rigs--a proxy for activity in the oil industry--has dropped about 50% from a peak of 1,609 in October.

Baker Hughes said the suspension of the quarterly well count report is effective immediately and is in response to the market downturn that has many oil companies under pressure and looking for ways to reduce costs.

The company struck a deal in November to be acquired by larger rival Halliburton Co. for almost $35 billion, underscoring the new realities for energy companies in a world suddenly awash with oil.

Oil-field services companies like Baker Hughes and Halliburton, which are hired to drill and pump wells, are facing less demand for their services and pressure to cut prices.

Baker Hughes Chief Executive Martin Craighead warned in January that results in 2015 would be pressured by the drop in oil prices as the company outlined plans to cut about 7,000 workers--or about 12% of its workforce--mostly during the first quarter.

Write to Lisa Beilfuss at [e-mail]

Access Investor Kit for Baker Hughes, Inc.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0572241075

Access Investor Kit for Halliburton Co.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US4062161017

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires