Bleak oil price

ROYAL Dutch Shell, which reported a 37% drop in its second-quarter profits, has said that it is cutting 6,500 jobs as it prepares for a “prolonged downturn” in crude prices. Shell’s job cuts come as another UK oil major, Centrica, said it will release 6,000 employees. Over in the United States, oil producers like Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Halliburton have also announced they are cutting thousands of jobs, as the industry grapples with a 50% slump in crude prices in the past year.

If news reports quoting captains of industry are anything to go by, then it is unlikely oil will recover anytime in the near future.