British oil giant BP said on Tuesday that it would eliminate 4,000 of the 24,000 positions in its exploration and production units this year.

That is in addition to about 4,000 jobs the company cut last year, when it trimmed its workforce to about 80,000.

After oil prices began dropping in 2014, BP was among the companies warning that the price plunge could be deep and sustained. After falling about one-third last year, prices are down an additional 15 per cent in the first 12 days of 2016. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was 2.4 per cent lower at $30.80 a barrel in late afternoon trading in Europe on Tuesday.

An estimated 250,000 oil industry jobs have been lost worldwide since the long price decline began.

– (Copyright New York Times 2016)