A total of 351,410 jobs have been slashed by oil and gas production companies worldwide, with the oilfield services sector bearing much of this burden, according to a new report released this week.

The report, based on statistical analysis by Houston-based Graves & Co., puts the number of jobs lost in the oilfield services sector at 152,015 now—or 43.2 percent of the global total since oil prices began to slump in mid-2014.

The exploration and production (E&P) sector was the second worst sufferer, registering more than 80,000 layoffs, followed by the drilling sector, which has seen more than 52,000 job cuts.



Related: Oil Prices Slip As Stronger Dollar Outweighs Bullish IEA Data

U.S.-specific data from the report shows that nearly 100,000 people lost their jobs in the oil and gas extraction and supporting segments between October 2014 and January this year. More than half of those were in Texas, according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor.

“For a long time, job cuts in the E&P sector lagged behind the oilfield service, drilling and supply sectors as oil and gas producers attempted to hold on to important talent,” said John Graves, president of Graves & Co. “As the downturn has persisted beyond the expectations of many in the industry, the impetus to cut costs has significantly affected those responsible for finding, developing and producing oil and gas.”



Related: EPA Launches New Methane Rules For Oil And Gas

Job cut counts used in the report are based on public announcements, WARN Act notices and extrapolations from the Baker Hughes rig count.

The analysis was launched in January 2015 and includes job data and layoff announcements dating back to June 2014, when crude oil prices began their downward slide.

In November 2015, Graves & Co. issued a similar report, showing 250,000 job losses in the sector worldwide at that time.

By James Burgess of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: