The oil price rout forced Hunting to lay off “just under 100 workers” in the north-east of Scotland last year, the energy service firm said yesterday.
Hunting reduced its global headcount by 30% to 2,784 in 2015 as part of cost-cutting measures which were brought in amid a severe slump in drilling activity.
Chief executive Dennis Proctor said the outlook for the industry was “bleak”, adding: “We are in a wilderness without a single path to guide us.”
A spokeswoman for Hunting, which is run from offices in London and Houston, said the firm’s North American workforce was hardest hit by the job losses.
Hunting closed four operating sites in North America and is preparing to close three distribution centres.
She said the cuts to Hunting’s north-east workforce left the firm with about 350 workers in the region, where it has bases in Aberdeen and Portlethen.
Confirmation of the job losses followed news that underlying pre-tax profits at the firm nosedived 95% last year to £6.6million on revenue of £572million.
Hunting spent £57million on finishing or continuing projects last year, down from £87million in 2014.
The company slashed its total dividend for the year by 74% to 5.7p per share.
Chairman Richard Hunting said: “Hunting had a challenging year in 2015, with the downturn in oil prices proving deeper and more prolonged than almost anyone was predicting.”
Mr Hunting expressed his “deep regret” at the job losses, adding: “We do not know when the return to normality in our markets will come, but come it certainly will.”