Oil prices will begin to rise in the second half of the year as OPEC production will diminish its growth rhythm, shows an optimistic forecast done by  the International Energy Agency (IEA), which represents the largest importers of oil, writes  Mediafax.

IEA also considers that non-OPEC states will record a cumulative decrease in production of 350,000 barrels per day, from 1.3 million barrels per day to 950,000 barrels per day this year. Outside OPEC, the most significant restriction would take place in North America, stresses IEA. A production reflux will diminish the overheating on offer and prices will go up, reasons this institution.

In its monthly report, IEA believes that, although the reduction of growth rate of output is not sufficient for demand to catch up with the offer, there are signs suggesting a closing of the period of price decline, one of them being the sense of optimism on the part of US users who see the price drop an opportunity for expansion of economic activities.

However, before reaching a pattern of sustainable growth of consumption and global economy, big oil companies and well service firms record problems that pushes them to restructure their employee base.

For example, the American company Schlumberger, the largest oilfield services provider in the world, will lay off 9,000 employees due to the violent decline in crude oil quotations, which forces its major customers to remake their financial analyses in order to reduce costs. This restructuring affects over 7% of the workforce of the company which, in the past ten years, doubled the number of employees, says Bursa daily.

“As a response to the reduction of commodity prices and the expected decline in exploration and production spending in 2015, Schlumberger has decided to reduce its workforce in order to align to the level of activity planned for this year”, says CEO of Schlumberger, Paal Kibsgaard.

Net profit of the company declined in the last quarter of 2014 to 302 million dollars (23 cents /share) from 1.66 billion dollars (1.26 dollars/share) in the same period of 2013. The company says that it spent a billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2014 for restructuring.