Oil giant BP has reported its worst annual loss in 20 years and announced that a further 3000 jobs will be cut, as decreasing oil prices continue to weigh heavily on the company.

Their annual loss for 2015 totalled $6.5 billion, after the company put aside another $440 million to cover costs from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which happened six years ago in the US Gulf. The 3000 job cuts will be on top of the 4000 already announced and amount to around 9 percent of their workforce. Fourth quarter underlying replacement cost profit, seen as BP’s net income figure, fell to $196 million – well below analysts expectations of around $730 million.

Oil prices have fallen significantly over the last 15 months, down around 70 percent, with Brent Crude trading at an average of $33 a barrel so far in 2016. BP have blamed falling oil prices for the results, with Chief Executive Bob Dudley saying that BP are currently trying to “adapt and rebalance” to cope with the changing environment.

Shares in BP have taken a hit on the news, trading down over 7 percent already this morning. They are currently down 7.64 at 338.9 (0946GMT).

02/02/2016