Sorry to hear that, heard about both Aker and Murphy layoffs. Best of luck...

I don't know, apparently the layoffs started early August and at least 30+ have been given the letter already. Again this is 3rd hand info so take it with a grain of salt.

Tok Bali is still coming up, I was there some time back and still lots to be done, even more time before more tenants actually move in.

stanzai is correct, rig counts have dropped here in the US. Many operators aren't drilling at all, there are quite a number of layoffs in the shale producing areas (ND, PA, TX). There's a sense of unease in Houston although companies are still consolidating ie. closing offices outside of Houston and moving people back to TX. I expect 2016 to be worse.

KSA apparently is hurting as well from what I've read.

There are several advantages to the SLB job, first it interests you which to me is very important. Second is the SLB brand name itself, and finally a service company tends to give you more exposure compared to a PSC/operator. The money is a side advantage but look into whether or not it's an apples to apples comparison ie. permanent vs contract, benefits etc.

The risks are that most service companies will lay off people far quicker.

Personally I'd take that risk and go to SLB, having experience and several brand names (multinational + SLB) makes a difference in the future, also you get to build your network too.

Yes Tok Bali is the 3rd largest after Kemaman and Labuan, but it's the 3rd largest out of 3 supply bases

I haven't been there for several months but the construction is moving.

I haven't looked at the detailed commercial contracts, but how does Petronas get hit worse in today's situation? I thought all the partners including Petronas would be hit equally bad?

Also Petronas as a group has their downstream business which makes money to cover for their PCSB upstream. Many of the PSC aren't integrated companies, just upstream so I would venture that the PSCs are the ones being hit worse.

I've talked to some of the commercial/strategy people at these companies while I was in Houston and it's not just pride. There are several smaller companies doing unconventionals/shale in North America so getting all of them inline to reduce production will be difficult. Also there's the legal side of things ie. DOJ & collusion plus land owners potentially suing because they're not getting enough royalties etc.

But I agree with you, they only way they'll go without reducing production is down and out.

In all honesty, even if the shale oil companies goes bankrupt or shuts down, Exxon/Chevron or another big oil will take over, or a private group will do so. There's some risk aversion but there's also a lot of capital out there and a lot of willingness to spend while capital (and to a certain extent contracts/labor) are relatively cheap. The feeling I got while I was there was how the US companies are using technology to improve production and reduce costs. Obama lifting the crude export ban is driving this too.

I do see an extended price stagnation and agree mostly with Kaletsky's article from Jan 2015 where "the marginal cost of US shale oil (~$50) would become a ceiling for global oil prices, whereas the costs of relatively remote and marginal conventional oilfields in OPEC and Russia would set a floor (~$20)"

China isn't consuming energy the way it used to and the world economy is stagnating as well. I'm not looking forward to it but $20-$50 oil price seems to be the norm for what looks like a long time.