Two of the biggest independent oil explorers in the North Sea have predicted a further 10,000 jobs will be lost from the sector, indicating a growing acceptance that oil prices are stuck in a prolonged slump.

Repsol SA said Thursday it will sell €6.2 billion ($7.1 billion) of noncore assets through 2020 as part of a cost-cutting drive, which also includes a significant cut in oil-exploration spending.

He gave the warning in a statement as Schlumberger reported third-quarter earnings per share that were 48 per cent below the equivalent period of 2014, but slightly above analysts’ expectations.

Brent crude was down 24 cents at $49.00 a barrel. Prices have more than halved from June 2014. U.S. crude fell 39 cents to $46.27 a barrel.

Spanish oil major Repsol said on Wednesday its net profit could fall by up to 22 percent in 2015, hit by low crude prices and a loss of value of some of its North-American assets which will trigger a big impairment charge in the third quarter.

World economic growth has been revised down to 3.1% for 2015 and to 3.4% for 2016. While OECD growth remains unchanged at 2.0% for 2015 and 2.1% in 2016, major emerging economies are increasingly facing challenges. China’s and India’s growth forecasts have been revised down by 0.1 percentage points to now stand at 6.8% and 6.4% for China and at 7.4% and 7.6% for India in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

The demand outlook for next year is looking softer mainly due to recent downgrades to the macroeconomic outlook and expectations that crude oil prices will not see repeats of the heavy losses of 2015.

"Considerable uncertainties" surrounded the U.S. economic outlook, particularly the drag on exports from slowing global growth, low investment caused by the decline in oil prices and a “disappointing” recent drop in U.S. job growth.

The oil price collapse over the past 16 months has forced the world’s biggest energy companies to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in future spending to bolster their balance sheets. But Ali al-Naimi — oil minister and architect of the Saudi strategy to maintain output and keep prices low to hobble its rivals — voiced a commitment to press on with investments in exploration, production and refining.

Saudi Arabia’s policy has resulted in about $220 billion worth of investment cuts worldwide, much of which is a result of project deferrals, including deepwater projects off West Africa and in the Gulf of Mexico.