President Obama With A Jobs Program For The Oil And Gas Industry ... In Iran -- April 21, 2015

Halliburton announced earlier a huge jobs cut, and now Baker Hughes.

Baker Hughes will cut 10,500 jobs. 

The number of job cuts announced Tuesday amount to 17% of the Houston-based company's workforce and is up from the 7,000 planned job cuts Baker Hughes announced in its fourth-quarter report. The company said it also closed or consolidated approximately 140 facilities worldwide.

Meanwhile, President Obama is doing what he can to help workers in the oil and gas industry in ... Iran. CNBC is reporting:

"Here we are thinking about lifting the sanctions on Iran and letting them export, and yet here we have sanctions in America that we can't export our oil. What's going on?" posited the founder of Continental Resources.

He echoed sentiments expressed by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, who spoke before the group on Monday and pledged to introduce legislation this year that would lift the ban on U.S. oil exports, in place since the 1970s.

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COP Considering Another Asset Sale

Seeking Alpha/Bloomberg reporting:

ConocoPhillips is exploring the sale of some its North Sea assets in Norway, including stakes in the Aasta Hansteen, Alvheim and Grane fields that are operated by other companies.

COP reportedly is running the disposal without advisers and has contacted potential buyers; if sold together, the three stakes could fetch as much as $1B.

A Reuters report last week indicated that COP was looking to sell select U.S. assets. Several U.S. producers have been selling overseas assets to focus on domestic opportunities amid the sharp drop in oil prices.