Merck prepares for generic competition: Merck & Co. plans to cut as many as 13,000 more jobs under a new round of restructuring in preparation for generic competition for its top-selling drug and slower revenue growth in the U.S. and Europe. The announcement came today as the drug maker reported a higher second-quarter profit than a year ago, when about $2 billion in charges hurt results. The news drove Merck shares down more than 2%. The new cuts would bring to 30,000 the positions targeted for elimination since Merck’s November 2009 megadeal to buy Schering-Plough Corp., on top of about 5,000 positions the companies cut before the deal closed. Most of the new job cuts will come from headquarters and other administrative functions. The company also will close some offices and manufacturing sites, CEO Kenneth Frazier told analysts during a conference call. The cuts are to be made by 2015 and won’t start in earnest until next year.
La. adds four rigs: The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by eight this week to 1,908. Houston-based drilling product provider Baker Hughes reported today that 1,025 rigs were exploring for oil and 877 for natural gas. Six were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week the rig count stood at 1,586. Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana gained four rigs, and Alaska and New Mexico each gained two. Pennsylvania lost three rigs; Arkansas, Colorado, North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming each lost two; and California lost one. Oklahoma and West Virginia were unchanged. The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. A low of 488 was recorded in 1999.
