Five oil companies operating in the Western region have served a redundancy notice to some of their local workers through their unions.

Halliburton, Schlumberger, Stellar Logistics and two other firms have informed the General Transport and Petroleum Workers Union about their downsizing plans.

Scores of Ghanaian workers with these oil companies will, thus lose their jobs soon.

The oil firms say they are compelled to downsize as a result of an adverse domino effect on their revenue due to the sharp fall in crude oil prices on the international market.

Crude prices have fallen to a record five-year low and have been hovering between 50 and 60 dollars per barrel, from the more than 100 dollars per barrel prices of the past.

Major players in the OPEC community, especially the oil-rich Arab countries have said the high crude oil prices have always been artificial. While some countries and companies are gaining from the sharp crude price fall, others, especially oil firms are reeling under the fall.

The firms will be negotiating severance packages with the unions of the local workers penned down for axing.