Statoil could shed 2,400 jobs in May, or nearly 11 percent of the total workforce, as the Norwegian oil giant cuts costs following the plunge in global oil prices, an Oslo business daily reported yesterday. Dagens Naerinsliv, citing a labor representative, said the cuts would hit engineering staff, particularly those drilling and maintaining wells, as well as administrative staff. "We are working on reinforcing the productivity within the company and that could have consequences in terms of jobs, but it is too early to speculate on their number," Statoil spokesman Jannik Lindbaek told AFP. The cuts are part of a program to generate $1.7 billion in annual savings from 2016 that Statoil announced last year when oil prices were still above $100 per barrel.