UPDATE 1-Penn West, ConocoPhillips cut combined 900 jobs in Canada

(Adds Penn West layoffs, quote)
By Nia Williams
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 1 (Reuters) - ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) COP.N
and Penn West Petroleum PWT.TO are eliminating a combined 900
jobs in Canada, the two companies said on Tuesday, as low oil
prices persist.
Both companies said most of their cuts would come from their
offices in Calgary, the corporate capital of Canada's 3.7
million barrel-per-day oil industry.
Global oil major ConocoPhillips is laying off 400 employees,
15 percent of its Canadian workforce, and 100 contractors.
Spokesman Rob Evans said the cuts, which staff were told
about on Monday, would take effect in mid-October.
"We had previously informed staff that there would be
reductions by the end of the year, so yesterday's announcement
was meant to add context and clarity to that conversation,"
Evans said.
ConocoPhillips, which has oil sands operations as part of
its international portfolio, is reducing its global workforce by
10 percent on average because of low oil prices.
News of the cuts came on the same day the company announced
first oil at its new Surmont 2 thermal project in northern
Alberta. ID:nWNAB085SB
Light-oil producer Penn West said it would lay off about 400
employees and contractors that make up 35 percent of its
workforce. ID:nL4N1173VU
Many oil industry workers were bracing for a fresh round of
layoffs in September after global crude benchmarks plunged to
6-1/2-year lows in August.
U.S. crude CLc1 was last trading at $45.61 a barrel, down
more than 50 percent since the slide started in June 2014.
The third quarter is typically the time when companies
complete their spending plans and budgets for next year.
Alberta alone has lost more than 35,000 oil patch jobs this
year, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum
Producers.