Oil field services company Baker Hughes reported a steep decline in revenue from North American operations, stressing its merger with Halliburton was progressing. Companies like Baker Hughes that work in the exploration and production, or upstream, side of the energy sector are facing economic headwinds in an era of historically low oil prices. Baker Hughes said third quarter revenue in North America alone was down 57 percent year-on-year because of “sharply lower activity and unfavorable pricing.” In its weekly rig count report, a metric used to gauge the health of the exploration and production sector, Baker Hughes reported the seventh-straight weekly decline in activity in the United States. “In North America, margins declined further driven […]