Oil-field service companies are slashing costs amid an industry-rattling fall in crude prices, and no cut is too small—such as using white paint instead of yellow on underwater equipment. “It’s not big money,” said Hallvard Hasselknippe, president of subsea at Technip SA, TKPPY -2.80 % noting that adding pigment to make the industry standard yellow paint is more expensive. “There are many examples like this.” The French energy engineering and construction company has been forced to take more drastic measures as well, saying in July it would cut 6,000 jobs. But scouring for even small cost savings marks a significant shift for the oil industry, which is renowned for its giant, customized projects that over the past decade became ever more complex and expensive. Such moves come amid upheaval in the oil-field services industry, which finds itself competing for a shrinking number of oil projects with crude now trading […]