Meanwhile, plunging oil prices have reduced demand for drilling, complicating the oilfield-service giants’ efforts to find buyers for assets they would need to sell for the deal to pass regulatory muster, executives and experts say. The Justice Department, which is concerned the tie-up would suppress competition, is questioning whether other companies could buy some of these assets and become credible rivals to the combined company, according to people familiar with the matter. Halliburton recently met with the department’s top antitrust official, Bill Baer, to talk about the deal, some people familiar with the deliberations said, a sign the review process has reached a critical stage. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. Halliburton and Baker Hughes, which do the physical work of drilling wells and extracting oil and natural gas for energy companies, trail only Schlumberger Ltd. SLB -0.89 % in the marketplace. “Everything about this deal has turned […]