Cenovus Energy cuts 440 jobs

Calgary-based energy heavyweight Cenovus is cutting hundreds of positions citing the price of oil again, the company announced Thursday.

So far in 2016, 190people mostly contractorshave left, but another 250 positions in the company's Calgary and field office locations will be cut in coming weeks.

Company spokespersonBrett Harris saysit's a tough time in the energy industry and the decision was difficult.

"This is a reaction to continued low oil prices and the fact that we've had to reduce our overall spending. Because of that we have some areas where we just don't have work and we've had to match the size of our workforce to the size of our budget," Harris said.

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CenovusEnergy reported a loss of about $480 million in its fourth quarter.

The company hadalready reduced its workforce by about 1,600or 31 per centin 2015 and the first part of this year.

BrianFerguson, the company's president and CEO, had forecast the latest cuts earlier this month, citing the worst business environment he had seen in 35 years.

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