Halliburton paid a $3.5 billion termination fee during the second and mandatorily redeemed $2.5 billion of senior notes during the period, resulting in $41 million pre-tax of redemption fees and associated costs.

It also booked impairments and other charges worth about $423 million pre-tax, related primarily to severance costs and asset impairments as the oilfield services major continued to “right-size” its cost structure.

Halliburton slashed nearly 9% from its global headcount, leaving staff levels at 50,000, a spokeswoman told Bloomberg in a statement.

While confident that operating loss margin would improve by 100 to 200 basis points next quarter, chief financial officer Mark M cCollum said on the conference call that “price negotiations have been a bar room brawl”

“In certain situations, as we’ve seen signs of recovery, we’ve elected to walk away from money-losing jobs in recent months,” he said.

Its North America revenue dropped 15%, but outperformed the average US rig count which was down 23% after falling 78% from its November 2014 peak.

However, Halliburton said the “landing point” for the falling rig count was reached in recent weeks, as it predicted in its last earnings call, and since then has improved by 26 over the last several weeks, reflecting operator confidence amid stabilising commodity prices.

The company is still witnessing “modest headwinds” in the eastern hemisphere. Its Middle East/Asia revenue declined 3% from the first quarter due to lower activity levels in Iraq, Australia and Indonesia.

In Europe/Africa/Commonwealth Independent States, revenue increased 2% sequentially, primarily due to a seasonal recovery of activity in the North Sea and Russia.

“We believe the North America market has turned,” Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar said.

“We expect to see a modest uptick in rig count during the second half of the year.

“With our growth in market share during the downturn, we believe we are best -positioned to benefit from any recovery, including a modest one.

“As we prepare for the upcycle, our approach to the market remains unchanged. We remain focused on consistent execution, generating superior financial performance, and providing industry-leading shareholder returns.”