Norway's oil services firm Aker Solutions to cut up to 900 jobs

Norwegian oil services company Aker Solutions said Friday it would cut up to another 900 jobs, meaning it will have shed more than one in ten jobs since oil prices began sliding in 2014.

The group said it was reorganising its maintenance, modifications and operations business where around 5,000 of its overall 16,000-strong workforce is employed.

It follows the recent loss of a big maintenance contract with Norwegian oil giant Statoil.

"The workforce reductions will be made through regular employee turnover, reassignments to other parts of the company and redundancies," Aker Solutions said in a statement.

The company had since July 2014 already reduced its workforce in Norway by around 1,300 permanent and temporary jobs.

Norway's economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector which accounts for more than 20 percent of its gross domestic product.

The slowdown in the oil sector has already led to the loss of 30,000 jobs since January 2014 and the Nordic country's current 4.6-percent unemployment rate is the highest in a decade.

Crude prices have shed three-quarters of the value in 18 months and dropped under $30 this week for the first time for 12 years.