Officials at Lafayette-based Frank's International announced Tuesday they will lay off 400 to 600 employees, or about 9 to 13 percent of its worldwide workforce.

The layoffs will occur "in areas and functions where we are experiencing the sharpest decline in activity levels," company officials said in a media release.

Frank's is the latest in a string of oil service companies that have announced reductions because of the unstable price of oil and because of the falling rig count in the United States.

“Frank’s has been impacted by the sudden and dramatic drop in energy prices and rig count that we have seen over the last seven to eight months,” officials said.

The price of a barrel of oil was $47.13, as of Wednesday morning.

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