OSLO, April 23 (Reuters) - Oil producer Royal Dutch Shell will lay off 120 of its 900 workers in Norway andreduce its contractor force by 140 from 350, as low oil pricesforce it to cut costs, it said on Thursday.
Shell said 100 of the staff cuts would be at itsheadquarters in Stavanger on Norway's west coast while 20 jobswould be eliminated at its operations department inKristiansand.
Oil firms in Norway are expected to cut investments byaround 15 percent this year, the industry's lobby grouppredicted earlier. Spending could fall further in 2016 as energyfirms hold back future developments after crude prices halved.
"Shell's Norwegian producing fields are facing decliningproduction in the years to come," the firm said. "In addition, anumber of major projects are either completed or about to becompleted, without new correspondingly large projects planned inthe foreseeable future."
"Falling oil prices have reinforced the need for changes,"it added.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; editing by Susan Thomas)