Oil and natural gas firm Apache Corporation will cut 6 percent of its total workforce, or the equivalent of 216 employees, to reduce costs.

The company said the layoffs are the result of current activity levels, caused by lower commodity prices, company spokesman Bill Mintz told Dow Jones Newswires.

The company has a workforce of about 3,600 employees worldwide.

Earlier in 2009, the third largest oil company in the U.S., Conoco Phillips, cut 4 percent of its workforce or 1,350 employees.

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