UPDATE 1-Weatherford to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

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May 10 (Reuters) - Oilfield services provider Weatherford International Plc, burdened by a heavy debt load and years of losses, said on Friday it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company, which at its peak was valued at more than $50 billion, never recovered from the 2014 oil price collapse. Efforts under Chief Executive Officer Mark McCollum to quickly sell assets and pare debt struggled.

Weatherford's shares plunged 61% to 14 cents in extended trading on Friday after reporting the plan to seek protection from creditors and a near doubling of its quarterly loss.

For the period ended March 31, its posted a loss of $481 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with a deficit of $245 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier. Revenue fell 5.4 percent to $1.35 billion.

A spokesman was unavailable to comment.

When asked on an earnings call in February about considering filing for bankruptcy protection, McCollum, the former finance chief of rival Halliburton, said, "I don't waste a lot of time thinking or planning how to fail."

Weatherford reported total liabilities of $10.6 billion and assets of $6.52 billion on March 31. It has not reported a quarterly profit in four years.

The company said it expects to enter into two debtor-in-possession financing, including a revolving credit facility of up to $750 million provided by banks or other lenders and a loan facility of up to $1 billion. (http://bit.ly/2VvvO5y) (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru and Gary McWilliams in Houston; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Cynthia Osterman)