BP to cut Houston jobs, reduce US Gulf business
British oil giant BP is laying off employees in Houston, Texas, to cope with falling oil prices, but the company declined to say how many jobs will be cut.
The firm expects all of its organizational changes to be completed by the end of the first quarter, with more layoff announcements to come in the next few weeks. In late June 2014, BP had 7,200 employees in Houston when oil prices were higher.
Headcount reductions in its Gulf business have come the same day BP announced it sold around half of its equity stake in two major Gulf oil fields to Chevron. Earlier this week, BP told employees it would freeze pay across the company this year.
“The current price environment has caused operators to look at their cost structure and undertake efforts to drive efficiencies,” BP spokesman Brett Clanton said.
BP has divested more than $43 B in assets in recent years to slim down after it incurred $42 B in liabilities related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Late last year, BP said it would incur restructuring charges of $1 B in the fourth quarter of 2014 through the end of 2015. The restructuring charges will stem largely from severance packages after the company makes thousands of layoffs around the world.
Comments