Just two weeks after announcing huge cutbacks to its deepwater drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, ConocoPhillips said on Thursday its cost-cutting has not finished.
The Houston-based multinational energy company has cited the continuing weakness of the oil price for three phases of cutbacks already this year as it aims to cut $1 billion in operating costs over a two-year period.
So far the energy exploration and production giant has axed between 1,000 and 1,500 jobs which is about five per cent of its workforce.
But an ongoing review of operations is sure to result in more layoffs, a spokesman said.
The company says its hand is forced by the 50 per cent drop in oil prices in a year – the current drastic downturn began in June 2014.
Yet despite the bloodletting in its budget and on the workforce, Conoco was able to report better-than-expected profit and output for the second quarter.
After adjusting for one-time, non-cash items the company’s earnings were $81 million or a 7 cent gain on its share price. Production was the equivalent of 1.595 million barrels of oil a day, about the same as a year earlier.
