The leadership team of Abraxas Petroleum is following the example of their CEO by voluntarily cutting their fees in a drastic measure to stay afloat.
Related: Abraxas Chief Slashes Salary
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week, the executive officers of Abraxas announced that they will take a voluntary reduction in salary of 20%, effective February 1, 2016. Also taking cuts will be Abraxas employees who meet certain salary thresholds and the Board of Directors, who have agreed to take a 20% reduction in their fees.
In September, 2015, Abraxas' president and CEO, Robert Watson voluntarily cut his salary by 20 percent due to stressful market conditions. This was in the middle of a rough quarter where Abraxas posted a net loss of $52.4 million and the company’s production fell to 552,000 barrels of oil equivalent from 645,000 barrels.
Things changed drastically since 2014, when the company reported its best year on record and compensated Robert Watson over $900,000.
2016 has gotten off to a rough start as the Eagle Ford rig count continued its decline, ending last week with only 74 rigs running across the area. Analysts are predicting that the Eagle Ford will lead the pack for huge losses in early 2016.
Read more: Eagle Ford Headed for Big Losses
Abraxas currently operates on ~10,891 net Eagle Ford acres in Atascosa, McMullen, DeWitt and Lavaca counties.