News of more Texas job cuts circulated around the news wires yesterday, adding to the strain of the current downturn.
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The beginning of 2016 has been less than stellar as the situation in the oil and gas industry continues to deteriorate. Throughout January, crude prices fluctuated wildly dipping to below $30 at one point, while rig counts across the country dropped to 619 last week. Additionally,industry giants Halliburton and Schlumberger announced a new rash of layoffs last month that will cut 14,000 job cuts nationwide.
The news is Texas is not any better with the Texas Workforce Commission reporting new layoffs in the oil and gas industry that will total over 539 jobs.
The TWC is reporting the following job cuts since January 1st:
- Maersk Drilling: 80 jobs in January
- Noble Drilling: 120 jobs in March
- Southwestern Energy Company: 376 jobs in March
- Tenaris Corp.: 166 jobs in March
- National Oilwell Varco: 129 jobs in May
- Quicksilver Resources Inc: 164 jobs in April. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March of 2015 and plans to sell all of its assets while working to restructure its businesses.
After oil prices began their decent last year, it took a little time for the reality of the low oil prices to finally trickle down. But by October 2015, the industry lost an estimated 200,000 jobs with around 60,000 in Texas alone.