Local Murphy Oil employees aid Houston co-workers affected by Hurricane Harvey

Employees of Murphy Oil Corp., headquartered in El Dorado, worked together to provide support and relief to fellow employees of the company in Houston after Hurricane Harvey.

Murphy has nearly 1,200 employees worldwide with major offices in Houston, Calgary and Kuala Lumpur. The Houston office is home to the company’s global exploration and production operations and 300 Murphy employees, according to a news release from Murphy Oil.

So when Houston was hit by Hurricane Harvey, it affected El Dorado as well.

While Murphy’s Houston office did not sustain any damage, the area around the building was flooded and the office was closed for a week. Nearly 10 percent of Murphy’s Houston staff sustained minor to major damage to their homes, with several losing everything.

Many of Murphy’s El Dorado employees serve on the Company’s Global Emergency Response Team and have worked tirelessly alongside Houston staff to ensure all of Murphy’s employees are safe.

“Our El Dorado staff has stepped up to carry part of the burden for our Houston staff,” said Roger Jenkins, Murphy president and chief executive officer. “But more importantly, they have reached out to their co-workers, their family.”

The company established a foundation to aid its employees who have been impacted by the storm. The Murphy Oil Corporation Disaster Relief Foundation was set up so the company, directors and employees could make donations which would provide grants to help employees in need. The foundation has already provided several grants to those hit hardest by Harvey so they could get the immediate help they needed to recover from the crisis they have endured.

Additionally, seven El Dorado employees drove company cars to Houston last week so employees who lost their vehicles would have transportation. The cars were loaded with supplies the Houston staff could use as they began helping their co-workers dig out from the damage.

“The cars were loaded with items which were difficult or nearly impossible to purchase in Houston,” Jenkins said, “but we could get easily in El Dorado.”

The assistance being offered to Murphy’s Houston employees has not been limited to its Arkansas counterparts. Teague Auto Group has also offered to help Murphy’s Houston family as well.

“Teague offered to assist our employees who lost their vehicles in the storm by offering discounts for them to purchase new vehicles, which they would transport to Houston for them,” Jenkins said. “This shows that El Dorado supports our Murphy family around the world, and we are appreciative of this.”

“Murphy is resilient,” Jenkins said. “We have endured the cyclical ebbs and flows of the oil industry for many years, and we’ve withstood natural disasters and failing economies. But when our Murphy family suffers, we really step up and pull each other through.”