National Oilwell Varco adds to energy job carnage
6,000 positions eliminated and 200 facilities expected to close as a decline in business slams the Houston company
DRILLING rig maker National Oilwell Varco has cut nearly 6,000 jobs in the first quarter and plans to close a total of 200 facilities as it copes with a punishing oil bust and a glut of offshore rigs.
In an interview Thursday, Chief Executive Clay Williams didn’t say whether the Houston-based company is planning to cut more jobs beyond the 6,000 this year, but he said the company is “continuing to adjust our cost.”
“It’s challenged. But there have been 400 discoveries made offshore awaiting development,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of very smart people trying to make it more efficient. I can’t tell you when the recovery is going to come, but it’s out there.”
At the beginning of the year, the company employed 50,000 worldwide, including 9,000 in the Houston area.
National Oilwell Varco’s layoff announcement comes on the heels of deep job cuts by services companies Schlumberger, Halliburton and Baker Hughes. Those three shed a combined 18,000 workers in the first quarter.
NOV posted a $21 million loss in the first quarter, with revenue sinking 55 percent compared with the same three months a year ago.
Cuts are also coming at ConocoPhil-
lips as the oil producer posted the fourth straight quarterly loss amid an oil rout that continues to strain independent producers.
The 2016 capital budget was lowered by 11 percent to $5.7 billion, primarily driven by cuts to deep-water exploration activity, deferrals and lower costs across the portfolio, the Houston-based company said in a statement Thursday. The producer maintained its full-year guidance for production and operating costs, and its earnings per share beat analysts’ estimates by 10 cents.
“During the quarter, we took actions to conserve cash, improve liquidity and position the company for strong performance as prices improve,” Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance said in the statement. “We reduced our dividend, further reduced our 2016 capital expenditures guidance, raised low-cost debt and continued to improve our cost structure.”
ConocoPhillips’ first-quarter net loss was $1.5 billion, or $1.18 a share. That compares with a profit of $272 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the per-share loss was 95 cents, better than the $1.05 average of 22 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.