Houston oilfield service company lays off dozens in Oklahoma

Houston-based NexTier Oilfield Solutions is laying off several dozen workers that provided hydraulic fracturing and other services to shale plays in Oklahoma.

NexTier has laid off 85 workers at its El Reno, Oklahoma service center since January, the company's assistant general counsel Scott Maddux confirmed in a Thursday letter to the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development.

"The layoffs result from the unforeseeable business circumstance of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impacts, including on the oil and gas market segments in which NexTier operates," Maddux wrote. "The precipitous worldwide decline in oil price when combined with an opportunistic supply shock initiated by foreign oil-producing countries has resulted in unprecedented adverse market conditions for American companies operating in the energy industry."

The company's letter was filed less than two weeks after NexTier announced that it would cut up to $110 million from its capital expenditure budget. NexTier plans to remove hydraulic fracturing fleets from service while reducing other expenses.

A showdown between Russia and Saudi Arabia has exacerbated a global supply glut while the coronavirus outbreak has lowered global demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed trading at $22.76 per barrel on Wednesday afternoon, a price not seen since March 2002.

Created by the October 2019 merger of C&J Energy Services and the Keane Group, NexTier Oilfield Solutions has more than 6,000 employees in shale plays across the United States. The company reported a $140 million loss on $1.8 million of revenue in 2019.

Source: houstonchronicle.com