Oil Price Plunge Forces Energy Giant to Lay Off Workers, Cut Production

American energy giant Apache announced that budget cuts and a reduction in production in response to a more than 50 percent collapse in oil prices have forced it to lay off 5 percent of its workforce this week.

 

WASHINGTON, January 16 (Sputnik) — Budget cuts and a reduction in production in response to a more than 50 percent collapse in oil prices have forced American energy giant Apache to lay off 5 percent of its workforce this week, Apache told Sputnik on Thursday.

“It’s a step we took after pursuing other measures including a slowdown in activity and reduction in budgets given the current price environment,” Apache’s director of public affairs Castlen Kennedy said.

The layoffs will affect about 250 people out of 5000 employees worldwide.

Apache said the layoffs would not result in a change in production levels, but that they come following a reduction in budget and drilling activities which directly impact production.

A preliminary 2015 plan released in November showed a reduction in the company’s North American budget of nearly 30 percent and a reduction in rig count, the company said.

Apache is 179 on the Fortune 500, a list that ranks the top publically held US corporations. The company’s stock has fallen from around $101 per share in September to $60 on January 15. The company operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Egypt and Australia.