A Noble Energy rig off the south coast of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. (AP Photo/Cyprus Press and Information Office, File)
Noble Energy slashed 220 jobs Tuesday, joining a growing list of oil firms trimming their rolls as they struggle to rein in spending amid falling oil prices.
About 100 of those people worked in Houston, including in Noble’s corporate headquarters, the company said in a statement. Workers were also laid off at the firm’s offices in Denver, Greeley, Colorado and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
The cuts represent 10 percent of the company’s U.S. workforce.
Noble also plans to shutter its office in Ardmore, Oklahoma this summer and will transfer 90 jobs to Houston as part of a cost-saving corporate realignment that brings various company functions such as accounting, information technology and administration under one roof, the company said.
“Driven by the current commodity price environment, this decision will centralize resources and increase efficiencies,” the company said in a statement.
Some of the Ardmore employees will move to Houston; others who don’t relocate will get severance packages, Noble said. The company plans to look for local candidates to fill any remaining open positions in Houston, it said in a statement.
“Houston is our headquarters and we remain committed to our local communities as we are in all our core areas,” the firm said in a statement. “As we move forward, we will continue to create a competitive advantage for Noble Energy through innovation and focus on the essential drivers of our success – safety and environmental stewardship, operational excellence, financial strength and enhancing our portfolio for long-term growth.”
Noble Energy has been roiled by the global oil collapse and a dispute with Israel’s antitrust regulators that forced it to stall virtually nearly all of its offshore natural gas investments in the Mediterranean Sea. The company announced earlier this year that it was planning to pare back spending by 40 percent, with a bulk of the cuts targeting Noble’s projects in U.S. shale plays and the Gulf of Mexico.
