Cuts

Denver-based SM Energy Co., whose Texas-centered operations plow the Eagle Ford Shale and Midland formation of the Permian Basin, said Wednesday it has reduced spending and activity to the rest of the year, with guidance uncertain because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

One month after it cut expenditures by almost one-third, Houston’s Noble Energy Inc. has joined a growing group of peers in reducing even more spend, with the hit mostly to U.S. onshore operations, while it furloughs employees and cuts salaries in response to the never-ending impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic and sharp decline in oil and gas demand.

The energy sector was quick to take a red pen to the 2020 budget in March as the coronavirus turned into a pandemic and the price war continued overseas, but some operators are finding they have to cut deeper in the face of uncertain demand for oil and gas.

The energy sector was quick to take a red pen to the 2020 budget in March as the coronavirus turned into a pandemic and the price war continued overseas, but some operators are finding they have to cut deeper in the face of uncertain demand for oil and gas.

More than 3,000 people based in Houston have been furloughed by Halliburton Co., while ConocoPhillips and other big producers continue to cut capital spending in an increasingly dire situation, as the coronavirus and oil price war sink 2020 operating plans.

Gulfport Energy Corp. on Monday said it has cut 13% of its workforce and suspended a share repurchase program as part of ongoing efforts to boost shareholder value.

With prices fetched by Alberta heavy oil on the rise, the provincial government Wednesday reduced mandatory production cuts to 250,000 b/d from the 325,000 b/d ordered on Dec. 2.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. is reducing its workforce by 17%, or by more than 200 employees, potentially to save the Calgary-based company more than C$50 million annually as it works to “become a more focused and efficient company with a stronger balance sheet,” management said.

As it looks to protect its balance sheet in 2016, SM Energy Co. will focus its drilling and completion activity on the Permian Basin “to the maximum extent possible,” shifting to an oilier mix as it weathers the downturn in commodity prices.