Workforce

Halliburton Co., in survival mode as oilfields are shunned worldwide, is sending another 5,000 people home, slashing its workforce by another 8%, the company confirmed on Thursday.

A combined Royal Dutch Shell plc and BG Group plc would have about 2,800 fewer workers after global workforce reductions, Shell said Monday, as the planned combination received its final pre-conditional regulatory approval.

The U.S. mining/extraction industry, which includes the oil and gas sectors, had 104,700 fewer jobs in September than a year ago, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday.

Pittsburgh has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory to accelerate the growth of and access to energy jobs in the city and across the country.

Statoil SA, which controls a broad portfolio of onshore and offshore leaseholds in North America, is reducing its workforce again, adding on to an enormous reduction in the industry’s workforce since the start of the year. One major Canadian drilling group expects up to 25,000 industry drilling jobs to be gone by the end of the year, while another put direct and indirect job losses in Canada at close to 185,000.

Statoil SA, which controls a broad portfolio of onshore and offshore leaseholds in North America, is reducing its workforce again, adding on to an enormous reduction in the industry's workforce since the start of the year. One major Canadian drilling group expects up to 25,000 industry drilling jobs to be gone by the end of the year, while another put direct and indirect job losses in Canada at close to 185,000.

With close cooperation with its major unions, a lot of new management expertise and a commitment throughout its company workforce, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) natural gas system has risen from the trauma of the San Bruno pipeline rupture and explosion two and a half years ago, Nick Stavropoulos, PG&E Corp. executive vice president of gas operations, told an energy conference in Houston Tuesday.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) announced leadership of its committees and subcommittees for 2013 as elected by the MSC board of directors. Committee chairs announced by MSC are Range Resources’ Bill Burket (health and safety); Seneca Resources’ Mike Donovan (land affairs); Pennsylvania General Energy’s Craig Mayer (legal committee); MarkWest Energy Partners’ Dave Callahan (legislative committee); EOG Resources’ Gary Smith (membership committee); MarkWest’s Rob McHale (midstream/pipeline committee); Chesapeake Energy’s Will Freeman (natural gas use); XTO Energy’s Karen Matusic (public relations); Chief Oil & Gas’s Terry Bossert (regulatory); Chevron’s Alan Abel (research collaborative); Consol Energy’s Ryan Litwinovich (supply chain); Southwestern’s Jennifer Stewart (tax and fee); Range’s Joe Frantz (technical); Cabot Oil & Gas’s John Smelko (environmental stewardship); WPX Energy’s Charles McCandless (transportation); and Atlas Energy’s Viola Lazzer (workforce).

Ground has been broken for the Frontier Oasis, a 112-bed workforce housing camp in Karnes County, TX. It is to open in September four miles West of Kenedy, TX, along Farm Route 2102. The flat rate all-inclusive camp will offer Eagle Ford Shale workers three all-you-can-eat meals per day; to-go sack lunches; housekeeping and laundry services, indoor and outdoor recreational facilities; high-definition television and wireless internet; and an on-site general store. Karnes County currently leads the booming Eagle Ford in drilling rigs, and the camp is expected to play a major role in providing much-needed housing, food and laundry services for the operators and service companies in the area. The commercial buildings for the project will be provided by Houston-based Teton Buildings LLC. Bryan, TX-headquartered Frontier Oilfield Solutions will be constructing and operating the camp. A recent study identified housing as a critical need for Eagle Ford workers and area residents (see Shale Daily, July 11).