Houston Chronicle by James Osborne , Sergio Chapa and Erin Douglas April 24, 2020
The mass shutdown of Texas oil fields has begun after an unprecedented crash that last week drove crude prices into negative territory for the first time in history. From the Permian Basin in the west to the Eagle Ford in the south, drilling rigs are getting pulled from operation, wells are getting plugged and layoff notices are going out fast, bringing an abrupt halt to one of the world’s great oil booms.
A decade after the shale revolution revived the state’s oil production -- eventually increasing five-fold to a record 5.4 million barrels a day in January - Texas oil and gas workers watched with mouths agape Monday as the price of the U.S. benchmark crude, West Texas Intermediate, fell to negative $37 on plunging energy demand and shrinking storage capacity.
One day in early April, oil field services giant Halliburton laid off more than 600 people across Texas and Oklahoma. Three days later, in a 24-hour span, five oil field services companies informed the Texas Workforce Commission they were laying off a combined 1,100 workers.
The next day, Houston-based Pacific Drilling laid off more than 80 crew members from its drilling ship in the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Sharav.
Since mid-March, more than 17,000 oil field layoffs have been announced across Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and New Mexico, according to analysis of state employment records.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/The-great-Texas-oil-shut-in-has-begun-15224199.php
