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Marshall McCrea, chief commercial officer for the Dallas-based
company, said in a recorded message to employees the cuts would
begin Monday and affect about 6% of the company's staff,
according to two people familiar with the recording.
U.S. oil and gas producers have curtailed or shut in wells in
response to crude prices down 45% since the start of the year,
reducing deliveries to pipeline operators. Oil production could
decline as much as 2 million barrels per day by December, from
nearly 13 million barrels per day in January.
Fuel prices have collapsed to below many firms' cost of
production due to COVID-19-related travel lockdowns and a global
glut. U.S. energy companies on average have slashed their 2020
spending on new production by a third, and job cuts are
spreading across the industry.
Energy Transfer spokeswoman Vicki Granado declined to comment.
The company, which operates some 90,000 miles of oil and gas
pipelines including the Dakota Access Pipeline and Mariner East,
recently employed about 12,800 people, suggesting more than 750
staff would be affected.
Energy Transfer executives told investors in early May that it
would cut operational and capital expenses by up to $650 million
combined this year, with the possibility of up to another $400
million reduction in project spending.
The job cuts follow Chevron Corp's <CVX.N> disclosure this week
that it plans to pare between 10% and 15% of its workforce to
deal with falling demand and excess fuel supplies.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bangalore; writing by Gary
McWilliams; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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