By Maria Armental
WPX Energy Inc. is laying off 83 workers and consolidating
operations to its headquarters, citing sharply lower commodity
prices.
About 120 workers will be receiving offers to relocate to Tulsa,
Okla., WPX said, adding it plans to keep fewer than 15 workers at
its Denver office.
Last month, the exploration and production company said it was
slashing its capital plan for the current year to $725 million,
compared with the $1.8 billion it spent in 2014, given the lower
oil and gas prices.
WPX, spun off in 2011 from pipeline operator Williams Cos.,
drills for oil and natural gas in North Dakota, New Mexico and
Colorado.
The layoffs account for about 8% of its workforce, the company
said.
WPX has been selling assets to sharpen its geographic focus
while seeking to diversity its historically gas-weighted
production. In the fourth quarter, oil and natural gas liquids
sales accounted for 50% of product revenues and 28% of production
volumes.
So far this year, the company said it had completed the sale of
its international interests for about $294 million and its
Marcellus Shale operations and transportation contract for about
$300 million. It intends to sell its remaining interest in the
Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania along with its Powder River Basin
operations in Wyoming.
Overall, WPX reported a profit of $219 million, or $1.06 a
share, in the fourth quarter compared with a year-earlier loss of
$973 million, or $4.85 a share. Excluding certain items, profit
fell to three cents a share from 36 cents a share a year
earlier.
Total revenue jumped 44% to $3.49 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected a loss of 15
cents and $671.7 million in revenue.
The company's stock closed at $10.77 on Monday, down 39% over
the past 12 months, and just shy of the 52-week-low of $10.01 set
during regular trading hours on Dec. 16.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
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