ConocoPhillips, one of the largest independent US oil producers, will lay off a quarter of its staff, in the latest indication of how the Trump administration’s energy policies put the interests of consumers and Big Oil at odds.
Renewed federal support for drilling in the US, combined with languid global oil demand and increasing drilling by OPEC countries, has pushed oil prices to their lowest level since the pandemic. Add to that tech advances that make it possible to drill more for less capex and with fewer people, many of them stationed in cheaper countries abroad, and a growing number of oil companies are looking to tighten their operations; Chevron also announced deep layoffs this year, and the overall US oil and gas workforce has shrunk by about 1% since January. More contractions could be coming soon. “Dark clouds continue to swirl on the horizon for oil,” Houston oil investor Dan Pickering wrote in a note Wednesday.
