Murphy Oil Corporation announced on Wednesday it is closing its Calgary office, home to about 110 employees, and its El Dorado, Arkansas legacy headquarters office, home to about 80 employees, to consolidate all worldwide staff activities to its existing office location in Houston, Texas as the new corporate headquarters.
The move came because of the “extraordinary drop in crude oil prices,” said the company.
“Over the past several months, we have taken several actions to significantly reduce costs, including cutting this year’s capital expenditures by approximately 50 per cent, or $700 million, lowering the company’s dividend by 50 per cent, or $76.5 million on an annualized basis, and lowering executive officers’ salaries on average 22 per cent, with the chief executive officer’s reduced by 35 per cent. We realize, reluctantly, that we need to consolidate our offices to capture additional cost savings to remain competitive in this unprecedented industry environment. We simply do not have a choice and came to this decision only after exhausting all other cost saving measures,” said Claiborne Deming, Chairman of the Board, in a news release.
“The El Dorado office closure is particularly painful and difficult, because the company was founded here by C. H. Murphy, Jr. and has been an integral and important part of the community for many years.”
“This decision is one we take with sadness, but with the understanding that our only path forward is to consolidate into one office in Houston. The company recognizes the hardship this decision causes to many in El Dorado and Calgary, and we are committed to treating all those impacted consistent with past practices and plan to offer appropriate severance arrangements,” said Roger Jenkins, President and Chief Executive Officer. “These actions will not impact our field operations in the US and Canada, and we anticipate these office closures to be completed early in the third quarter 2020.”
