"It's never a good time to lose your job, but as far as the time in the cycle for energy prices, it could be a whole lot worse," he said. The timing could be beneficial to employees affected by the layoffs, Dauffenbach said. I anticipate we're looking at a floor that is higher than what we've seen in the past."Ĭhesapeake's layoff announcement came as the oil and natural gas industry is bouncing back from its deepest downturn since the 1980s. "We're still seeing some reverberations from the down cycle, but we've also had very rapid growth in energy prices. "We've got an industry in long-term upturn," said Dauffenbach, director of the Center for Economic and Management Research at OU's Price College of Business. 28, 2015, when it let go 740 employees, including 562 in Oklahoma City.ĭespite Tuesday's announcement, the oil and natural gas industry in Oklahoma and throughout the country continues to expand, University of Oklahoma economist Robert Dauffenbach said. The last time Chesapeake severed its ties with hundreds of employees was Sept. Contact him at Please support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a subscription today at /subscribe.Following Tuesday's layoffs, Chesapeake has about 2,900 employees, including about 1,800 in Oklahoma City. This latest deal offered investors unsecured debt at a weighted coupon rate of just 5.68% with $500 million of the notes maturing in 2026 and the remainder maturing in 2029.Īt least one financial reporting service published an item on Wednesday that stated there was far more interest in acquiring the debt from investors than there was debt available, with investors placing orders worth more than $12 billion.īusiness writer Jack Money covers Oklahoma’s energy and agricultural beats for the newspaper and. The December 2019 offering of $2.3 billion carried a coupon (interest) rate of 11.5%, and the debt offering had to be secured with Chesapeake assets. This debt offering, compared to one Chesapeake issued in December of 2019, signals a new attitude from investors. On Tuesday, the company announced investors acquired $1 billion through an offering of unsecured debt the company issued to raise cash for its post-bankruptcy operations. If reported interest is any indication, it would seem that investors are confident about Chesapeake Energy’s future. “We would prefer to make these difficult notifications in person, but we are unable to do so because of the current health concerns that are well known to all.”Īfter the layoffs, Chesapeake Energy’s employee count stands at about 1,300, with 800 people working in Oklahoma City, a spokesman said Wednesday.
In the email, Lawler stated affected Oklahoma City workers were being notified by phone this morning, while field personnel who were cut were notified Tuesday afternoon. These factors have resulted in the painful decision to reduce our workforce,” he wrote. “We must continue to focus on building efficiencies across our enterprise.
Lawler wrote that he personally thanks each departing employee for their service to the company. Affected employees are getting a severance package that includes a cash payment and the final cash installment of the company’s 2020 bonus program and the offer of career transition assistance.
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