Connect and Discover Sale: 25¢
Find essential local news anytime with unlimited digital access.
Act Now |
Photo by: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Another big oil deal announced last week carries the risk of layoffs and raises a key question: what to do with two Houston headquarters as two oil giants - ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil - become one company.
Executives for Conoco, which plans to acquire Marathon for $22.5 billion later this year, said during an investor call Wednesday that they expected the combined company to save $500 million annually in costs, including $250 million in general and administrative costs related to salaries, benefits and facilities.
That is likely to bring a reduction in force for the West Houston-headquartered oil companies as they eliminate areas of overlap.
The consolidation wave sweeping the oil industry is a double-edged sword for Houston, which benefits from healthy oil companies but feels the pain when keeping them healthy means consolidating staff and real estate.
Conoco, headquartered on North Eldrige, has 2,100 employees in Houston, the company said Thursday. Marathon, which relocated its corporate offices to West Houston's CityCentre in 2021, had 774 employees in Houston in 2022, when numbers were last made available.
No comments:
Post a Comment