Noble reduces Pa. workforce by 20
Noble Energy eliminated 20 positions from its Pennsylvania operations, the company acknowledged Tuesday.
The cuts are part of the Houston, Texas-based energy giant’s organizational realignment which resulted in a reduction of a total of 220 people nationally.
The company said in an email it has 198 employees now working in Pennsylvania.
Noble, which said it continues to view the Marcellus Shale as a strategic growth area, said those impacted by the workforce reduction will receive a severance package and access to an employee assistance program and outplacement services.
With its Pennsylvania operations headquartered in Southpointe, Noble is a partner in Marcellus Shale development with its Southpointe neighbor, Consol Energy.
Last week, Consol also announced layoffs from its CNX Gas division as part of a workforce realignment because of low commodity prices for oil.
The company said the reductions amounted to less than 5 percent of its workforce.
Despite news of cuts in the region’s Marcellus workforce, the reductions could be a short-term occurrence, when viewed with data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which Tuesday released its “Annual Energy Outlook” a long-term view on the future of U.S. energy resources.
According to a release from the EIA, there will be continued strong growth in domestic production of crude oil from tight formations, which will reduce net imports of petroleum and other liquids, and in most scenarios projected by the agency, the United States will be a net exporter of natural gas by 2017 and a net exporter of oil by 2020.
The EIA said net natural gas trade, including liquefied natural gas exports, will depend largely on the effects of resource levels and oil prices, but projects the United States to transition from being a net importer of natural gas to a net exporter by 2017, with annual net exports in 2040 ranging from 3 trillion cubic feet to 13.1 Tcf.
The EIA also stated regional variations in domestic crude oil and natural gas production “can force significant shifts in crude oil and natural gas flows between U.S. regions, requiring investment in or realignment of pipelines and other midstream infrastructure.”
However, the agency said in most cases, lower 48 crude oil production shows the strongest growth in the Dakotas/Rocky Mountains region, with the strongest growth of natural gas production occurring in the East region.