Oilfield services firm ProPetro cuts almost 150 workers: sources

By Liz Hampton

(Reuters) – ProPetro Holding Corp (N:) this month cut about 150 workers, people familiar with the matter said on Monday, the latest sign of growing trouble in the oilfield services sector as U.S. shale producers reduce drilling.

The job cuts reflect slowing shale activity due to weak prices for oil and gas, and producers exhausting their spending budgets for the year, one of the people said.

Midland, Texas-based ProPetro said last week it would cut the number of hydraulic fracturing fleets operated this quarter by as much as 28%, far surpassing analysts’ expectations. The fleets send water, sand and chemicals at high pressures underground to release trapped oil and gas.

The layoffs represent a roughly 9.5% reduction in staff, based on the company’s latest annual filing.

The job cuts came amid a board committee’s fact-finding review of past accounting practices, which has prompted a shake-up of top management and required senior executives to reimburse the company roughly $370,000.

No senior executives were affected by the job cuts, which were unrelated to the accounting probe, the person said.

Halliburton Co (N:) said last week it was cutting about 650 jobs in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and North Dakota as oilfield activity slowed. Most of the affected Halliburton employees were offered a chance to relocate to areas with stronger anticipated activity.

Shares of ProPetro were off 0.8% at $9.35 shortly before the close of trading. The company has lost nearly 25% of its market value so far this year.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.