Recent Oil and Gas Layoffs May Be Indicator of Things to Come in 2020
Layoffs
in Houston’s biggest industry this year could be a sign of things to come in
2020.
That’s
according to an expert who tracks oil and gas ups and downs.
We
heard from a number of former employees of Houston-based Cogent Energy Services
who said they were laid off just before Thanksgiving from a facility in Orange
Grove, Texas.
“Still
haven’t gotten my last paycheck,” said laid-off worker John Moehr.
Moehr,
who has decades of energy industry experience, is also a cancer patient.
But
he told us from his home near Corpus Christi that he was more concerned about
former coworkers.
"A
lot of those guys have got young kids, stuff like that," Moehr said.
"I’m sure they’re trying to figure out how to keep food on the table and a
roof over their head.”
Cogent
did not responded to our voicemails, emails or an in-person visit to a building
on Westheimer.
That's
where we learned the company’s senior vice president for legal had an office.
"It’s
going to be a bleak holiday season for many oil field employees,” said
University of Houston Energy Fellow Ed Hirs.
Hirs
predicted similar predicaments in 2020 based, in part, on an oil oversupply,
ongoing trade war, and resulting impact on prices.
"And,
to be fair, everyone in oil and gas is an optimist," Hirs said. "So
you postpone layoffs until the last possible minute.”
A
number of Houston companies tied to the oil and gas industry have reportedly
laid off hundreds of workers so far this year.
Hirs
believes many of them may be adjusting to life with leaner payrolls.
"Certainly,
we’re going to have to go forward with a lower level of activity for the next
couple of years,” Hirs said.
Recently
laid off employees like John Moehr will have to try and get by until things
pick up.
"Well,
I just got my first unemployment check," Moehr said, "which ain’t
much.”
KHOU
11 checked with the Texas Workforce Commission about Cogent’s apparent layoffs,
but companies are not required to report them unless 50 employees or more are
impacted.
We’ll let you know if and when the company responds.