SandRidge Energy Inc. announced another round of layoffs Wednesday, setting the total number of jobs cut at 440 since the end of 2015.
"After the prolonged contraction in commodity prices resulting in significant reductions in our activity levels and after evaluating all alternatives, we determined the need to reduce the size of our workforce to match the level of activity," CEO James Bennett told The Oklahoman on Wednesday.
Combined with 226 job cuts last month at SandRidge's Lariat oilfield services company and attrition, the Oklahoma City-based oil and natural gas producer has reduced its workforce by 440.
Severance packages were not detailed, but Bennett said affected employees were given "very reasonable and fair consideration."
After Wednesday's layoffs, SandRidge has 717 employees companywide, including 376 in Oklahoma City. The count is down from 1,157 companywide and 548 in Oklahoma City at the end of 2015.
"The affected individuals are friends and colleagues and have been valuable contributors and teammates at SandRidge," Bennett said. "I'm sorry we have to do that, but as a company, we're focused on taking the necessary steps and making the hard decision to improve financial flexibility and secure the stability of our operations."
The layoffs include Kevin Clement, executive vice president of saltwater gathering operations; Craig A. Johnson, executive vice president of operations; and Randall D. Cooley, senior vice president of accounting.
"The reduction in force is necessary across the board from the field level to upper management," Bennett said. "There's really no part of the company insulated from this downturn. With the reduced level of activity, it made sense to have difficult reductions at the most senior levels of the company. This was not at all related to their performance."
The price of oil has tumbled over the past 18 months, closing at $29.88 a barrel Tuesday, down 72 percent from the recent high of nearly $108 in June 2014. Bennett and executives at other oil and natural gas companies have said 2016 likely will be another difficult year for the industry.
"We're trying to control the variables we can control," Bennett said Wednesday. "We are reducing capital expenditures and only drilling wells that generate a high return. We are reducing our well costs every quarter and are taking steps like we've done recently to improve our financial flexibility and leverage."