ConocoPhillips was about to have massive layoffs (and had already started, summer 2020) when the Concho deal became a reality. The deal was actually going to be more complicated than just Concho. So the ELT decided to do everything (all layoffs and reorganization) at the same time, and blame the cuts on “synergies and a new focus on unconventionals” which of course means the decimation of the liars in Exploration.
Which explains why there were no significant layoffs in 2020. They were just warming the pot for all the frogs.
Of course, Karma has (once again) the last laugh on our incompetent management: they supported Biden and his CO2 policies at the same time as the all-in (over the cliff) jump into unconventionals. Biden now starts his plan to over-regulate (ban) fracking. So now a couple of weeks into the acquisition, and Concho’s only worth half what we paid (if that... anyone see Exxon’s release?)... and we will no longer have explorationists to explore.
Of course, we never had explorationists, anyway.
Only our leadership can take lemons and create a lemon orchard.
Our top management is so predictable, all know what happens next: Biden will renew the Iran Nuclear Deal and we’ll jump in with billions of dollars into another corrupt regime where the state takes all value. But we can add more to our “resources” which is an analysts presentation term AKA “hydrocarbons that we will never turn into reserves and will actually result in negative value but we can brag about a lot”
Look up “incompetent losers” in the dictionary and see the smiling chubby faces of the ELT.