I guess most story tellers here never been managers or involved in layoffs, I have been there twice as a manager and as an employee, so here it is;
It's not that easy guys! Most seperation papers include a clause where you cannot get re-hired if you accepted you severance package, nor can you re-apply in the future. It usually makes managment being very careful who if at all gets laid off, however it also gives executives the leverage to get rid of the lazy / unlikeable people in their team. No company in its right mind wants to lose its best talent.
As for rumors, usually BS. The decisions starts as a recommendation from the CFO table and is reserved to executives only, they usually have 3-7 days to pick their "victims". It is designed in such way that no one can leak any information they should not.
Now for the facts, yes, chances for layoffs are very high if nothing drastic happens to E&P, however that is given, it has to happen.