BP AMOCO MAKES HOUSTON UPSTREAM HEADQUARTERS
HOUSTON, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/-- BP Amoco (NYSE: BPA) confirmed today that, following a major review of its U.S. business after the recent merger of the two companies, Houston is to become the new group's headquarters for all U.S. continental exploration and production activities.
Operations currently based in New Orleans and Denver, and some in Tulsa, will relocate to the company's Houston WestLake complex to form eight "upstream" business units. Seven of the units will oversee exploration and production in eight states and the Gulf of Mexico, and will run gas marketing throughout the U.S. The eighth will manage BP Amoco's global power generation business.
The company said that the reorganization, combined with the impact of low world energy prices which is seriously affecting the entire oil and gas sector, is leading to a significant reduction in Texas jobs.
Scott Urban, Group Vice President for BP Amoco, described the need for job cuts as "deeply regrettable" but said the new group was determined to be globally competitive and to perform profitably however tough the environment and even if oil and gas prices remain at their current low levels.
Urban said the biggest impact will be at WestLake where net jobs will fall from 3,400 to 2,000. Also, the company's engineering and construction office at Clear Lake will close, although about 380 of the 500 jobs there will shift to other locations, mainly in the Houston Gulf Coast area. The net impact on overall Texas jobs will be a reduction from some 7,600 to about 6,000.
"We knew the merger would mean job losses due to eliminating duplication, but this has been exacerbated by the external climate. We will now be doing everything we can to help those who are leaving to transition to a new future," Urban said.
He added that staff leaving the company due to the reorganization would start learning their status today and would take early retirement and/or be offered a comprehensive severance program-- including up to 71.5 weeks of salary, depending on length of service.
Urban said: "When the reorganization is complete-- and we expect that by the end of March-- we believe we will have a very competitive operation in Texas and the Houston Gulf Coast. The region will remain one of BP Amoco's biggest population centers in the world, and BP Amoco will remain one of the largest oil and gas producers in the state."
Other major BP Amoco operations in Texas include a refinery in Texas City, chemical plants in Texas City, Chocolate Bayou, Cedar Bayou, Pasadena and Green Lake, and several hundred miles of pipelines. The company said employees at these facilities were unlikely to be significantly impacted by job losses.
BP Amoco also owns 64 percent of Altura Energy, a major oil and gas
producer in Texas, and 41 percent of Crescendo Resources, a major gas
producer in West Texas and Oklahoma. Employees of these operations
were not impacted directly by today's announcement. The merger between
BP and Amoco was completed Dec. 31, 1998.
SOURCE BP Amoco p.l.c.
01/26/99 /CONTACT: Patricia Wright, 281-366-3705, or Hugh Depland, 281-366-4092, both of BP Amoco/
/Web site: http://www.bpamoco.com/ (BPA)
CO: BP Amoco p.l.c. ST: Texas IN: OIL SU:
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