Oil Industry Layoffs

Joining much of the oil industry in bemoaning the effects of the recession, low natural gas prices and looming clean-air regulations, Atlantic Richfield Co. said Friday that it is looking for new ways to cut costs--including possibly substantial layoffs among its 20,000 U.S. employees. Los Angeles-based Arco--already known for its lean operations--has made no decisions about "the nature of the realignment or the number of employees that may be affected," spokesman Al Greenstein said.

Phillips Petroleum Co., following an industry trend to shed unprofitable holdings, said it hopes to raise $500 million from asset sales and boost cash flow under a three-point plan announced Monday. The program is expected to yield at least $500 million by 1993 and add more than $200 million annually in cash flow within the next two to three years, said C. J. Silas, Phillips chairman and chief executive.

Unocal Corp. announced Wednesday that it will reduce its corporate staff by about 40%, or 630 positions, during the next two years. The job cuts, part of a restructuring begun four years ago, will be made in the accounting, administration, legal, planning, human resources, computer services and community affairs departments, the company said.

Atlantic Richfield Co. said it will eliminate an additional 300 jobs and take charges of $890 million in the fourth quarter, continuing a trend of cutbacks and consolidation in an oil industry battered by low prices for crude and weak demand. The layoffs will now total about 7% of Los Angeles-based Arco's total worldwide work force of 18,000. "The bulk of the cuts are in corporate offices and technical areas, such as engineers and scientists," said spokeswoman Linda Dozier.

In its largest staff cutbacks specified so far, the domestic exploration and production unit of San Francisco-based Chevron Corp. announced Thursday that it will cut its work force by a total of 2,300 positions--28%--as part of a larger restructuring plan announced last January. Chevron U.S.A. Production Co., the subsidiary, will also consolidate operations of its five current business units into three--headquartered in Houston, New Orleans and Bakersfield.

Conoco Inc. said it will eliminate 975 jobs, or 6% of its work force, next year as part of an effort to slash expenses by $500 million, joining other oil-related companies making cuts because of plunging oil prices. The cost-cutting program, which will reduce Conoco's spending by 22%, will result in a $50-million charge against fourth-quarter earnings. A spokesman for Conoco, which is 70% owned by DuPont Co.

Continuing the deep retrenchment of the oil industry over the last decade, Unocal Corp. and Amoco Corp. on Wednesday announced yet more cuts, including the elimination of thousands of jobs. Los Angeles-based Unocal, still burdened by debts it incurred to fight off hostile takeover attempts by T. Boone Pickens in the 1980s, unveiled a $1.5-billion cost-cutting program that will do away with 1,100 jobs. At least 250 of those are in Southern California.

Chevron Corp. said Monday that it will cut 1,500 jobs, including 28% of its headquarters staff in San Francisco, as part of a restructuring of its domestic operations begun two years ago. "This is the last big one," Chevron spokesman Mike Libbey said of the job cuts, which the oil giant said should produce annual savings of $235 million. About 1,000 jobs will be eliminated at Chevron's headquarters, and 500 will be cut at Chevron Information Technology Co.

Low oil prices and takeover fears have hit the local oil industry: Los Angeles-based Atlantic Richfield Co. is getting ready to fire an unspecified number of employees and slash expenses. This follows an 80-employee layoff Wednesday at Occidental Petroleum's Bakersfield-based drilling division, with promises of more cuts to come.