Page 15 - NorthAmOil Week 50 2020

NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil

Parsley prepares to lay off

staff as part of merger

TEXAS PARSLEY Energy will lay off most of its Austin, Pioneer said in October, when it agreed
Texas workforce as part of its takeover by Pioneer to acquire Parsley, that the combination was
Natural Resources, according to a notice to the expected to result in annual cost savings of
Texas Workforce Commission. around $325mn through operational efficien-
The notice shows that the Parsley layoffs cies and reductions in general and administra-
will include 234 workers, though some of tive (G&A) and interest expenses. The expected
those employees are expected to be offered jobs present value of these cost savings exceeds $2bn
with Pioneer in Las Colinas or Midland, Texas over a 10-year period, according to Dallas-based
Parsley will lay off most instead. The layoffs will be effective from Febru- Pioneer.
of its Austin, Texas ary 8, apart from a limited number of employees The $4.5bn Pioneer-Parsley transaction
workforce. “who will provide short-term transition services comes as consolidation picks up pace in the US
following the closing of the acquisition”, accord- oil and gas industry. A number of mergers are
ing to the notice. currently underway, but while these may help
The majority of affected staff – or 147 people – companies to survive, the same cannot neces-
are located at Parsley’s Austin headquarters, with sarily be said for their workforces.
a further 85 employees at another Austin office Earlier in December, ConocoPhillips warned
and two workers at Austin-Bergstrom Interna- that it anticipated laying off 500 or more staff in
tional Airport. Houston from the start of February as it com-
Parsley was reported to have 496 staff in pletes its merger with Concho Resources. And
August, at which point – prior to the announce- Chevron laid off around 570 Noble Energy staff
ment of the takeover by Pioneer – it was said to be – around a quarter of the latter’s workforce – after
preparing to lay off around 10% of its workforce. their merger, which closed in October.™

ENERGY TRANSITION

BP buys majority stake in leading

US carbon offset player

US SUPER-MAJOR BP has acquired a majority Finite Carbon identifies and develops
stake in Finite Carbon, the largest developer of projects that enable landowners to generate
forest carbon offsets in the US. The acquisition revenue from the protection, restoration and
builds on BP’s existing interest in Finite Carbon, sustainable management of forests, BP said in
the super-major said on December 16. its statement. It currently has 50 carbon pro-
BP did not disclose the sum it spent, or the jects on 3mn acres (12,141 square km) in the
size of its expanded stake in Finite Carbon. How- US, which have registered over 70mn offsets
ever, its initial investment in the carbon offset and generated more than $500mn in revenue
company totalled $5mn, according to Reuters. for landowners to date.
BP said in its statement that it would help expand Finite Carbon’s CEO, Sean Carney, told
Finite Carbon’s reach into other countries. Reuters earlier this month that his company
The acquisition comes at the end of a year in was expecting to generate $1bn for landowners
which BP has embraced the energy transition. over the next 10 years, after a 20-40% cut of the
In February, the super-major set a goal of net- proceeds.
zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, “Putting a price on carbon can make it pos-
and said that meeting this target would require a sible for anyone with the ability to protect, plant
fundamental transformation of its entire organ- or improve forests to generate revenue from
isation. This would include ramping up the their efforts,” Carney stated this week. “How-
production of renewable energy over the com- ever, there is currently limited infrastructure
ing years while scaling back oil and gas activity. to quantify, monitor and verify these actions at
Indeed, BP is planning to increase its renewable scale. Thanks to this unique partnership with BP,
power capacity 20-fold by 2030 to 50 GW while Finite Carbon now has the resources of a global
reducing its oil output by 40% over the same energy company behind it to help address this
period and diverting more funds to low-carbon enormous environmental challenge and help
investments. small landowners access this market.”™

Week 50 17•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15