Murphy Oil to close its Calgary office, move all business to Houston

Murphy Oil announced Wednesday it will close its Calgary office as well as its headquarters in Arkansas, and move all business to Houston, due to the collapse in oil prices.

The independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company employs 110 people in Calgary, and 80 in El Dorado, Arkansas.

The company said it didn't come to the decision lightly, and made other cuts like halving capital expenditures by $700 million.

It also lowered executive salaries on average by 22 per cent, and cut the CEO's salary by 35 per cent. The CEO made $13 million US in 2018.

"We simply do not have a choice and came to this decision only after exhausting all other cost saving measures," board chair Claiborne P. Deming said in a release.

"This decision is one we take with sadness.... The company recognizes the hardship this decision causes to many inEl DoradoandCalgary, and we are committed to treating all those impacted consistent with past practices and plan to offer appropriate severance arrangements," CEO Roger Jenkins said.

The company said the closures will be completed in the third quarter of this year.

The company reported a net loss of$416 million US in the first quarter of this year.