U.S. Steel To Lay Off More Than 700 Due To Falling Oil Prices
Last edited Tue Jan 6, 2015, 04:23 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Len Boselovic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sharply falling oil prices are prompting U.S. Steel to temporarily idle tubular operations near Cleveland and Houston, resulting in 756 layoffs.
Most of the layoffs will occur at the Pittsburgh steel producer’s Lorain Tubular Operations west of Cleveland, where 614 workers will be laid off. Another 142 workers at the Houston plant will be affected.
The layoffs will begin March 8 and will continue through May, according to a letter posted on the website of United Steelworkers union Local 1104, which represents workers at the Lorain plant.
“This action is a result of a decline in tubular market conditions, which is impacting demand for the plant’s products,” U.S. Steel wrote in a letter addressed to USW President Leo Gerard.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/pittsburgh-company-news/2015/01/06/Falling-oil-prices-to-blame-for-more-than-700-U-S-Steel-layoffs/stories/201501060158
Biggest Oil-Rig Drop Since 2009 Spells Tough Year Ahead
By Lynn Doan and Mario Parker Jan 5, 2015 11:24 PM ET
U.S. oil drillers laid down the most rigs in the fourth quarter since 2009. And things are about to get much worse.
The rig count fell by 93 in the three months through Dec. 26, and lost another 17 last week, Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) data show. About 200 more will be idled over the next quarter as U.S. oil explorers make good on their promises to curb spending, according to Moody’s Corp.
Drillers are already running the fewest rigs in nine months after a 46 percent drop in U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil in 2014, the steepest decline in six years and the second-worst since the commodity began trading in 1983. The price slipped below $50 a barrel yesterday as U.S. producers and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries remain in a standoff over market share. Meanwhile, production from Russia and Iraq last month reached the highest level in decades.
“At $50 oil, half the U.S. rig count is at risk,” R.T. Dukes, an upstream analyst at Wood Mackenzie Ltd., said by telephone from Houston. “What happened in the last quarter foreshadows what’s going to be a tough year for operators. It’s looking worse and worse by the day.”
more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-06/biggest-oil-rig-drop-since-2009-spells-tough-year-ahead.html
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another_liberal
(8,821 posts)That "two-edged-sword" cliché just can't be avoided.
How great will cheap gas seem if unemployment tops ten percent by Summer?
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Maybe not if countries like Africa will undercut the 'price gougers' with their far superior crude.
And we keep the market glutted with all our domestic crude.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)But this is not a normal, market driven oil glut. This one has a diplomatic component. The U.S. and some of our allies want low prices to hurt the Russian economy and force them to accept our plans for Ukraine's resources. By the time the Pentagon generals and State Department Cold Warriors realize what harm they are doing to the World economy as a whole, it may be too late to reverse the effects.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)At least it's "temporarily idle" .
I'm sure their Union will help the 700 people get their Unemployment benefits and any other benefits they need.
doc03
(35,348 posts)unemployment and supplemental unemployment giving them about 80% of their wages.
hack89
(39,171 posts)even though is a fraction of both China's current output and our peak production in 1977.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_steel_production
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Thanks for the link. I'm shocked that almost all the steel we use in the USA has to be imported/shipped from China!
I understand the job 'layoff' is important to the 700 people but our USA Steel used to have thousands of workers.
hack89
(39,171 posts)if done like China does, or grossly uneconomical if done in an environmentally sound way. It is a process that consumes massive amounts of natural resources and produces enormous amounts of waste products.
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)Romney Economics: Bankruptcy and Bailouts at GST Steel
AngryDem001
(684 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)who make high quality steel for special applications. We can't compete with China for the cheap stuff.
Dopers_Greed
(2,640 posts)Was not a good strategy after all
Response to Purveyor (Original post)
another_liberal This message was self-deleted by its author.
Agony
(2,605 posts)is what is meant by the term "laid down". So the first sentence is correct relative to the overall article.
It can get confusing when you learn that more vertical drill rigs have been taken out of production than directional or horizontal rigs but in this case the terminology refers to the orientation of the borehole that the rig is used for. Shale wells use horizontal rigs. Conventional wells are drilled with vertical rigs.
Fun stuff.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)I will remove my earlier comment.
RBInMaine
(13,570 posts)workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)that easy did ya?
Kochs and Walmart Clan Wage Dirty War to Stop You From Putting Solar Panels on Your Home
Solar panels are popping up everywhere, and it's upsetting to corporate power system.
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