Devon laying off 1,000 employees, including 700 In Oklahoma City

    Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) is restructuring its leadership team following announcements that two of the company’s executives plan to retire. The company has also reduced its 2016 capital spending program by 75% and announced plans to lay off 20% of its workforce, according to various media outlets.

Devon is said to be laying off 1,000 staff members, including about 700 at its headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with another 600 employees leaving in divestitures later this year. Exploration and production spending is estimated to range from $900 million to $1.1 billion this year, a sharp reduction from last year. The company reported a net loss of $4.5 billion for fourth-quarter 2015.

With regard to the executive changes, Darryl Smette, executive vice president of Marketing, Facilities, Pipeline & Supply Chain, and Frank Rudolph, executive vice president of Human Resources, both plan to retire in July. Additionally, the company said that Tony Vaughn, executive vice president of Exploration and Production, is being promoted to COO.

In related moves, Tana Cashion, vice president of Human Resources, is being promoted to senior vice president of Human Resources, reporting to President and CEO Dave Hager, and Sue Alberti, senior vice president of Marketing, will assume the Supply Chain and Evaluation & Planning organizations upon Smette’s retirement and report to Vaughn. Tracy Carter, vice president, will continue to oversee Devon’s Facilities & Pipeline function and report to Mike Stover, senior vice president of Strategic Services.

Smette joined Devon in 1986 and was elected to the position of executive vice president of Marketing and Midstream in 1999. Smette is a member of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, the Natural Gas Association of Oklahoma, and the American Gas Association. He serves on the board of directors of EnLink Midstream Partners LP and EnLink Midstream LLC.

Rudolph was elected to his current position in 2007. In the seven years before joining Devon, he was vice president of Human Resources for Banta Corp., an international printing and supply chain management company with 9,000 employees. His career in human resources spans more than 25 years.

Before joining Devon in 1999, Vaughn spent 12 years with Kerr-McGee Corp. and, prior to that, worked as an operations engineer for Amoco Production Co. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa and a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Oral Roberts University. He serves on the board of directors of EnLink Midstream Partners LP.

Upon Smette’s and Rudolph’s retirements, Devon’s Executive Committee will be composed of Hager and Vaughn, as well as Alan Marcum, executive vice president of Administration; Tom Mitchell, executive vice president and chief financial officer; and Lyndon Taylor, general counsel and executive vice president of Legal.

Cashion began her career with Devon in 2005 and was promoted to vice president of Human Resources in 2010. During her more than 20 years in human resources, Cashion has worked in the oil and gas, retail, and wholesale industries. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Pepperdine University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma.

Alberti joined Devon in 2008 and was named senior vice president of Marketing in January 2012. Prior to that, she served as vice president of Compensation and Benefits. Before joining Devon, Alberti worked at Texas Instruments for seven years and at Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) for more than 20 years in engineering, finance and human resources. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in business administration and finance from the University of Chicago.

Source: Oil & Gas Financial Journal Staff