Devon Energy Announces $3.1 Billion Loss In First Quarter Of 2016

The oil and natural gas industry continues to struggle and we are getting a look at just how bad.

Devon Energy posted a $3.1 billion loss in the first quarter of the year. That's $6.44 a share. This compares to a loss of $3.6 billion, $8.88 a share in the first quarter of last year.

The company says it's because the oil and natural gas in the ground, which hasn't been produced yet, is worth less than what it was a year ago.

Right now the company sells a barrel of oil around the $20 mark. A year ago, it was about $56.

Natural gas is $1.66 for 1,000 cubic feet, compared to $2.96 from a year ago.

When a company isn't bringing in as much money, the only way to keep afloat is to cut expenses. It cut close to $200 million out of its budget and that included laying off about 1000 people in January.

Devon President and CEO Dave Hager says things will improve.

Hager said "In spite of the challenging industry conditions, Devon achieved another high-quality operating performance in the first quarter as we continued to take the appropriate steps to deliver significant cost reductions and accelerate efficiency gains across our portfolio."

Another Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company, Chesapeake Energy, will release its first quarter earnings Thursday morning. Expectations are for earnings to be slightly down from a year ago.