Halliburton To Shut Down Its El Reno Location, Relocate Operations To Duncan

Halliburton has announced its intention to shut down its El Reno location.

This closure will affect 808 employees, according to El Reno Mayor Matt White. 

"We all have been around long enough. We all understand that in the oil field, there are ups and there are downs," White said. "We've been seeing a downturn in oil and gas production for some time. We are aware of that, and during the last budget, we backed off the budget this year based on the slowdown of the oil field."

White told News 9 he found out about the closure Monday morning. Its ripple effects are likely to be felt community wide.

El Reno police were on scene at the offices Monday as news spread.

“It is absolutely going to hurt us a little bit with the local shopping they do, the restaurants they go to, the hotel/motel is always full because of the Halliburton,” said White.

However, not everyone is surprised.

A former employee, wishing to remain anonymous for fears of industry retaliation, said layoffs have slowly began starting around this time last year.

The former employee said mismanagement is largely to blame.

“The gentleman who has been running the El Reno Field Camp has been in charge of several other field camps that have closed their doors,” the former employee said. “He has a long list of failures.”

Employees told News 9 they learned Halliburton was closing through local media outlets. Still, they say, management has yet to inform them of what is going on.

“Supervisors are flat lying to their employees saying they are not going to be laid off,” said the former employee. 

With a future uncertain, city leaders remain confident.

“Hopefully we can adapt to that and come back out of this thing with more jobs, more people and more employees,” said White.

Sources tell News 9 a town hall meeting has been scheduled at the Halliburton El Reno Field Camp for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Halliburton spokeswoman Erin Fuchs released the following statement Tuesday after reports of the closure were made public: 

"Halliburton confirms it is relocating the majority of its operations in El Reno to its Duncan field camp in December. We made this decision in response to reduced activity levels in Oklahoma and the greater Mid-Continent area. Consolidating our operations takes advantage of Halliburton’s extensive footprint and synergies in the Duncan area including a strong employee hub and manufacturing expertise.

"While the majority of employees were offered relocation, Halliburton also reduced its workforce in El Reno. Making this decision was not easy, nor taken lightly, but unfortunately, it was necessary as we work to align our operations to reduced customer activity."

Halliburton has not disclosed how many employees were offered a chance to relocate and how many employees were laid off. 

A GoFundMe has been set up to help laid off employees' families with Christmas gifts. Click here if you would like to donate.

Stay with News 9 and News9.com for more information as it becomes available.