The Devon Energy Corporation has made the decision to shut down its office in the Houston area, moving over a hundred jobs to the city in which the Devon Energy headquarters is located, which happens to be Oklahoma City. The office in Houston is just one of several offices that Devon Energy has, along with an office in the state of Texas and Louisiana.  The CEO for Devon Energy, John Richels, has said, “Our employees in Houston have made enormous contributions toward Devon’s growth over many years.” Richels also said, “We appreciate the role each of them has played, and we look forward to welcoming many of them to continue their work from our headquarters in Oklahoma City.” Executives for the corporation believe that the move will help the company to increases its efficiency.

Richels has said, “Dramatic changes within our industry have made it more important than ever to respond quickly to new opportunities and to place our talented people in the best position to overcome challenges. Oklahoma City continues to grow as a major hub of the nation’s energy industry, and we believe our headquarters downtown provides us with an outstanding foundation for future growth.” The company currently employs around 500 individuals within the Houston office. A number of positions within the Houston office are going to be eliminated, including administrative positions and support positions. However, specific positions, including a number of technical positions, will move over to the Oklahoma City headquarters.

The spokesperson for the corporation, Chip Minty, has said, “We still have all of our assets in our portfolio, and we are going to need hundreds of people to help us operate and grow these assets.” The Houston office once employed around 1,000 employees but the corporation ended up selling some of its assets several years ago, which led to layoffs and cuts being made.

The corporation currently employs around 5,000 individuals and 1,700 of those employees are working at the headquarters in Oklahoma City. The executive vice president of the exploration and production at Devon Energy, Dave Hager, has said, “Consolidating our U.S. operations will improve our ability to quickly shift the focus of our workforce between project areas as economic conditions dictate.” Hager also said, “In addition, this move will improve the sharing of best practices and enhance overall operational efficiency.” All has been finalized as Devon Energy feels as though it is in their best interest to shut the doors on the Houston office and move some positions over to the Oklahoma City office.