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ConocoPhillips To Lay Off Entire Trainer, Pa. Refinery Staff Filing



By Isabel Ordonez and Ben Lefebvre, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- ConocoPhillips (COP) is planning to lay off the entire staff its previously idled Trainer, Penn., refinery in January, according to a company filing with Pennsylvania'sDepartment of Labor and Industry.

ConocoPhillips, which idled its 185,000 barrel-per-day refinery in September after putting it up for sale, sent a notice to state regulators saying it plans to cut 419 jobs due to the closing of the plant.

The effective layoff date for most of the workers is Jan. 16, 2012, according to the filing. Federal laws require large companies to disclose layoff plans at least 60 days ahead of time.

ConocoPhillips didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

High crude oil prices in the U.S. Northeast and intense competition from European fuel imports make the region a tough market for refiners, and ConocoPhillips has said it was not willing to continue to invest in the plant.

Houston-based ConocoPhillips in July unveiled plans to split its refining and production arms into two separate companies, the latest step in a three-year restructuring plan aimed at shoring up its finances. The plan also includes selling billions of dollars in assets and large-scale share buybacks.

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1 The shift in long-term unemployment is so unprecedented that the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have modified the way they collect information about the unemployed. Before this year, these agencies only collected data for unemployment duration of two years or less, with those unemployed more than two years reporting “two years or more”. Beginning January 2011, that measure has been extended to capture those that have been unemployed up to five years or more. It should be noted that this affects the accuracy of year-over-year comparisons of the average duration of unemployment.