ConocoPhillips Co. is restricting funding for the petroleum and energy school at the University of Oklahoma as the company moves forward with plans to cut its global workforce.

The Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy lists ConocoPhillips as an industry sponsor that helps fund research and resources, but the company announced Sept. 3 that it will cut 20% to 25% of its workforce, according to Reuters. The oil company is the third largest in the U.S.

Runar Nygaard, the director of the Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological
Engineering, said the restrictive funding stems from tariffs slowing down the transportation sector and a general decline in energy trade. He said the tighter funding wasn’t unique to ConocoPhillips but reflects broader challenges across the industry.

“Funding from ConocoPhillips is more restrictive. The energy industry in general has started to spend less funding on research, programs and student support,” Nygaard said.

Chemical engineering students Jimmy Hennesey and Ethan Klein said they spoke to
representatives from ConocoPhillips at the University of Oklahoma’s career fair. They said recruiters didn’t appear interested in collecting applications or résumés, despite the company’s large presence at the event.

“It didn’t seem like at the career fair they were really talking with people to gather resumés,” Klein said. “They had the biggest line there, and it just didn’t seem like they were really looking for recruits the same way other companies were.”

Nygaard said it’s important for ConocoPhillips to maintain a presence on campus to ensure future hires, noting that name recognition plays a key role when students look for job opportunities.

“ConocoPhillips needs to stay engaged,” Nygaard said. “Even if you’re going to have light hiring or light internship programs, you might see that if you don’t keep your presence on campus, students turn around in four years … they won’t rush to your booth.”

Nygaard said the number of graduating petroleum engineers has declined in recent years compared to the school’s “peak” in 2016, echoing industry downturns. Robert Lifset, an energy historian at the University of Oklahoma, said companies historically outsource jobs following downturns and layoffs.

“One of the consequences of layoffs over the last couple of decades for Oklahoma has been that companies merge and the jobs typically go to Houston,” Lifset said.

Students expressed concern about internship opportunities amid the layoffs, but Nygaard said workforce reductions are part of the industry’s cyclical hiring patterns, which often mirror student enrollment. He added that companies typically avoid halting hiring completely when it comes to recent graduates.

“What most companies have learned during previous downturns is to really not stop hiring – especially not stop hiring interns – because they’re really losing out on the talent pool when they do that,” Nygaard said.

Nygaard called the layoffs “aggressive” but said he’s not worried about student opportunities in the industry. He added that layoffs can open positions for graduating students who are more proficient with emerging technologies.

“I feel comfortable that there will be a lot of meaningful opportunities for them out there,”
Nygaard said. “Our students are much better equipped to go into that world.”

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net.

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ConocoPhillips headquarters in Houston. ConocoPhillips / Gaylord News