Husky Energy Inc. confirmed that it laid off 370 employees in October when the job losses were initially announced.
Originally, the jobs were estimated to be approximately 100 until the company confirmed the exact figure earlier this week.
The company has reduced its capital spending in its 2019 budget by $300 million citing reduced oil production and the low price of oil. Estimates show that approximately $30 billion USD in assets has been lost in the energy industry over the last three years.
Calgary has struggled to recover from the downturn in the oil sector. Several companies have either already left Canada or are in the process of moving more operations to the United States.
The oil and gas giant Encana announced last month that it would move its headquarters to the United States. A number of other companies including Suncor Energy, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell have also scaled back activity in the country or sold assets.
“The destructive policies of the Trudeau Liberals have left the company with no choice but to shift its asset base and capital program south of the border,” said former Encana CEO Gwyn Morgan.
Another Calgary-based oil services company, Osprey Informatics, has tripled the amount of business it intends to do in the United States. In 2019, the company conducted 10% of its business in the United States but now projects that 30% of their business will be in the country.
Alberta oil businesses have struggled to get their product to market due to a lack of pipeline capacity and what they perceive as anti-oil legislation like the B.C. Northern coast tanker ban Bill C-48 and the anti-pipeline Bill C-69.
