Feb 16, 2016 3 min read

FTS International, the well-completion company that recently laid off workers at its two Washington County sites, is in the process of selling its sand-hauling assets to a third party.

The decision is mentioned in an internal memo from the company’s chief executive officer that was provided to the Observer-Reporter.

On Friday, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company, which is the largest private oil and gas well completion service in North America, laid off an undisclosed number of people at its sand-hauling site in Venetia and others at its larger operations complex near Eighty Four.

While not providing the number of people who were let go, the company acknowledged in an e-mail Monday it was “adjusting headcount” in response to lower customer demand. The company said it was not closing its Venetia or Eighty Four facilities.

A former employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said later Monday, FTSI laid off 34 sand-truck drivers and seven “coordinators” at Venetia Friday.

FTSI provides customized hydraulic fracturing solutions to enhance drillers’ recovery rates from oil and gas wells, primarily in unconventional plays such as those in the Marcellus and Utica shales, as well as other shale plays around the country.

Both drillers and their supply chain partners announced workforce reductions throughout the Appalachian Basin since last year, as a result of a natural gas production glut in the region.

The memo to FTSI employees, dated Monday, is from CEO Michael Doss, who notes oil and gas prices since the beginning of the year “have fallen to levels that don’t work economically for most of our customers. In addition, the capital markets are restricting funding for energy companies, further limiting their ability to operate at these commodity prices. As a result, many of our customers have cut back or stopped drilling and completion activities until prices improve. Absent a rebound in oil and gas prices, our revenues will be less than we expected during at least the first half of this year.”

Doss goes on to state the weaker near-term outlook required the company to further reduce costs, seek lower materials costs and strive for greater operating efficiency.

He said the company determined that the sand-hauling part of its business can be done more cost effectively by using third parties. As a result, Doss said, it released all drivers of its sand haulers and the mechanics who serviced the trucks and is in the process of selling related sand-hauling assets.

He said lower levels of customer activity required further companywide reductions in the workforce, and that affected employees were notified on Friday and Monday.

Doss said in the memo that the company is asking active employees to take on extra responsibilities, accept reduced wages or manage with rolling furloughs.

In May 2012, FTSI, which focused on hiring from the area’s workforce, opened a 50,000-square-foot complex off Route 519 in North Strabane Township, with about 340 employees at the 26-acre site, which includes offices, warehouse and maintenance space, a lab and a rail offloading facility.