Cabot Oil & Gas To Close 2 Regional Offices

HOUSTON (AP) — Natural gas producer Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. said Thursday that it will close its regional offices in Charleston, W.Va., and Denver, Colo., by the end of the summer, and open a new office in Pittsburgh.

In a statement, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Dan Dinges said the company plans to provide transfers to more than half the affected staff, with most asked to move to Pittsburgh.

The new Pittsburgh office will manage the company's Pennsylvania and West Virginia assets, and oversee the Rocky Mountain area.

Cabot did not disclose the total number of employees affected.

"With our West Region drilling program already complete for the year and our expanding Marcellus program in need of technical personnel, it was a natural progression to better utilize our talented work force," Dinges said, "While the region office is moving from West Virginia, a number of the North Region operations personnel will remain in West Virginia."

Dinges said the company has no plans to sell its Rocky Mountain or mid-continent reserves.