New Orleans continues to struggle after Katrina, and in addition to declining tourism revenue, the area expects to lose jobs at the Michoud Assembly Facility as the space shuttle program ends. Businesses are reluctant to open new facilities in and around the city due to fears of levee safety.

The subsidiary of Ergon will lay off workers at its refining plant and ethanol plant as projects are completed.

Ergon is based in Jackson, Mississippi. It includes operations as a refiner, transporter, producer, distributor and marketer of petroleum products. Their manufactured products group manufactures and markets various products ranging from computer boards and systems to road maintenance products and equipment. Ergon owns the Vicksburg Refinery and also 500 wells, mostly in Louisiana and in East Texas.

Spokesperson Chip Minty, who is also apparently a Ben & Jerry’s flavor, said the number of persons laid off should not exceed 75, and that some workers will be relocated within the firm.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based Devon Energy Corporation is the largest US independent natural gas and oil producer. The company’s operations are focused primarily in the United States and Canada. However, Devon also explores for and produces oil in select international areas such as China, Brazil and Azerbaijan.

The Fortune 500 company is one of North America’s larger processors of natural gas liquids and owns natural gas pipelines and treatment facilities in many of the company’s producing areas.

Louisiana’s unemployment rate rose slightly, from 5.7% in February to 5.8% in March. That’s 2.3% lower than the national rate.

The state lost 5,900 jobs in construction, manufacturing and petroleum; but the service sector added 10,200 jobs, with retail and leisure-hospitality the big winners.

Louisiana’s petroleum industry lost 1,500 jobs.

The state reported 18,430 new and renewed claims for unemployment compensation in March, compared with 14,607 in February, and 9,118 in March 2008.

The firm blames low oil and natural gas prices.

“Lower commodity prices mean lower cash flow and capital budgets,” a spokesperson said. “We have reduced our employee ranks to reflect current activity levels.”

Apache Corporation is an independent oil and gas corporation based in Houston, Texas. It has grown into a large multinational company, with regional offices and operations in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt and the North Sea.

The oil industry services company, based in Houston and Dubai, said the cuts represented 12% of the global firm’s North American workforce. An undisclosed number of overseas jobs were cut as well.

Founded in 1919, Halliburton operates in over 70 countries. It employs 55,000 worldwide.

From 1995–2002, Halliburton Brown & Root Services was awarded at least $2.5 billion, but spent considerably less, to construct and run military bases, some in secret locations, as part of the Army’s Logistics Civil Augmentation Program.

The $5.2 billion, 2,148-mile pipeline will carry a half million barrels of crude oil each day from Canada to refineries in the United States. The 215-mile Nebraska portion alone will cost $490 million to build.

Half of the workers are expected to be hired locally.

About 150 members of the state’s heavy equipment operators’ union should get six months work out of the project.

The pipeline will transport crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta to refineries in Wood River, Illinois and Patoka, Illinois.

Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ LyondellBasell, whose Houston-based US operations are under bankruptcy protection, will reduce its contract workers by 30%, or 2,000, and close 10 plants and 20 offices.

LyondellBasell started shuttering plants and cutting jobs late last year, and the process has accelerated.

The company sells its technology to oil refineries and other operations that need to clean up discharged water to meet federal regulations.

The Pueblo City Council is considering giving the company an existing but unfinished building, a $1.4 million grant, and a no-interest $1.4 million loan for five years.

The $48 million project will create 400 jobs the the Shreveport area.

In January, Schlumberger said it would eliminate 1,000 jobs in North America, or 5% of its work force.

The company, based in Houston, Paris and The Hague, employs 19,000 in North America and 84,000 worldwide.