An oil refinery in St. Landry Parish laid off an undisclosed number of workers last week as it looks for ways to turn a profit and still plans to invest millions in maintenance work at the plant.
The Krotz Springs oil refinery, owned by Tennessee-based Delek U.S. and built in 1976, had about 210 workers before the coronavirus pandemic caused lockdowns eight months ago that sapped demand for fuel for travel and work commutes.Â
It was also not clear Monday how many workers the company still has in Louisiana. Delek officials told investors last week the company planned to lay off 8% of its workforce to save money. That would mean trimming roughly 300 workers of its 3,800 employees company-wide. About 1,300 worked in refining as of December 2019. Delek has refineries of similar size to Krotz Springs in Tyler, Texas; Big Spring, Texas; and El Dorado, Arkansas.