'I fault myself for not paying more attention,' Conoco CEO tells employees facing deep job cuts

HOUSTON (Reuters) -ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance told employees on Thursday that one of the reasons he had to cut up to 25% of the workforce was because the U.S. oil and gas producer had become less competitive as it focused on swallowing smaller rivals. Lance was speaking to employees in a town hall meeting a day after he sent employees a video announcing the job cuts as part of a broad restructure focused on cost reductions. Employees watching the hour-long meeting online and in person at the company's Houston headquarters on Thursday morning also learned later that day that layoffs would begin as early as November 10.