An oil fracking company is laying off more than 150 workers at its oil field in Vernal, according to a state filing, marking a sharp reversal for a facility that was highlighting record activity just a year earlier.

The mass layoff by ProFrac Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Texas-based ProFrac Holding Corp., was disclosed March 27 in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, filed with the Utah Department of Workforce Services, according to the agency’s online database.

The layoffs are expected to begin May 26, however, a letter sent to Vernal employees, and obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through a records request, says that timeline could shift “depending upon the need for workers as the shutdown of the facility progresses.”

It is unclear from the records whether the Vernal site is closing or only reducing staff.

The WARN Act requires Utah employers to provide at least a 60-day notice before a mass layoff, plant closure or relocation.

The company attributes the layoffs to a “loss of business revenue” and internal reorganization, affecting at least 26 jobs at the facility. The letter also points to a “significant downturn in the local market business.”

However, in the letter, ProFrac tells employees they can apply for other jobs within the company and some positions could be retained.

“ProFrac Services will attempt to continue operation of its facilities by obtaining additional contracts or new business,” the letter states. “If these efforts are successful, some employees may be retained or recalled to work.”

Elizabeth Fitch, the company’s general counsel, said she would notify The Tribune if the company chose to comment, but no response was received.

Just a year ago, ProFrac was touting record-setting operations from one of its fleets in Vernal, which worked around the clock and logged more than 1,100 pumping hours in March 2025, according to a May 2025 post by its parent company on Facebook.

“A major milestone out in Utah,” the company wrote.

Aaron Averett, president of the Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce board, said ProFrac had just moved into a new facility in Vernal in 2024.

A chamber post celebrating the opening reads: “You’ve Officially Been Dinah-Mited!”

ProFrac Holding Corp., a publicly traded oil field services company founded in 2016, provides hydraulic fracturing, or fracking — a technique used to extract oil and natural gas — and other services to oil and gas producers across the United States.

It serves as the public-facing parent of PF Holdings and its subsidiaries, like ProFrac Services, LLC, which operates the site in Vernal.

The company has 14 locations across the U.S., according to its website, with its headquarters and most operations centered in Texas.

Fluctuating oil prices

Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show ProFrac was hit by a turbulent oil market in 2025.

In its annual report for 2025, the company said its business depends on oil and gas producers, and that when those customers pull back on drilling and other development work, its profits are affected.

Beginning in April, the filing says oil prices fell and became more volatile, and as a result, the company reported lower revenue and cash flow than the year before.

To cut costs and shore up its finances, ProFrac said in the filing that it reduced labor expenses, trimmed overhead by cutting jobs and other costs, and looked for additional ways to run more efficiently while also lowering spending on operations and equipment.

Even so, ProFrac said in the annual report that it remains one of the largest U.S. companies that helps oil and gas producers boost output from existing wells.