More Troubles For SemGroup

By Latoya Silmon, The News On 6

TULSA, OK - There's more trouble at SemGroup as layoffs and lawsuits loom.  Some 200 SemMaterials employees worldwide will lose their jobs on Friday and the man charged with turning around the company is at the center of two lawsuits.

SemGroup LP says the job cuts couldn't be avoided.  According to the parent company, SemMaterials was costing millions of dollars each month.

Just last fall SemMaterials received a contract to provide the asphalt to resurface I-244.  Now the company that employs more than 500 people worldwide is closing.  Its parent company, SemGroup, made the announcement last month that it is eliminating the division.

Of the 200 who will lose their jobs, only 25 will be in Tulsa.

SemGroup says the asphalt division was costing $15 million a month and the parent company needed to get rid of it in order to stay afloat.

SemGroup filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last July after losing billions in oil futures.

And, the problems just keep adding up.

John Catsimatidis has filed a complaint in federal court against SemGroup CEO Terry Ronan.

Catsimatidis' Red Apple Group holds a majority of seats on SemGroup's management committee.  He claims Ronan has failed to comply with resolutions made by that committee and that he's encountered significant resistance from Ronan involving restructuring efforts.

SemGroup has fired back.  It's filed a lawsuit against Catsimatidis claiming the New York Billionaire is interfering with the bidding process of SemGroup's assets