Citing a continued slump in natural gas prices, Southwestern Energy announced Thursday the layoffs of 1,100 employees, including 600 at the company's Arkansas operations.

The company is not planning on closing any of its approximately 4,000 wells located across 6 counties in northern Arkansas.

"This is strictly a personnel matter" caused by reduced cash flow, Christina Fowler, a spokesman for the company said. The company noted in a statement that natural gas prices have continued to fall over the last year.

Natural gas trading ended Wednesday at $2.10, down from a high of around $3.50 in 2015, according to the Nasdaq.

Southwestern Energy began operations on the Fayetteville Shale formation in Arkansas 11 years ago, Fowler said. After the layoffs, the company expects to have about 560 employees working on the operation.

The formation requires a a process commonly known as "fracking" to extract the gas, according to the University of Arkansas.

Southwestern Energy said in a statement that it would provide severance, outplacement services and other benefits to employees affected by the layoffs.

See Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.