SemGroup CEO says workers will regain trust-report

PHILADELPHIA, July 27 (Reuters) - The co-founder of energy trader SemGroup LP said employees would eventually regain their trust in the Oklahoma company once an investigation into its financial problems concludes, according to a media report.

Tom Kivisto, who recently was replaced as president and chief executive officer of SemGroup, gave a brief statement in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday but did not answer questions from the media, Tulsa World reported in its electronic edition.

"My administrative leave from SemGroup makes it inappropriate for me to answer any questions related to SemGroup issues," Kivisto said, according to Tulsa World.

SemGroup unraveled in recent weeks after suffering a $3.2 billion loss on oil futures and derivatives positions that were primarily bets that the price of oil would fall. SemGroup filed for bankruptcy on July 22.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened a probe into the disclosure practices of SemGroup Energy Partners (SGLP.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the publicly traded affiliate of SemGroup LP. SemGroup Energy Partners was not part of the bankruptcy petition.

"Whenever crisis hits an organization, employees lose trust and faith in what they thought they knew and understood about their leaders," Kivisto said, according to Tulsa World.

"With investigations, and the complexities of the issues, these explanations are slow in coming. I trust, however, as the facts and truths surrounding this chain of events are revealed, the SemGroup employees will regain their trust in what they initially believed," he said, according to the newspaper report.

Kivisto could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Jessica Hall; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) (For more M&A news and our DealZone blog, go to here)