NEW YORK -- Chemical giant LyondellBasell Industries today announced it’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its U.S.  operations and a European holding company.

LyondellBasell employees 7,800 people at 30 locations across the U.S. and 16,000 worldwide, according to its Web site. It has operations in Houston, Corpus Christi and Victoria.

“During the past two quarters, we have seen a dramatic softening in demand for our products and unprecedented volatility in raw materials costs," said Volker Trautz, Chief Executive Officer. "December was particularly difficult, as many of our customers postponed orders to reduce their inventories."

LyondellBasell says it’s lined up $8 billion in financing to keep operating.

“During the reorganization period, our goal is for the company to continue its operations and its relationships with customers and suppliers in the normal course,” said Trautz.

Trautz said that the company began taking steps to control costs as demand began to weaken and raw material costs started to fluctuate.

“Over the past several months, we announced plans to significantly reduce headcount and also reduced capital expenditures and working capital,” he said. “We have also idled certain facilities and reduced production and processing at others. We are aggressively exploring additional ways to lower our costs and streamline operations in response to a very difficult global economic environment."

The bankruptcy petition was filed in New York City.

The company said last week that bankruptcy was an option, as the recession eroded consumer demand for products made with chemicals.