Global oil giant Shell today announced that it is cutting 475 jobs in Aberdeen as part of a global head-count cut of 2,200 jobs.
Both these figures are in addition to the 2,800 job losses which Shell had earlier announced after it completed its £47bn mega-merger with BG.
Shell-shocked workers at Shell in Aberdeen were today told about the progress being made on integrating BG into the company, and on further measures that are necessary to ensure Shell is com
petitive in a ‘lower for longer’ oil price environment.
After addressing staff in Aberdeen, Paul Goodfellow, Vice-President for Shell UK & Ireland, said: “We’re continuing the improvement journey we’ve been on to create a competitive and sustainable business in the North Sea.
“Despite the improvements that we have made to our business, current market conditions remain challenging.
“Our integration with BG provides an opportunity to accelerate our performance in this ‘lower for longer’ environment. We need to reduce our cost base, improve production efficiency and have an organisation that best fits our combined portfolio and business plans.
“As a result, we will reduce the size of the organisation supporting our UK and Ireland Upstream business by around 475 people. We will look to implement the majority of this change during 2016.
“The reductions we’re announcing today in Aberdeen are part of a global programme of job reductions in Shell. “
Following these changes, Shell will still remain a key employer in the North East of Scotland with around 1,700 employees.
Goodfellow added: “Last year, in response to the oil price downturn, we made the tough but necessary decision to remove 7,500 Shell staff and direct contractor roles and this has now been completed. Separately, as previously announced, a further 2,800 global staff reductions were initially identified as part of the BG integration, which is now well underway.
“These are tough times for our industry and we have to take further difficult decisions to ensure Shell remains competitive through the current, prolonged downturn. In 2016, the number of job reductions in response to low prices and as a result of the BG integration is expected to total at least 5,000 globally. This number includes the 2,800 integration-related roles previously announced.”
See also: Scottish Energy News, 23 May 2016:
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