SINGAPORE (REUTERS) – ExxonMobil Corp said it will cut about 7 per cent of its workforce in Singapore, home to its largest refining-petrochemical complex, as “unprecedented market conditions” due to the Covid-19 pandemic accelerate ongoing reorganisation.
About 300 positions will be impacted by the end of 2021, the oil major said.
ExxonMobil has more than 4,000 employees in Singapore, which houses the company’s largest refinery with a capacity of about 592,000 barrels a day.
Singapore, which is also home to the oil giant’s biggest integrated petrochemical complex, will remain a strategic location for the company.
“This is a difficult but necessary step to improve our company’s competitiveness and strengthen the foundation of our business for future success,” said Ms Geraldine Chin, chairman and managing director, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific.
Grim forecasts that oil consumption may never return to levels seen before the pandemic has seen an industry-wide culling in recent months.
Last November, Shell Singapore announced it would cut 500 employees from its 1,300-strong Pulau Bukom workforce by end-2023 as it downsizes operations and pivots away from crude oil towards a low-carbon slate of fuels.
This came after parent Royal Dutch Shell in September disclosed it will cut as many as 9,000 positions worldwide by end-2022 as Covid-19 precipitated a company-wide restructuring into low-carbon energy
ExxonMobil in October last year announced it will slash its global workforce by 14,000, while BP has said it will cut 10,000 jobs worldwide and Chevron 6,000. Even oilfield services companies like Schlumberger have joined the fray, with 21,000 layoffs globally.
• With additional information from The Straits Times