Job cuts of 15% for oil firms ‘likely’

BP-scale job cuts of 15% worldwide is a “good ballpark” estimate for every oil major, according to Rystad Energy.

UK-based energy giant BP said last week it would axe 10,000 jobs, while US rival Chevron is also cutting headcount by 10-15%.

Yesterday, Matt Fitzsimmons, vicepresident of Rystad’s oilfield service sesearch division, said it was “fair to say” a 15% reduction would apply for all majors, including the likes of Shell and ExxonMobil.

He added: “It will depend on their views on how quickly activity will ramp back up and what the impact from Covid is going to be.”

On BP specifically, Mr Fitzsimmons said the “magnitude was definitely very high”, but the job cuts were “not uncommon by any

“Fair to say a 15% reduction would apply for all majors”

stretch, compared to what others are going to have to do as well”.

Total, Shell, BP and Equinor are all considered “majors” with a presence in the UK sector.

US-based ExxonMobil has insisted it has no layoff plans, but Rystad does not consider it immune.

Mr Fitzsimmons said: “They’re not necessarily going to be more resilient in terms of headcount than others when you look at what’s ultimately going to happen.

“They utilised their internal performance review system to have (people) – or encourage a greater percentage than otherwise (would have been the case) – to resign. You can call it what you want... but essentially they laid people off for all intents and purposes, although they didn’t want to come out and say they were doing that.”