Petronas mulls fresh job cuts

Petronas is reportedly planning additional job cuts amidst persistently low oil prices, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The move follows plans unveiled earlier this year to cut more than USD 11 billion in spending.

The reduced spending plans also called for around 1,000 positions to be eliminated. According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, several hundred additional jobs will be lost at Petronas’ publicly listed operations. These entities are Petronas Chemicals Group, Petronas Gas and retailer Petronas Dagangan.

While not directly commenting, Petronas in a statement said its efforts to adapt to the current market realities cut “across the entire Petronas Group, including subsidiary level.” It added that it would release additional information “as and when appropriate.”

Last month, the company reported a 21% year-on-year drop in quarterly revenue. “The combined factors of oversupply, growing inventories and slower demand growth point to an ongoing gloomy outlook well into 2017,” Petronas president and chief executive Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said at the time.

In related news, Petronas earlier this week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Azerbaijan’s Socar for work on the shallow water Goshadash block, located some 15 km offshore. The MoU means the two companies now have six month to iron out the details of a production-sharing contract.