Statoil Cutting Another 2,000 Jobs As Norway's Oil Boom Ends

(RTTNews) - Norwegian oil and gas major Statoil ASA (STO) said Tuesday that it plans to eliminate up to 1,500 permanent jobs employees by end of 2016, and will further reduce the number of consultants by about 525.

The move is part of the next phase of the company's efficiency program as it intensifies its savings drive in order to improve competitiveness in the market after crude oil prices halved last year.

Further, the company will also announce additional changes to the organization to realize the full potential of the efficiency program by the end of the month.

"We regret the need for further reductions, but the improvements are necessary to strengthen Statoil's competitiveness and secure our future value creation," says Anders Opedal, executive vice president and chief operating officer in Statoil.

Statoil, two-thirds owned by the Norwegian government, said it will make decisions on workforce reductions in each business area based on assessments involving leaders and employee representatives, and local consultation in the period from August to November.

The company had initiated the improvement program and strict capital expenditure prioritization in 2013 in order to address the industry wide cost and competitiveness challenge, well ahead of the current downturn.

It has already reduced workforce by 1340 permanent employees and 995 external consultants since the end of 2013.

Statoil said it is committed to delivering $1.7 billion in annual savings from the improvement program in 2016, and beyond.

The company said the implementation of the improvement agenda continues in coming weeks and months. The changes and actions have been decided after consultation with the employees' representatives, and these will now be handed over to the Business Areas for implementation.

Statoil shares are currently trading in Oslo on Tuesday at 140.90 kroner, down 0.10 kroner or 0.07% on a volume of 3.22 million shares.