Canada’s Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) said on Monday it would cut its workforce by about 20% by the end of 2027 as part of a major restructuring designed to lower costs by centralizing and consolidating activities in certain locations.
Imperial Oil is majority owned by top U.S. oil producer Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and it had about 5,100 employees as of the end of 2024, according to a regulatory filing.
The planned layoffs come as global crude prices have slumped this year due to increased output from the OPEC+ group of oil producers and trade policy uncertainty. U.S. oil producers and services firms including ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and SLB (SLB.N)have also announced job cuts.
Imperial said it expected to achieve an annual cost reduction of C$150 million ($107.81 million) by 2028 as a result of the restructuring, which it said would also involve leveraging the company’s relationship with Exxon and maximizing the use of technology.
Imperial said it planned to centralize additional corporate and technical activities in “global business and technology centres” as well as consolidating more activities to its operating sites.
Imperial owns and operates the Kearl oil sands mine and Cold Lake oil sands operation in northern Alberta as well as a 25% stake in the Syncrude Canada oil sands joint venture project.
The company is also Canada’s largest petroleum refiner, with one refinery in Alberta near Edmonton and two in Ontario.
Imperial’s head office is in Calgary, where the rest of Canada’s oil and gas industry is headquartered.
The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment on what the announcement meant for the Calgary head office, which opened in 2016 and was designed to house up to 3,000 people.
The company said it would record a one-time restructuring charge of about C$330 million before tax in the third quarter of 2025.
Imperial said its 2025 forecasts were unchanged and the company was well-positioned to meet or beat its medium-term production targets for the Kearl and Cold Lake oil sands sites.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/
