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Maersk Oil to cut global workforce by up to 12%

Maersk Oil says it will reduce its workforce by between 10% and 12% worldwide in response to depressed oil prices.

The most jobs will be lost from Maersk Oil’s business Units in Qatar and Norway, with a smaller proportion lost in Kazakhstan and at the company’s Copenhagen headquarters. The lay-offs will affect both Maersk Oil employees and contractors.

“We are operating in a materially changed oil price environment and have taken necessary decisions to reduce activity levels through 2015, and ensure we focus where we can see adequate returns from our most robust projects. This approach has seen us sanction mega-projects like Johan Sverdrup and Culzean during the year,” said Maersk Oil CEO Jakob Thomasen in a statement.

“We remain focused on longer-term growth opportunities, which play to our technical strengths, and the continued safety of all our people and assets.

“We expect the pressure to continue into 2016 and we must remain cost-focused to grow in this market.”

The company aims to reduce its operating costs by 20% by the end of 2016. So far this year, the business has made 1,250 redundancies.

Some 220 lay-offs are planned in the UK, which Maersk Oil explained was “linked to the retirement of the Janice asset and changes to the offshore rotation”. Sixty roles have gone in Angola and the US, due to delays in the Chissonga project.

Holly Birkett

Holly is Splash's Online Editor and correspondent for the UK and Mediterranean. She has been a maritime journalist since 2010, and has written for and edited several trade publications. She is currently studying for membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In 2013, Holly won the Seahorse Club's Social Media Journalist of the Year award. She is currently based in London.
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