Maersk Oil has announced plans to reduce its organisations in Angola and the US amid the the continued challenging market conditions for deepwater developments.
The move will see Maersk Oil close the company’s Houston office and reduce its Luanda team, impacting about 100 staff positions in total across the two sites.
The decision follows extensive and ongoing work to reduce capex and improve returns on the un-sanctioned Chissonga project in Angola. Options include a future project developed jointly with other hydrocarbon discoveries in the same region.
”Chissonga, like many deepwater projects in our industry, remains economically challenged in the current market environment. Maersk Oil remains committed to the Chissonga project and we have evaluated multiple options to commercialise these resources in the best interests of our partners and the Angolan authorities. In addition to work to reduce overall project costs we are also looking at options for a possible joint development,” said Maersk Oil’s chief operating officer Gretchen Watkins.
“A further restructuring of the Chissonga project team is a necessary step on the path to securing a future development project for Maersk Oil in Angola. This difficult decision does not diminish our keenness to pursue the Chissonga project sanction in due course, provided we can achieve an attractive return on our investment,” she added.
The changes will transfer some operations for the project to Maersk Oil’s Copenhagen headquarters and leave an office of 18 people in Luanda continuing the Chissonga project maturation.
