Petronas may cut 1,000 jobs as oil slump prompts reorganisation

[KUALA LUMPUR] Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia's state oil company, announced management changes and plans to cut workers as it seeks to trim operating costs to cope with the worst price slump in a generation.

Petronas, as the company is known, said its new business structure is expected to result in the loss of about 1,000 jobs, according to a statement on its website. It didn't specify if the positions to be vacated were those of permanent or contract employees. The company had about 51,000 workers as of the end of 2014.

"Exhaustive efforts are on-going to re-deploy affected employees," the company said. "Petronas will further embark on a separation exercise for these employees as needed, which is expected to be completed over the next six months."

The Kuala Lumpur-based company, which reported its third loss in five quarters on Monday, flagged that it may need to raise debt and tap its cash reserves to cover capital expenditures and dividend payments to the government.

Petronas joins global oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc in cutting spending amid the crude downturn. It's targeting to lower capital and operating expenditures by as much as 20 billion ringgit (S$6.7 billion) in 2016, with a planned reduction of 50 billion ringgit over four years, chief executive officer Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin told reporters Monday.

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