Exxon Mobil will cut its global workforce by 15 per cent over the next two years, an unprecedented culling by North America’s biggest oil explorer as it struggles to preserve dividends.
The cuts will include 1,900 US jobs, mostly in Houston, as well as reductions in contractors and layoffs previously announced in Europe and Australia. Personnel reductions are chief executive Darren Woods’s latest effort to curtail spending and halt the worst string of quarterly losses since Exxon assumed its modern form with the 1999 takeover of Mobil Corporation.
“These actions will improve the company’s long-term cost competitiveness and ensure the company manages through the current unprecedented market conditions,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Exxon rose 3 per cent to $32.51 at 8:34pm UAE time and was the day’s best-performing exploration stock in the S&P 500 Index.
Exxon’s total reduction will affect about 14,000 people, split between employees and contractors, spokesman Casey Norton said by email. The cuts will come through attrition, targeted redundancy programmes in 2021, and scaled-back hiring in some countries.
Exxon’s Big Oil rivals are also cutting thousands of jobs in response to the pandemic-induced demand slump. BP plans to slash 10,000 jobs, Royal Dutch Shell will cut as many as 9,000 roles and Chevron has announced around 6,000 reductions.
Exxon’s workforce stood at about 88,000 people, including 75,000 in-house employees and the rest comprised of contractors, as of year-end 2019, Mr Norton said.
In the US, the pain will be particularly acute at the suburban Houston location where Exxon opened a sprawling, glass-walled campus in 2014 to house 9,000 employees from exploration, chemicals and other units that had previously been dispersed throughout the metro area. The company’s corporate headquarters remains in the Dallas area.
The fact that Exxon is cutting at all is a sign of its weakened financial position compared to its former status as the S&P 500 Index’s biggest company less than a decade ago and a profit powerhouse used to riding out oil-price cycles.
This year’s downturn has been particularly damaging because it affected refining, usually a cushion in times of low oil prices, and because it came at a time when Exxon was already increasing borrowing to fund a large expansion programme. The company was forced to retreat on these plans in April, reducing capital spending by $10bn and delaying or scaling back most major projects.
The company's share price has plunged more than 50 per cent this year. Its dividend yield is now more than 10 per cent, indicating that investors are anticipating a cut. Exxon maintained its quarterly payout on Wednesday, and is expected to post its third consecutive quarterly loss when it reports earnings today.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
CRICKET%20WORLD%20CUP%20LEAGUE%202
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New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
New Zealand
Penalties: Barrett (7)
British & Irish Lions
Tries: Faletau, Murray
Penalties: Farrell (4)
Conversions: Farrell
Fireball
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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'Ashkal'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Youssef%20Chebbi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fatma%20Oussaifi%20and%20Mohamed%20Houcine%20Grayaa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded