Chevron to shut plants, axe jobs in refining business restructuring
20 Jan 2010
Chevron Corporation, the second biggest oil company in the US will be undertaking a restructuring of its global refining business that will see job cuts and closure of some of its refineries around the world.
Chevron, like many other global integrated oil companies, barring Chinese and Indian oil companies, has been hit by an overcapacity in crude refining bought on by recession and the high price of crude last year, which has curtailed demand for petrol, diesel and jet fuel as consumers reign back on spending as well as the use of alternative clean fuel.
According to an analyst, Chevron's refineries lost more than $600,000 a day during the final three months of 2009.
The San Ramon, California-based oil major told employees this week that the company will undertake a restructuring process, which will see some refineries from its global operations being shuttered including the one in Hawaii, resulting in an unspecified number of job losses.
In a video message to Chevron employees, Mike Wirth, executive vice president of the company's global downstream business said that the company has not yet finalised which refining plants would be shuttered or the number of job losses.
A company spokesperson said in an interview that the company would be releasing more details in March and the restructuring plan would be in place by September.
Chevron's refining business will be a less complex and smaller organisation that will require fewer positions, said the spokesperson.
Chevron has five refineries in the US, three overseas and has a stake in nearly a dozen others. It has 19,000 downstream employees globally
In an interim report released earlier this month, Chevron said that for its Gulf Coast refineries, profit margins were about 39 per cent lower in the fourth-quarter compared to the same quarter last year while it were 59 per cent lower in Singapore and 45 per cent lower in Europe.
Chevron, like many other global integrated oil companies, barring Chinese and Indian oil companies, has been hit by an overcapacity in crude refining bought on by recession and the high price of crude last year, which has curtailed demand for petrol, diesel and jet fuel as consumers reign back on spending as well as the use of alternative clean fuel.
According to an analyst, Chevron's refineries lost more than $600,000 a day during the final three months of 2009.
The San Ramon, California-based oil major told employees this week that the company will undertake a restructuring process, which will see some refineries from its global operations being shuttered including the one in Hawaii, resulting in an unspecified number of job losses.
In a video message to Chevron employees, Mike Wirth, executive vice president of the company's global downstream business said that the company has not yet finalised which refining plants would be shuttered or the number of job losses.
A company spokesperson said in an interview that the company would be releasing more details in March and the restructuring plan would be in place by September.
Chevron's refining business will be a less complex and smaller organisation that will require fewer positions, said the spokesperson.
Chevron has five refineries in the US, three overseas and has a stake in nearly a dozen others. It has 19,000 downstream employees globally
In an interim report released earlier this month, Chevron said that for its Gulf Coast refineries, profit margins were about 39 per cent lower in the fourth-quarter compared to the same quarter last year while it were 59 per cent lower in Singapore and 45 per cent lower in Europe.