Imperial Oil Joins Growing List of Companies Shedding Jobs

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Canadian energy company Imperial Oil (Calgary) announced it would shed about 20% of its workforce by 2027 as part of a broad-based restructuring process.

U.S.-based Exxon Mobil Corporation (Spring, Texas) has a majority stake in Imperial Oil, which said restructuring was consistent with its efforts to maximize value and leverage the relationship with the Houston company.

"We recognize the considerable impact this restructuring will have on our employees and their families," said John Whelan, the company's top executive. "We are deeply committed to supporting our employees through this transition."

Exxon's second-quarter net earnings sank year-on-year by about 23%, or $2.1 billion, to $7.1 billion. Revenue for the quarter fell about $12 billion. The Bloomberg news agency reported Tuesday, ahead of third-quarter earnings season, that Exxon itself is shedding about 4% of its global workforce, or around 2,000 people.

"We've seen the value of bringing people together in the same location," Exxon said in a statement to Bloomberg. "We are aligning our global footprint with our operating model and bringing our teams together."

Imperial stressed that its corporate guidance for 2025 remained unchanged. Upstream averaged 427,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day, its highest second-quarter production in more than 30 years. Its downstream business averaged 376,000 barrels per day (BBL/d), resulting in an overall refinery capacity utilization of 87%.

Imperial in the second quarter said it expects its downstream throughput to grow to between 405,000 BBL/d and 415,000 BBL/d in 2025.

Among the standouts in Imperial's portfolio is the Cold Lake facility in Alberta. The facility can process as much as 55,000 BBL/d of the thick bitumen common in the oil-rich province. Because the U.S. refinery system is tailored largely to process heavier crudes, Canada is the top exporter of crude oil to the U.S. economy by far.

Canadian leaders, however, have pressed for expanded trade opportunities outside of North America to counter the aggressive tariff policies embraced by U.S. President Donald Trump. Alberta opposition leader Naheed Nenshi of the New Democratic Party said current leadership was lacking.

"Hundreds of families will be affected with ripple effects throughout their communities," he was quoted by Canadian news outlet Global News as saying of Imperial's plans.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a member of the United Conservative Party, has been busy sending delegates to the United States to ensure trade remains viable. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, for his part, has backed legislation that prioritizes nation-building projects, including expanded trade arteries for energy from British Columbia to Asia.

Much of the energy sector as a whole is on its backfoot, meanwhile, as Trump's shifting trade policies upend global supply chains. Trump has proclaimed this to be the "golden age of fossil fuels," but crude oil prices by next year are expected to be below the point at which many companies can make a profit.

Already this year, Exxon said it's cut structural costs by around $14 billion since 2019, while Shell and BP are busy shedding assets. Earlier this year, Chevron relocated from California to Texas after cutting 20% of its staff and moving some 6,000 jobs to India, where labor costs are lower.

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