Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
BP to Cut 10,000 Jobs Worldwide Amid Virus Pandemic
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
June 8, 2020

Share

LONDON — Oil and gas company BP announced Monday that it will slash its global workforce by 10,000 jobs as the COVID-19 pandemic slams the energy industry.

“We are spending much, much more than we make – I am talking millions of dollars, every day. We have to spend less money.” — Chief Executive Bernard Looney
Chief Executive Bernard Looney said that the cuts will affect office-based roles in BP’s global workforce of 70,000 people and come mostly this year. The changes are expected to significantly affect senior levels, cutting the number of group leaders by a third.
“We are spending much, much more than we make – I am talking millions of dollars, every day,” Looney said in an email to staff that revealed that net debt rose by $6 billion in the first quarter. “We have to spend less money.”
He pledged to bring down capital expenditure by 25% this year, a reduction of around $3 billion. He also said that it costs $22 billion a year to run the company, including $8 billion in people costs.
“So we are driving down those operating costs by $2.5 billion in 2021 – and we will likely have to go even further,” he said.
The job cuts come at a time of tremendous change for London-based BP. It had already embarked on a restructuring plan to ensure its long-term viability as the world decreases its reliance on fossil fuels in an effort to fight climate change. BP wants to eliminate or offset all carbon emissions from its operations and the oil and gas it sells to customers by 2050, an ambitious target.
The wider energy industry has meanwhile been hit hard by the pandemic as the widespread limits on business, travel and public life reduced the need for oil, gas and other fuels.

Major Companies Like BP With Diversified Businesses Are Likely to Survive the Pandemic

Supply of oil and gas was particularly high when the outbreak began, creating a perfect storm for the industry. With storage facilities filling up, the U.S. price of oil went below zero in April for the first time ever.
“To me, the broader economic picture and our own financial position just reaffirm the need to reinvent BP,” Looney said in the email. ”While the external environment is driving us to move faster – and perhaps go deeper at this stage than we originally intended – the direction of travel remains the same.”
The U.S. contract for crude oil began the year at over $60 a barrel, collapsed to below -$37 in April and recovered to about $39 a barrel as of Monday as OPEC countries agreed to limit production.
David Elmes, who leads the Global Energy Research Network at Warwick Business School, said BP’s cuts are symptomatic of the wider challenges facing the industry, with firms in the sector thinking about cutting costs.
“BP and the other European-based international companies have already said they will become less focused on oil and gas over time,” he said. “If this situation continues, there will be intense discussions about what can they do to move faster.”
Major companies like BP with diversified businesses are likely to survive the pandemic, but smaller oil producers are going to have a harder time, analysts say.
U.S. shale companies in particular took on a lot of debt to finance operations and can only make ends meet at about $40 a barrel. Heavily-indebted companies will have to refinance at a time of capital constraint.
Some companies are already going under. Whiting Petroleum, a shale producer, filed for bankruptcy protection in April, for example followed by Diamond Offshore Drilling. More are expected.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Can Keep National Guard Deployed to Los Angeles for Now, Appeals Court Rules

DON'T MISS

Judge Temporarily Bars Trump From Deploying National Guard Troops in Los Angeles

DON'T MISS

Israel Attacks Iran’s Capital With Explosions Booming Across Tehran

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Wildfire Threatens Thousands of Acres. Evacuation Orders, Warnings Issued

DON'T MISS

Fresno Fire’s Helmet Cam Catches Blaze Raging on House, Occupants Escape Safely

DON'T MISS

Derek Carr Says Fresno Is Home, as City Honors Bulldog Great

DON'T MISS

Fresno Councilmember Warns of Possible ICE Raid at Popular Outdoor Market

DON'T MISS

Americans Split on Trump’s Use of Military in Immigration Protests, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Still Searching for Missing At-Risk Man

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Spends Thousands to Reprint Diplomas With Misty Her’s New Title

UP NEXT

US House Passes Trump Cuts of $9.4 Billion for Foreign Aid, Broadcasting

UP NEXT

Tulare County Inmate Found Unresponsive in Cell, Autopsy Pending

UP NEXT

Humanitarian Workers Killed in Gaza Ambush Blamed on Hamas, Internet Cut in Territory

UP NEXT

Italy Has No Indication of Imminent Israeli Attack on Iran

UP NEXT

Britain Ready to Implement US Tariff Deal, Trade Minister Says

UP NEXT

UN Says Full Internet Blackout in Gaza, Paralyzing Aid Operations

UP NEXT

US to Pull Some Personnel From the Middle East Amid Rising Tensions With Iran

UP NEXT

Most G7 Members Ready to Lower Russian Oil Price Cap Without US

UP NEXT

Air India Plane Crash: Reactions From Across the World

UP NEXT

UN Nuclear Watchdog Says Iran in Breach of Obligations, Iran Announces Counter-Measures

Fresno County Wildfire Threatens Thousands of Acres. Evacuation Orders, Warnings Issued

5 hours ago

Fresno Fire’s Helmet Cam Catches Blaze Raging on House, Occupants Escape Safely

5 hours ago

Derek Carr Says Fresno Is Home, as City Honors Bulldog Great

5 hours ago

Fresno Councilmember Warns of Possible ICE Raid at Popular Outdoor Market

6 hours ago

Americans Split on Trump’s Use of Military in Immigration Protests, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

6 hours ago

Clovis Police Still Searching for Missing At-Risk Man

7 hours ago

Fresno Unified Spends Thousands to Reprint Diplomas With Misty Her’s New Title

7 hours ago

Another Dozen Migrants Are Transferred to Guantánamo

7 hours ago

Former California Corrections Sergeant Indicted on Child Porn Charges

7 hours ago

Israel Could Strike Iran as Soon as Sunday, WSJ Reports

7 hours ago

Trump Can Keep National Guard Deployed to Los Angeles for Now, Appeals Court Rules

(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to maintain his deployment of National Guard troops in Los...

57 minutes ago

Law enforcement officers stand guard outside MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), during a protest against federal immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters/David Swanson)
57 minutes ago

Trump Can Keep National Guard Deployed to Los Angeles for Now, Appeals Court Rules

Law enforcement officers guard Los Angeles City Hall during a protest against federal immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 12, 2025. (Reuters/David Ryder)
3 hours ago

Judge Temporarily Bars Trump From Deploying National Guard Troops in Los Angeles

4 hours ago

Israel Attacks Iran’s Capital With Explosions Booming Across Tehran

The Firestone Incident near Highway 198 and Firestone Avenue in Coalinga has grown to 50 acres with a critical rate of spread, prompting evacuation orders for Zone P19, warnings for multiple surrounding zones, and a road closure, according to CalFire. (X/CalFire)
5 hours ago

Fresno County Wildfire Threatens Thousands of Acres. Evacuation Orders, Warnings Issued

A late-night fire heavily damaged a Fresno home on on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, but all six occupants escaped safely with no injuries. (Fresno FD)
5 hours ago

Fresno Fire’s Helmet Cam Catches Blaze Raging on House, Occupants Escape Safely

5 hours ago

Derek Carr Says Fresno Is Home, as City Honors Bulldog Great

6 hours ago

Fresno Councilmember Warns of Possible ICE Raid at Popular Outdoor Market

U.S. Marines stand with their packs and weapons, as protests against federal immigration sweeps continue, in greater Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 9, 2025, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. (DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo)
6 hours ago

Americans Split on Trump’s Use of Military in Immigration Protests, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend