LONDON (TheBlaze/AP) -- Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell says it will trim at least 2,200 jobs globally amid challenging times in the oil industry.
A Royal Dutch Shell petrol station is seen in Battersea on February 2, 2006 in London, England. Royal Dutch Shell's released record annual profits for a UK listed company today at GBP 13.12bn (USD 22.94bn). (Photo by Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)
The losses are in addition to cuts already being implemented because of the energy company's merger with BG. The losses will include some 475 positions in the North Sea.
The number brings the total number of Shell job cuts so far in 2015 and 2016 to 12,500. The company said that it will cut at least 5,000 jobs in 2016 alone, Bloomberg News reported.
Oil companies around the world are slashing jobs and postponing investments to adjust to lower energy prices. Prices have fallen because production remains high even as slower economic growth, particularly in China, reduces consumption.
Paul Goodfellow, Shell's vice president for the U.K. and Ireland, told staff on Wednesday that these are "tough times for our industry and we have to take further difficult decisions to ensure Shell remains competitive through the current, prolonged downturn."
“These are tough times for our industry,” Goodfellow said, according to Bloomberg News. “We have to take further difficult decisions to ensure Shell remains competitive through the current prolonged downturn.”
