Shell to cut 20% of oil exploration jobs, extending CEO’s cost-cutting drive – Reuters

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) plans to cut 20% from its oil and gas exploration and development workforce, as CEO Wael Sawan widens his cost-saving drive after deep cuts in renewables and low-carbon businesses, Reuters reported Thursday.

The restructuring in the exploration and wells development and subsurface units will see hundreds of job cuts around the world, and will be felt especially at its offices in Houston and the Netherlands, and to a lesser extent in the U.K., according to the report.

The proposed cuts are subject to consultations with groups that represent employees, the report said.

Shell’s (SHEL) upstream division, which includes the exploration and well development units, accounted for over one third of the company’s $28.25B in adjusted earnings in 2023.

“Shell aims to create more value with less emissions by focusing on performance, discipline and simplification across the business. That includes delivering structural operating cost reductions of $2B-$3B by the end of 2025,” the company said in a statement.