據OFFSHORE ENERGY 9月2日報道 美國能源巨頭埃克森美孚在澳大利亞宣布了一項自愿裁員計劃后，正在評估是否要在全球范圍內裁員。

也就是說，埃克森美孚公司(ExxonMobil)周三表示，它已為其澳大利亞雇員啟動了一項自愿裁員計劃。

該公司補充說，該計劃是在對其當前和未來的項目工作進行廣泛審查之后進行的。

埃克森美孚公司表示，選擇參加這項自愿計劃的員工將被要求在9月份之前表達意向。該項目面向墨爾本、吉普斯蘭、悉尼、阿德萊德和珀斯的所有員工。

參加該計劃的員工將得到公司的扶持，包括再就業服務。

該公司表示:“該計劃將確保公司能夠度過這些前所未有的市場環境。”

該公司并沒有說明將裁減多少員工，但聲明稱自愿裁員計劃適用于所有表示有意向的員工。

埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)是最新一家開始裁員的大型石油公司，其裁員原因是新型冠狀病毒大流行導致燃料需求出現歷史性暴跌。例如，英國石油公司(BP)在6月初宣布，今年將在全球裁員1萬人。其他裁員的公司包括哈里伯頓(Halliburton)和森馬(SembMarine)等。

該公司已經將資本支出削減了100億美元，至230億美元左右。埃克森美孚還在8月份表示，計劃削減資本支出和運營支出，以捍衛其股息。此前，該公司在第一和第二季度報告了虧損——35年來首次連續出現季度虧損。

埃克森美孚發言人凱西·諾頓通過電子郵件告訴路透社:“我們正在逐個國家進行評估，以評估可能的額外效率，以調整我們的業務規模，使其在未來更加強大。”

上述言論標志著一種轉變，因為埃克森美孚曾在7月對路透表示，沒有因疫情而裁員的計劃，也沒有在今年的員工評估中設定裁員百分比目標。

同樣在澳大利亞，埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)也在尋求出售其在巴斯海峽油氣合資公司(Bass Strait oil and gas joint venture) 50%的股份，這可能為他們帶來30億美元的收入。

目前，在巴斯海峽組建合資企業有點不受歡迎，因為必和必拓上月還透露，計劃出售所持合資企業50%的股份，以便專注于價值更高的石油資產。

分析師們猜測，除了在巴斯海峽(Bass Strait)的持股，埃克森美孚還可能出售或關閉其位于墨爾本的阿爾托納(Altona)工廠，這是澳大利亞歷史最悠久的煉油廠。

朱寅 摘譯自 OFFSHORE ENERGY

原文如下：

ExxonMobil mulls worldwide job cuts after revealing lay-off plan in Australia

U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil is assessing whether to cut jobs worldwide after announcing a voluntary lay-off programme in Australia.

Namely, ExxonMobil said on Wednesday that it started a voluntary redundancy program for its Australian employees.

The company added that the program followed an extensive review of its current and future project work.

ExxonMobil stated that employees who elected to take part in the voluntary program would be asked to offer expressions of interest through September. The program is being offered to all employees in Melbourne, Gippsland, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth.

“Employees who participate in the program will be provided with company support, including outplacement services.

“This program will ensure the company manages through these unprecedented market conditions”, the company stated.

The company did not say what percentage of its workforce it was seeking to cut, but the statement claimed that the voluntary redundancy program was available to all employees who expressed an interest.

ExxonMobil is the latest oil major to embark on axing jobs spurred by a historic collapse in fuel demand because of the coronavirus pandemic. BP, for example, announced in early June that it would be reducing its global workforce by 10,000 people this year. Other companies which cut its workforce include Halliburton and SembMarine amongst others.

The company has already slashed its capex spending by $10 billion to around $23 billion. Exxon also stated in August that it planned both capex and opex cuts to defend its dividend after reporting losses in the first and second quarters – first back-to-back quarterly loss in over three and a half decades.

ExxonMobil spokesman Casey Norton told Reuters via email: “We have evaluations underway on a country-by-country basis to assess possible additional efficiencies to right-size our business and make it stronger for the future”.

The comments mark a shift, as Exxon told Reuters in July that it had no plans for layoffs due to the pandemic and no percentage targets to reduce its workforce through this year’s employee reviews.

Also in Australia, ExxonMobil is looking to sell its 50 per cent stake in the Bass Strait oil and gas joint venture which could earn them up to $3 billion.

The Bass Strait JV is kind of unwanted at the moment as BHP also revealed plans last month to sell its 50 per cent stake in the JV to enable focusing on higher-value petroleum assets.

Apart from its stake in Bass Strait, analysts have speculated that ExxonMobil could also sell or close its Altona plant in Melbourne, Australia’s oldest refinery.