Maersk Oil is planning to cut 160 jobs from its Danish business unit following an "organizational review."
The firm said the results of the review of the Danish business unit would "simplify its organization to improve efficiency," and create a more cost-efficient operating model.
The reorganization will be carried out in coming months, with a first phase seeing all Danish business unit staff moved to the firm's Esbjerg office. The changes are subject to consultation and local labour law.
Earlier this month, Maersk Oil said it was going to shut in its Tyra field offshore Denmark in a move that could impact a string of other fields on the Danish Continental Shelf.
Maersk Oil said it was unable to find an economic strategy for full recovery of the remaining resources in the field, Denmark's largest gas field and the centre of a major hub 225km west of Esbjerg, and will need to shut it down in October 2018. The field's facilities, which have been deemed unsafe to continue operate, could be rebuilt, however, depending on an economically attractive solution being found.
Martin Rune Pedersen, COO, said today: “Our employees have done a great job in getting us to where we are today, and we recognize that this announcement will be unsettling news for them. It is however a necessary step in order to remain competitive in the Danish North Sea and the wider Maersk Oil business.”
Patrick Gilly, managing director of Maersk Oil DBU said: “What we are announcing today will ensure our long term future in a sustainable manner and it is a step in our efforts to support the Maersk Oil North Sea ambitions. The simpler organization enables us to operate in a leaner and more integrated way with a maintained focus on creating maximum value from safe operations of the mature fields in the Danish North Sea.”
Maersk Oil produces a mixture of oil and gas oil from 15 fields in Denmark. First oil production in Denmark began in 1972 from the Dan field. Since then, 14 other fields have been brought on stream: Gorm, Skjold, Tyra, Rolf, Kraka, Dagmar, Regnar, Valdemar, Svend, Roar, Harald, Lulita, Halfdan and Halfdan Northeast. A third-party field, Trym, in the Norwegian North Sea, has been tied-in to Harald’s infrastructure.
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Image: Tyra East in the Danish North Sea. Image from Maersk Oil.
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