Imperial Oil to Cut 20% of Workforce as Crude Prices Drop

An Imperial Oil Ltd. refinery near the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.

(Bloomberg) -- Imperial Oil Ltd. plans to trim its workforce by about 20% by the end of 2027 as the global crude market faces a potential supply glut.

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Imperial will “consolidate activities to its operating sites” and enhance its operational focus, the producer said in statement on Monday. As a result, the company expects to record a one-time restructuring charge of approximately C$330 million ($237 million) before-tax in the third quarter of 2025.

The changes will result in the reduction of “approximately 900 positions, the majority of which are in Calgary,” an Imperial spokesperson said by email.

The cuts are anticipated to reduce annual expenses by C$150 million by 2028, and Imperial is “well positioned” to meet or exceed targets for the Kearl oil sands mine and Cold Lake well site. Imperial employed about 5,100 people as of the end of 2024, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“We applaud what” the company is doing, said Cole Smead, chief executive officer of Smead Capital Management Inc., an investor in Imperial Oil. “The efficiency of the industry is going to be a dominant metric for how investors look at the space.”

The company, which is Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Canadian oil sands unit, has been pushing to cut costs as producers weigh the outlook for prices. Brent crude, the global benchmark, has dropped almost 10% this year, with many experts forecasting that the market will face oversupply.

Imperial Chief Executive Officer John Whelan said in April the company is pushing to be a “resilient business that can weather different commodity environments.” Last year, the company reduced upstream unit expenses by $3 a barrel. It plans further reductions this year.

Based in Calgary, Imperial operates oil sands sites and also runs several Canadian refineries and is about 68% owned by Exxon.

Imperial’s shares traded in Canada have gained about 35% in the past year, outperforming the four other major oil sands producers.

(Updates with Imperial statement on Calgary cuts in third paragraph.)

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