Danish oil firm DONG Energy is to cut up to 400 jobs this year as part of a £34million cost-saving programme.
The company, which saw profits fall to £45million for the first half of 2013, said it would be shedding jobs across the group as part of a streamlining process.
“Over the coming weeks, there will be a reduction of 350-400 jobs in the group,” said chief executive Henrik Poulsen.
“A difficult, but unfortunately also necessary, process to improve DONG Energy’s competitiveness in an energy sector that is undergoing an extensive and challenging transformation of both energy systems and business concepts.”
Dong posted first half earnings of 7.8billion Danish krone (£892million), up from 6.6billion krone in the previous year, after cost savings and increased income from the company’s new offshore wind farms – including the world’s largest, the London Array.
Profits were down, however, with the company noting losses of DKK1.9billion on a gas-fired power station in Holland and the Siri fields in Denmark.
“Exploration & Production saw a decrease in oil and gas production in the second quarter of 2013 due to technical problems that impact the Alve/Marulk and Trym fields,” said Poulsen.
“Furthermore, due to the discovery of a new crack in the Siri platform’s subsea structure, it remains unclear when production in the Siri area can be resumed.
“Even though we have taken sound steps in the right direction, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”