Talisman Energy Inc., the Canadian energy company being acquired by Spain’s Repsol SA, is cutting as much as 15% of its head office workforce as it reduces activity to contend with a collapse of crude prices.
Talisman is terminating 150 to 200 employees and contractors of about 1,300 total workers in Calgary, where the oil and natural gas producer is based, Brent Anderson, a company spokesman, said.
The producer is scaling back its budget by 30% this year, he said.
Energy companies confronting oil at a six-year low are reducing staff to cut costs as they lower spending plans. Talisman follows Cnooc Ltd.’s Nexen Energy subsidiary and Athabasca Oil Corp. in announcing job cuts in Canada’s oil patch.
“Our decision to reduce our workforce numbers is based on the decline in global commodity prices, which has meant a reduced capital spending program for us this year,” Anderson said. “The impacts of the reductions are hitting all functions supporting all parts of the organization.”
Repsol, based in Madrid, agreed in December to acquire Talisman for $8.3 billion in a deal scheduled to close by mid-year. The job cuts aren’t related to the takeover, Anderson said.
Talisman Chief Executive Officer Hal Kvisle, who announced the workforce reduction to employees on Tuesday, said last month the company was planning to make cuts because of low oil prices, and that the takeover by Repsol would make additional positions redundant.
Talisman employed about 2,800, not including contractors, at the end of 2013, Anderson said.
Nexen, based in Calgary, said it’s cutting 300 workers in Canada, 40 in the US and 60 in the UK. Athabasca, also based in the city, said it has cut half of its head office jobs to lower costs since late last year, without giving a number.
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