Imperial Oil Ltd has announced a restructuring plan that involves command decentralization and a workforce reduction of about 20 percent in two years.
“The restructuring will use a rigorous transition process and is expected to reduce employee roles by approximately 20 percent by the end of 2027”, the Calgary, Canada-based integrated oil and gas company, majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corp., said in a statement on its website.
“As part of this change, Imperial will further consolidate activities to its operating sites, enhancing collaboration, operational focus and execution excellence”.
Imperial had about 5,100 regular employees at the end of 2024, according to its annual report. The figured referred to “active executive, management, professional, technical, administrative and wage employees who work full-time or part-time for the company and are covered by the company’s benefit plans and programs”.
“We recognize the considerable impact this restructuring will have on our employees and their families. We are deeply committed to supporting our employees through this transition”, said Imperial chair, president and chief executive John Whelan.
The company said, “The restructuring is consistent with Imperial’s strategy to maximize value, using technology and leveraging the company’s relationship with ExxonMobil”.
“With data availability and processing capabilities growing at an accelerating pace, the changes are designed to fully leverage globally available expertise to maximize the benefits of current technology and accelerate the cost-effective deployment of new technologies that drive value and enhance financial resilience”, Imperial added.
It expects the restructuring to cut annual expenses by CAD 150 million ($107.77 million) by 2028.
“Larger benefits are expected over the longer term as more fully leveraging the global scale and expertise of its major shareholder, ExxonMobil, will enable Imperial to further enhance cash flow growth by driving productivity improvements across its operations including higher production, reduced downtime, lower unit operating costs as well as project planning and execution excellence”, Imperial said.
It said it will book a one-time restructuring charge of around CAD 330 million pre-tax in its 2025 third-quarter results.
“Imperial corporate guidance for 2025 is unchanged and the company is well positioned to meet or beat its medium-term production and unit cost targets for Kearl and Cold Lake”, it said.
According to the guidance it published December 12, 2024, Imperial expects CAD1.9-2.1 billion in capital and exploration spending this year.
Upstream production is expected to be 433,000-456,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed). Refinery throughput is pegged at 405,000-415,000 barrels per day at a 94-96 percent utilization rate, according to the guidance.
In the second quarter Imperial achieved its highest second-quarter output in over 30 years at 427,000 gross boed. The Kearl oil sands deposit recorded its highest-ever 2Q gross production averaging 275,000 bpd of bitumen, Imperial said in its quarterly report.
However, 2Q 2025 net profit fell CAD 184 million year-on-year to CAD 949 million, or CAD 1.86 per share. The drop was primarily due to “lower upstream realizations and downstream margin capture”, the report said.
“We safely completed our heaviest planned turnaround quarter in both our upstream and downstream businesses, positioning the company for a strong second half of the year”, said Whelan. “A significant accomplishment was the work completed at Kearl which delivers on our plans to double turnaround intervals to an industry-leading four years”.
Imperial paid shareholders CAD 367 million in dividends during 2Q. It declared a dividend per share of CAD 0.72 for 3Q.
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