BP is planning to cut around 700 jobs as part of its global workforce amid the ongoing US-Iran war, which has seen oil prices surge dramatically.
It is understood that the oil giant is preparing to move its business focus to profits and returns after a period of volatile market activity.
In an email seen by Reuters, the job cuts would affect around eight per cent of BP’s 8,500 “non-frontline” positions.
These particular roles were historically part of the company’s production and operations business, the email showed.
BP is understood to be cutting hundreds of jobs
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GETTYOther frontline workers included operators, technicians and maintenance roles, with BP claiming in its email that it is not preparing for any material change to impact frontline teams overall.
Without sharing how many jobs will be cut, a BP spokesperson said: “We are building a simpler, stronger, more valuable BP. As part of this process, we are proposing changes that would result in a reduction in roles.”
Oil companies have seen their profits amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as countries are being forced to pay more in response to the crisis.
Notably, Shell posted its own half-year financial results earlier today, which found that its earnings soared to £12.6billion over the period.
The US-Iran war has caused oil prices to spike across the world’s energy markets | Reuters
A fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through the Strait of Hormuz before the blockade | GB NEWS
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “Shell makes more profit in a single minute than most people in this country earn in a year.
“As wildfires rage and temperatures climb, the very fuels heating the planet are also heating company profits, while households pay the price on their bills.
“This is even harder to stomach knowing that via Shell’s new North Sea joint venture with Equinor, it is structuring its operations to reduce the tax it pays in Britain.
“Long-term energy security cannot rely on a declining North Sea, where firms have already extracted 90 per cent of commercially viable gas while posting billions in profits. The drill more, bill more approach simply locks households into another cycle of gas price shocks.
“Ministers should ensure the Energy Profits Levy does its job and use the proceeds to fund energy debt relief and a permanent social tariff.
“What’s more we need structural reform to break the link between electricity prices and volatile gas markets so that homegrown clean power brings bills down for the people who need help most.”