(Trinidad Express) British Petroleum (bp) said on Wednesday its restructuring exercise will result in 149 employees being separated from the group’s Trinidad business on a voluntary or involuntary basis.
The majority of exits will occur in January 2021, the company said.
In a statement issued by bp and not bpTT, the company pointed out that it had announced a global restructuring in June.
“This restructuring exercise, the largest in our history, was undertaken to create a more focused, leaner and better integrated energy company. We can confirm that the restructuring of the Trinidad business has largely been completed and we have begun to transition to bp’s new operating model, based on a higher degree of centralisation and agile ways of working,” said the company.
Some 58 employees of the company opted to leave voluntarily, while 91 employees were involuntarily separated. In the statement, bp said the reduction in staff was done in two phases. During the first phase, which took place in September 2020, employees were allowed to express their interest to leave the company on a voluntary basis.
During the second phase, which took place between October and November, employees were selected into roles in the newly designed organisation and unplaced staff were informed of their involuntary separation.
“We are deeply saddened that we are unable to take all of our employees with us on our journey as we reinvent bp. The global environment and the changing energy demands have required us to make fundamental changes to how we are structured and to our operating model and sadly, that means we will be saying farewell to some of our colleagues and friends,” the global energy company said.
The company said while it is saying farewell to some of its employees, the restructuring process has created new opportunities for many of its workers who will now be assuming new roles in bp.
“Approximately 47 employees have been assigned to roles that support operations outside of Trinidad and Tobago. Some of those roles will be based in Trinidad and some will be international assignments. This is a testament to the quality of the talent that has been nurtured and developed in bpTT,” said the company.
It added that the organisational changes it is undergoing will not affect any of already sanctioned projects and activities in Trinidad. “Those projects will continue as planned as we remain committed to developing our gas resources, while at the same time progressing opportunities to decarbonise gas value chains and develop new, low-carbon businesses, in service of bp’s new purpose and ambition,” the company said.
Company not leaving T&T In an article in yesterday’s Express Business magazine, bp’s Trinidad president, Claire Fitzpatrick, is quoted as telling a virtual townhall meeting last Friday the fact that bpTT is reducing its staff numbers does not mean the company is looking to exit the domestic market.
Responding to a question from a bpTT employee, Fitzpatrick said: “Do not view the change in the shape in Trinidad and Tobago and how we work as an organisation as a signal that we are not going to operate in Trinidad or somehow we are packing up and leaving. “There are lots of resources we want to develop here, but if we do not have the natural gas molecules to commit to a contract, then it is not a possibility for us to enter the contract.”
In response to the same question, Fitzpatrick said natural gas production is declining in Trinidad and Tobago, and the global energy company is doing a great deal of work to manage that decline.
She referred to prospective developments for bpTT in the Ginger and Frangiapani fields, as well as the fact that the company is considering exploration beyond its current Columbus Channel locations. BpTT is also engaged in appraisal work of deepwater prospects.
Not all doom and gloom
Contacted for comment last night, Energy Minister Franklin Khan said the separation of the 149 bpTT employees was not all doom and gloom, as T&T had been spared major capital expenditure cuts in the company’s exploration and production programme.
Khan underscored the global energy giant’s commitment to continue the development of the Matapal and Ginger fields.
The minister welcomed Fitzpatrick’s commitment that the downsizing of bpTT’s staff does not mean the company is leaving T&T.
Khan sympathised with those who have been or are being retrenched, noting that bpTT and Shell are working jointly on a solar project in T&T, which may be recruiting soon.
“This is obviously not something that we as a Government welcome, but it is important to note that this is part of a global shift in their business model that bp announced earlier this year. That shift includes a reduction in capital expenditure in oil and gas over time,” said Khan, adding the retrenchment was not the result of something the current administration did not do.
