Tullow Oil considering closing Irish office as part of global cost cutting round
Tullow Oil is considering closing its operations in Ireland as part of a wider plan to cut costs by around $20m (€18m).
The Irish-founded company has an office in Dublin, employing around 55 people. While some employees work in corporate services, most are exploration-focused geologists. Africa-focused Tullow is committed to halving its exploration spend.
The company’s Irish office was scaled back in size in 2015, before which it housed around 120 employees. Along with Dublin, Tullow may also close its Cape Town office. The two offices are Tullow’s only operations located in countries where it has no oil exploration interests.
It is unclear whether any redeployment opportunities will exist but Tullow is expected to issue further details about its restructuring plans when it publishes delayed annual results for 2019 in March.
Tullow is looking to cut a third of its overall group staff in order to lower administration costs by around $20m. The move would shrink its global workforce to around 650 people.
“Tullow estimates that the measures will deliver considerable savings and the group’s workforce may reduce by approximately a third globally with potential office closures in Dublin and Cape Town among a number of measures to reduce costs and overheads,” the company said confirming that it has begun the restructuring process and is set to enter into a consultation process with affected staff.
At the end of last year Tullow scrapped dividend payments and parted company with its chief executive after announcing oil production and associated revenues would be lower than forecast in 2020 and beyond.
Tullow is not expected to announce a new CEO — to replace Paul McDade — until after its March results presentation and around a third of its senior management jobs could also go in the upcoming cull. Its share price — which tumbled by around 64% last year — jumped as much as 6% on news of its restructuring plans.
