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October 15, 2007
Layoffs are likely as energy company BP PLC undergoes a massive restructuring to streamline its operations, the president of BP America Inc. said Monday.
BP announced its restructuring plan earlier this month. The overhaul is at the core of a strategy by new chief executive officer Tony Hayward to get BP on track after several safety and operational problems.
"There will be some layoffs, how big, we just don't know yet," said Robert Malone, president of BP America.
BP has been criticized for its complex organizational layout. It has been hit by a deadly Texas refinery accident, an oil spill in Alaska and delays at its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas projects.
Its woes have left the company trailing its rivals in the oil industry and led to Hayward's decision to cut the number of business units and strip out management layers.
Malone said the overhaul's purpose is not to cut workers but make BP better.
"The restructuring is not trying to eliminate people, it's not trying to hit a cost target," Malone said during the annual meeting of the American Petroleum Institute.
"It's actually about affecting the way we govern our company, which is ... focus on day-to-day operations and make sure that more people are focused on safe, reliable operations."
Malone also said BP's Texas City and Whiting refineries should be back to full gasoline production by early 2008. He said BP has been careful to "bring them up safely" and not rush them back into operation. The Texas City facility cut back production after an explosion and hurricane damage in 2005 and the Whiting refinery was damaged in an April fire.
BP stock gained 49 cents to $75.92 a share in U.S. trading Monday.
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