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Imperial Oil ( IMO ) to centralize activities in global centers

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Layoffs part of restructuring amid global crude price

slump

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Expects C$150 million annual expense reduction by 2028

(Recasts and writes through with details and background

throughout)

By Amanda Stephenson, Sheila Dang and Katha Kalia

CALGARY, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Canada's Imperial Oil ( IMO )

said on Monday it would cut its workforce by about 20%

by the end of 2027 as part of a major restructuring designed to

lower costs by centralizing and consolidating activities in

certain locations.

Imperial Oil ( IMO ) is majority owned by top U.S. oil producer Exxon

Mobil ( XOM ), and it had about 5,100 employees as of the end of

2024, according to a regulatory filing.

The planned layoffs come as global crude prices have slumped

this year due to increased output from the OPEC+ group of oil

producers and trade policy uncertainty. U.S. oil producers and

services firms including ConocoPhillips ( COP ) and SLB

have also announced job cuts.

Imperial said it expected to achieve an annual cost reduction

of C$150 million ($107.81 million) by 2028 as a result of the

restructuring, which it said would also involve leveraging the

company's relationship with Exxon and maximizing the use of

technology.

Imperial said it planned to centralize additional corporate

and technical activities in "global business and technology

centres" as well as consolidating more activities to its

operating sites.

Imperial owns and operates the Kearl oil sands mine and Cold

Lake oil sands operation in northern Alberta as well as a 25%

stake in the Syncrude Canada oil sands joint venture project.

The company is also Canada's largest petroleum refiner, with one

refinery in Alberta near Edmonton and two in Ontario.

Imperial's head office is in Calgary, where the rest of

Canada's oil and gas industry is headquartered.

The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment

on what the announcement meant for the Calgary head office,

which opened in 2016 and was designed to house up to 3,000

people.

The company said it would record a one-time restructuring

charge of about C$330 million before tax in the third quarter of

2025.

Imperial said its 2025 forecasts were unchanged and the company

was well-positioned to meet or beat its medium-term production

targets for the Kearl and Cold Lake oil sands sites.

($1 = 1.3914 Canadian dollars)