Chevron to sell downstream assets, cut 2,000 jobs

Chevron Corporation, the second biggest oil company in the US said today that it had outlined plans to sell some of its global operations and reduce its workforce by 2,000 this year as part of restructuring of its global refining business.

With plans to improve returns and further streamline its downstream portfolio, the San Ramon, California-based oil major said that it plans to sell certain operations in Europe, including the Pembroke refinery in the UK, the Caribbean and select Central America markets.

The Pembroke plant having refining capacity of 10.5 million tonnes per year is situated on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales in the UK and came on stream in 1964.

Chevron added that that it was also reviewing operations in Hawaii and Africa, outside of South Africa.

As part of the restructuring, Chevron will eliminate 2,000 jobs through 2011 and incur $150 million to $200 million in severance charges in the first quarter of this year.

John Watson, hired by Chevron to run the company in the beginning of this year, had said in mid-January that the company would undertake a restructuring of its global refining business that will see job cuts and closure of some of its refineries around the world. (See: Chevron to shut plants, axe jobs in refining business restructuring)