Gas giant to cut 200 jobs

South Australian lipid and state elephantine Santos is cutting 200 jobs, blaming a hold successful “growth activities” for the cull.

The ASX-listed $25bn shaper announced the retrenchment connected Wednesday, with astir impacted roles centred successful the company’s Perth office.

“A elaborate reappraisal of the WA, Northern Territory and East Timor concern portion was undertaken implicit caller months to guarantee our workforce is aligned to the company’s strategy and disciplined, low-cost operating model,” the institution said.

“With immoderate late-life assets nearing closure, determination is an expanding near-term absorption connected capital-intensive decommissioning activities.

“New task approvals are taking longer meaning enactment programs are much sequenced than successful the past and immoderate maturation activities person been delayed.

“As a result, astir 200 roles successful the concern portion are surplus to our concern enactment plans including contractors.

“The surplus roles are chiefly Perth-based with a tiny fig based successful different locations.”

The company’s immense portfolio includes lipid and state fields successful South Australia’s Cooper Basin, WA, the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea.

The institution is besides pursuing a fig of maturation projects, including the $5.7bn Barossa state task disconnected Darwin successful the Timor Sea, the $3bn Dorado offshore lipid improvement successful WA and the Pikka lipid task successful Alaska’s North Slope.

But the institution has confronted analyzable regulatory hurdles and ineligible challenges to its projected developments, including a long-running tribunal conflict implicit Barossa.

Tiwi Islands Elders took Santos to tribunal implicit concerns underwater pipelines for Barossa would interaction taste heritage.

The Federal Court ruled successful Santos’ favour successful January and the task is present much than 70 per cent complete.

Santos said it had not taken the determination to chopped jobs “lightly”.

“Santos acknowledges that changes similar these are ne'er casual for the radical affected, including their families, and we bash not marque these decisions lightly,” the institution said.

“Santos volition enactment impacted employees, including done our Employee Assistance Program and an outplacement work providing vocation modulation support.

“The institution volition proceed to optimise its workforce to guarantee it has the close capabilities and is the close size to present our concern plans safely, efficiently and effectively.”

In its archetypal 4th results for 2024, Santos reported $2.1bn successful income gross and 21.8 cardinal barrels of lipid equivalent.

Chief enforcement Kevin Gallagher said the Barossa and Pikka developments would acceptable up the institution for the adjacent 10 to 15 years.

“Barossa and Pikka are world-class projects that volition beryllium transformative for Santos and acceptable the institution up with long-term, unchangeable currency flows for the adjacent 10-15 years astatine least,” helium said.

First state astatine Barossa is expected successful the 3rd 4th of 2025 portion archetypal accumulation astatine Pikka is scheduled for 2026.