Another energy giant has joined the growing list of companies cutting their workforce in Canada.
Spanish energy company Repsol has announced it is reducing its Canadian workforce by about 30 per cent — laying off employees from its downtown Calgary office as well as field locations in Chauvin and Edson, Alta.
The company would not say how many positions will be cut but its website listed more than 700 employees in Canada as of the end of 2018.
In a statement to Global News, the company said: “Repsol is constantly evaluating our activity and organization to drive continuous improvement and ensure the long-term sustainability of our business.”
Energy analyst Ian Nieboer, managing director at RS Energy Group, said while the announcement is disappointing, it’s not surprising.
“It is a bit of a knife fight out there to compete for capital, compete for opportunities,” Nieboer said.
Nieboer added while Canada has great assets, great opportunity and great talent, we also have a lot of challenges, including lack of pipelines.
While the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project approval helps but he says Canada and other energy producing countries still face a lot of hurdles.
“The industry as a whole, not just Calgary, but the industry as a whole is facing a bit of a challenging moment,” Nieboere said.
“It means that a lot of companies are making hard decisions about where they choose to focus, what their headcount needs to be and how they choose to deploy their operations. The pipe helps but it may not be the last answer.”
Repsol purchased Calgary-based Talisman Energy for $13 billion back in 2015.