Chevron extends job cuts to trading desks

Chevron plans to cut staff on its global energy trading desks, making it the latest division to face reductions as part of a $3 billion cost-saving plan brought on by weak crude markets, according to sources cited by news agency Reuters.

Chevron's supply and trading group is based in Houston but also has offices in Singapore, London and San Ramon, California. According to Reuters, that group could see its headcount reduced by as much as 10% as part of a company-wide job reduction plan. Other sources told Reuters they were aware of the cuts but could not say how deep they might be.

Though staff cutbacks have become commonplace in the industry, Chevron's moves were among the largest to affect trading operations, according to the report. Some companies have attempted to protect the trading desks to help navigate uneven energy markets.

The company declined to comment on the scale of the cuts or who was affected. Chevron said in July that it would lay off 1,500 employees globally, or about 2% of its workforce. Chevron's workforce reduction process required some employees to re-apply for their current roles or for newly-created streamlined roles, the Reuters report said..

As the second-largest US  producer, Chevron runs one of the industry's bigger global trading operations. The S&T group handles an average of 5 million bpd of liquids, essentially crude and oil products, according to its website, equivalent to 8% of daily global oil supply. It also trades 6 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas, equal to about 7% of US daily supply.

One former Chevron employee estimated the global crude and oil products desks had an estimated 100 front-line traders, though the company declined to break out how many staff worked in the division, according to the report.