China's CNPC to cut 5 pct of workforce -report
BEIJING, July 26 (Reuters) - China National Petroleum Corp. will cut 5 percent of its workforce over three years, the China Daily reported on Saturday, the latest belt-tightening measure as the country's top oil and gas producer grapples with high oil prices and state-capped prices for refined products.
The cuts by CNPC, parent of listed company PetroChina (0857.HK)(601857.SS)(PTR.N), would amount to about 80,000 jobs out of a listed workforce last year of 1.67 million, the paper said.
CNPC General Manager Jiang Jiemin announced the planned cuts at a recent annual meeting of company executives, according to the report.
Earlier, CNPC had said it aimed to cut office costs and spending on entertainment and travel by at least 10 percent this year.
The cuts come after the listed arm, PetroChina, reported first quarter profit fell 31.5 percent from the year-ago period, although it still earned 28.9 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) in the three months ending in March.
Jiang was quoted by state media as saying that as exploration has become more challenging and costly, and state controls on fuel prices squeezed refining profits, the firm was forced to tighten its belt.
"The company is facing deep changes in the domestic and external environment this year," the official Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
CNPC has done better than rival Sinopec (SNP.N) because it produces more of the oil that it refines, but its downstream sector is still haemorrhaging cash.
The rising oil price, and global commodity boom, has also pushed up the cost of both employing skilled engineers and buying the steel and other materials needed for oil extraction. (Reporting by Ken Wills; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
