What factors prompted ConocoPhillips’ decision to reduce its total workforce by 20%–25% by the end of 2026?

At this point, I’m wide awake. Back in our graduation year (2009), ConocoPhillips was legendary—the dream employer. I couldn’t even squeeze into its campus recruitment presentation during junior year; ultimately, our college’s student union president landed the offer—making him the first-ever ‘foreign enterprise number one’ walking around our campus. Back to the topic. ConocoPhillips plans to cut its global workforce by 20%–25% by the end of 2026. This decision is not an isolated event but rather a comprehensive response grounded in global energy industry trends, the company’s financial condition, and its future strategic direction. The main drivers behind this workforce reduction can be summarized as follows: 1. Responding to oil price volatility and controlling costs (short-term, direct cause) Anyone investing in gold or crude oil this year knows it’s been a tale of two extremes—‘ice and fire.’ There’s even a news story about a young man who used his wedding fund to trade crude oil—and ended up losing both his money and his marriage. Clearly, oil prices have remained persistently low. Why have international oil prices stayed depressed? The reasons are well known—geopolitical tensions, global economic conditions, OPEC+ policies, etc. As for why domestic refined fuel prices haven’t dropped much, that’s another complex, almost mythical topic—let’s set it aside for now. Labor costs typically constitute one of the largest operational expenses for any enterprise. Workforce reductions directly lower operating costs and improve per-barrel profitability—enhancing the company’s financial resilience and profitability during periods of low oil prices. 2. Redundant positions following mergers and acquisitions (the most immediate catalyst) Key events: In 2022, ConocoPhillips completed its acquisition of Shell’s U.S. Permian Basin assets; in 2023, it acquired Concho Resources, a major Permian Basin producer. After such large-scale mergers, significant functional and positional overlaps inevitably arise across departments—including finance, human resources, geoscience exploration, and field operations.

Three major responses by international oil majors amid low oil prices

International oil companies are adopting multiple measures to minimize the impact of cyclical low oil prices on their development. By Wang Nengquan Current international oil prices have fallen to around USD 60 per barrel—a situation aptly described as 'some rejoice while others grieve' across different market participants. As one of the key players in the international oil market, oil majors—in varying degrees—represent the current level and capability of the global petroleum industry. Faced with the continuously declining international oil prices since 2025, these oil majors have proactively adopted diverse countermeasures, revealing three primary trends. 01 Accelerated layoffs In adverse market conditions, taking measures—including layoffs—to survive is standard practice worldwide, and globally renowned oil majors are no exception. Driven by industry consolidation, falling oil prices, and technological advancement, major international oil & gas companies are accelerating layoffs and restructuring their workforces to achieve cost savings and improved efficiency. The latest oil major to announce thousands of job cuts is ExxonMobil. In early October, the company announced it would cut 2,000 jobs globally—nearly half of them from its Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Oil. Since acquiring Pioneer Natural Resources for USD 60 billion in May 2024, ExxonMobil has already eliminated approximately 400 positions in Texas. ExxonMobil is not alone in reducing indirect costs to boost efficiency and cut expenses. Chevron, which acquired Hess Corporation for USD 53 billion, stated that, as part of broad-based cost-cutting efforts, it will cut 20% of its workforce by the end of 2026—including 800 jobs in the Permian Basin. ConocoPhillips acquired Marathon Oil in 2024 and plans to reduce headcount by 25% across all functions and regions to streamline its organizational structure and lower costs. BP—headquartered in the UK—is under intense shareholder pressure to cut costs and reduce debt. In August this year, the company announced it is accelerating the reduction of contractor numbers and office-based staff. BP has already cut its number of contractors by 3,200 and expects another 1,200 contractors to exit by the end of 2025. Additionally, BP estimates that its ongoing organizational transformation will affect 6,200 positions out of its total workforce of 40,000 by the end of 2025. 02 Increasing oil and gas production Beyond passive measures like layoffs and streamlining, in response to oversupply in the international oil market since 2025, supermajors—following OPEC+’s lead—are also ramping up oil and gas output, aiming to actively navigate low oil prices through superior operational efficiency and competitive strength. Entering 2025, the oil market remains oversupplied, and OPEC and its allies continue focusing on increasing supply. Amid weakening crude prices, the world’s largest oil companies are continuing to advance plans to accelerate production growth. According to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, production from ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies may rise by 3.9% in 2025 and by 4.7% in 2026. It may seem counterintuitive for supermajors to increase oil supply in such a market—but executives are looking ahead: crude supplies may not remain so abundant in the future.

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ConocoPhillips announced job cuts in its Canadian operations for the second consecutive year, impacting staff and contractors. This restructuring occurs alongside expectations for significant growth in the Canadian oil industry driven by new export pipelines.

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