Shell to slash another 1000 jobs

GLOBAL energy giant Royal Dutch Shell revealed on Tuesday that it will axe another 1,000 positions by 2011, on top of the 1000 job losses already earmarked for this year.

Chief executive Peter Voser announced the latest round of job cuts as he presented the group's annual strategic update.

"The company had become too complicated and slower to respond than we'd like. So we are sharpening up," said Voser, whose group already axed 5000 jobs last year in a bid to streamline its operations.

He added: "The priorities are for a more competitive performance, for growth and for sharper delivery of strategy.

"We have more to do to drive out cost and improve the operating performance in the company."

Shell, which has about 100,000 staff worldwide, also forecast on Tuesday that its output will soar by 11 per cent between 2009 and 2012, and it unveiled a "new wave" of investment in production.

"Upstream production is expected to reach 3.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2012, an increase of 11 per cent from 2009," Shell said in a statement.

"In addition, the company is assessing over 35 new projects from some eight billion barrels of oil equivalent resources, which should underpin upstream growth to 2020," the company added.

The forecast was broadly in line with the company's previous guidance for a production increase of between 2.0-3.0 per cent per year. Shell also said it had "confidence in further growth beyond 2012".

Shell, which employs about 8500 workers in Britain, did not indicate where the latest job cuts would fall.

The Anglo-Dutch group added that its reserve replacement ratio - or the rate at which production is replaced by new oil discoveries - had hit a record 288 per cent last year.

That means that the group replaced proven oil and gas reserves much faster than they were depleted.

"These are exciting times for Shell," Voser added in the group's official statement.

"We are poised to deliver a new wave of financial and production growth. We are making substantial investments in new projects to drive Shell's financial performance going forward."