France: Total Oil to Cut 500 Jobs
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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 |
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Total SA, plans to cut at least 500 jobs at its French refining and
petrochemical operations to counter falling demand for fuel exports,
according to labor unions.
Total has outlined a proposal to slash jobs through natural
attrition at plants including Gonfreville in Normandy, France’s largest
refinery, the Confederation Generale du Travail and CFDT unions
said citing company documents. Under the plan, Gonfreville’s
capacity will be reduced 29 percent to about 11.6 million tons a year,
they said.
“It’s a first step,” Charles Foulard, a CGT spokesman, said by
telephone. “Total is reorganizing its refining operations because they
are ill-suited to the market due to a lack of investment and growing
use of diesel.”
Total, which owns six of France’s 12 refineries, is implementing plans
to raise diesel output 50 percent in the 10 years to 2015 by retuning
plants to make more of the fuel without increasing crude consumption.
Higher diesel demand in Europe has forced retailers to import from
Russia, while excess fuel is sent to the U.S. About 77 percent of all
new cars registered in France last year run on diesel, industry data
show.
Total has scheduled meetings at its headquarters in Paris to
discuss petrochemical and refining operations and plans to release a
statement, spokesman Michael Crochet-Vourey said, declining to
elaborate.
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