September 30, 2025 [Reuters]- Canada’s Imperial Oil said on Monday it would cut its workforce by about 20% by the end of 2027, part of a major restructuring that would eventually shutter most of its presence in the oil-and-gas city of Calgary.

Imperial Oil is majority owned by top U.S. oil producer Exxon Mobil, and it had about 5,100 employees as of the end of 2024, according to a regulatory filing.

The planned layoffs come as global crude prices have slumped this year due to increased output from the OPEC+ group of oil producers and trade policy uncertainty. U.S. oil producers and services firms including ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and SLB (SLB.N) have also announced job cuts.

Imperial said it expected to achieve an annual cost reduction of C$150 million ($107.81 million) by 2028 as a result of the restructuring, which it said would also involve leveraging the company’s relationship with Exxon and maximizing the use of technology.

After the layoffs are complete, the majority of remaining positions currently at Imperial’s Calgary head office will be relocated in the second half of 2028 to its Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, an Imperial spokesperson said late on Monday.

The company plans to maintain only a small presence in Calgary, the spokesperson said, with the restructure designed in part to consolidate more activities at its operating sites.

Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said on Monday in a statement on X that he was deeply disappointed by the news.

“We are urgently working to better understand the factors behind the company’s decision and to explore ways to support affected employees during this difficult time,” he said.

Imperial Oil moved its headquarters to Calgary from Toronto in 2004. In 2016, it moved its head office out of downtown Calgary and into a suburban, campus-style office complex designed to accommodate about 3,000 people.

Imperial owns and operates the Kearl oil sands mine and Cold Lake oil sands operation in northern Alberta as well as a 25% stake in the Syncrude Canada oil sands joint venture project.

The company is also Canada’s largest petroleum refiner, with two refineries in Ontario in addition to Strathcona near Edmonton.

The company said it would record a one-time restructuring charge of about C$330 million before tax in the third quarter of 2025.

Imperial said its 2025 forecasts were unchanged and the company was well-positioned to meet or beat its medium-term production targets for the Kearl and Cold Lake oil sands sites.