Insiders expect a couple of hundred positions to be cut once Shell merges its Australian corporate function with BG’s presence, which is centred on the QGC division in Queensland.
Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden, who will attend the LNG18 conference in Perth in April, has flagged 2800 post-takeover job cuts worldwide.
“Today we will see the birth of what will be undoubtedly the best company in our industry,” Mr van Beurden said on Monday, when the takeover was completed.
Shell spokesman Paul Zennaro yesterday declined to comment on the number and timing of cuts in Australia, where the enlarged Anglo-Dutch giant has a workforce of 2500 to 3000.
It is expected a new country structure, with operational teams in Perth, Brisbane and Gladstone, where QGC’s coal seam LNG project is based, and a shared corporate services team split between WA and Queensland, will be finalised in coming months.
Shell’s Australian HQ will remain in Perth, where Shell Australia chairman Andrew Smith is based. The local workforce is preparing to move into its new purpose-built office tower at Kings Square.
