Malaysia’s state-owned energy group Petronas is considering cutting salaries as part of cost-saving measures amid the continued challenging market conditions for the oil and gas industry, according to CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz. However, the company assured that it would not reduce the number of its employees. In 2019, Petronas employed 47,669 people. The CEO said that the company is in no position for retrenchments and will proceed to take shared pain as a workforce.
The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged energy demand since earlier this year. Petronas recorded an MYR21-billion ($5.06 billion) loss after tax in the April-June quarter, with revenue falling 42% year-on-year to MYR34 billion ($8.19 billion) as its average realised prices and sales volume turned lower.
Tengku Muhammad Taufik noted the outlook remains challenging, with low oil prices and weak demand environment expected to continue affecting the group’s performance through the rest of 2020. Petronas plans to preserve more cash and maintain its liquidity through cutting its capital and operating expenditures by 21% and 12%, respectively, by the end of this year.
