Canada-based Irving Oil has laid off 60 employees at its Saint John refinery in New Brunswick, citing a dip in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The move forms a part of the firm’s wider plan to reduce the workforce at the 320,000 barrel per day refinery in St John from 1,000 to 225 in the first quarter of this year.
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Irving Oil said the firm had ‘extreme and serious’ impacts on its business and industry due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Irving Oil president Ian Whitcomb and chief brand officer Sarah Irving said: “The collapse in demand for motor fuels, jet fuel and other refined products, together with extreme market volatility, serious negative impacts to refining margins and high levels of uncertainty about the depth and duration of the downturn in our economies, continue to create prolonged and significant challenges.
“These challenges have forced our company, like others in our industry, to make major changes to our operations and we are sorry for the impact that these actions have had on our team.”
The Saint John Refinery produces finished energy products, including gasoline, diesel, heating oil, jet fuel, propane, and asphalt to serve the wholesale and retail markets.
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By GlobalDataMore than half of the finished energy product manufactured at the refinery is exported to the northeastern US.
Last year, Irving said it would lay off 250 people, representing 6% of the workforce across operations in Canada, the US, Ireland, and the UK, due to economic challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a similar move last year, ExxonMobil announced plans to reduce up to 300 positions in Canada by the end of this year.
