Royal Dutch Shell plc plans to reduce its workforce by 2,200 more people, bringing global layoffs since the start of 2015 to about 12,500, the company confirmed this week.

The number of additional jobs being eliminated in the United States, where operations are based in Houston, was not disclosed.

“The reductions we’re announcing…are part of a global program of job reductions in Shell,” spokesman Curtis Smith told NGI. “Last year, in response to the oil price downturn, we made the tough but necessary decision to remove 7,500 Shell staff and direct contractor roles and this has now been completed. Separately, as previously announced, a further 2,800 global staff reductions were initially identified as part of the BG Group plc integration, which is now well under way.”

Shell has announced several job cuts since last year, as oil prices continued to contract and as it integrated its global operations with BG (see Daily GPI, May 4; July 30, 2015).

UK-based BG, whose U.S. operations also are Houston-based, announced in late April that it would shutter its main office downtown. Staff is being relocated to existing Shell space in downtown Houston and in the Energy Corridor. Shell and BG also are accepting applications for “voluntary redundancy,” which offers a financial incentive to resign. The merger was announced in April 2015 (see Daily GPI, April 8, 2015).

“These are tough times for our industry, and we have to take further difficult decisions to ensure Shell remains competitive through the current, prolonged downturn,” Smith said.

The number of job reductions in 2016 — both in response to low prices and as a result of the BG integration — “is expected to total at least 5,000 globally,” he said. “This number includes the 2,800 integration-related roles previously announced.”