Anglo-Dutch energy and petrochemicals major Shell will reduce its workforce in Singapore by about 38%, shedding 500 jobs over a three-year period to 2023, as crude processing at the site will be reduced by about half.

“We will go from the current 1,300 staff to about 1,100 at the end of 2021 and by the end of 2023, we will be at about 800,” a Shell spokesperson said.

“The transition will happen over the next three years and the earliest staff movement related to the reorganisation will only be in Q4 2021,” the spokesperson said.

The Pulau Bukom manufacturing site in Singapore will be among the six that Shell intends to operate as energy and chemical parks under its global restructuring plan.

Pulau Bukom houses Shell's largest wholly-owned refinery with a crude distillation capacity of 500,000 bbl/day. It is an integrated oil and petrochemicals site with manufacturing facilities for fuels, lubricant base oils and specialty chemicals.

“Bukom will pivot from a crude-oil, fuels-based product slate towards new, low-carbon value chains. We will reduce our crude processing capacity by about half and aim to deliver a significant reduction in CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions,” Shell said.

The plan will involve “significant changes in our refinery configuration” as well as increased investments, it said.

“A site-wide digitalisation programme that aims to transform the way we operate is already underway. Work has also commenced to study the production of products that are resilient to the energy transition, such as biofuels, and more specialities, like bitumen,” Shell said.

“We are also looking at the possibility of different future feedstocks that are based on greater circularity and renewable raw materials, such as recycled chemicals,” the company said.

Shell's global restructuring will entail a reduction of its 86,000-strong workforce across 70 countries by about 10% by 2022.