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Chevron plans restructuring, job losses in refining business

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Chevron Corp.’s global refining business is headed toward a major restructuring, involving job losses and a potentially smaller scale, the oil giant said.

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The San Ramon-based company told employees Monday that its downstream business needs to be “a leaner operation with fewer positions and fewer employees,” said spokesman Lloyd Avram.

Details involving the number of layoffs or soon-to-be vacated markets were sparse in the video memo from the sector’s executive vice president, Mike Wirth, but a complete plan should be ready by March.

The downstream division refines crude oil into gasoline, diesel fuel and other forms and then sells and distributes the products along with natural gas. Chevron hopes that the changes, which it plans to implement by the third quarter, will make operations more competitive.

“It’s been a very, very difficult business right now,” Avram said. “There are more refineries coming online right now, and global demand for refined products has been decreasing. That’s made margins very difficult.”

Chevron’s downstream business has 18,000 employees around the world and employs 4,400 in California, Avram said. In addition to several refineries abroad, the company has five in the U.S., including operations in El Segundo and Richmond, Calif.

-- Tiffany Hsu

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