While the update announced by the Singapore-listed company did not provide figures on the headcount reductions, Linc said it cut 38% of its permanent workforce and 78% of its contractor numbers with this move expected to save nearly $A25 million in the existing financial year.
It is estimated that Linc’s permanent workforce was reduced from 564 to 350 over the past six months as part of the restructuring effort.
“Oil prices have halved since June 2014 and this has, not surprisingly, had an effect on our financial position,” Linc CEO and managing director Craig Ricato said.
“A considerable amount of work has been undertaken at a corporate level, and in each of our business divisions to improve the company's position so as to enhance our commercial prospects and improve our ability to operate in a lower price oil and gas environment.”
While Linc has almost sold off its Queensland coal portfolio to United Mining Group, it is also in talks to sell its Umiat and Wyoming-based conventional oil assets to a “number of interested parties”.
Despite the cutbacks Linc is investigating a new technological approach for heavy crude oil extraction in Canada while it ramps up its Arckaringa Basin exploration efforts in South Australia.
This comes on the back of newly acquired data which revealed that this unconventional region compared favourably to the Bakken and Eagle Ford shale oil regions in the US.
There are plans to conduct 5052m of additional drilling in the Arckaringa Basin, potentially from the second half of this year.
“The conventional and unconventional oil and gas resource potential in the 16 million contiguous acres that Linc Energy holds in the Arckaringa Basin with 100% working Interest in all Petroleum Exploration Licences is enormous, as noted in the initial report by DeGolyer and MacNaughton,” Ricato said.
