Colonial Pipeline to cut jobs, sources say

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Shariq Khan

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Colonial Pipeline Company, operator of the largest U.S. fuel transportation system, informed employees this week it is planning to cut some jobs, according to two sources familiar with the matter and a company statement.

“We shared with our employees this week that a recent review to ensure our organization is best aligned to continue safely meeting our business strategy and priorities will result in changes to various team structures and some individual roles,” the company said in response to Reuters queries about the job cuts.

The scope of the job cuts could not be learned immediately. Colonial Pipeline declined to say how many jobs would be cut.

The changes come just months after New York-based asset manager Brookfield Infrastructure Partners took over Colonial in a deal valued at about $9 billion, becoming the first sole owner of the over 5,500-mile pipeline network since its construction in the 1960s.

The company was previously owned by European oil major Shell, investment firm KKR, Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, private U.S. conglomerate Koch Industries’ investments arm, and asset manager IFM Investors.

Colonial, which moves over 2.5 million barrels per day of fuel from the U.S. Gulf Coast to top consumption centers across the country’s East Coast, said the changes will not affect its operations.

“The changes do not affect our commitment to providing safe, reliable, and responsible fuel transportation services for more than 50 million Americans daily,” it said in the statement.

Colonial this year has made efforts to raise the amount of fuel it can move on its network through a combination of operational enhancements and changes to the way products are placed and delivered on its system, although the latter attracted protests from its shippers.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in New York; editing by Diane Craft)