The Corporate Centre will focus on a number of Group governance activities such as accounting, finance, IT, corporate relations and HR.
The service functions will support the Corporate Centre and all business units in areas like procurement, IT services, oil trading, technical operations and recruitment.
"The split will clarify responsibilities within the Group and we will place even more operational responsibility where it should be - decentralised in the business units," said Group CEO Nils Andersen, adding that the split will also reduce complexity and save costs."
The new set-up, which is expected to be finalised this month, means changes for a number of activities, some of which will not continue. This will impact the number of employees in Group headquarters, where approximately 100 of the current 830 positions will be reduced. Of the remaining staff, around 250 will be employed in the Corporate Centre and 480 in service functions.
Andersen points out that while having to reduce the number of employees is regrettable, increasing pressure on the company's business units requires Group functions to be more effective in order to strengthen the Group's overall competitiveness.
