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CNOOC purchased Calgary-based Nexen Inc. for $15.1 billion in 2012 and made a series of commitments to the federal government to win approvals for the transaction. Among its seven promises was the pledged to “establish Calgary as the head office of its North and Central American operations,” and to “retain Nexen’s current management team and employees” and list its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Following the transaction, CNOOC replaced senior Canadian staff with Chinese nationals, and has listed only a small amount of its own shares on the TSX and has shed employees.

Price says CNOOC’s staff cuts have not impacted the Calgary office’s status.

“CNOOC International’s Calgary office continues to be the headquarters for our North American business. Throughout these changes, the safety of our employees, contractors and the communities where we operate will remain our top priority,” Price said in an email.

The company’s workforce, which once stood at just over 3,200, has shrunk considerably since the acquisition.

Sources confirmed to the Financial Post the company’s new lease downtown is significantly smaller than its previous one.

CNOOC occupied approximately 620,000 square feet of office space in the Nexen building in downtown Calgary but is downsizing to approximately 300,000 square feet across eight floors at its new location at 58-storey The Bow.

The latest cuts adds to a long list of retrenchments as international oil companies sour on Canadian oil and gas resources. CNOOC also abandoned its $20-billion Aurora LNG project in 2017 that would have exported Canadian natural gas from Prince Rupert, B.C.